Totally Random Pen Stuff 8 is a round-up of interesting pen related blog posts that we have recently come across.
• Prince William and his new wife Kate visited Canada recently and received an interesting gift from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
He gave them a 1939 special edition of Maclean’s magazine that chronicled a previous royal visit from King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the prince’s great-grandparents.
According to Maclean’s, that visit was the first-ever tour from a reigning monarch, and the magazine celebrated with heavy coverage and special advertising.
Among the ads in the historic copy presented to the prince: A display from the Parker Fountain Pen Co., announcing a new ink for its Vacumatic model, “the prince of pens.”
That would be pretty cool to see, don’t you think?
• Apparently, clothing designer and pen enthusiast Karl Lagerfeld believes that he needs to bring the world of high fashion to fountain pens.
According to Women’s Wear Daily, he’s created a line of pens for French luxury retailer S.T. Dupont. Lagerfeld, who told the magazine he’s collected more pens than he can count, recently debuted the range at his 7L bookshop and photo studio in Paris.
It seems that he incorporated Shu Uemura nail polish into the burgundy laquer design of the pens. No word on how well they actually write.
• Speaking of fashion, designers at London fashion school Central St Martins have created a dress covered in fountain pen nibs.
From the Daily Mail:
The dress has been crafted out of 795 caligraphy pen nibs – and they are all connected to small motors that make them vibrate just like Lady Gaga’s ‘breathing’ dress did.
The Pen Nib Dress is a cream A-line number with a rectangular panel covered in metal nibs on the front of the gown.
The designers used the same motors that make cell phones vibrate to create the shimmering movement of the nibs on the dress, which weighs 14kg.
Interesting idea…but, um, why?
• Some ideas are catching, it seems.
Did you read the Pen Warrior’s recent post about Zebra’s new Expandz range of pens that open by sliding the barrel up?
Well, pen maker Cross has gotten into the expanding pen game with a line of its own Edge. The Cross Edge is a capless rollerball made of “metallic fusion resin” and accessorized with polished chrome. With a snap, it slides open into a sleek 5-inch pen.
The company is selling the pen with the tagline, “Twisting and Clicking, Not Necessary. Playing, Necessary.”
At least one reviewer at the Gadgeteer attests to the truthfulness of that.
I have this pen and as my desk mates can probably attest, sliding the pen open and shut is addictive.
Of course, in true Cross fashion, the pen does not go cheap. The Edge is priced at US$40.
We might be biased, but we’d suggest you go with the Zebra at about one-fifth the cost.
