News from the Pen Front - Part III
As we continued walking the show we stopped and looked at stationery, cards, gift items, and pens, pens, pens, until we come to the Aurora booth. Aurora has an extensive line and we sat down with Joel Blumberg, President of Kenro Industries and Dick Krane, the sales representative for the Tri-State area. We looked at their new Aurora leather line, which is quite extensive and priced right. They are introducing their new limited edition, Leonardo DaVinci that is due out shortly. It is an exquisite pen done in two versions, an all gold filled version and a gold filled capped version with a burgundy barrel. The design is taken from the works of Leonardo DaVinci, etched onto the pen.
Finish:
Lacquer with Gold filled cap
Edition: 1,919 Fountain Pens / 499 Roller balls
List Price: $1,095 fountain pen and $695 for the roller
ball
Finish:
Gold filled
Edition: 1,919 Fountain Pens / 499 Roller balls
List price: $1,495 and $995 for the roller ball
These were a must for our website.
Our next stop was Sailor Pens, where we stopped to chat with Dick Egoff, the President and CEO of Sailor Pens U.S.A. Their line is extensive and features many of the pens that you get at your local budget stores; gel pens, roller balls, art pens etc.
However, the highlight of their line is their 1911 Collection, which is the basic pen body, bullet like in appearance with a modernized flat top. They come in 4 colors and a solid sterling silver. The basic colors are prices at $225 and what makes them special is the choice of nibs available. The standard 21kt gold nibs come in extra-fine, fine, medium fine, medium, broad, music/stub and zoom. The music nib is a single slit nib, with remarkable ink flow and line width variation.
One of the high points of their lines is that they have perfected the ink flow in their nibs and every one of them performs exactly as you would expect it to, perfectly. The Zoom nib is a unique concept. The point is triangular through a loop and it is designed to write in the contemporary position giving you a medium to broad stroke, but when turned upside down, the nib now become a fine point, for those who take notes, or just prefer a fine nib, once in a while. This nib takes some getting use to, but I think that it will become very popular, once tried.
My favorite nib is the single slit "music nib", which Dick Egoff was gracious enough to send me from his personal stock. They are not in the country yet, but should be here at the end of June and in plenty of time to be on sale at the New York City Pen Show in September and you can be sure that many of your favorite dealers will have them on hand, including yours truly, without a doubt. These nibs are fantastic and the pens are wonderful too.
The next in their line is the Naginata line at $475. The distinctive rib design is similar to that of the Waterman 100 year pens, but quite different in style. These too are available in four basic colors, and all of the standard 7 size nibs, including music and zoom.
The custom version of this pen called the Naginata Togi is fitted with a hand finished Nagahara nib. Suggested list: $525
Maki-E pens and the Nagahara nibs. As many of you already know, Mr. Nagahara, Sailor's prized nib maker was at the Chicago Pen Show tweaking nibs and making custom nibs for anyone who wanted it. He is incredible at his work, takes pride in every stop of the nib work, and produces a nib to die for. A sample of the type of Maki-e pens that will be fitted with the Nagahara nib is pictured below. I couldn't take a picture of everything, but at least you get the idea of what is coming from Sailor.
This is a company that is worth taking a look at.
We then moved on to visit Visconti. Here we sat and talked with Dante Del Vecchio, one of the owners of Visconti and Steve Weill the U.S. Distributor -both men are quite charming and a pleasure to spend time with.
More exciting pens are being introduced, some of which most of you are already familiar with.
The Skeleton, with its titanium barrel and cap has been met with wonderful success. The Divine Comedy is an outstanding pen, with incredible work.
As an added feature, they are producing a very unique gift item, the Pen-Tie. The tie is being made by one of the leading tie makers in Italy under the direction of Visconti. They are 100% silk ties, in an array of elegant designs and colors, each with its unique pocket to hold a pen, either a full size or the every popular mini pen.
I was impressed with both the tie and the design of the pocket that holds the pen. It was with a lot of thought that this tie came to be.
Our next top was Yafa Pens, where we chatted with Jerry Greenberg, owner of Yafa and Mike Gordon. Yafa manufactures their own line of everyday pens and novelty items, under their name and a mid-price range under the name of Monteverdi, as well as being the distributor for Delta Pens and most recently Nettuno, both are Italian companies and both produce high quality pens.
Their everyday line of pens from Delta is packed with creative and innovative styling and a range of colors and combinations to please everyone's taste. Here is just a sample.
The blue marbled Europe at $165 is bound to be a success.
Their new limited edition, the Napoleon is awesome
It comes in either a silver version or a gold version and both are stunning. The sterling version to sell at $1,100 with only 808 being produced.
The Nettuno 1911 is also quite nice and reasonably priced, as you can see in the image below. Limited to 911 pieces and priced at $800, this is a great buy.
This line is so large and interesting it is impossible to list everything that we saw at the show. For more information on the Delta or Yafa pens, visit their website.
Last by not least on our visit to the show was the Krone booth. Here with met with Robert Kronenberger and Jim Stringwell, as well as their hands on assistant Dana Piet.
As always their booth is one of the highlights of the show. Homey and comfortable, you get a sense that you are in their home, rather than in the middle of a huge trade show. They are friendly and hospitable people and a pleasure to be with.
Now, to the excitement of their new lines. There are several new Limited Editions coming out this year, the first being the Freedom Pen, John Hancock which is due in store very shortly.
The next and very exciting new limited is due in the third quarter and is the Michelangelo. This pen was created to honor not only the artist but the man, who gave the world of fine art his unsurpassed talent. The focus of this pen centers on the intricately carved mammoth ivory barrel, featuring Apollo, one of Michelangelo's most stunning sculptures of the human form. Surrounded by a delicate sculpted design that reflects the Renaissance ear. The barrel encompasses the elegant appearance of, not only Michelangelo's talent, but the unique artistry of the 16th century. On the top of the cap is a sculpted ivory design, adorned with a triple leaf swirl that conveys the romanticism of the period. The magnum edition, while almost identical, it offers a variation of the sculpted cap design, with a mother of pearl and painted with an amazing miniature representation of Michelangelo's Doni Tondo (Holy Family).
The pictures below show the carving in ivory and the beauty of the cap of the magnum. This pen is one of the best of the limited editions produced by this innovative and creative pen maker.
 |
 |
Magnum
top |
Standard
Top |
Okay, now I have your attention, read on, I know this is long, but well worth it, or at least I think so.
The next limited scheduled for the fourth quarter is the Wright Bros. 100 Years of Flight. Again they have out done themselves in both style and theme. This is a breath-taking pen. The magnum version is so outstanding that I had to give you a picture of it. I usually stay with just the limited, but this was too much.
Above and below the painted barrel are sterling silver crosshatched borders, symbolizing the intricate structure of the plane's wings. The body of the pen is covered in textured sterling silver, representing the industrial aspect of engineering and design that made the first flight possible. Within the crisscross-engraved clip is a portion of the actual wing fabric of the Wright Bros. Plane that helped it soar through the air at Kitty Hawk.
Regular Limited Edition of 288 Fountain Pens and 28 Roller balls
©2002 The Wright Family Fund. All Rights Reserved./Represented by The Roger Richman Agency, Inc., Beverly Hills, CA
Now, the Magnum - only 28 fountain pens.
©2002 The Wright Family Fund. All Rights Reserved./Represented by The Roger Richman Agency, Inc., Beverly Hills, CA
These images do not do it justice, these pieces in person are so outstanding that it is hard to describe.
Get your orders in now, I really don't think these will last, they are the best to date.
In addition to the limited editions, they are introducing a special group of pens with an elegant feel. Are you intrigued by designer initials, well now you can have your favorite pen company's initials for everyone to see and admire. These large, impressive and weighty pens are solid sterling silver, with enameled bodies and the Krone crown and "K" etched in their finish. The colors are awesome and sparkle in the light. See for yourself.
Now
to further whet your appetite, here is another group
of exquisite pens.
These are sterling silver and enamel as well and come
in two versions, one with precious stones and one without.
I did not get the prices or the information on either
of these lines, just a preview of what is coming from
Krone.
Now, for their regular line, they are adding new colors to the some of their tried and true models and some new everyday pens, one is called the Poker, in two colors, Choice and Chance and the other new line is Boulder, in several new and exciting color combinations. Sorry, no pictures just yet.
Well, it was a full couple of days, getting around this show, but certainly worth the effort and time. We met with everyone we wanted to and some we didn't know about and as a result placed orders for new lines and pens that we will feature on our website. I do hope that you enjoyed this article and that you can feel the excitement for the coming year, as related to pens.
We are getting ready now for the New York City Pen Show, which held at the New York Helmsley Hotel, 215 42nd Street, on September 20, 21 and 22, 2002 and we invite all of you to come join us for a great international event. Many of your favorite manufacturers will be there, all of who were featured in this article and many of the dealers that you know and frequent. For the latest on the show visit our website.
Anyone wishing to comment on this article, I would welcome
your comments.
Maryann
Zucker
PenstopOnline