Standing the Test of Time

25 February 2015 By ian

I’ve been writing here at Pens! Paper! Pencils! for getting on for a couple of years now and have in that time reviewed 76 pens, 29 pencils, 85 inks and 28 other items (notebooks, cases, etc).

Over all this time, many pens and inks have entered and then left my affections but some have remained. I thought it might be interesting to see which items have managed to cling on for at least one year since I first wrote about them here.

My fondness for inks is most fickle. There are just so many beautiful inks out the temptation to fall in love with a new one is just too great. It’s perhaps unsurprising only one has remained a constant favourite: Pilot Iroshizuku Kiri-Same which I have always in my pocket pen, for quick notes and sketching. (It is beautiful to sketch with.) I’ll give a quick mention to Pelikan Edelstein Topaz, which is I use very often at work, and which I wrote about almost a year ago.

Pilot Iroshizuku Kiri-Same ink review Inkling doodle

A few pens have managed to remain in constant rotation (or even constant use) despite a lot of competition. The OHTO Graphic Liner was one of the first pens I wrote about (it would be pushing it a little too far to call this a review) and I use them almost every day at work. The Pilot Coleto too gets almost daily use. (It’s a top pen for marking students’ work.)

Lots of graphic liners

My favourite fountain pen remains the Platinum #3776 Sai which I reviewed almost exactly one year ago. There are several pens I like almost as much but despite leaning towards much broader nibs than the (very) fine on this pen, I still think it’s the pen that combines beautiful looks with a beautiful writing experience better than anything else I have. There one other pen that I love although not quite in the form I originally wrote about it: the Kaweco Sport. I first wrote about the Classic Sport but since then I’ve gone all posh and use, frequently, an AC-Sport.

Platinum 3776 Sai review

I’ve tried several different pocket books but Calepino notebooks are still, by far, my favourite. Trying other brands has only served to reaffirm their fabulousness. The paper absorbs ink so it dries quickly but doesn’t feather or bleed with the majority of fountain pens. It’s good with pencil too. The cardboard covers are stiff and I’ve never had a notebook fall apart on me despite them living in my back pocket every single day. They continue to be kept in the same Davis Leatherworks cover they always have.

Davis cover and Kaweco Classic Sport inside

That’s it! In most cases, it’s not so much that items I liked over a year ago have revealed themselves to be poor, it’s more that I’ve spent the last year trying out and discovering a whole truckload of new pens, pencils and notebooks and there is just so much good stuff out there. I’m very lucky to have been able to try so many things out and what I write here justifies it all!