Announcing The Morse by Dudek Modern Goods - Limited Edition

I'm so pleased to announce a collaboration between my Dudek Modern Goods brand and artist Matthew Morse (@heymatthew on Twitter and Instagram) that has been in the works for almost a year!

We're calling it very appropriately, The Morse.

Matthew has been featured on The Clicky Post before to discuss his work as a graphic artist as well as to share more about his very unique and popular folded nib lettering style. I respect and appreciate his work so much and knew that we needed to work together on a creative project.

What we came up with together is a solid walnut dip pen work station that holds two small amber bottles of your favorite ink, a rest to place your current dip pen, as well as some space to store two additional nib holders. We expect that through years of use these pieces will eventually be splattered and inked up to develop some character of their own. 

To be included with each of the walnut stands, Matthew created 20 original pieces of his work (not reprints) in the form of a quote by Leo Tolstoy:

"If you want to be happy, be."

I feel it a huge privilege to have had the opportunity to work with Matthew on this and we hope they will be enjoyed by their new owners. This is a limited edition run of only 20 pieces so they should go pretty quick! Thanks for taking a look.

Montegrappa Copper Mule Fountain Pen Review

Even though I have owned and used A LOT of pens, the brand Montegrappa is one I've yet to have experience with. They recently released a copper version of their Fortuna series called the Mule and their US distributor, Kenro Industries, were kind enough to send me one for review.

Montegrappa would be what I consider to be a luxury brand. Some of the pens they offer are very ornate and elaborate, but the Fortuna is one of the more conservative models.

Although the shape and overall look of the Fortuna is a bit simpler than their other models, sheathing it in solid, raw copper and brushed stainless steel created a stunner with the Mule.

Being made of heavier metals like copper, the pen has some pretty considerable heft. That being said, I don't find it to be overly heavy and in a range that would deter a lot of potential customers. Although, even though the cap does post I find that writing with it on the pen makes it a bit too heavy.

Also, being a raw copper pen it attracts all kinds of fingerprints and develops a patina super quick. If this bothers you, this may not be the right choice.

As a bit of a crown on the cap, there is adhered a metal emblem with "1912". This inherently doesn't mean anything to the average consumer as it isn't the brand name or logo, but represents the year the company was founded in Bassano del Grappa, Italy. They have an interesting video on their website about the history which may be fun for you to check out.

As mentioned above, the Mule is a bit of an eye catching pen. Since I've been carrying it for the review over the past few weeks, you'd be surprised at how many of my non-pen colleagues and friends have reached to take it out of my front pocket. It's that little bit of copper shining right above the fabric that seems to call out that something interesting is there...

The pen itself isn't made from all copper like variations of the Karas Kustoms Ink pen and does have plastic/resin internals. The copper outside I'd imagine is drawn out through a die rather than machining, but fits snugly over whatever is holding it altogether underneath. The build quality itself feels extremely solid overall for the pen. Nothing is loose, misaligned, "thrown together", or amiss.

I really like the chunky threads look...

I own a few of what I would consider to be "expensive" pens like a couple of Montblancs, Sailors, higher end Pilots, etc, and the common thing among them all is how solid they feel. Not sure if this is really what you're paying for sometimes, but it seems to help. The Mule isn't a cheap pen coming in at a retail price of $375 (street price a bit lower), which puts you into Pelikan M405, full size Sailor pens, or even a couple of nice Pilots.

The difference is that these other pens come with gold nibs while the Mule comes with a steel. Now, steel nibs can actually be quite awesome if not better performers than gold sometimes depending on your preferences, but the issue of price is usually always tied to material. Usually gold nib = more expensive while steel nib = less expensive. Not so much the case with this particular Montegrappa, but could be understandable with the copper, etc.

The nib has quite a bit of feedback (maybe a bit on the scratchy side) and tends to write a little dry. No real issues with slow starts or skipping, but it isn't really my preference. Initially I thought it was going to make the experience with the pen a bit rough, but I became more acclimated to it.

I love the look of the brushed stainless steel section against the copper. It looks amazing! Although I did find it a bit slick from time to time after longer writing stints. 

The clip is extremely sturdy and matches the other accents of being a brushed stainless. It also has a little wheel to make pocketing easier and to add some visual texture.  

Like I said, the Montegrappa Mule is a total stunner. In the looks department we're talking a 10/10 in my opinion. The nib being a little scratchier and drier than I'd like lowers my writing experience a bit, but is still a really cool pen to write with nonetheless.

Thanks again to Kenro for sending it my way to check out.

 

Inexpensive Pens That I Reach For Often

Whilst it may seem that the only writing instruments I use are fancy fountain or machined barreled pens, I actually use my fair share of your normal, everyday, "over-the-counter" pens for much of my general writing and note taking. And, it is nice from time to time to not worry about whether or not I leave a pen on someone else's desk in the office or simply to give it to them if they want to try it out.

And, like most pen people, my road to more expensive pens started by trying lots and lots of new pens of all different kinds that you could pick up from any local store or online retailers.

I thought I'd put together a list of what's currently on my desk at home and at work that I seem to pick up the most. 

Paper Mate Flair

By far, one of my favorite go-to pens is the Paper Mate Flair. If you've never used one, it is a plastic/felt tip, porous pen that writes a bit more like a marker than a pen. I tend to print in all capital letters (more of an architect or draughtmans style) and the Flair helps a lot in making the lines look more expressive and clean. It has a sort of old-school look which I think adds to the experience as well. 

I'd say it is a pretty forgiving line, particularly for writing, but I also use it when I doodle or draw up diagrams. Personally, it is best used for me on a clean sheet of white copy paper... even the cheap stuff will do. I also have a stash of an entire ream of 11 x 17 paper just to use with the Flair...

And, I buy them by the dozen...

With any porous point pen the tip starts to break down after awhile, but luckily they are pretty cheap.

Pilot Precise V7

A classic! I'm not sure when this pen came out but it has a cool, engineering, vintage sort of aesthetic to it and I'm so glad Pilot hasn't really changed it over the years. Even if you don't recognize the name, when you see one you'll probably remember having one stashed in a drawer or cup at your house somewhere.

The Precise V7 (also known as the Hi-Tecpoint V7 in places like the UK) is a needle tipped rollerball pen which means it has liquid ink sloshing around inside.

What you get are really wet and dark lines. It also comes in a V5 (0.5mm vs 0.7mm) in case you want a finer line as well as also comes in a retractable version. Although, I can't swear by this, but the retractable version ink is different which makes my experience a little "off".

Pentel Energel

Not to give it too many props, but the Pentel Energel is probably my most referred gel pen ever. Super smooth, dark lines, quick drying times... over-the-counter gel pens, in my opinion, don't get much better than this. Like the Flair, using this pen on plain old office paper works great! No specialty fountain pen friendly stuff needed.

I wouldn't say that I love the plastic barrel it comes in, but it works and the writing is worth it. The nice thing is that Pentel also has an Alloy series of the Energel which looks almost identical to the plastic version, but is metal. I've actually purchased this metal version for a few of my non-pen friends to have as a replacement for the crappy pen they were using and they've loved them. If you wanted an inexpensive spruced up barrel, the Alloy version will only run you about $6-7.

This pen comes in a standard conical tip or you can get a finer line that they make in a needle tip version.  

Uniball Signo 307

Fresh out this last year from Uniball is the Signo 307. Many of us are likely familiar with the Signo 207, but not sure if the 307 is simply meant to be an addition to the lineup or an eventual replacement? The shape and feel of the pen is nearly the same as the 207, but with updated styling.

What I have found with the 307 is that the ink flows much wetter and heavier than the 207 (which was a bit skippy or light from time to time) so it makes the colors stand out a bit more on the page.

Originally the only downside to this pen for many people is that it only came in a 0.7mm while the 207 comes in a spectrum from 0.38mm up to 1.0mm. But, it appears that you can now get the 0.5mm! Might need to check those out...

What are some of your favorite over-the-counter pens? Have you tried many of these?