I like fountain pens. I like reading about them, looking at them, using them. I collect them, in a small way.
It’s a harmless little hobby that keeps me off the streets and out of the public houses, but it is a niche interest. (Coupla nibheads on the SDMB, though). So when I announced last month that I was looking forward to the Atlanta Pen Show last weekend, I expected a certain amount of snark from my lovely frau.
Nor was I disappointed - all last week, she teased me about the Pen Banquet and Ball, wondered if the glow sticks at the rave would have Italic nibs, asked me if I was done with my Parker Duofold costume for the cosplay contest. Nevertheless, she likes a good pen too, so she went with me.
Where she entered a raffle thirty seconds before the drawing, and, of course, won a $400.00 Montblanc Meisterstuck rollerball.
I am laughing out loud.
Not only did I miss nor heard of a pen convention, I am wondering how you would might convince her to donate that to your cause.
What in hell is “precious resin”, and what makes a pen worth $400? (The Google, it says that no one knows what “precious resin” is, but it appears to be a very shiny black plastic.)
I looked too, and this turned out to be one of those ridiculous questions where the rabbit hole never ends. I turn up one thread on a relevant forum where they all mention that the question has been extensively answered elsewhere on the same forum. So then I turn up an older thread, which mentions that the answer can be found in ancient Usenet postings. I’m sure those posts will refer to me, somehow, to something even more ancient.
I can add this from guitar-land: I recall a guy who builds Strat and Tele replicas that are super-high-end. Like $6-$7,000 for a Strat whereas a standard Fender is $600 - $1,200. This guy uses “high end phenolic” for black pickguards at a $150 upcharge, and offers “handmade Italian celluloid” ones for a $275 upcharge.
Here is a page on his site where you can see the upcharges. If you wander around you can see examples. The Italian tortoiseshell is pretty darn gorgeous - but $275?
During a college internship, my mentor showed off his cool Mont Blanc (don’t know which model) to a couple of us poor interns. My lips said “That’s so cool,” but of course, my mind went, “You don’t deserve this!” So later, while he was away from his desk, I flicked the pen for a test drive. The pen was an absolute beauty, and it wrote very well too (though it did have some problems from the generic printer paper). And then, I slept. With the pen beside me. Must be tired, I guess. :rolleyes:
When I woke up, I found him looking for his pen everywhere :eek:. I returned the pen immediately, putting on the best sorry face I could. I still sometimes wonder what he made of the whole thing.
