May, with
its lengthening, warmer days and graduation
ceremonies ushers in not just summer but
the pen show year in full swing.
If you
are reading this in the United States,
somewhere within 200 miles of you there
will be a pen show. Resolve to yourself
to go to it. And in Europe there are equal
opportunities in Nürnberg, Roma, Barcelona.
Go!
For us, it is Chicago, the first weekend
in May. The PENguin will be there as will
Swann with a generous sixty pen preview
of our Fall Sale and a giveaway mini-catalogue/brochure.
Stop by and see us.
Very
shortly we will be doing a major update
to the website. We have several medium
size consignments including both vintage
and modern pens that will come online in
the next few weeks. So check by often.
In the meantime we have a fine array of
Parker 51s, a few Vacumatics and the usual
fine selection of Pelikans for Springtime
gift giving. Check
out the pages.
And,
above all enjoy the bounties of spring.
Because of a late winter, the roses in
our garden have been stunning and I hope
everyone will take time not just to buy
pens, but to ponder the flowers.
Mid-May Madness
For some time now I have been complaining
privately of my inability to source really
good Pelikans anymore. The drought is over.
The Chicago Pen Show, along with a few
sources in Europe, has brought me a number
of extraordinary pens:
Pelikan
100 Maenner,
with an complete 14 K gold overlay. For
those of you unfamiliar with this model,
in the 1930s Pelikan authorised these Stuttgart
jewelers to do their own overlay on the
100.
Pelikan
1931 green striped model in a rich
jade color.
Pelikan 400
is in what is usually called green/green.
Pelikan 400NN demonstrator. These pens
are very uncommon to start with and show
every crack and fissure. This one is perfect.
Pelikan M1050 green with an O3B nib. With
box and papers.
Pelikan M1000 green with
a broad nib.
Pelikan M850 in black.
With an OB nib.
I also have three
newly arrived Pelikan M800s in old style
black, old style blue & red.
And a
Pelikan M200 green demonstrator.
It’s not all about
Pelikans, either, we have a couple of large
consignments, the highlights of which are
here
Moreover, for
those interested we have both a fullsize
Carter Pearltex set in white and a 7M
size Conklin Nozac set in green marble,
a really uncommon Rik Lei Reco, and on
and on ...
We
are most pleased to announce a new
collaboration with renowned pen and
knifemaker and good friend David
Broadwell to bring you a new line
of custom pens. These are built upon
Pelikan chassis (M/K/D 250-1000)
in custom metals, including, but
not limited to mokume gane and damascus
steels.
David is currently developing these
pens and they will be available shortly.
For
those of you who want to wear your
allegiance to Pelikan front and center,
we are pleased to offer these belt
buckles. They are cast in bronze
by a leading pen collector who is
also a jewellry maker. They are just
under two inches in diameter and
have a bracket that allows you to
put them on any 1 ¼” belt. We can
also offer them in sterling silver.
The brass buckles are $175.00 plus
shipping and we can supply them with
a belt for $205.00.
This
year marks twenty-seven years of
pen collecting for me. I began with
Sheaffers and Parkers and then looked
to the classical "big four," of
American pendom, Parker, Sheaffer,
Watermans and Eversharp. In the mid-1990s,
I decided to focus narrowly on Parkers.
Then in 1997, I became interested
in Pelikans. More recently I have
added an interest in oversize German
pens, modern and a few vintage Italian
pens and a representative sample
of the classical American greats.
Today my collection is probably
smaller than it was a decade ago,
but far more coherent. For more see
the About Me page.
If you wish to learn more about Pelikan
pens please follow this link
to the illustrated Pelikan History article
I wrote for PenTrace. The purpose
of PENguin is to offer other collectors,
and anyone else who is interested,
first rate, fully restored pens to
add to your collection or for daily
use. All pens offered here have been
fully restored by me or by German
craftsmen who I trust and are guaranteed
to you for two years. (Please note
that this guarantee is not transferrable.)
I want you to be able to use or enjoy
your pens as much as I do.
A
few images from our recent stay in England
and travels through Germany in early 2009.
May, with
its lengthening, warmer days and graduation
ceremonies ushers in not just summer but
the pen show year in full swing. 
For us, it is Chicago, the first weekend
in May. The PENguin will be there as will
Swann with a generous sixty pen preview
of our Fall Sale and a giveaway mini-catalogue/brochure.
Stop by and see us. 
