Kaweco| Perkeo

I love it when packages arrive.  I especially love it when the packages contain pens. I really, really love it when the packages contain TWO pens!

Kaweco tin - can take two pens - costs about £5.00

Meet the new Kaweco Perkeos!

rotating images in Blogger is a head-ache....

I'm liking this ink!

Did you know that Perkeo was the tiny court jester for the Elector Palatine Charles III Philip of Heidelberg in the 1700s? Oh yes, the story goes that this little man had an unquenchable appetite for wine.  One day, in his 80s, he went to the doctor, complaining of feeling unwell.  The doctor prescribed water, an element that hitherto had not passed Perkeo's lips.  Within a day of drinking water Perkeo had popped his clogs.

Moral - if you drink gallons of wine a day, don't bother going to the doctor.

Anyway .... I don't know whether there is a link between jester Perkeo and Kaweco's Perkeo, but there ARE most definitely links that I can see.

For a start, this pen is much larger than the small pocket pens that I associate with Kaweco.  The Sport takes a teeny weeny convertor, but the barrel of the Perkeo is so long that it can accommodate a spare standard sized cartridge.

And indeed, these each have an empty standard cartridge stashed in the barrel for refilling on the go.

Do these pens take a standard-sized convertor? I was too scared to plug one of mine in case I ruined it.  But I'm thinking that they will.

So, a little guy with a huge capacity for liquid? Sounds like Perkeo to me!

The Perkeo has the recognisable Kaweco octagonal cap and it pops on and off with a satisfying click. The cap can be posted - which I like in a pen.  Makes the whole pen longer and keeps cap and pen together.

The section has a triangular appearance, reminiscent of a LAMY.  So, if you find a LAMY comfortable, then you'l find the Perkeo comfortable.

The two colourways that we have here are 'Bad Taste' in black/pink and 'Indian Summer' in black/gold.  Now, I appreciate that these are entry level fountain pens that retail for about £15.00 but I am not really attracted to the range of colours that the Perkeo is offered in.  I like Bad Taste, but Indian Summer is too mustardy for me.  But hey, different strokes for different folks, right?

Speaking of strokes, these pens came with different nib sizes (marked on the steel nibs): Indian Summer had a Medium nib and Bad Taste has a Fine nib.  I couldn't tell much difference, but then, I'm still a bit of a noob at this lark.

I can't tell the difference.
Don't look at my terrible paper.  DON'T LOOK, I TELL YOU!

At under £20 per pen, these are nice writers and will make great entry-level pens (or, indeed pens that you don't mind letting other people 'try').  They are capable of providing loads of ink with that spare cartridge option and are nice and light in the hand.

I'm not LOVING the colour schemes, but if someone gave me one, I'd be really happy to own a Kaweco Perkeo.

...and if Kaweco get back to me and the court jester has got nothing to do with this pen at all, I'm going to look really silly.  But YOU my friends, have got another bit of useless information for the next pub quiz.

Edit:  YES!  The lovely people at Kaweco have confirmed that this is the one and the same Perkeo that they named their pen after!  22/1/18

Diamine Ink | Hope Pink

Since the new LAMY is going to be vibrant pink, I thought I'd get myself a pink ink - just in case the LAMY one is too vibrant to read easily on white paper.

Diamine is my ink company of choice for lots of reasons:

1     They have a huge range of colours - including shimmer inks.
2     The bottles come in 30ml or 80ml sizes
3     The 30ml bottles are under £3.00
4     They are made in the UK

The ones that float my 'pink' boat are these ones:

Claret

Deep Magenta

Hope Pink

And as if that wasn't all splendid enough, Hope Pink raises money for Cancer Research when you buy it, so everybody wins!

I sent some questions off to Diamine about the ink.  Diamine said: "Hope Pink was introduced in 2009.   After the loss of a family member we thought it would be a nice idea to make a contribution to  cancer research for each bottle we sold through our website.

"Sadly, Pink is not one of our most popular colours, but pleased to say, to date, we have accrued £864.    We have taken the view that whichever is reached first, either the 10th Anniversary, or £1000 the cheque will be forwarded."

Isn't that a really worthwhile reason to buy a bottle of ink?!  Well, I HAD to buy it.

I recently ordered a bottle of Hope Pink in 30ml and have been pootering around with it with my brand spanky new dip pen (thank you Ania!) and gosh - aren't dip pens fabulous?

Here's some pix: Well, there would have been pix if I hadn't lost my Sony Cybershot somewhere.  Gutted.

Edit:  Found camera in most unexpected place in the car! Here are pix:

Pink can be sweet and powderpuffy, but this is most definitely the sort of pink that kicks ass.  If it was a flower, it would be a gerbera.

(Imagine pix of magnificently calligraphied alphabet, name, price, company, quick brown fox etc) :D

If you have a fountain-pen friend who needs a little hopeful pep in their pen, buy them a bottle of this.

What are you waiting for?

LAMY | Vibrant Pink

This li'l teaser video that I picked up via Goulet Pens about the imminent LAMY in vibrant pink really appealed to me.

LAMY already has a fountain pen in fuchsia pink, in their Safari range.  THIS new one is from their Al Star range.  This means that the new pen will have a shiny metallic body as opposed to the Safari's plastic finish.

I wonder whether that vibrant pink might deter as many people as it attracts - would you hesitate before whisking out your pink pen in a business meeting more than you would if it was, say, ultraviolet (THE Pantone colour of 2018, people)? But then, maybe a vibrant pink pen is just the thing to tempt a non-user of fountain pens into the fold? 

I've already got a Safari and an Al Star - do I need another one? 

Let's be frank with each other here.  NONE of us needs any more fountain pens.  BUT we WANT them.  And if you want a fountain pen, a LAMY AL Star is a very affordable habit to develop. So, YOU BETCHA, I'll be looking for one of these when it comes out! 

You will be able to buy it with a choice of nib - remember that LAMY also supply left-handed nibs if you are buying for a south paw like m'self.

There will be a vibrant pink ink to go with this pen and I'll be interested to see how useable that ink is.  I have got some vibrant green which I simply cannot use because it's so difficult to read against a pale page.  Will the pink be easier on the eye?

What do you think of the bright pink?