Pen World v26.5

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$6.95US $7.95CAN

AUGUST 2013

The Universe of Writing Culture

Classic Pens andPaul Rossi:

out of thisworld

David Oscarson honorsfellow Swede

Carl Linnaeus

inksto keep your pens

humming

“passion is our excellence”

C A R B O N G R A F I T E

Limited Edition of 930 fountain pens and 930 rollerball pensUnidirectional carbongrafite material18 Chrome Tubular Smartouch nibRetractable cartridge or converter filling systemRetractable Carbongrafite case

USA Distributor:Coles of London LLC - 8510 McAlpine Park Drive, Suite 107- Charlotte, NC 28211 - Tel: 561 620 3022 - [email protected] - www.colesoflondon.com

www.visconti.it

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the pen and ink linkHow to find the inks that work best withyour pens.

express yourself!Ink color can be a visual tool or a meansof self-expression.

what’s in store?Shopping in a brick-and-mortar pen storeoffers a unique experience.

it’s a naturalPenmaker David Oscarson goes once againto his Swedish roots for inspiration.

the art of ArtusA Russian company is creating a stiramong art pen lovers.

natural beautySwiss maker Von Moos uses the fruits ofPlanet Earth to produce luxury pens.

paean to ParkerA pillar of American penmaking celebratesa milestone: Parker at 125.

return to lever-landGo back in time to the land of the lever-filler and its plethora of variations.

universal truthClassic Pens Inc. and Paul Rossi offer you the moon...and the stars and the planets.

VOLUME 26, NUMBER 5ON OUR COVER:LR6 Planets and LR7Moonlight by Classic PensInc. and Paul Rossi

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WHAT’S HOT NOW

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viewso many words, so little time

mail our readers speak

newspeople, places and events

now new pens and other products

date mark your calendar

notefavorite things

shopVienna, Austria

strokesHeather Victoria Held

testVisconti Opera Smartouch

networkclassified advertising

source guide to products and services

imhowords to live by

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Catalog Requests Call 1-800-624-PENS Shop Online: www.FahrneysPens.com Visit our Retail Store: 1317 F St. NW

Fahrney’s Exclusive!

Visit Us at the DC Pen SuperShow Sat. & Sun. August 10th & 11th

Thomas Jefferson Limited Edition

Poplar Knife

Feel the presence of our nation’s early history in your pocket! Fahrney’s presents the second in its series of exclusive limited edition knives custom-made by the

artisans at William Henry Studio. The handsome knife is inlaid with the natural wood from a Tulip Poplar tree

widely believed to have been planted by Thomas Jefferson at his beloved Virginia home, Monticello.

Fine details on the Jefferson knife include the intricately hand-carved frame in sterling silver and the damascus steel blade. Limited to 50 pieces. Please call us or visit

our website for more details.

With every issue of PW, I growmore respectful (and morein awe) of the vast well of

information we have from which todraw. I have stopped trying to explainwhen some hapless new acquaintance,upon finding out what I do, asks how wecan possibly fill a magazine—an entiremagazine!—with material about writinginstruments. I just laugh and show thema copy. I tell them that I’ve been associ-ated with the magazine in one form orother for eighteen of its twenty-six years,and one problem we have never had is alack of things to write about.

First, there’s the long history ofwriting instruments and a huge varietyof materials, mechanisms, processes andhuman interest stories inherent to eachone. You’ll find plenty along those linesin this issue, including articles byRichard Binder on lever-fillers and byBarry Robinson on the 125th anniversaryof Parker Pen. Our testers try Visconti’sSmartouch nib, inspired by the Parker51 nibs of the past.

Then there’s the creativity of today’spenmakers and their myriad sources ofinspiration. In this issue alone, you’llfind pens inspired by the moon and theplanets (our handsome cover pens by

Classic Pens and Paul Rossi), a world-famous botanist from the eighteenthcentury (David Oscarson’s homage toCarl Linnaeus), and rare woods andprecious stones (luxury pens by VonMoos of Switzerland), and everythingfrom religious iconography to naturescenes (Artus).

And then of course there’s thequestion of where to purchase finewriting instruments: SamHettiarachichi takes us shopping inVienna, and June Kasperski Wild com-pares in-store and online shopping.

Of course, pen lovers are interestednot just in pens but with all manner ofwriting equipment and supplies. Weoffer help in choosing fountain pen ink,and Julian H. Kreeger examines inkpreferences. Deborah Basel continuesher series on calligraphers with HeatherVictoria Held.

Considering all that, we’d have tosay that finding something to writeabout is the least of our worries! It is athrill and a privilege to be part of thiscreative environment. It nourishes mysoul—and I hope it does yours.

view

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So many words...

[email protected]

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ittle

Although it is quite possible todesign and produce pens as alone wolf—and some penmak-

ers have done so very successfully—Andreas “Andy” Lambrou often prefersto work with others as a way of com-bining strengths. He carefully choosesworking partners from among thosecompanies and artists he respects, withthe hope that together they will bemore than the sum of their parts. Onesuch partnership is with the artist PaulRossi, with whom Lambrou will launcha new collection in August.

Lambrou first met Rossi at the1991 Los Angeles Pen Show—Lambrou’s first in the United States. Atthe time, Lambrou was living andworking in England and had estab-lished a thriving pen repair service. Hewas at the show to search for parts. “Aslim man, who dressed and looked likea typical artist, approached our table,”Lambrou recalls. He was, of course,Paul Rossi. They ended up tradingsome pens, and Lambrou remembersbeing impressed by Rossi’s knowledgeof pen design.

Rossi grew up in the small townof Solothurn, Switzerland, and servedan apprenticeship from 1964 to 1968as a toolmaker before coming to theUnited States in 1973. “I likedAmerican things,” he tells PW. “Idrove a Pontiac and Oldsmobile”—brands that in Switzerland were asprestigious as Lexus and Mercedes arein the United States. Once in thestates, he got a job in a machine shopmaking, among other things, proto-types of parts for the aerospaceindustry.

Classic Pens Inc. and Paul Rossiteam up once again.

The LR6 Planets with the “sun” in yellow pearlinlaid at the top of the cap.

Pocketlanets in Your

BY LAURA CHANDLER

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But his artisticnature soon tookover and he beganmaking jewelry. By theearly 1990s, Rossi, whogrew up using and lovinghigh quality writing instru-ments, was beginning to tryhis hand with pens, first creatingintricate metal overlays withParker Duofolds as the base pens.He was quickly “discovered” by theburgeoning fountain pen community,and began making pens for privateclients, a few retailers and for himself.From the beginning, he decided to remainan independent artist, enjoying the free-dom to pick and choose his projects.

Lambrou was impressed with hiswork and asked him to design and maketwo filigree overlays in exchange for aBreitling watch Rossi had admired at apen show but which was beyond his means at the time. In1998, Rossi had the pens delivered to Lambrou, who wasextremely pleased with the work. In 2000, Lambrou movedto Los Angeles, California, not far from Rossi’s home, andsoon afterwards suggested that they collaborate on a collec-tion of silver filigree designs for Lambrou’s newly formedU.S. company, Classic Pens Inc.

Classic Pens showed examples of Rossi’s work to ParkerPen officials and asked permission to use the Duofold asthe base pen for the LR collection—the “LR” signifyingLambrou–Rossi (Lambrou consistently attaches the initials

of his partners totheir joint proj-

ects). With Parker’sblessing, they pro-

ceeded to make fiveoverlay designs on the

Duofold, which was thenavailable not only in black

but also in jade green, jasperred and lapis lazuli. The color

of the base pen was chosen tocomplement the designs, which

were, in chronological order, theEagle Chief, featuring an Indian chief

in full headdress; the Harvest, withwheat and morning glories; the

Woodland Oak, with leaves and acorns;the Muse, inspired by the face of awoman from ancient Greek mythology;and the Alaska, featuring a family ofeagles. Requiring 120 man-hours of workfrom Rossi, the Alaska turned out to be

one of his most elaborate creations. The pens werelaunched in 2001 at the Los Angeles International PenShow. Ten pieces in each design were offered, and it tookRossi four years to create them.

No sooner had he finished than the two began a newproject that resulted in the creation of two new pen modeldesigns that Classic Pens has used extensively—the trade-marked Legend and the Mythos. Lambrou and Rossi alsojointly created the Classic Pens necktie-shaped clip and thecompany logo. The logo’s two diamond shapes joined at thetip “represent the positive relationship between Classic

The LR7 Moonlight. The gold stars interspersed among the silver stars willremain bright, while those in silver will lose some of their brightness and

develop an attractive patina.

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Pens and its working partners, be it individual artists orinternational pen manufacturers,” says Lambrou.

The new collection is an extension of the 2001 silver fil-igree designs on the Duofold and the 2007 Jupiter pen, cre-ated on the Legend pen body. The Jupiter, in dark blue dif-fusion bonded acrylic, featured inlay work by Rossi in aseries of 100. The two new designs—called the LR6 Planetsand the LR7 Moonlight—use diffusion bonded acrylic inSpace Blue on the oversize Mythos model, which is 6 incheslong when closed, although customers will also be able toorder it in 5.8- and 6.25-inch sizes. To maintain a consistentdistance between the end of the clip and the top of the capband, the width of the cap band will vary: it will be 8 mmwide on the 5.8-inch pen, 9 mm on the 6-inch pen and 10mm on the 6.25-inch pen. Rossi makes the pen bodies,including the clip, and does the inlay work.

The Planets, with sterling silver trim, is to be alimited edition of fifty pieces available in achoice of fountain pen and rollerball/ball-point for $3,750. Additional writingunits, either fountain pen or roller-ball/ballpoint, may be purchasedfor $450 so that users can havea three-in-one writing instru-ment. Each piece will behand-signed and hand-num-bered by Rossi.

The Moonlight is alsocreated on the large Mythospen style at 6 inches. The UrsaMajor and Ursa Minor constel-

lations are depicted on the cap in silver stars;smaller silver stars are also inlaid in the cap

and barrel. On the barrel, the moon is repre-sented with an inlay, and an intricate over-

lay on the barrel depicts rocks and trees.To complete the nighttime scene, someIndigo Fire acrylic has been inlaid todepict the sea, and the effect is that ofthe moon’s reflection in the water. Theclip has been carved in a rock pattern.

The Moonlight, also offered in achoice of fountain pen or roller/ballpoint

writing units, will carry a retail price tag of$6,750. As with the Planets, additional writing

units are available at $450. The Moonlight is lim-ited to twenty-five hand-signed and hand-num-

bered pieces. The difference in pricing between the Planets and the

Moonlight is a reflection not so much of the additional sil-ver required to make the overlays—sterling silver isn’t thatexpensive—but of the time required to make them.Whereas a Planets pen requires thirty-five man hours tocomplete, the Moonlight requires almost double that: sixty-five man-hours. “Mistakes cost time,” says Rossi. Heexplains that a flub made while turning a pen can be recti-fied quickly, but a mistake in an overlay usually meansstarting all over—and losing whatever time has alreadybeen invested in the work.

Besides requiring lots of time, making the overlays callsfor a certain calmness in his surroundings. This is whereRossi’s independence as an artist has paid off: he can take ononly the projects he likes. He does all of the machine workat the machine shop where he was first employed. Aside

Previous Lambrou-Rossicollaborations, as seen in PW, June2001: the Eagle Chief (above) and theHarvest, Woodland Oak, Muse andAlaska (below, left to right)

Evolution of a DesignMost pen designs go through numerous changes on their way from

concept to finished product. The same is true of the LR6 Planets.The Planets started out with a different name—the Galaxy—in

a blue acrylic called Indigo Fire, which represented the Milky Way. Six“planets” were inlaid—Venus and Mercury were shown on the cap in

gold and green, respectively; Jupiter, in red, was located below the clipon the barrel, which also featured Earth in light blue, Neptune in olive

and Uranus in light mauve. The constellation Pegasus can be seen on thebarrel in gold stars—other stars are in silver.

But Lambrou and Rossi decided to use a different acrylic, Space Blue. Sincethe acrylic no longer resembled the Milky Way, the pen’s name was changed from

Galaxy to Planets. Five planets are shown on the second version, with Neptuneand Uranus being eliminated, Mars being added in light brown and Earth taking the

prominent position directly under the clip held by Jupiter on the first proof.

The third and final proof was changed in only one respect: Mars, since it is the red planet,is now represented in red pearl.

But wait! There’s more. Since PW first spoke to Lambrou and Rossi, the decision wasmade to add Saturn on the barrel and the sun on the cap top. To make space for Saturn, thePegasus constellation on the barrel was replaced with the smaller Orion. The six planets onthe pen body will be inlaid relative to their distance from the sun: Mercury and Venus on thecap, and Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn on the barrel.

Lambrou reports that the diffusion-bonded acrylic will experience none of the shrinkageassociated with regular acrylics.

from that, he says, “I can work at home, listen to music and smoke my pipe,”allowing that, at age sixty-four, his vision isn’t what it used to be and heworks for shorter stretches at a time.

Does he have any plans to retire? “Artists don’t retire,” he replies. “Aslong as they have ideas, they can create.”

It doesn’t seem likely that there will be any dearth of ideas from eitherAndy Lambrou or Paul Rossi—and that is good news, indeed. It means thatwe can look forward to much more from them in the future, whether indi-vidually, as a team or in partnership with others.

Three views of the finalartist’s proof for the LR6 Planets. In thisvariation, the yellow pearlrepresenting the sun isbonded to the top of thecap rather than inlaid, asin the version on p. 52.

First artist’s proof

Third artist’s proof

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