Who Watches the Watchmen (Our Chit Chat Thread)

Thirdfox wrote: »

I have Caran D'Ache pens that I use all the time - fountain pens no longer that much so I got some nicely constructed ballpoint and rollerballs:

Here's a solid silver ecridor ballpoint (the weight is lovely to twirl around on the fingers):


And the latest one I got was a varius ivanhoe (which a lovely engraved message from MsThirdfox on the cap):


None were purchased at rrp thankfully but all were NIB - I guess I see the point of buying new for some things at least

Oh you baxtard... I get my bonus next month along with my birthday...

James Bond Junior wrote: »

Oh you baxtard... I get my bonus next month along with my birthday...

The ecridor can be had pretty cheaply if it's just the rhodium plated brass version (it really depends on whether you like the hexagonal barrel or not) - and if you truly just want it as a utilitarian writing instrument a new plastic one only costs €15 I think. Ballpoints can't really compare to the rollerball though.

Pen Corner on College Green is great for refills and seeing their selection - I try to support the local pen shop if at all possible.

I got a gift of a Montblanc Starwalker Fineliner before too and while it was pretty to look at I just get a feeling MB lay it on with their "precious resin" i.e. plastic - advertising a bit too much. It is very pretty and writes very well but I'm a Caran D'Ache guy at heart:



For the same price as the starwalker fineliner in "black precious resin" you can get the solid silver ecridor. I think it's more the description of the resin that bugs me more than the design etc. Same when MsThirdfox was looking at some Chanel earrings (pretty yes) but also made in "precious resin" :pac: - so they were €120 for a pair of plastic earrings? Got a lovely pair of Tahitian black pearl earrings for €135 instead - I guess I just can't value plastic that highly no matter how precious it is

Oh btw - the Ivanhoe in stainless steel was purchased off adverts.ie for around €75 sealed in box - a massive discount off RRP so it doesn't need to break the bank to have a "luxury" pen - writes beautifully - my boss even commented on the pen once in the office when she had to sign some documents and said she loved the feel of the instrument.

I'd be worried about purchasing a MB pen even sealed in box on adverts because plastic is so much easier to fake than the intricate metalwork on the Caran D'Ache.

My MB 1480 and the cheaper than chips manuscript. My wife bought me the Mont Blanc for Christmas and I use it every day of the week in work. My seamaster thrown in just to keep on topic slightly. I love the whole pomp about it, from unscrewing the cap to the flow as you write. It always gets a mention in meetings.
Men here wear a dishdasha, a full length gown with a seam/button up from the neck to the mid chest. It is totally plain and unassuming so men wear a pen in the seam as a statement of importance and peacockery. The more elaborate and ornate the pen the better so many have the MB star poking out of their dishdasha. An ornate or chunky watch is also a statement piece, Audemar Pigeut being a very popular choice as well as Breitling and of course a Rolex but I see Rolex on women here far more than men.



I wanted to change the nib to a broad one and was quoted about €400 so I politely declined.

[IMG][/img]

Here is my Seamaster in its intended location, a very warm Arabian Sea.

[IMG][/img]

Started looking at fountain pens again myself last time they were discussed but never got around to buying anything. Had a cheap Parker fountain when I was young and later found a very nice refillable Parker with a gold nib in my granny's that I was let have. Not sure how old it was but at least early 70's if not 60's Used it for a lot of secondary school. I did break the nib at one stage and could only afford to replace it with a basic one! No idea where it ended up I was given a cross ballpoint as a present at some stage and used that for my leaving and all the way through college.

Was just going to pick up a basic Parker and get the re-filler. Is there any other brands I should consider? There was an asian make mentioned last time but I can't find the post's. Don't want spend a fortune. The height of my writing these days is shopping lists and signing the odd form. I really should practice a bit more it was never the best to begin with and is really going to pot. I do like to have a nice pen around though that I know is mine and the rest of the family won't disappear it!

I have Montblanc glasses, can I join in?
Or do I need a separate category?

I do have a gold cross somewhere that my stepdad won as a prize from the listowel writers fest back in the '80s...

So that is a semi-fancy pen? Yeah?
Glasses, check!
Pen, maybe!
Dishdaq, I've ordered 1 as it's for more appropriate than Homer's mumu :pac:

James Bond Junior wrote: »

Good man Banie! Always enjoy your posts! I'd love to wear one, they look seriously comfy! I'd get some quare looks around Aldi in Roxboro though!

Luckily I'm a Northside, so it'll be Lidl or Dunnes on the Ennis rd for me

I actually must have a hunt for the pens now tho, he won quite a few of them back in the day and better to use them or give them to someone who will, rather than leave them in the attic.

Thirdfox wrote: »

I loved my Cross fountain pen too - wrote very well but my penmanship is awful (though as a lawyer that might be useful for evidentiary purposes :pac: - that's what I joke about my doctor friends too in terms of their notes).

Today since I do take pages of notes I found the rollerball better for quicker writing and not having a need to wait for ink to dry before moving on to the next page. And I definitely found that a better pen (not necessarily an expensive or ornate one) can lead to both a more pleasurable writing experience and just better writing form since the ink flows better across the page. Goliath pen refills from Ecridor is nice too since they have around 500 A4 pages of ink in each cartridge.

I'm a teacher by trade and I ordered a box of pilot disposable fountain pens for my 6th class students a few years ago. They were using predominantly those horrible blue bic pens with the 4 colours built in. Their handwriting improved hugely when moving from a roller ball to a fountain. IMO bic have single handedly ruined the worlds collective handwriting with invention of the ballpoint.

redlead wrote: »

Jesus lads, I'm going to have to buy a pen now. Some of the pics thrown up here look the business. I always struggled with fountain pens because even though I'm right handed, I position my hand like a lefty so end up smudging all the writing. Is there such a thing a quick drying ink that would solve that or is that just a completely stupid question and ball points are my lot?

I got the diary shown in my picture in Easons when I was home at Christmas. Nice thick paper.

Hammer?

This may cause other irreparable issues though.

As in the screw down crown is stuck? Probably pinched the gasket from over torque or cross threaded. If there isn’t a huge crown guard I’d say some kind of rubber to protect it like a piece of bicycle inner tube and a needle nosed pliers.

david wrote: »

As in the screw down crown is stuck? Probably pinched the gasket from over torque or cross threaded. If there isn’t a huge crown guard I’d say some kind of rubber to protect it like a piece of bicycle inner tube and a needle nosed pliers.

No, it's a traditional pull crown. The screw is the internal one that prevents the crown/stem been removed from the case. And you need to remove them to be able to remove the movement from the case.

blue5000 wrote: »

Any pics or what make is it. If it's a Seiko there's a metal flap that you push, that's on a 7s26.

It's an unmarked movement but likely to be a landeron 52 I reckon. So about 50 years old!
The screw is seized and I need to get it unseized!

micks_address wrote: »

Must be a correlation between people who like watches and writing pens... My writing is awful and as I've a career using a computer all day most of my communication is via typing... I blame that for my mostly illegible writing..

I reckon I should have been a doctor given the state of my handwriting.

redlead wrote: »

I think that has a big part to play. Now being honest, my writing was always bad but you could read it. Because I've written so little since leaving college which is about 13 years ago, it's absolutely diabolical now. I struggle to read it myself. There would be no chance of anyone else being able to read it. When my son starts to learn how to write I might have to join along :-P

It actually makes it hard for professional exams I'm still taking - in the US they moved to being able to use a computer for answering exam papers which makes a lot of sense - my typing speed is probably at least 2x my handwriting speed.

And beneficial for the examiner too to be able to read what was written on the paper (though that would depend on if the examinee wanted to their answer to be clearly read or not :pac: )

Cyrus wrote: »

Seeing as we are on pens, i got this MB at christmas having trialled a relatively expensive parker for a year to make sure i wouldnt lose it.

I really like it but my hand writing is gick as well. This one has a matte finish so you dont get the scratches and a trick magnetic cap.

i put it on my lv wallet for extra ponce points

Ok wallets is something i can get on board with.. anyone good suggestions for lots of cards and not to bulky..

Just to get things back on topic. Two of Japan's finest exports. My tool of choice (the Casio F91 of the pen world) and well patina'd Ace Hotel Midori Traveller's notebook. Just to take the ponciness to another level, my preferred refill is squared 64 GSM Shiraoi Japanese paper in edokosome white-cream.

Big fan of my secrid, have mine must be nearly 10 years old now. It's still in pretty good nick considering the use it gets. I'd buy another in the morning if it broke. Have the one without the press stud makes it a bit slimmer. Can take a lot more cards than you think, need to do a cull every now and then though I have a few gift cards from Christmas bulking it out now that I can't spend!

James Bond Junior wrote: »

Another note to encourage the secrid, I had mild back discomfort which disappeared when I got the secrid. Apparently sitting on a stuffed wallet in your back pocket wreaks havoc with the back and spine over the years. Also my cards don't break anymore.

I stopped keeping mine in my back pocket for this reason. The secrid is compact enough to keep in a front pocket. Definitely used to notice it on long drives if I left it in my back pocket.

I have the same LV card holder as Cyrus but in a different finish. It's better than secrid in every way except price, the main benefit is that its more practical to take cards out of and is around the same size as a secrid. That whole RFID blocking thing is all marketing anyway, i tried holding my wallet up to the card reader in work and it won't read them through the leather.