New Fountain Pen for ML

My lovely wife was browsing the internet and came across an Xezo Maestro Abalone Sea Shell Fountain pen. We have never heard of this company. They market themselves as a Swiss luxury company. Xezo.com


ML thought the pen was beautiful and decided to order one.  Turns out it was a limited production so she found a "used" one at Amazon.  While at Amazon she read reviews and all agreed it writes wet and to order a smaller nib than what you usually use.

It arrived today. The pen is number 418 of 500. It looks really nice. The box is real leather mock alligator and opens in the middle.



It came with a converter and 4 cartridges.

The pen is 8 sided with a veneer of the mother of pearl. But it is lacquered into a smooth round barrel.


It screws both to close and to post.


The reviewers were correct. ML picked a 14 kt gold nib in Fine. It leaves a thick wet line. It is incredibly smooth. The writing sample below is from me but as a lefty I could not routinely use it.


ML is delighted with this new acquisition.

The pen is beautiful, Phil, and I can see why Mary Lou was attracted to it. When posted, is it top heavy?

That pen is a gem.
As a fountain pen user for over 50 years I can not help drooling.
Your wife has exceptional taste.

Mickey

That pen is a gem.
As a fountain pen user for over 50 years I can not help drooling.
Your wife has exceptional taste.

Mickey

Mickey Oberman, do you have many fountain pens? I love them and, like you, have been using them for more than 50 years. PhilNH5 and his wife have some beautiful pens.

Freddy,

I have some fountain pens but never intentionally collected them.
I started when my first client, an old friend and a lawyer read my very first title search. He said, 'Mickey, this is perfect as it should be but look at my hands and French cuffs.' Little blue blobs all over.

That weekend I went pen hunting - fountain pen hunting. I found a little old antique shop that had about two dozen identical unused pens under a glass case. Five dollars and that beautiful little Parker Vacumatic was mine. We were together until two years after I retired. I was writing a letter and it hemorrhaged. I panicked as one may do when an old friend becomes ill.
I could not find a repair shop in Toronto nor, indeed, any pen shop so I started buying cheap pens from China. They were good pens and rather gaudy but not my Vacumatic.

Then I discovered a newly born pen shop in Toronto called Wonder Pens. It was started by a young couple, Liz and Jon Chan, working out of their apartment. Liz listened to my tale of woe and suggested what she thought would ideally meet my needs - a Lamy Safari. It was perfect. I still use it as my everyday pen.
It is a very unorthodox pen in configuration and versatility, considering its $32 price.
The Chan's have since expanded their location twice and their family by a baby and a kitten.
They have a large following of happy writers.

The Parker was eventually repaired by Danny Fudge of The Write Pen, an excellent pen doctor in Nebraska and it is still used daily at my desk.

I made a display rack for what had become a pen collection that included some old pens that I used when I did layouts for a newspaper and a couple of stick pens. But it is too small so is kept in a drawer.

By the way, I was so impressed by PhilNH5's beautiful pen that I spent several hours on the internet and placed an order for one. Impulse buying undoubtedly. That is unlike me but I could not resist.

Mickey

P.S.
I wish I still had the Waterman pen that was my "Today I am a fountain pen." pen. But that has vanished long ago.

Hi Mickey,
This is Mary Lou, Phil's wife. I am delighted that you liked my pen so much you spent several happy hours searching for a new acquisition for yourself.     (uh oh, am I becoming an enabler like Freddy? LOL)  

I love this pen! When I ordered it, I was worried it would be rough on my fingers due to the octagonal shape. I was very happy to see that it is covered in a thick, clear lacquer that makes it round and smooth like a regular pen. It has a nice heft with or without posting it. I love that the cap screws on to post as well. I have a few others that the cap falls off when I write. I like to write with posted pens. Fortunately, I read many reviews before I purchased it. It is a very wet pen and a reviewer said to buy a smaller nib than you write with. I am glad I did! I usually prefer writing with a medium nib so I ordered a fine. I am so glad I did because  the fine writes like all my mediums.

Phil said he was mistaken in the make of the nib. It is a stainless steel nib with gold plating and an iridium tip. Whatever it is, it writes like a dream. I filled it with blue Quink ink and it writes like a knife through warm butter. Some people have had a little difficulty with their nibs. The company is very good about replacing it if you need to. However, someone also posted that Goulet sells a JoWo #6 nib for about $15 that fits perfectly. So if the pen you get writes too thick a line, isn't smooth, or you just want additional width nibs, you can always get the replacement at Goulet. They say is pulls out very easily when you replace it.

The picture really does not do it justice! It is  a really beautiful pen! Let me know what you think about yours when you get it and please post pics.

Mary Lou

Freddy,

I have some fountain pens but never intentionally collected them.
I started when my first client, an old friend and a lawyer read my very first title search. He said, 'Mickey, this is perfect as it should be but look at my hands and French cuffs.'    Little blue blobs all over.

That weekend I went pen hunting - fountain pen hunting.  I found a little old antique shop that had about two dozen identical unused pens under a glass case. Five dollars and that beautiful little Parker Vacumatic was mine. We were together until two years after I retired. I was writing a letter and it hemorrhaged. I panicked as one may do when an old friend becomes ill.
I could not find a repair shop in Toronto nor, indeed, any pen shop so I started buying cheap pens from China. They were good pens and rather gaudy but not my Vacumatic.

Then I discovered a newly born pen shop in Toronto called Wonder Pens. It was started by a young couple, Liz and Jon Chan, working out of their apartment.  Liz listened to my tale of woe and suggested what she thought would ideally meet my needs - a Lamy Safari.  It was perfect. I still use it as my everyday pen.
It is a very unorthodox pen in configuration and versatility, considering its $32 price.
The Chan's have since expanded their location twice and their family by a baby and a kitten.  
They have a large following of happy writers.

The Parker was eventually repaired by Danny Fudge of The Write Pen, an excellent pen doctor in Nebraska and it is still used daily at my desk.

I made a display rack for what had become a pen collection that included some old pens that I used when I did layouts for a newspaper and a couple of stick pens. But it is too small so is kept in a drawer.

By the way, I was so impressed by PhilNH5's beautiful pen that I spent several hours on the internet and placed an order for one. Impulse buying undoubtedly. That is unlike me but I could not resist.

Mickey

P.S.
I wish I still had the Waterman pen that was my "Today I am a fountain pen." pen. But that has vanished long ago.

Hi Mickey,

As I was reading your post, I feared that you wouldn't repair that Vacumatic.  I am so glad that you did.  I have one and it writes so smoothly.  I have a lot of modern pens, including a Lamy Vista, which is the demonstrator (clear plastic) model of the Safari.  Some I love, like my TWSBI models.  They are just amazing.  However, if I am going to be honest, the ones I hold dearest are my vintage pens.  I have a couple of modern Conklin Crescent fillers but they simply do not hold a candle to my 1920s original Conklin Crescents when they were still made in their original home of Toledo, Ohio.  They have gold flex nibs and are a treat to write with.  I have one Mont Blanc Meisterstuck 146 that was given to me as a gift about 25 years ago and while it is a classic beauty, it is not one of my favorites and I rarely use it.  Other vintage favorites that I do use are my Esterbrooks from the 1930s to the early 1950s.  While not considered posh, they are fantastic workhorses and have a simple build.  Even clutzy me has been able to make simple repairs on them such as replacing the sac and J-bar.  Also, the concept of nib replacement on them is simple but ingeneous for its time.  I also have one or two Sheaffer Snorkels and while fun (the gaget lover in me is fascinated with them) they really don't hold much ink.  I could go on but you get the idea.

As for my "Today I am a Fountain Pen", I didn't get one and the photographer took a photo of me holding a bunch of cheap 10-cent ball point pens.  Even at 13 years of age I knew I was getting ripped off.      When I was in high school (about 1962-1963), I bought my first one, a Parker 45 that I still have.

Mary Lou (PhilNH5), how can you possibly think I'm an enabler?    That pen really is gorgeous.  Of your daily writers, which one is your favorite?  I switch among my TWSBIs quite a bit but also like to use my Esterbrooks.

Very nice pen - did it come with a piston or just the cartridges?

My lovely wife was browsing the internet and came across an Xezo Maestro Abalone Sea Shell Fountain pen. We have never heard of this company. They market themselves as a Swiss luxury company. Xezo.com


ML thought the pen was beautiful and decided to order one.  Turns out it was a limited production so she found a "used" one at Amazon.  While at Amazon she read reviews and all agreed it writes wet and to order a smaller nib than what you usually use.

It arrived today. The pen is number 418 of 500. It looks really nice. The box is real leather mock alligator and opens in the middle.



It came with a converter and 4 cartridges.

The pen is 8 sided with a veneer of the mother of pearl. But it is lacquered into a smooth round barrel.


It screws both to close and to post.


The reviewers were correct. ML picked a 14 kt gold nib in Fine. It leaves a thick wet line. It is incredibly smooth. The writing sample below is from me but as a lefty I could not routinely use it.


ML is delighted with this new acquisition.

Curious being left handed myself, why could not use this lovely pen routinely?

Very nice pen - did it come with a piston or just the cartridges?

It came with a converter as well. ML installed it and inked it up by time I took the pictures.


Phil