Tilburg Pen Show 2014

Here's just a quick recap with some photos of this year's Tilburg Pen Show in the Netherlands. I had a great time, met some amazing people, and emptied my wallet (with ease)!

I wasn't kidding when I said my wallet was empty afterwards!

I bought a few pens, including the Delta Journal pictured above and a Kaweco sketchUp Acrylic leadholder. I also traded a pen for a matte black Kaweco Allrounder. Something I couldn't include in the pictures is my first ever Esterbrook. Some parts had to be replaced, so it's currently with a Belgian Pen repairer (Penmeister?). Some people might know him by the name 'Fountainbel', that's right, the designer of the Conid pens! Oh! And I almost forgot to mention the limited edition P.W. Akkerman ink Frank from Fontoplumo gave me! Thanks Frank!

Tilburg isn't a huge show, however the location is pretty cool (In the middle of the Tilburg Museum for Natural History!) And it's filled to the brim with pen addicts like us! I met a lot of cool people: retailers like Fontoplumo, La Couronne Du Comte, even our very own Belgian pen brand, Conid! And this year was even more special, because I had the chance to meet Azizah (from Gourmetpens) AND Stephen Brown (from SBRE Brown)!

La Couronne Du Comte's table, as jaw-dropping as always!

Werner from Conid demonstrating their awesome filling mechanism!

A Conid Bulkfiller

The Marlen Distributors! (notice the person on the right who conveniently hid underneath his magnifying glasses!)

Staedtler Digital Pen 2.0

I had heard of this kind of pens before, and I've always been quite fascinated by them. But I never actually took the plunge and got one. Until today! Staedtler sent me one of their new Digital pens (version 2) to try out! 

inexPENsive - Uni-ball Eye needlepoint pen

I'm not a huge fan of gel ink pens, nor am I an expert on them, so bare with me while I try to explain why I -quite unexpected - like this pen!

First of all, it writes! Really, if you're me, that's allready quite an achievement! For some reason, this kind of pens never works longer than ten minutes in my hands. So yeah, it writes... really good actually! The flow is nice and consistent, the thick 1mm tip provides a lot of ink and it does so without skipping (phew!) The ink itself is nice and dark.

It's definitely not the prettiest of cheap pens, but the build quality is very good. The plastic is sturdy and the clip is easy to use. The barrel and top of the cap are colour coded, so it's easy to see which colour you're holding.

Another reason why I like this pen is the tip. It's a needlepoint design, which makes it easy to see what you are writing. I wouldn't recommend it for technical drawing though. The ink doesn't dry very fast so your technical plans could end up in a mess! It isn't the most precise tip either, the 1mm width is quite unusual for a needlepoint. If you're into very fine writers, this one won't be your cup of tea!

As a daily writer however, this pen is a very good choice. It writes nice and smooth, and it's quite a comfortable pen to hold!

Price: 2,5 Euros / 3 USDollars or less!

Pelikan Souverän M805

Some of you might remember the review of the Visconti Wall Street I did a couple of months ago. At that time, it was most definitely the prettiest and best writer I had ever used. But the Visconti's days of being the ultimate grail pen seem to be over, because a new piece has entered the collection: the Pelikan Souverän M805!

L-INK #7 (9-09-2014)

Grumbacher sketching 4B and charcoal pencils - A Penchant for Paper

Titanium Madmaxco Bolt action pen - Clicky Post

Lamy Scribble - Bleistift

Zebra Sharbo X LT3 multipen - Edjelley

J Herbin Café des îles ink - A Fool With a Pen

A collection: ACME Crayon rollerballs - From the Pen Cup

Montblanc Heritage 1912 - FPGeeks

Serious Nibbage: Noodler's Neponset - GourmetPens

What's your opinion on Pen Brands - Inkophile

Monteverde Jewelria and Stipula Sepia - Ink Nouveau

Parker Duofold Ivorine fountain pen - No Pen Intended

Nock Co X Dudek Idea Dock - OfficeSupplyGeek

Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen - On Fountain Pens

Staedtler Neon Wopexen - Pencil Revolution

TWSBI Vac 700 fountain pen - Pen and Design

Jinhao X750 fountain pen revisited - PenInkCillin

Misubishi Hi-Uni Pencil - Pens! Paper! Pencils!

Midori Traveler's Notebook: an Introduction - Pen Paper Ink Letter

Doane Paper Garage series pocket Notebooks - The Finer Point

J Herbin Lierre Sauvage Ink - The Penaddict

Montblanc Daniel Defoe ink - The Unroyal Warrant

Noodler's Ahab Flex fountain pen - The Well-Appointed Desk

Monteverde Tool Fountain pen - Write To Me Often 

Platinum Pen Company Interview - Cultpens Blog 
(Together with 20 percent off all Platinum items!, no affilate)

Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth 5312 Leadholder

Some people might think I'm crazy for collecting leadholders without ever using them for sketching or drawing, but I just can't get enough of them! I love to use them for writing, and there's something special about them that always gets me into buying another one... Like this one, the Koh-I-Noor 5312 5.6mm leadholder!