Pelikan M620 New York

After getting the Grand Place and Piccadilly Circus pens from Pelikan’s M620 Cities series, I had my sights set on the soft stripey blues of the Place de la Concorde. But then this turned up: Emulating the chunky celluloids of an earlier era, this barrel material is pretty unique for Pelikan. I’d always appreciated the...

Pilot Vanishing Point Moonlight LE (2018)

Now this is a finish worthy of its rarity! The Moonlight was a limited Japanese release of 2018, and came paired with Tsuki-yo in a special box. I can’t find any other information about it, whether it’s a limited-time run or a limited number of them. There’s another this year, the Deep Sea, which came with...

Platinum Standard Maki-e: Cranes with Mt. Fuji

Maki-e and a springy 18k gold nib for less than $100? Yes please! Okay, I have to admit, I got it on sale. Still, Platinum’s “Standard” line actually encompasses three different model numbers (PTL-12000, PTL-15000 and PTL-20000), but I cannot tell what the differences are. Mine is from the 12000 line and the design is called...