Sunday, November 22, 2009

De Atramentis Inks Now Available at the Pear Tree Pen Company

You know there must be something special going on if there are 3 posts in a month on this blog - but it must be extraordinary if there are 2 posts in two days. And it is. I am very excited to announce that the Pear Tree Pen Company now carries De Atramentis fountain pen inks. I was first introduced to this wonderful range of bottled ink a few years ago, and was instantly impressed. Finding them in the U.S., however, proved to be a Herculean task. Recently that all changed and I'm thrilled that De Atramentis Fountain Pen Inks are, at long last, available in the United States - and at the Pear Tree Pen Company.

If you haven't heard of this brand of hand made inks from Germany, you are in for a real treat. Extraordinarily popular in Europe and known for their excellent flow, as well as their broad range of colors and scents (how about an ink that smells like patchouli?), De Atramentis Fountain Pen Ink is hand-made by Dr. Franz-Josef Jansen in Hardert, Germany. Dr. Jansen runs a gallery there for Asian art and everything else to make a calligrapher's heart jump. In addition to traditional handmade fountain pen ink, Dr. Jansen's De Atramentis brand offers a smorgasbord of special and scented inks, made using recipes from bygone eras. De Atramentis also produces many specialty inks, which he labels "teacher and pupil", "cities", "holidays" and even mythical themes like "witches, sorcerers and demons". One of my favorites is the scented Christmas Ink, "Ink for Well-Behaved Kids," a green ink that smells just like a Fir Christmas tree. Of course, it's safe for all of your favorite fountain pens.

The new US distributor had a very limited supply of De Atramentis, and he told me that his next shipment of this exceptional fountain pen ink will not arrive in the U.S. until after the New Year. So the Pear Tree Pen Co. bought virtually everything he had in stock - which, sadly, wasn't much. We put the ink on the site last night,and the response has been tremendous. It's going very quickly, so if you are interested in inks, don't delay, or you may just have to wait even longer to see what the fuss is about.

Thanks for reading!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

The Big Ink-Bottle Yard Sale

Y'know, it's a funny thing about ink samplers . . . as time goes on, they tend to create two things; happy customers (we hope!) and lots of empty ink bottles. Rather than throw them out or recycle them through conventional methods, we decided to start our own "green initiative" here at The Pear Tree Pen Company and offer them to our customers! Empty ink bottles are really pretty useful; you can use them in craft projects, in the garage for storing bits 'n pieces of stuff that were left over from the last time you took the dryer apart (huh??) ,herb gardens (Private Reserve & Sailor bottles work really well for this!), and lots of other things aside from just storing your favorite inks (although that's perfectly acceptable, too).

So, for the past week or so, we've been running loads of bottles through the dishwasher, cleaning out the caps, and removing the labels. We're not quite done yet, and we're always finding more bottles that we're finishing, but we've got the first batch of them ready. We've got lots of Diamine, Private Reserve, Noodler's, Caran d'Ache (these are FANTASTIC bottles for those of you who want an elegant inkwell for your office), a few Visconti plastic travel bottles for you road warrior types, Waterman, J. Herbin bottles with the great little pen-rest, a couple of Omas bottles (these are also pretty darn elegant), a handful of Aurora bottles, and a few of the Sailor ink bottles, too!

Prices vary between $3 and $6 per bottle, and we've got 'em ready to ship!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Brassing Adds Character to the Pear Tree Pen Company

The Pear Tree Pen Company is pleased to announce that Ryan Roossinck has assumed management of the day-to-day operations of the successful online retailer. Roossinck is known among fountain pen and ink enthusiasts for his popular internet blog, Brassing Adds Character, where he reviews writing instruments and accessories such as pens, pads, and inks. He is also known for his role as a moderator on the Fountain Pen Network, the largest online community of fountain pen and ink lovers on the internet.
Pen collector James Partridge founded the Pear Tree Pen Company in 2006 as a part-time home-based business. Following the introduction of the Fountain Pen Ink Sampler later that year, business began to boom leading the fledgling operation to seek larger quarters. Pear Tree Pens moved, literally, from the kitchen table to the basement, and shortly thereafter opened a larger retail and order-processing facility just north of downtown Ann Arbor. Despite the tough economic times, the Pear Tree Pen Company continued to prosper, and even hired several staff members to help ship packages to thousands of customers around the world.
Unfortunately, splitting his time between his full-time career as a corporate attorney and managing the burgeoning online establishment began to take its toll on Partridge. "I realized that it’s impossible for me to do it all. I can’t excel in my legal career, grow the Pear Tree Pen Company, and spend as much time with my family as they deserve." Partridge began to explore selling the business, and even considered simply shutting its doors.

Partridge soon had a few offers on the table, but ultimately found the best option lay closer at hand - in Roossinck, a friend and fellow pen collector. "One of his best attributes may well be his talent for ‘reading the minds’ of our customers." Partridge said. "Several times already, Ryan has helped me choose new products that soon became extraordinarily popular. He possesses tremendous knowledge and expertise, and his enthusiasm for the pens, inks and papers we offer is second to none. Add to that his dedication to outstanding customer service and it became clear to me that Ryan would be an asset to the Pear Tree Pen Company – and the pen community."
"James and I hit it off right away," Ryan said. "One of the things I really enjoy most about James is his creativity, and his ability to trendspot. We’ve had a lot of great conversations over the past several years that will undoubtedly lead to some really cool new products that we think that our customers will love."

The future for The Pear Tree Pen Company looks very bright, and includes a lot of great new products and ideas that customers are sure to love, and both Ryan and James are really excited for what comes next! "We’ve got some cool things up our sleeves," says Ryan, "stuff you won’t be able to find anywhere else! The addition of Lum-Tec’s fantastic line of watches is just the start!"

In anticipation of the future, both James and Ryan have their shades ready. Get yours out.

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