Free Shipping: Our Gift to You for The Holidays

From now until December 6, 2010, The Pear Tree Pen Company is offering free Priority Mail shipping (within the US) on all orders over $30.00. To make it simple, you don't need to enter a coupon code. But there is one little quirk: to take advantage of this offer, select Free Shipping (7 Day Ground) at checkout, and we'll automatically upgrade the shipping when the order is processed.

It's our little way of saying "thanks" for helping make the Pear Tree Pen Company part of your life.

Happy Holidays, folks!

And, as always, thanks for stopping by!

James

Introducing the Perdice Bradford Limited Edition, Exclusively at the Pear Tree Pen Company

In my last post, I revealed that the Pear Tree Pen Company was in the midst of designing and producing its very own fountain pen. We encountered a few minor setbacks along the way, but nothing that couldn't be overcome and certainly nothing that would quell our desire to bring what we believe to be a fantastic design to the wonderful community of fountain pen lovers around the world.

Now, it is my privilege to introduce Perdice, The Pear Tree Pen Company's new brand of deluxe writing instruments. Perdice (Italian for "Partridge") combines the essence of classic fountain pen design with modern craftsmanship. The Bradford Limited Edition, the first pen in the lineup, grew from a collaboration between the heads of PearTree pens and the Edison Pen Company.

The Perdice Bradford fountain pen is made from an extraordinarily scarce acrylic made famous by the highly sought-after Sheaffer Balance II. Not much of these intensely colored acrylics is commercially available any longer, and the Pear Tree Pen Company was fortunate to obtain what is believed to be among the very last pieces left in the world. As a result, the production of the Bradford LE will extremely low, with less than 10 serially-numbered pieces available in each of the five (5) patterns: Amber Glow, Cobalt Glow, Crimson Glow, Jade, and Tiger Eye.

Each Perdice Bradford is lovingly hand-crafted by the Edison Pen Company in its U.S. based studio, located in Milan, Ohio. Each Perdice Bradford will feature an 18K gold nib, in your choice of fine, medium or broad tips. Custom-ground extra-fine or italic nibs can be special ordered for a slight upcharge. The pens will accept standard international cartridges, or you can use your favorite bottled ink using the supplied converter.

The Bradford is expected to begin shipping the week of December 13, and will be available in time for the holiday gift-giving season. After its release, the Perdice Bradford will sell for $325.00, but for a limited time, you can pre-order your Bradford LE for a special price of only $299. We expect sales to be brisk, so order soon and get a Perdice from the Pear Tree.

The Perdice Bradford LE will be available in the following varieties:

Amber Glow - with gold-plated trim and matching 18K gold nib
# Cobalt Glow - with rhodium-plated trim and matching 18K gold nib
Crimson Glow - with gold-plated trim and matching 18K gold nib
Jade Green - with rhodium-plated trim and matching 18K gold nib
Tiger Eye - with gold-plated trim and matching 18K gold nib

The Bradford's Dimensions are:

Length capped - 5.5"
Length uncapped - 5"
Length Posted - 6.75"
Cap Diameter - .580"
Barrel Diameter - .515"

Photographs will be available soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Is there a Pear Tree Pen in your Future?

When I first started the Pear Tree Pen Company, all I wanted to do was share my love of fountain pens and ink with the rest of the world. For nearly 5 years, I've been doing just that and loving every minute of it. Had you asked me back in January 2006 whether Pear Tree Pens would ever design and sell its own brand of pen, I probably would have laughed out loud. I guess a lot can happen in 5 years, because we're getting ready to launch our very first Pear Tree Pen.

This project began rather unexpectedly, when I was presented with a rare opportunity to acquire a small supply of some very scarce Sheaffer rod stock in 4 highly sought-after patterns: Cobalt Glow, Crimson Glow, Amber Glow and Jade. We weren't able to get a lot of it, but there was enough available to make a handful of pens in each color.

Once we had this in our possession, we wanted to create a design that was worthy of the material and work with a reputable manufacturer to make it a reality. We think we achieved both and are now ready to unveil the first concept pieces. We're still working on the final design, but it is nearly complete. The barrel, cap and clip are pretty much final, but the section still needs a little bit of tweaking, I think.

As you can see, I've prepared two very poorly done PhotoShop mock-ups of the design so you all can get a feel for the shape and a couple of the acrylic patterns we will be using. I'm a terrible PhotoShop artist, and I assure you that the real thing will be a million times nicer, but I couldn't wait to unveil these.

A couple of things: The pens will be available with either a stainless steel or 18K gold nib, and a Rhodium-trimmed clip will also be available. Quantities are going to be extremely limited, since the rod stock is in very short supply and rather expensive to boot. We expect there to be somewhere between 40-50 pens in this limited series. The ETA hasn't been set yet, but we do hope to have at least one or two of the production pieces available at the Ohio Pen Show in Columbus next month (assuming we can get a table - we're still working on that). Delivery in time for the holidays seems pretty assured.

As for dimensions, the pen will be be a very manageable 5 1/4" uncapped and 6 1/2" posted, so it should rest comfortably in most hands. The girth will be about 1/2" - 9/16". It will be relatively light as well. These dimensions, you will find, are very similar to some of the better known pens of the late 1930s and early 1940s. That is by design.

Pricing hasn't yet been determined. But, given that these pens are hand made out of some scarce (meaning "expensive" acrylic material, they're probably going to run in the mid $100s for a pen with a steel nib; an 18K gold model will probably be closer to $350.

I hope you like them as much as I do.

And, of course, stay tuned for more information, like how and where to order yours.

Thanks for stopping by.

Inktorberfest 2010

It's the first week of October. That, of course, means Fall has begun in earnest, a new session of the Supreme Court, the Renaissance Festival season is winding down and a very important celebration involving one of the most important liquids ever developed. No, it's not beer (although that's pretty good, too.) I am talking about ink, without which the development of civilization itself would have been halted in its tracks.

At the Pear Tree Pen Company, we revere ink so much that we carry nearly 400 different shad es of the stuff, from manufacturers large and small. Waterman, Visconti, Aurora, Noodler's, Parker Quink, J. Herbin, Private Reserve, Pelikan's new Edelstein inks and, of course, Rohrer & Klingner inks are but a few of the many brands we stock. And there's never been a better time to stock up than at our Inktoberfest celebration.

Now through October 15th, you will receive 20% off the purchase of 2 or more ink-related items. What's an ink-related item? Any brand of bottled ink, fountain pen ink cartridges, ballpoint or rollerball refills, as well as converters and Write-Fill Kits. And, for the first time ever, our trademark ink samples are eligible, too! Because we're taking a pretty broad view of "ink-related," this year, we're even tossing in glass dip pens and pen sets from Rohrer & Klingner! And yes, some may argue that writing instrument such as a rollerball, ballpoint or fountain pen is, by nature, ink-related, but they're aren't not included in the sale. The Inktoberfest sale is limited to in-stock merchandise only, and quantities are limited (i.e, if you want 4 bottles of J. Herbin "1670", you may be out of luck; but if you want 4 Edelstein Sapphire, no problem!). Of course, feel free to select across colors or brands for the same great discount.

While you're visiting our website, check out some of the other neat items we have in store, such as the newly revised 50th Anniversary Edition of the Pelikan Pelikano or our growing collection of fine used, demonstrator and vintage items. We even carry fine timepieces, made in the USA by Lum-Tec with the highest-quality components, or the popular Swiss-made Prometheus line. Whether it's a beautiful pen, some vibrant new ink, or some of the smoothest writing paper around, you'll find what you're looking for at the Pear Tree Pen Company.

Thanks for stopping by!

Rohrer & Klingner Ink Now Available

You may recall that a few months ago, the Pear Tree Pen Company was able to obtain a small amount of Rohrer & Klingner Fountain Pen Ink, which we offered as samples to the fellow inkoholics in the fountain pen community. The response and the feedback we received from those who were able to get their hands on this ink was really nothing short of overwhelming.

As a result, we concluded there was certainly enough interest to risk importing a sizable supply of this ink into the U.S.

Now I’m pleased to report that hundreds upon hundreds of bottles of R & K fountain pen ink have recently cleared customs and are now stocked neatly on the shelves of the Pear Tree Pen Company’s Iowa location.


In addition to the complete lineup of Rohrer & Klingner inks (18 varieties, including two iron-gall inks), we wanted to offer something a little special, so we also obtained a small number of gift sets, each containing two bottles of R & K ink and a glass dip pen. but you may have to wait a day or so before those are available - we've been so focused on adding the inks to our website, that these gift sets have had to take a bit of a backseat. But they should be up and available in a day or so. Another neat R & K product that we brought in is Rohrer's Spezialreiniger, a fountain pen cleaning solution, which is available in 250 ml bottles. It's a pretty neat thing to have, and I'm pretty sure we're the only US source for it.


Visit the Pear Tree Pen Company website to purchase your bottle of Rohrer & Klingner fountain pen ink, pen cleaning solution, or a special glass dip pen gift set. You will not be disappointed!

Thanks for reading!

The "MyRewards" Program is here: Earn 10% with Every Purchase!

The Pear Tree Pen Company is pleased to introduce you to its brand-new program designed to save you money and earn points that you can redeem for free pens, inks, paper - anything we carry. It's called "My Rewards" and this program has been high on my wish list for ages. Thanks to our newly updated website, it has finally become a reality. Simply put, you can now earn points worth 10% of each item you buy at the Pear Tree Pen Company! Accumulate enough points to redeem for free merchandise, or just apply the points you've earned for credit on future purchases. Basically, it works like this. For every dollar you spend at the Pear Tree Pen Company (excluding taxes and shipping), you earn 10 Rewards Points, which you can later redeem for merchandise credit at the Pear Tree Pen Co. For every 100 points you earn, you will receive $1.00 worth of merchandise credit. You must earn a minimum of 1000 points before you are eligible to redeem Rewards Points. Of course, you can't earn any points on the points you redeemed.

I've wanted to find a way to be able to reward the Pear Tree Pen Company's thousands of loyal customers ever since we first created the website in 2006. It took a while, but it's finally here and I'm really excited about it. I hope you are, too!

James

Initial Impressions of the Cross Affinity Fountain Pen

A few weeks ago, The Pear Tree Pen Company received its first shipment of Cross Affinity pens. I've been playing with one of the fountain pens ever since and I'm not merely impressed with its quality - I'm blown away. In my line of work, I find that a fine or extra-fine nib is most suitable, since I tend to take a lot of notes and write marginalia. One of the biggest problems with most "european" style fine nibs, is that they're actually pretty wide. That's one of the reasons I really like Sailor pens and other Japanese makes - their nibs run pretty true to size. With the Affinity, Cross seems to have taken a page from its Asian counterparts because the the fine nib writes a much finer line than I thought it would. It is NICE! Fairly smooth, with enough feedback to know you're using a pen and not an ice cube. Excellent ink flow, with no false starts, skips, streaks, or any glitches whatsoever. I filled my Cobalt blue Affinity with one of my favorite inks, Diamine Sapphire Blue, which also compliments the pen's resin finish beautifully. So far, I've written on a variety of different papers to test the nib, including Rhodia, cheap Office Depot legal pads, Post-it Notes, and 20# copy paper. So far, the Cross has performed excellently on all of them.

The pen is nicely weighted - like the Waterman Phileas, it has a resin base with a metal insert for some heft. The Affinity t looks and feels much more solid than the Phileas, however. It is a much more elegant pen and would be at home in a purse, in school and even in a corporate boardroom. In retrospect, the nib doesn't look as small as I thought, but it's not going to leap out at you as being big, either. In length, the Affinity is equal to the Full Size Sailor 1911, but it's girth is more akin to that of the 1911M; a nice balance, in my opinion. The fit and finish really is first rate. It's a bummer that a pen at this price point doesn't include a converter, and comes with two dinky-sized ink cartridges, but at $80, it's still a very good value. But since the Pear Tree Pen Company includes a free converter with every Affinity fountain pen, that should not be an issue for most buyers.

The Cross Affinity is available both as a fountain pen and as a Selectip rollerball. The fountain pen has an MSRP of $100, and the Selectip rollerball has an MSRP of $85. They are on sale at the Pear Tree Pen Company for $80 and $65, respectively.

Thanks for reading.

James