Color Your World

You can tell it's Spring. Trees are blossoming, flowers are blooming, and the birds have finally returned to the northland. Vibrant new colors are emerging everywhere this season, even in the world of writing instruments. In fact, so many new items have been released recently, it's been hard to keep up. First, there were the new ink colors by Diamine and J. Herbin, then 3 new shades of ink from Private Reserve debuted at the Pear Tree Pen Company: Ebony Black, Ebony Green, and Ebony Purple.

Just yesterday, Sailor got into the act, with the first delivery of the new Professional Gears to Pear Tree Pens! To my eye, these are the most attractive Professional Gears yet. I haven't had a chance to take photos yet but they should be up in the next few days.

As I announced in my last post, there is the new Ebonite edition, available in both rhodium and gold trim. Arriving sooner than expected, but most welcome nonetheless, Sailor also sent me the first Pro Gears in Colors - sunny Orange, warm Ivory, and the juicy Yellow. All have rhodium-trim and a single-tone rhodium plated 21K gold nib. I'll start posting these to the web site in the next few days, but I was so taken aback by how nice these were, that I couldn't wait to share with you all.

One of the best things about the new Sailor Colors pens? They're the same price as the standad black Professional Gear. Better still, they're available now at the Pear Tree Pen Company, so give me a shout if you'd like to learn more.

Of course, I'll have them on display at my table at this weekend's Chicago Pen Show, so stop by to take a look and say hello!

But this isn't all - soon to be released from Lamy are the new Lime Safari and Rasberry Al-Star. Here is an image of Lamy's Lime Safari tantalize you:




Here's one of the Rasberry Al-Star. Delicious!





Thanks for stopping by - See you in Chicago!

James

Another New Professional Gear from Sailor

It looks like it's going to be an exciting year for Sailor Pens. Hot on the heels of release of the new Sailor Sapporo Colors pens, Sailor has just announced another new and exciting edition of the Professional Gear Fountain Pen - this time in Ebonite! Here's an early "spy" photo.

This pen will be appearing at your favorite Sailor dealer soon (that is, if your favorite Sailor dealer is the Pear Tree Pen Company!).

This pen is slightly larger than a typical Pro Gear, and is the same size as the Pro Gear Mosaic, which Sailor also recently introduced. It is available in gold or rhodium trim and is fitted with Sailor's legendary 21K gold two-tone nib. Slightly larger than the standard Professional Gear, it is sure to be a winner. MSRP is only $775. Contact us for special pricing and to pre-order yours now. I expect to receive the first shipment at Pear Tree Pens next week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Old Friends

In the past, the Pear Tree Pen Company has focused exclusively on modern writing instruments, and brand spankin' new ones at that. However, I think the time has come to expand our horizons a little bit and find the virtual shelf space for some quality pre-owned pens and pencils.

I still intend to devote considerable attention on the current crop of fountain pens produced by the fine companies we represent, including Waterman, Sailor, Pelikan, Omas, Lamy and the like. Nonetheless, I found it hard to pass up the opportunity to help a friend liquidate his collection of fine writing instruments, most of which were acquired new beginning in 1970 so. There are only a few fountain pens, but there is a sizable cache of very fine mechanical pencils, ballpoints and rollerballs from brands not frequently found at Pear Tree Pens. For instance, I now have available a several ST Dupont, Montblanc, Cartier, Yard O Led, Caran d'Ache, Graf von Faber-Castell, to name a few. Even some very special and hard-to-find limited editions!

I'm in the process of sorting everything out and taking photos, but I thought I'd toss out just a few examples of what is going to be available to help drum up some interest and, possibly, to offer up some good deals before I have to do a bunch more work photographing, writing descriptions, and posting them to my website. In the meanwhile, here are a few photos I snapped over the weekend.

If you see something you like, don't hesitate to send me an email at James [at] PearTreePens.com to make an offer. But, don't forget this is only a sampling of what will be available.

Yard-O-Led

1. Yard-O-Led "Viceroy" Sterling Silver Mechanical Pencil in the Plain finish
2. Yard-O-Led "Perfecta" Sterling Silver Mechanical Pencil in the Victorian Finish
3. Yard-O-Led "Diplomat" Sterling Silver Ballpoint Pen in the Barley Finish

Visconti

1. Visconti Pericles Rollerball (with Itoya .7mm black refill) in Blue pearlescent acrylic resin with gold trim
2. Visconti Ragtime Mechanical pencil in green & black acrylic resin with gold trim

Cartier

1. Cartier Diablo - Rollerball - Black wtih gold trim (needs replacement refill)
2. Cartier Diablo "mini" ballpoint - black with gold trim (blue Lamy M21 ink refill)

Porsche Design

1. Porsche Design Arc 1 Fountain Pen - Titanium finish, 18K nib (unmarked, appears to write a fine line) C/C filler - takes standard international converter)

Caran d'Ache*

1. Caran d'Ache Ecridor Retro Mechanical Pencil - Gold plated
2. Caran d'Ache Hexaganol Ballpoint - Gold with Blue Chinese Lacquer inserts

* I'm not an expert on CdA writing instruments and have done my best to identify these. But I could be mistaken, so please ask questions if you have any!

All writing instruments are in good to very good condition. Some are even excellent, but all have been used (albeit well-cared for).

Thanks!

James

Incommunicado

I am heading off to warmer climes in a little while and, until March 3, the Pear Tree Pen Company will be left in the capable hands of my assistants Crystle and Mike. So don't be afraid to order anything while I'm gone, and feel free to call the store at 1-888-6789-PEN if you have any questions. The primary number (734-474-7983) will be unattended as I soak up the sun and the surf on some tropical island. I won't have cell phone or email access, so please don't be alarmed if your messages aren't returned right away.

Of course, this is the annual business meeting of the Pear Tree Pen Company, LLC, so it's all tax-deductible. Isn't it? (And if you work for the IRS, I'm only kidding, so please, no audits!)

See you when I get back. Play nice.

James

New Diamine Fountain Pen Ink Colors

Diamine's long awaited new fountain pen inks have arrived, and the Pear Tree Pen Company recently received a nice selection of them. I expect several of these inks to be very popular and, if I may say so, it's about time Diamine came out with a nice brown ink. Only they weren't content with just one - they introduced three - Saddle Brown, Burnt Sienna and Raw Sienna! If you've seen the reviews of these new inks on the Fountain Pen Network, Pentrace or elsewhere, you know how nice these new Diamine inks are. So what are you waiting for? Go here to order your bottle today!

China Blue

Washable Blue

Saddle Brown

Burnt Sienna

Raw Sienna

Vermillion

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Amaranth

Coral

Please Update Bookmarks/Links to the Pear Tree Pen Company

The Pear Tree Pen Company has been working on a major overhaul of its website and shopping cart. We are nearly finished, and expect to "go live" sometime during the first week of March. With that project comes a completely new web host and server. Our primary domain, www.PearTreePens.com, will continue to function, but the subdomain to which many of you link (http://shop.peartreepens.com) will cease
operation within the next few weeks. Therefore, to avoid "dead links," you may wish to update your bookmarks to reflect the proper site name. www.PearTreePens.com will continue to point to the subdomain until the switch is finally made, so there should be no interruption in your ability to access the site for all of your shopping needs!

Thanks!

James Partridge
The Pear Tree Pen Company
www.PearTreePens.com

Noodler's Baystate Blue - Should I or Shouldn't I?

Noodler's Ink has just announced the release of a brand new fountain pen ink: Baystate Blue. The ink is based upon a colonial style blue ink that was made at the end of Warld War II in Boston, Massachusetts. Similar to a cobalt blue, "Baystate Blue" is Noodler's conventional version of the classic colonial era blue. Nathan Tardiff, the creative mind behind Noodler's, based this ink upon how the original formulas behave on the page while taking into account the color intensity of the later 1940s version. At the same time, he managed to avoid the acidity of the earlier inks through the use of different/modern components.

Noodler's Baystate Blue is on its way and should arrive at the doors of the Pear Tree Pen Company in the next few days. Once it gets here, the ink sampler page of our webiste will be updated so you can try it yourself.

There's always a lot of excitement whenever a new ink hits the street, and rightfully so! In the past few months, not only has Noodler's introduced several new fountain pen inks, but Diamine recently introduced some new colors. J. Herbin has announced that it will release 4 new shades of ink in the near future. I love it when the available palate of fountain pen inks grows!! Inevitably, though, with every new release come the questions about whether any has tried the ink in their fountain pen - How fast does it dry? Does it feather? How does its color compare to that of my current favorite?

Sure, there are ink reviews on various websites, and color swatches are available on the internet; however, reviews are subjective and internet color swatches are notoriously inaccurate. I've found that there is no substitute for getting the ink myself, and writing with it in my pen and on my paper. But plunking down $10-$15 of hard-earned cash for an ink that may ultimately disappoint can be a deterrent for someone interested in discovering a new color, or exploring a never-before-tried brand.

With the launch of Noodler's new Baystate Blue, I wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone that there is an inexpensive solution: The Pear Tree Pen Company Ink Sampler. For $4.00, you can try up to 4 different inks and use them at your leisure and in real-world conditions. If you like the ink you've sampled, - great! But if not - at least you've not laid out nearly 3 times the price of the sampler for something you'll never use.

Thanks for stopping by!