PEN REVIEW: Platinum Plaisir

Brand/Make:  Platinum

Model:  Plaisir

Nib Size:  Medium

Color:  Black 

(Comes in many other colors!)

Price:   $22

The Platinum Plaisir. An extremely affordable pen considering the performance. This is what I would describe as the "Beginner's" fountain pen. Great for those just getting into fountain pens and they do not want to spend a whole bunch of money on pens. Some of the great qualities of this pen include that it is scratch resistance and the new cap technology can prevent the ink from drying for up to a whole year.

Upon receiving this pen (Thanks to my friends at Goldspot) I popped in the ink cartridge that came with it and started writing away. Here is what I noticed:

• Smooth
• Definitely puts down a nice, wet,  Medium line
• Lightweight (but not cheap feeling)
• Comfortable to hold
• You are able to watch the ink flow through the feed.

This is definitely a great pen, and I could have probably even gone with a Fine nib and been happy too! The fact that this pen comes in 7 colors (or more) is pretty awesome in itself. Cleaning this pen is also a breeze. Get some distilled water and a baby nose syringe and you are all set. This pen also takes a converter as well (Like some $6 or $7).



Disclaimer: I received (won) this pen (with a few others) in a bundle giveaway and this in no way changes my opinion or thoughts of these items.

Fountain Pen Deals & Special Buys!

Usually I do a mid week link post sharing those links that I found interesting and wanted to share. However, I have chosen to go in a slightly different direction. I would like to share some awesome deals that are available through a website called "Massdrop".  If you are not sure what Massdrop is about, it is fairly simple. People go on Massdrop, vote on what they would like to buy, and then the manufacturer or retailer is contacted. The more people who commit to buying, the cheaper the item gets. So with no further adeau, here are the specials currently going on!

Lamy 2000 - $104 (Normally $200) (Free Shipping)

Pilot Metropolitan (2 Pack) - $23.99 ( 37.50 MSRP) (Free Shipping)

 

Pilot G-TEC-C 12 pack of pens - $19.99 ($30 MSPR) (Free Shipping)

Quo Vadis Habana Pocket Notebook (5-Pack) - $64.99 CAN GO LOWER!

INK REVIEW: De Atramentis Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle

 

Ink Brand: De Atramentis

Inks Color: "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle" also known as "Oriental Red"
Color tones: Light wine red
Pen Used: Pilot Vanishing point Medium nib
Price: $12.95 for a 35ml bottle (.37 cents per ML)

  

Information

This ink was a bit of a challenge for me. At first, it wrote really light in my pen. I thought that maybe there was a bit of water that diluted it, so I let it sit for a day. I wrote the following night in my journal with it. Oh how it seemed so much better! It seemed to write great at first. Then, it started to skip. The hard start up's were after. As you can see from the picture above, it was fairly difficult to write with.

Now, here is the weird quirk. It only seemed to really be a pain on Clairefontaine paper! Yea, that is weird. I wrote with it on copy paper - fine. I wrote with it on my Piccadilly journal - fine. I wrote with it on Rhodia Paper - did okay; no issues that I can recall. But seriously, this ink is paper picky? And to be more specific, it was with Clairefontaine Triomphe paper where I had this issue. On occasion, it would skip with the other papers. 

I even thought that maybe I was out of ink, so I checked the pen - full of ink and working great.

This is probably not an ink that I would recommend to anyone, just because it can be finiky and it performs poorly.

My Star Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Other Similar Links

• Pocket Blonde Reviews the exact same ink

INK REVIEW: Diamine Flamingo Pink

Ink Brand: Diamine
Inks Color: "Flamingo Pink"
Color tones: Pink; soft pink; baby blanket pink
Pen Used: Lamy Safari neon yellow Fine point nib
Price: $12.95 for an 80ml bottle (.16 cents per ML)

 Beautiful Flamingo Coloring (wall.alphacoders.com)

It is hard to believe that I like a pink ink! I am more of the darker reds or navy blue/blue black color type of person. However, I stumbled across this ink and figured that I might as well give it a try. To my surprise, I like it.

  Disclaimer: I have attached a picture of a flamingo (left) to better show you the true color characters of this ink.










Information


The color that you see here is a tad bit brighter than what the actual color is...this seems to be a common problem among swabs that are "scanned" and uploaded online. The color is, in all actuality, a much softer pink (hence the name FLAMINGO pink - which attributes more to it's color).


This ink performs beautiful. It has just enough shading to make it stand out and be easily read. Although the color is not over bearing either (like some pinks that are out there).
Even after sitting for over a week, this ink flows smooth and starts up with no problems!

My Star Rating: 5 out of 5 stars


Other Similar Links

• Pentulant reviews Diamine Flamingo Pink

Sadly, there are NOT that many reviews out there on this ink... not sure why.

Monteverde: Re-Nib'd

In adding to my small collection of fountain pens, I have run into an issue with a couple of my Monteverde pens. I am not sure if it was just luck of the draw (and I got lucky...twice) or if it is a quality control issue that the nibs just plain suck.

I originally had a 1.1mm nib in my Monteverde Jewelria when I purchased it. It worked "okay" for a small amount of time. After about a week or so of use, I started having issues with the tines. Even after a bit of tinkering, I was un-able to get it to work properly. So I decided to jump on a Goulet #6 two tone Fine nib.

 Then after stumbling upon my other Monteverde score - A Monteverde Intima Volcano Grey on eBay -  I had the same issues. Yet again I was left with a few choices; to clean it out and store the pen for an undescribed amount of time, or to buy a new nib from the Goulet Pen Company. So yet another small financial addition to another Monteverde pen.

Now both of my Monteverde pens write B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L !!! (Thanks to the Goulet Pen Company for offering some superb nibs!). The only painful part is that you are spending an additional $15 (for a nib) on top of the original pen purchase price. However in my opinion, it is worth it! The Goulet nibs write so smooth, almost buttery smooth. So my recommendation is high for anyone who has a pen with a crappy nib; go buy a Goulet nib!

Other Similar Links:

Pen and Journal Passions - Review of Monteverde Jewelria

Well-Appointed Desk - Monteverde Intima Neon

Note Booker ESP - Reviews the Invincia

Letter Writing: Have you written your Pastor a letter?

It's Pastor Appreciation Month in October! So the question remains, "Have you written your Pastor a letter yet?". Our church had pre-made cards out in the lobby that we could take and write a little 'Thank You' note in them for our Pastor, Doug. I wanted to take it one step further and write a personal letter to our Pastor.

So if you are a church-goer, please take some time to "Thank" your pastor (priest or leader) this month for all that they do.












Paper: Clairefontaine
Pen: Lamy Al-Star Champagne

INK REVIEW: Parker Quink - Black

Parker Quink (Permanent) - Black

Paper: Clairfontaine Graph

Pen: Monteverde Jewelria Fine nib (Goulet Nib #6)

Color(s): Black/Smokey Black

Price:  $10.30 for 60ml bottle
(.17 cents per ml)




















This is a great ink for writing documents - especially when you do not have the time to wait for the ink to dry! Parker Quink Permanent Black ink is perfect for documents, check signing, etc. Dries within a matter of seconds. Performs beautiful too! This is a bottle of ink I purchased several years ago on a trip to Seattle, WA. I just recently have started using it again. And I must say I absolutely love it. It writes almost like a really dark grey or light black.  No clotting, and starts right up after sitting for days or even a week!

For the price this is a great ink!   

Other similar links on this ink:

Edjelley reviews this ink
Parker Quink Blue-Black review

INK REVIEW: Private Reserve Blue Suede

Private Reserve Blue Suede

Pen: Pilot Vanishing Point Medium Nib (18K)
& Monteverde Intima Volcano Fine Nib.

Paper: Cardstock & Apica

Price: $11.00 for 66ml bottle
(.16 cents per ml)

Color(s): Turquoise/Blue-Green/Teal



















This is definitely a beautiful ink! I have had this ink on my wishlist for quite some time. Finally, I received it in an ink sample package order and was able to ink up two pens. My Pilot vanishing point Medium 18K nib and a Monteverde Intima Volcano. As you can see by the sample, this ink performs differently depending on the type of pen  you have it in. I have noticed that with my Pilot Vanishing point, it tends to bring out the colors and shading of inks MUCH better than some of my other pens.  Now I am not a fan of the nibs that come with Monteverde pens and usually have them swapped out for a Goulet Pen #6 two tone nib (which performs 5x better than the nib that come with a Monteverde - and are cheaper to purchase as well).

As you can see, the two different pens bring out two different shades of this ink.


Other similar links for this Ink:

• Beautiful Sketch by Hudson Valley Sketches
• Inkdependance reviews Blue Suede by PR
• Peninkcillin reviews Rohrer and Klingner ink similar to Blue Suede

Mid-Week Links

Another great week of Mid-Week Links! I know this is not all that is out there. However being ill most of this week has put me behind in a few things.

• Anderson Pens - " Monteverde Prima "
• Kaizen Journaling - "Journaling Excerise: how does your surrounding impact you?"
• The Well-Apointed Desk - From the Archives: Pilot Precise V5 
• Also from TWAD - "Field Notes: Unexposed Exposed"
• Even more from TWAD -  "Stationary Shop Map"
• Notebook Stories - "Review Ink Squared Notebook"
• The Pen Addict - "Sailor Jentle Four Seasons Souten Ink Review"
• Ed Jelley - "Airfoil Click Pen - Hands on and Kickstarter Launch"
• Gourmet Pens - "Review: Noodler's Nib Creaper Fountain Pen"
• Also from Gourmet Pens - "Mass Drop Deals"
• Pens! Paper! Pencils! (Ian) - "Kaweco Pearl Black Ink Review"