One August afternoon of 1998 I was browsing at some watches when I caught sight of a lighted advertisement of an uncommon pen. (A set of Delta pens I later confirmed on a second visit.) My instinct has, at this stage in my life, been honed to appreciate exquisite and skillfully crafted writing implements as objects of art.
Captivated, I gazed intently at some limited-edition fountain pens (also as confirmed on my second visit) namely : Parker Vacumatic, Lamy Lady, Parker 51 and Parker 61, on display in a glass cabinet just outside the entrance of Fook Hing Trading Co. in Bras Basah Complex, Singapore.
Jimmy Wong attended to me but I said that I was just having a look-see. My determined and eager disposition got the better of me so much so that I ventured the full length of the shop which is packed with displays of pens to my left and right. You won't believe the range of pens available here which includes: Ancora, Aurora, Caran D'Ache, Cross, Delta, ST Dupont, Eversharp, Faber Castell, Lamy, Marlen, Namiki, Montblanc, Montegrappa, Omas, Parker, Pelikan, Sheaffer, Stipula, Style O Chap, Visconti, Waterman and Yard-O-Led.
This family concern has all along included pens as part of their business. Under the influence of a friend who is both a pen collector and distributor, the business moved into specialty pens in the early 1990s. This move was also due to a perceived growing interest in pens. Jimmy, 29, recalled the widespread use of fountain pens during his student days and observed that, nowadays, writing with a fountain pen has become a luxury.
Dwelling on the fountain pen, he broached on the writing experience offered by the different make of nib : scratchy, smooth, flexible and rigid. A good fountain pen offers flexible writing where the thickness of a line varies according to the pressure applied by the writer. This special characteristic draws out the uniqueness of each individual's writing as opposed to the standard lines provided by ballpoint or rollerball. This makes the choice of fountain pen very much a matter of individual preference.
And, we have not even touched on other distinguishing attributes of a fountain pen like its shape, size, colour, constituent materials, ink reservoir type, filling system or method, feeding technology, history, number of editions, date of manufacture and artistic design. Another point, for thought, is how we would hold a writing instrument naturally. It would be at an angle wouldn't it rather than vertical? This is something that a fountain pen is well-suited for and may well be a factor for the prevalent use of the fountain pen in schools of an earlier era even when the ballpoint was in existence already.
Collecting pens as with any object of beauty and worth is a pleasurable and gratifying quest. It would then be only a question of affordability for many of us. Jim's view is that: limited-editions are good investments if one could afford them, vintage pens make a good investment too but one must be well-versed in them, and the rest of the pens convey an image of our stature. Pen buffs could also delve into art collection pens which are hand-engraved and/or hand-painted.
The pen has been reinvented time and again since its conception as a quill pen made of wing feathers extracted from fowls like goose, duck and turkey. God- given ingenuity in man has churned out a spectacle of functional, durable and aesthetic pens with the passage of time. Even as we face the end of the 20th century and the start of a new millenium, we can rest assured that the spirit of innovation will continue to challenge pen manufacturers the world over to pursue new ventures.