Stylophiliac

I've been trying to strike a good balance between my two main interests, and in the process I've really not been getting much done.  But that's really not too unusual, so...

I've been running through various caches of pens, pulling out models I haven't used in a while.  Doing the flush and refill thing.  It's been fun.  But, I keep noticing that certain pens are missing.

One of the pens I couldn't find was a Montegrappa NeroUno Linea.  Unlike most of the (few) Monte's I have, the Nero is a harshly modern pen.  Multi-faceted, fairly thin body with a nib that reminds me of old, early 60s Montblanc nibs.  I looked all over for it, but couldn't find it.  Kind of annoying, as I knew it had to be close by.

By chance, this evening, I did another round of looking, and found it stuck in a corner I hadn't given much attention to.  I'll have to flush it later, as it's getting rather late here.  But I figured I'd throw in a shot.

The Montegrappa NeroUno Linea in hand, and the Bexley Poseidon hiding in the background.  (With the Thinkpad T61, sporting its Ubuntu bling, as backdrop.)

Also in the shot is another pen that was in the same pen case, a Bexley Poseidon in tortoiseshell.  it's a modern, American-made pen that emits a very strong 1930s-vintage Pelikan vibe in its shape.  (Save that it dwarfs any 30s Pelikan you'll run into.)  A very nice pen.

And I found another couple pens that were desperately in need of some TLC, due my neglectfulness.

On the right, the "New" Dunn pen.  On the left, the Belmont.

These are Gate City pens, marketed by Richard Binder of richardspens.com.  Both are basically reworkings of vintage pens.  The "New" Dunn is a modern reproduction of (yes) the Dunn pen of the 1920s.  The red end cap is unscrewed, and then pumped in/out several times, which very effeciently fills the pen with a considerable amount of ink.  (The original Dunns are somewhat hard to come by, as A. - there weren't many of them made to begin with, and B. - after c. nine decades, the material that was used to make that nifty red end cap tends to disintegrate...)

The Belmont model is basically what's called a "Post" filler, otherwise known as a syringe filler).  You unscrew & remove the end cap from the barrel, then push and retract the filler mechanism, just like you would to fill a syringe.  It's simple and efficient, but a bit clumsy, as you have the long end cap caused by the extended filling handle.  (This is basically the same filling system as used by high-end Pelikan, Montblanc, Aurora, etc. pens.  The only difference with them is that they use a twist mechanism with a differential gearing system to extend and retract the piston inside, meaning they're much more compact.  The usual converters in modern cartridge/converter pens use this twist system, only in a much smaller form.)  As a side note, the name "Belmont" was used on pens sold through the Rexall drugstore chain back in day.  (I own an actual "Belmont" model, from the late 20s-early 30s, and it's a lever filler model which looks nothing like this pen.)

So, there's your daily overdose of penstuff for the day.  I'm going to go to bed now, and dream that I'm actually using these pens for something productive...