If you think of it this way, (whether you buy them on credit or pay for them up front) people don’t think twice about laying down $1k plus for a new phone or electronic device that’s going to be obsolete in a year and maybe physically last 2-5 years if they’re lucky. But a luxury fountain pen (or nib) can literally last decades. Way longer than their electronics.
There is a lot of wisdom in this comment. There is definitely value in our wonderful pens, and I am sure you saw that I just upgraded my phone! Thanks for watching.
@@HemingwayJones Thank you, and Yes, I did see you upgraded your phone, and I think it was a good solid choice as you use it for your work on RUclips. We just upgraded our short-lived Google Pixel 7s which were a poor choice. I should have stuck with my usual iPhones which I use until they plead for a proper burial! lol of course, we got our iPhone 15 Plus phone about two months before the 16s came out, but no worries. I’m not really an early adopter. In my older years I’ve to come appreciate old school, tactile and analog communication and hobbies more and more. Because you know someday, we may not have electronic communications. And even if they went dark for a short period, I do not want to be one of those hand-wringing “life is over without my wifi” addicts. 🫣 I grew up without it and I survived just fine. Like my hubby says, ‘there are post millennialists, A-millennialists…I’m a ‘pan-millennialist. I believe it will all pan out in the end.” 😎
HJ I missed your video but watched it later and as far as naming your skull,since you are Hemmingway Jones why not name the skull Indiana Jones the perfect pair.
Dear Hemingway Jones - my comment keeps being eaten by RUclips thinking that it is spam. It is not - I was just trying to share with you a sighting of a fountain pen in the trailer for a new Yokai Watch game - it is at the 1 minute mark.
About 2003 I ate a heroic amount of acid and tripped for a couple of days and a lot longe than I wanted to. During that intense journey, while watching tv, I truly understood how much we were being led by the nose ring with fear, propaganda and programming. It’s disgusting, and for a person of a certain IQ, far too moronic to let rot is from the inside. So, I also don’t see commercials, the news, politics, etc etc.after my trip, I disconnected my cable and preached to my friends for a few weeks. I’ve had a happier, more enriching life without it. I still feel the same way.
That is an incredible journey. Thank you for sharing it. I once wrote a story about a person who skipped commercials and randomly touched up the secret of life spelled across multiple shows. Nirvana through surfing, channel surfing.
Hello sir, Namaste 🙏🙏 Currently, i am using Ranga Handmade Pens like Ranga Model Samurai made of premium Indian ebonite with Ranga 14K No. 6 Broad and Medium nibs with an Ebonite feed.....inked up my pen with Octopus Certified Document Dark Blue ink as an eye dropper and its really a fun with goosebumps to write with such a fully customised Handmade gold nib fountain pen... Ranga pens do provide Schmidt converter and supports cartridge also, but for long writing sessions i prefer eye - dropper.. Ranga 14K No. 6 Fine nib with an Ebonite feed is in order... Ranga Pens are from town Thiruvallur , Tamil Nadu , India... I am a big fan of Ranga pens and all my Ranga pens are now equipped with Ranga 14K nibs with Ebonite feeds .. Please try once .. I am sure you will love it.... Your videos has always inspired me sir.. Please keep guiding us.. Till then , stay safe, happy and healthy.. With love and care, Sincerely yours, Vivek Kumar ( Dehri On Sone, Bihar , India ) 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Putting an 823 vid out right around the price jump is mean! That and I just decided not to get one at all, so you’ve thrown me back into the conundrum.
@@curious_416 totally valid point, but bargains can be had on the second-hand market. I've thus picked up quite a few "grails" over the years, being very patient and selective. Honestly, it's at least half the fun...
so glad you mentioned your vintage Esterbrook model J’s: I have a vintage model SJ w a 9128 EF flexible new old stock nib which cost a fortune but it’s wonderful:)
Hello Hemingway! Another great live stream! You know, I have a few gold nib pens. Some are new, most are vintage. I have steel nib pens that I think absolutely rival some gold nibs, and at least one gold nib that blows everything away, so. . .Everyone's mileage will vary! Hope you get your phone issues resolved! My Nephew has a Jeep. . .The anagram means Just empty every pocket! Hope you get it fixed, though! (and I hope it doesn't cost a fortune!)
This skull is so lovely it needs to have a female name. Since Yorick is a bit of a sad character who evokes fond memories I think this one should be a fun character. Maybe someone from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Great show! I am smitten with all my gold nib pens! I was thinking about it last night how the earlier pens in my collection, which happen to have steel nibs, are not quite so precious to me now. They can be relegated to “purse or kitchen pens” while the gold nibs are my pride and joys and the ones I WANT to reach for when I sit down to write. Have I become a gold nib snob? Maybe! Oh, I feel for you on that highway ramp! Glad you were all safe and Jeepy is all fixed up.
Personally, I like the luxury property of gold. So I'd want a gold nib just for that reason. But on the other hand, you should know me well enough by now, to know that my primary aspect of interest in fountain pens, is as practical writing tools, not any romantic fancies with line variation or flex. Well, I'm going to double down on what I've said every time we've had this discussion: Any mechanical object's properties are a result from both *_shape_* and material. As a material for a fountain pen nib, for *_whatever_* , repeat *_whatever_* properties you want from a nib, Stainless Steel is superior to Gold. - And,.. - it's not even close! But that's not at all the reality we see on the market, is it? At least not exactly. Dismissing trivial reasons, like history, like more QC on more expensive nibs, and that steel nibs usually inherit their non-optimal shape from the gold nibs, - you touch at the center of the issue. The first reality check we get, come when we go from "material for a nib" to "material for making a nib". Gold is much easier, particularly for a small pen maker - and all Western pen makers are small - to develop a nib for, tool up production for, and manufacture. The higher price point also makes more economical sense from the perspective of a small series. A pity then that "everybody" just orders their nibs from Jowo. But I guess that comes from the necessity of also having to market a cheaper alternative with steel nib. (With the confidence of one who have had many Jowo nibs pass through my hands: Out of the box Jowo steel nibs are generally better than out of the box Jowo gold nibs. Gold nibs need some check and tuning). I don't like Xi. I think he's ruining China. But I don't like communist dictatorships anyway. The Chinese probably will figure out how to design a good, high end steel nib eventually. Meanwhile, why don't you try out a Faber Castell?
Wouldn’t live variation be a practical writing aspect? Gold is softer and more decorative. I think that is the attraction for me. SS is much more durable. Thanks for your excellent comment.
The Chinese make great pens. So I have no idea what your going on about. Gold nibs should never be considered as a upgrade. It should be instead a better built pen. The worst writing pens have always been gold nibs for me. When I went to pen shops and tried out the platinum 3776. It was extremely scratchy. I've tried the Lamy 2k, extremely disappointing. I'm in love with my Majohn, and Jinhaos.
@@MitchellJBridges If you're speaking to me? I'm talking about fictional, high end steel nibs. I'm not talking about scratchiness, that has nothing to do with the nib material. Nibs being carefully designed to have, let's say slightly different properties than today. It could be just a matter of time before those start popping up. Faber Castell has taken the first step. Now, about scratchiness, that is normally due to the tines not being quite correctly aligned. Steel nibs, being stiffer = more consistent, and thus in general better out of the box. There are other possible reasons, like flawed tip material shape, or that the point has been too polished and lost it's inner radius (this is very difficult to fix btw, so always be very wary of polishing the point. It's very rarely the correct way to cure scratchiness anyway.) Another reason could be intentional feedback caused by the tip material. But this is not scratchiness, you can feel the difference. This 'feedback' feels like a pencil, and it's very common for Japanese pens, because it aids in writing their characters, and also texting and numbers.
You only believe in the evidence by your senses. And you haven't watched TV in years. That makes sense. No wonder I'm drawn to your channel. I ONLY believe in my senses or that which I can infer based on them, and my innate lnowledje of human natire, since i am human, it's not so hard to do. As far as TV. I haven't watched it in probably 25 years. I gave up on their sensless in the 90s really. I REFUSE to watch commercials, I'll swipe out of a video, and back in repeatedly until it plays and I don't have to watch that complete bullshit. Watching commercials, or the TV, or the news is Luke injecting lead based heroine into your nostrils with a long needle in a lobotomy like fashion. Screw the junkie way via the viens and having to deal with that nuisance called the blood brain barrier. They go straight for your "soul," ( the rational part per Aristotle), and they get it too. They won't get mine. I know I'm weird, probably arrogant, and I'm hated, but I'm stupid, and I know it, and when I look around me and I realize everyone is far dumber than me, even the high IQ people, I'm petrified. My dreams at night are pure chaos, every nigh. For example, one night, I'm in a collapsing building, the next night it's sinking ship, and other nights, I'm chased by all sorts of monsters. Whatever you can realistically take or learn from your dreams...I don't know, really. It sounds a bit too hippy for me, but there are those infinitlty smarter than me who would put credence in what they have to say. Of course, that proves nothing, as I said their plenty of dumb smart people. But I'm off on a tangent as usual. You and I have two precious things in common is my end point. No wonder we feel weird. I don't think you try to hide that. If I say you're weird, it's in a loose sense, and thus a complement. There's creepy weird, and there's "misfit obsentric, wise (
I know that you are a native speaker. I'm just curious why you pronounce every T in a word as a hard T. It makes you sound non-native. You just said, "EighTY". And most would say it Aydey. And letter would be let-er, not leT-Ter. 😮 not criticizing just wondering where it comes from. DaughTer. Some Ts are said like d's. I find it fascinating.
have been collecting fountain pens since the 90's. You never had to ask if the nib was gold or gold plated or steel. Didn't exist until now. I now collect old stock pens with 14-18K nibs for $50-100. Don't bother with the new pens at all, unless it's some special nib.
@@HemingwayJones I have 5 vintage Montblancs and 3 vintage Pilots. Delightful. I have an old Schaeffer with a size 5 nib which writes like a dream. They knew their biz back in the day.
“Better.” That’s a contentious word, filled with value judgments. If you want to make it objective, you have to explain better _how_, by what metric. Otherwise, it’s better because I prefer it, better because the right people think it’s better. My dog’s better than your dog, French food is better than Mexican food, Montblanc is better than Diplomat. Gold is better than steel. I don’t know. Sometimes, I guess. Gold is more malleable than steel, softer, easier to work into interesting shapes, easier to cover with intricate patterns. I have some beautiful gold nibs-Montblanc, Omas, Namiki, Yard-O-Led-that write beautifully. (And I have to point out that you said you like gold for something different, something not JoWo, but many gold nibs, like the one on my Yard-O-Led, are made by JoWo, Bock and Schmidt.) But do they write better than my best steel nibs? No. My favorite daily writer is a Diplomat Aero with a steel nib, cursive italic grind. It feels so good, writes so well, it’s total perfection. My Onoto has a perfect nib as well (also cursive italic; perhaps it’s the grind that I’m in love with?), but gold. If two nibs are perfect, can one be better than the other? Borrowing Cantor’s terminology for trans-finite numbers, perhaps one is aleph-nought perfect, the other aleph-one? Or am I forcing the analogy? I think gold can make a _prettier_ nib than steel, but beauty is also subjective. So I emphasize “I _think_” it’s prettier, not “it _is_”. I think, if one wanted to, one could make a spectacularly beautiful steel nib, finely decorated, interestingly shaped. But steel is harder to work with, and given the more intensive labor required for the task, gold is just cheaper to work with. I greatly prefer to work with gold rather than silver. I’ve seen exquisite silver work, but I’m lazy; it’s so much easier to work with gold, and then you can charge a much larger markup just because it’s gold. And people focusing on the scrap value of the metal rather than the technique or cost of equipment or time required would make it financially impossible to make nibs as beautifully decorated as gold nibs out of steel. As to whether a pen or a nib is “worth it”, we’re dealing with demand curves and what people are willing to pay. As my first economics professor used to say, it’s worth what someone will pay for it. And in a market, it’s worth what the marginal consumer is willing to pay for the marginal unit produced. Which sums it up nicely, I think. What’s a gallon of fresh water worth? Ask that of a man lost at sea or in a desert. Ask that of people in a city whose reservoirs are running dry or that depends on the Colorado River for its water supply. I think you have to be an idiot to pay $3,000 for a Dior book tote, but that’s because I don’t always think like an economist. If you buy one, it’s because you think it’s worth it for you. And that’s all that matters. The rest is just me being judgmental.
My collection is roughly divided evenly between gold and steel nibbed pens (250 of each). The only pens where I can see a functional difference would be my Pelikan M1000's and Pilot CH912's with the FA nib and Flexible Nib Factory ebonite feeds. Otherwise they are pretty much very similar. I perform my own nib work (after much study and practise) and when I can get Chinese nibs and feeds to write as well as my M800's it does take away a little from the cachet of owning gold nibbed pens. Oh BTW the skull's name is Yorick Jr....or Yorple lol. Rover is the UK's revenge for losing the colonies. Just my tuppence worth.
Couldn't find your email address, but I would like to be considered for the giveaway. I have been planning since 2017. This year I am using a Hobonichi Weeks. I really want to try journaling and the Techo would be excellent for this purpose. Enjoy your videos as I love my fountain pens also. Name your skull Stanley.
Buying anything on credit (possible exception of a mortgage), is generally a poor financial decision, especially so if it's an unneeded luxury item. Gold nibs are no better than steel nibs, objectively speaking.
I agree completely. On the nib issue. I don’t think they are better, per se. I just think that the material affords more decorative qualities and is softer, so is more flexible. Better is relative and I go back and forth.
@@HemingwayJones I don't disagree on the decorative front of course. Shiny gold is defo nicer than shiny steel, in my preference too. As for flexibility, well, no gold nib has ever really come close to the performance of, say, a Spencerian #1 steel dip pen. However, that's more about having exceptionally fine hairlines as well as the ability to make significant swells. I think gold nibs suffer in this respect from having tipping - for a fountain pen of course. Interestingly though, there were plenty of solid gold dip pens too, but the cost was kind of prohibitive for most people. Anyway, interesting video!
My friend, careful with those hints of over-charging on manufacturing things. I do not have any inside info on any specific manufacturers but in making anything there's a lot more to pay for than materials and direct labor. There are artists, marketers, engineers in several flavors, machinists, managers, supervisors, executives, and God only knows who else is involved. Maybe a lot less for small companies but somebody has to perform those functions. Just saying that there is usually more than meets the eye. Thanks for another great show! Helen brought a fun addition to special edition broadcasts. However, if she doesn't want to, then we respect that and we'll enjoy the Hemingway show.
Thanks Man! Those stats are from a court case in Italy right now on Dior and Armani. So I am on firm ground there. Great videos here on YT on it. Thanks so much for watching and for the kind words!
I wish I could post pictures in the RUclips comment section. I have some proof of the entity that shares my mother’s house with us. I lost my Aurora Ipsilon last year. It was found under my mattress months after it vanished. This was only one of the times something went missing. My mother blames a cantankerous old woman. We don’t know for sure. My mom bought the house in 1968. She had similar stories from the previous owners. Who had lived in the house for nearly 40=years. It was an old house when they bought it. Personally I have wondered if a pack rat is the culprit 😮
LOL, Yup, the first few days of taking Allopurinol is like the Aliens coming out of the walls. Definitely flatten you Karma a bit as the buildup melts.
Are you sure you didn't break your foot/toe? It doesn't take much ... just stepping off something could do it if the bone had already been stressed... Great show by the way. I might be swinging over to the gold side!
Great video great conversation by the way I have to agree with you on saving up for special pens but please let me rant for a moment, I'm not knocking down any retailers or manufacturers or brands but they come out with these limited edition pens and at astronomical prices it makes people like me who are on a tight budget, feel that if I don't get it on credit I won't be able to get it at all and then I must hurry because it is limited and it's gonna sell out and only a certain number were made I better hurry. Stuff like this eats at my head all the time when I see these beautiful swirly pens. I've learned to control and do without most of the time, I usually go for the affordable patterns that cost less than $100 and this way I'm able to have more of them. But I just wish the price is what kind of come down and stabilize after all it is justa pen, did I say that? Lol I adore your collection it's wonderful thank you
I'm convinced that the top manufacturers, that make the best gold nibs, could make equally good steel nibs, if they wanted to. But for whatever reason they don't, so if you want a really top quality nib, you have to pay the gold premium.
If you think of it this way, (whether you buy them on credit or pay for them up front) people don’t think twice about laying down $1k plus for a new phone or electronic device that’s going to be obsolete in a year and maybe physically last 2-5 years if they’re lucky. But a luxury fountain pen (or nib) can literally last decades. Way longer than their electronics.
There is a lot of wisdom in this comment. There is definitely value in our wonderful pens, and I am sure you saw that I just upgraded my phone! Thanks for watching.
@@HemingwayJones Thank you, and Yes, I did see you upgraded your phone, and I think it was a good solid choice as you use it for your work on RUclips. We just upgraded our short-lived Google Pixel 7s which were a poor choice. I should have stuck with my usual iPhones which I use until they plead for a proper burial! lol of course, we got our iPhone 15 Plus phone about two months before the 16s came out, but no worries. I’m not really an early adopter.
In my older years I’ve to come appreciate old school, tactile and analog communication and hobbies more and more. Because you know someday, we may not have electronic communications. And even if they went dark for a short period, I do not want to be one of those hand-wringing “life is over without my wifi” addicts. 🫣 I grew up without it and I survived just fine. Like my hubby says, ‘there are post millennialists, A-millennialists…I’m a ‘pan-millennialist. I believe it will all pan out in the end.” 😎
I have 100+ year old pens with gold nibs that I use with love!
HJ I missed your video but watched it later and as far as naming your skull,since you are Hemmingway Jones why not name the skull Indiana Jones the perfect pair.
Dear Hemingway Jones - my comment keeps being eaten by RUclips thinking that it is spam. It is not - I was just trying to share with you a sighting of a fountain pen in the trailer for a new Yokai Watch game - it is at the 1 minute mark.
Thank you! You can always email me at my screen name at iCloud.
You are far from the truth.Rolex produces around 1,2 million watches each year.And there are definitely not handmade whatsoever.Hype hype hype 🤪🤗
I think my point was made even if I messed up the units.
About 2003 I ate a heroic amount of acid and tripped for a couple of days and a lot longe than I wanted to. During that intense journey, while watching tv, I truly understood how much we were being led by the nose ring with fear, propaganda and programming. It’s disgusting, and for a person of a certain IQ, far too moronic to let rot is from the inside. So, I also don’t see commercials, the news, politics, etc etc.after my trip, I disconnected my cable and preached to my friends for a few weeks. I’ve had a happier, more enriching life without it. I still feel the same way.
That is an incredible journey. Thank you for sharing it. I once wrote a story about a person who skipped commercials and randomly touched up the secret of life spelled across multiple shows. Nirvana through surfing, channel surfing.
Rolexes possibly do take a year to make start to finish; most of the work is, in actual fact, done by robots though.
Maybe from mining to smelting but most of that is marketing nonsense. And I am a Rolex fan. Thanks for watching!
Hello sir, Namaste 🙏🙏
Currently, i am using Ranga Handmade Pens like Ranga Model Samurai made of premium Indian ebonite with Ranga 14K No. 6 Broad and Medium nibs with an Ebonite feed.....inked up my pen with Octopus Certified Document Dark Blue ink as an eye dropper and its really a fun with goosebumps to write with such a fully customised Handmade gold nib fountain pen...
Ranga pens do provide Schmidt converter and supports cartridge also, but for long writing sessions i prefer eye - dropper..
Ranga 14K No. 6 Fine nib with an Ebonite feed is in order...
Ranga Pens are from town Thiruvallur , Tamil Nadu , India...
I am a big fan of Ranga pens and all my Ranga pens are now equipped with Ranga 14K nibs with Ebonite feeds ..
Please try once ..
I am sure you will love it....
Your videos has always inspired me sir..
Please keep guiding us..
Till then , stay safe, happy and healthy..
With love and care,
Sincerely yours,
Vivek Kumar
( Dehri On Sone, Bihar , India )
🙏🙏🙏🙏
Hello, My Friend! Namaste! I have a Ranga, a Madras. I want another, something more elegant. They make excellent pens!
Putting an 823 vid out right around the price jump is mean! That and I just decided not to get one at all, so you’ve thrown me back into the conundrum.
I argue both sides, so it may get very confusing! Thanks for watching!
@@curious_416 totally valid point, but bargains can be had on the second-hand market. I've thus picked up quite a few "grails" over the years, being very patient and selective. Honestly, it's at least half the fun...
Had a ‘73 CJ-5, a ‘75 CJ-6 for 8years, my 1st job had ‘46 CJ-2As and in the Army drove an M715 Jeep Ambulance!
Sorry M718 ambulance.
so glad you mentioned your vintage Esterbrook model J’s: I have a vintage model SJ w a 9128 EF flexible new old stock nib which cost a fortune but it’s wonderful:)
I have one of those as well. I should put it on one of mine. Thanks!
Hello Hemingway! Another great live stream! You know, I have a few gold nib pens. Some are new, most are vintage. I have steel nib pens that I think absolutely rival some gold nibs, and at least one gold nib that blows everything away, so. . .Everyone's mileage will vary! Hope you get your phone issues resolved! My Nephew has a Jeep. . .The anagram means Just empty every pocket! Hope you get it fixed, though! (and I hope it doesn't cost a fortune!)
Thanks so much, My Friend! The Jeep is back. Completely under warranty. They even did the oil change.
Have you read "War and the Fountain Pen" by Richard Binder? It's fascinating.
I have not. Thanks for letting me know about it.
This skull is so lovely it needs to have a female name. Since Yorick is a bit of a sad character who evokes fond memories I think this one should be a fun character. Maybe someone from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
That’s a good idea. Thank you!
Great video,gold,steel write different,frank in Oswego,ill
Truly.
I’m sure your Jeep will be fine now… but if it did die for good you could name the new skull “jeep” 💀
That’s charming!
Great show! I am smitten with all my gold nib pens! I was thinking about it last night how the earlier pens in my collection, which happen to have steel nibs, are not quite so precious to me now. They can be relegated to “purse or kitchen pens” while the gold nibs are my pride and joys and the ones I WANT to reach for when I sit down to write. Have I become a gold nib snob? Maybe!
Oh, I feel for you on that highway ramp! Glad you were all safe and Jeepy is all fixed up.
Thanks so much!
I only have 2 gold nibs. I do have steel nibs that write smoother nhough
Borealis or Boreas (North wind) for skull?
Love it!
Personally, I like the luxury property of gold. So I'd want a gold nib just for that reason. But on the other hand, you should know me well enough by now, to know that my primary aspect of interest in fountain pens, is as practical writing tools, not any romantic fancies with line variation or flex.
Well, I'm going to double down on what I've said every time we've had this discussion:
Any mechanical object's properties are a result from both *_shape_* and material.
As a material for a fountain pen nib, for *_whatever_* , repeat *_whatever_* properties you want from a nib, Stainless Steel is superior to Gold. - And,.. - it's not even close!
But that's not at all the reality we see on the market, is it? At least not exactly.
Dismissing trivial reasons, like history, like more QC on more expensive nibs, and that steel nibs usually inherit their non-optimal shape from the gold nibs, - you touch at the center of the issue.
The first reality check we get, come when we go from "material for a nib" to "material for making a nib".
Gold is much easier, particularly for a small pen maker - and all Western pen makers are small - to develop a nib for, tool up production for, and manufacture. The higher price point also makes more economical sense from the perspective of a small series.
A pity then that "everybody" just orders their nibs from Jowo. But I guess that comes from the necessity of also having to market a cheaper alternative with steel nib. (With the confidence of one who have had many Jowo nibs pass through my hands: Out of the box Jowo steel nibs are generally better than out of the box Jowo gold nibs. Gold nibs need some check and tuning).
I don't like Xi. I think he's ruining China. But I don't like communist dictatorships anyway. The Chinese probably will figure out how to design a good, high end steel nib eventually. Meanwhile, why don't you try out a Faber Castell?
Wouldn’t live variation be a practical writing aspect? Gold is softer and more decorative. I think that is the attraction for me. SS is much more durable. Thanks for your excellent comment.
The Chinese make great pens. So I have no idea what your going on about. Gold nibs should never be considered as a upgrade. It should be instead a better built pen. The worst writing pens have always been gold nibs for me. When I went to pen shops and tried out the platinum 3776. It was extremely scratchy. I've tried the Lamy 2k, extremely disappointing. I'm in love with my Majohn, and Jinhaos.
@@MitchellJBridges If you're speaking to me? I'm talking about fictional, high end steel nibs. I'm not talking about scratchiness, that has nothing to do with the nib material.
Nibs being carefully designed to have, let's say slightly different properties than today. It could be just a matter of time before those start popping up. Faber Castell has taken the first step.
Now, about scratchiness, that is normally due to the tines not being quite correctly aligned. Steel nibs, being stiffer = more consistent, and thus in general better out of the box. There are other possible reasons, like flawed tip material shape, or that the point has been too polished and lost it's inner radius (this is very difficult to fix btw, so always be very wary of polishing the point. It's very rarely the correct way to cure scratchiness anyway.) Another reason could be intentional feedback caused by the tip material. But this is not scratchiness, you can feel the difference. This 'feedback' feels like a pencil, and it's very common for Japanese pens, because it aids in writing their characters, and also texting and numbers.
You only believe in the evidence by your senses. And you haven't watched TV in years. That makes sense. No wonder I'm drawn to your channel. I ONLY believe in my senses or that which I can infer based on them, and my innate lnowledje of human natire, since i am human, it's not so hard to do. As far as TV. I haven't watched it in probably 25 years. I gave up on their sensless in the 90s really. I REFUSE to watch commercials, I'll swipe out of a video, and back in repeatedly until it plays and I don't have to watch that complete bullshit. Watching commercials, or the TV, or the news is Luke injecting lead based heroine into your nostrils with a long needle in a lobotomy like fashion. Screw the junkie way via the viens and having to deal with that nuisance called the blood brain barrier. They go straight for your "soul," ( the rational part per Aristotle), and they get it too. They won't get mine. I know I'm weird, probably arrogant, and I'm hated, but I'm stupid, and I know it, and when I look around me and I realize everyone is far dumber than me, even the high IQ people, I'm petrified. My dreams at night are pure chaos, every nigh. For example, one night, I'm in a collapsing building, the next night it's sinking ship, and other nights, I'm chased by all sorts of monsters. Whatever you can realistically take or learn from your dreams...I don't know, really. It sounds a bit too hippy for me, but there are those infinitlty smarter than me who would put credence in what they have to say. Of course, that proves nothing, as I said their plenty of dumb smart people. But I'm off on a tangent as usual. You and I have two precious things in common is my end point. No wonder we feel weird. I don't think you try to hide that. If I say you're weird, it's in a loose sense, and thus a complement. There's creepy weird, and there's "misfit obsentric, wise (
Very enjoyable. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I know that you are a native speaker. I'm just curious why you pronounce every T in a word as a hard T. It makes you sound non-native. You just said, "EighTY". And most would say it Aydey. And letter would be let-er, not leT-Ter. 😮 not criticizing just wondering where it comes from. DaughTer. Some Ts are said like d's. I find it fascinating.
I can’t help it that everyone else gets it wrong.
@@HemingwayJones understood
"Casper" would be a fitting name for a ghost cat 😉
That would be adorable!
I’ve recently been collecting Mabie Todd Swan Eternal fountain pens with #4 gold nibs. Lovely writers.
Still loving my montblanc demonstrator with a vintage gold nib. It's such a playful and soft nib 😌
That sounds very cool!
have been collecting fountain pens since the 90's. You never had to ask if the nib was gold or gold plated or steel. Didn't exist until now. I now collect old stock pens with 14-18K nibs for $50-100. Don't bother with the new pens at all, unless it's some special nib.
right there with you!
You definitely get some excellent deals with the vintage pens, even 90s pens! I love the Shaeffer Legacy and Waterman Edson!
@@HemingwayJones THere's a bunch of Pilot stuff in that price range, if that's your thing. I buy from India & Asia. Good hunting!!
@@HemingwayJones I have 5 vintage Montblancs and 3 vintage Pilots. Delightful. I have an old Schaeffer with a size 5 nib which writes like a dream. They knew their biz back in the day.
Alas poor Yorick, you should name the new skull Horatio.
I like this! Thank you.
For people with gouty arthritis, avoid soft drinks or artificial fruit juice with fructose. This sugar prevent excretion of uric acid in the urine.
Did I mention that I am on a sugar free or at least much lower sugar diet? I had meant to. Thanks!
Hi. Great show, very entertaining. I would pay $1000.00 for another 823, they are that good.😍🤗 Cheers from Australia.🦘
Thanks so much, John! I hope you like the video. It’s done in good fun.
I love the ghost cats :)
Adorable! They didn’t last long in my custody around My Imogen!
“Better.” That’s a contentious word, filled with value judgments. If you want to make it objective, you have to explain better _how_, by what metric. Otherwise, it’s better because I prefer it, better because the right people think it’s better. My dog’s better than your dog, French food is better than Mexican food, Montblanc is better than Diplomat. Gold is better than steel.
I don’t know. Sometimes, I guess. Gold is more malleable than steel, softer, easier to work into interesting shapes, easier to cover with intricate patterns. I have some beautiful gold nibs-Montblanc, Omas, Namiki, Yard-O-Led-that write beautifully. (And I have to point out that you said you like gold for something different, something not JoWo, but many gold nibs, like the one on my Yard-O-Led, are made by JoWo, Bock and Schmidt.) But do they write better than my best steel nibs? No. My favorite daily writer is a Diplomat Aero with a steel nib, cursive italic grind. It feels so good, writes so well, it’s total perfection. My Onoto has a perfect nib as well (also cursive italic; perhaps it’s the grind that I’m in love with?), but gold. If two nibs are perfect, can one be better than the other? Borrowing Cantor’s terminology for trans-finite numbers, perhaps one is aleph-nought perfect, the other aleph-one? Or am I forcing the analogy?
I think gold can make a _prettier_ nib than steel, but beauty is also subjective. So I emphasize “I _think_” it’s prettier, not “it _is_”. I think, if one wanted to, one could make a spectacularly beautiful steel nib, finely decorated, interestingly shaped. But steel is harder to work with, and given the more intensive labor required for the task, gold is just cheaper to work with. I greatly prefer to work with gold rather than silver. I’ve seen exquisite silver work, but I’m lazy; it’s so much easier to work with gold, and then you can charge a much larger markup just because it’s gold. And people focusing on the scrap value of the metal rather than the technique or cost of equipment or time required would make it financially impossible to make nibs as beautifully decorated as gold nibs out of steel.
As to whether a pen or a nib is “worth it”, we’re dealing with demand curves and what people are willing to pay. As my first economics professor used to say, it’s worth what someone will pay for it. And in a market, it’s worth what the marginal consumer is willing to pay for the marginal unit produced. Which sums it up nicely, I think. What’s a gallon of fresh water worth? Ask that of a man lost at sea or in a desert. Ask that of people in a city whose reservoirs are running dry or that depends on the Colorado River for its water supply. I think you have to be an idiot to pay $3,000 for a Dior book tote, but that’s because I don’t always think like an economist. If you buy one, it’s because you think it’s worth it for you. And that’s all that matters. The rest is just me being judgmental.
My collection is roughly divided evenly between gold and steel nibbed pens (250 of each). The only pens where I can see a functional difference would be my Pelikan M1000's and Pilot CH912's with the FA nib and Flexible Nib Factory ebonite feeds. Otherwise they are pretty much very similar. I perform my own nib work (after much study and practise) and when I can get Chinese nibs and feeds to write as well as my M800's it does take away a little from the cachet of owning gold nibbed pens. Oh BTW the skull's name is Yorick Jr....or Yorple lol. Rover is the UK's revenge for losing the colonies. Just my tuppence worth.
Hello Steve, excellent points and thanks for the insight from your expertise. Funny comment about Rover. Well done and thanks!
Jethro Skull, surely
Very nice!
Couldn't find your email address, but I would like to be considered for the giveaway. I have been planning since 2017. This year I am using a Hobonichi Weeks. I really want to try journaling and the Techo would be excellent for this purpose. Enjoy your videos as I love my fountain pens also. Name your skull Stanley.
Please send to hemingwayjones@icloud.com I will be picking from there. Thanks!
Help please. Where is your email? I don’t see it anywhere. Thank you.
Hemingwayjones@icloud.com
Buying anything on credit (possible exception of a mortgage), is generally a poor financial decision, especially so if it's an unneeded luxury item. Gold nibs are no better than steel nibs, objectively speaking.
I agree completely. On the nib issue. I don’t think they are better, per se. I just think that the material affords more decorative qualities and is softer, so is more flexible. Better is relative and I go back and forth.
@@HemingwayJones I don't disagree on the decorative front of course. Shiny gold is defo nicer than shiny steel, in my preference too. As for flexibility, well, no gold nib has ever really come close to the performance of, say, a Spencerian #1 steel dip pen. However, that's more about having exceptionally fine hairlines as well as the ability to make significant swells. I think gold nibs suffer in this respect from having tipping - for a fountain pen of course. Interestingly though, there were plenty of solid gold dip pens too, but the cost was kind of prohibitive for most people. Anyway, interesting video!
Love your passion for the hobby. 👍🏽
Thanks so much!
My friend, careful with those hints of over-charging on manufacturing things. I do not have any inside info on any specific manufacturers but in making anything there's a lot more to pay for than materials and direct labor. There are artists, marketers, engineers in several flavors, machinists, managers, supervisors, executives, and God only knows who else is involved. Maybe a lot less for small companies but somebody has to perform those functions. Just saying that there is usually more than meets the eye.
Thanks for another great show! Helen brought a fun addition to special edition broadcasts. However, if she doesn't want to, then we respect that and we'll enjoy the Hemingway show.
Thanks Man! Those stats are from a court case in Italy right now on Dior and Armani. So I am on firm ground there. Great videos here on YT on it. Thanks so much for watching and for the kind words!
I think I can convince Hellen to do another one sometime soon. I’m thinking Cool or Not Cool 3!
Pelikan hubs are real fun to hang out in, last year I was delighted, they even offer delikatessen with wine and some useful gifts.
I need to go, now that I am a Pelikanista!
@@HemingwayJones Yes, do so!!
I wish I could post pictures in the RUclips comment section. I have some proof of the entity that shares my mother’s house with us. I lost my Aurora Ipsilon last year. It was found under my mattress months after it vanished. This was only one of the times something went missing. My mother blames a cantankerous old woman. We don’t know for sure. My mom bought the house in 1968. She had similar stories from the previous owners. Who had lived in the house for nearly 40=years. It was an old house when they bought it. Personally I have wondered if a pack rat is the culprit 😮
LOL, Yup, the first few days of taking Allopurinol is like the Aliens coming out of the walls. Definitely flatten you Karma a bit as the buildup melts.
Are you sure you didn't break your foot/toe? It doesn't take much ... just stepping off something could do it if the bone had already been stressed... Great show by the way. I might be swinging over to the gold side!
I can’t seem to find your email where you said it was on your RUclips homepage. Am I missing something?🙃
Same.
It’s there on mine. Sorry. Hemingwayjones@icloud
Hemingwayjones@iCloud sorry! Shows up on mine.
Great video great conversation by the way I have to agree with you on saving up for special pens but please let me rant for a moment, I'm not knocking down any retailers or manufacturers or brands but they come out with these limited edition pens and at astronomical prices it makes people like me who are on a tight budget, feel that if I don't get it on credit I won't be able to get it at all and then I must hurry because it is limited and it's gonna sell out and only a certain number were made I better hurry. Stuff like this eats at my head all the time when I see these beautiful swirly pens. I've learned to control and do without most of the time, I usually go for the affordable patterns that cost less than $100 and this way I'm able to have more of them. But I just wish the price is what kind of come down and stabilize after all it is justa pen, did I say that? Lol I adore your collection it's wonderful thank you
Just received almost old Sheaffer Targa wit steel inlaid nib - like thistle better than the other legacy pens and a wonderful writer too.
I'm convinced that the top manufacturers, that make the best gold nibs, could make equally good steel nibs, if they wanted to. But for whatever reason they don't, so if you want a really top quality nib, you have to pay the gold premium.
Could be. Gold is certainly softer and more decorative, but far less durable than steel. Thanks!