I received this little treasure this morning. Bought off eBay for a tenner. A second hand pen bought because I had been looking at the little Moonman eye-dropper stubby pens. But I didn’t want an ink filled chamber in a fountain pen floating around in one of my lovely ‘chosen vintage jacket for the day’ pockets thank you very much. So chose this ink cartridge pen instead.

It started off by producing blank line indentations in the paper. A cartridge was inherent but looked empty. I tried anyway. I quickly attached a Diamine Copper colour standard ink cartridge and it started to write. But black. I carried on thinking the Diamine ink would eventually happen. But no. Left for about half an hour or more it didn’t start up straight away. Then left again after writing it was left for another short half hour. Better result that time. Telling you this because I decided to micro-bath it. Get the ink out.

My gosh. An awful lot of ink in the feed. Three dark as dark water results. No hint initially of the copper within the feed at all. The resulting tissue pigment separation shows distinct shades of green and red additions though. Not knowing at all what has gone through the nib it is difficult to see the historical picture. But it gives credence to giving your pen a regular wash out to realise clean and more effective performance values.

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Most of the immediate thoughts and information regarding this pen is written down here above in the photographs. In a nutshell it is a lovely fine or extra fine nib writer. Nib simply states ‘iridium point: W. Germany’. It is that W for West Germany that is confusing! When did initialism regarding realisation of a now complete Germany stop? Over the 1979 to 1990 period? Weighs quite heavily at 53 grams for such a small pen. But then it is all metal. Covered in a lovely black sheen material in what looks to be a pen made of brass. Capped 125mm, Uncapped 107mm, Posted 140mm. Posting is not really great. It doesn’t house in a secure manner. Re-sighting the cap though is nice. It push clicks onto the section in a lovely ‘thunk’. Very secure. The barrel unscrews actually under those circumference rings of metal and rubber. So is very short at 53mm.

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Holding the pen when writing is by those rings and they feel comfortable enough. The end of the barrel nestle into that space between the thumb and index finger. Known to us nurses as the purlicue. The skin when open stretching your digits is known as the thenar web space. It is important for learning and development of the fine motor skills when you are in childhood. Why do I say this?

When growing up, one of my childhood friends was in my Dad’s shed. He was looking through Dad’s fishing basket. It was off limits as a ‘rule to be followed’. Apart from sharp hooks, my Dad’s fishing knife was in there too. It was opened up by my friend and then he closed it with a ‘snap’. It closed with his thenar web space in between the knife blade and handle housing! Dad liked sharp tools. Panic ensued. So tread carefully has been my Mantra ever since with folding knives. My Swiss Army knife brings about sweats when in use!

Anyways. The pen. It may be late vintage with nods to the nib information. It is extremely well made. It feels great for such a small and fat circumference pen. It will sit nicely in a jacket pocket with a small notebook and a hip flask of bourbon. I reckon the new Captain Fawcett limited edition flask would be a perfect marriage. So I’m calling the new pen ‘The Captain’s Mate’. To protect them both, they sit nicely enough in that amazing Enny Italian leather wallet. With a few ink cartridges housed in there too.

Writing on the hoof. Love it. So much I thought it deserved a spray of Booze and Baccy eau de parfum after writing with it to bring full circle the symbiotic ambience of treasured future useful items. Get squiffy on bourbon, write ideas down for blogs, lyrics or a poem, spray on Booze and Baccy to cement the experience with wonderful surrounding aroma and be contented with productivity art wise. Wake up the next morning, read what you wrote, laugh to yourself, say out loud ‘What were you thinking?’, screw up the paper and throw it away. Done that one a few times!

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Life in its simplicity is a great experience. Go buy a fountain pen. They rock and roll.