Welcome to Issue#36.

In this issue, we look at perhaps the most perfect retractable fountain pen yet, attend a handwriting workshop, and feature pictures of a beautiful Italian pen.

As I started writing this bit, I realised there have a good man different retractable fountain pens I’ve been writing about. I have previously written about the Endless Creator (twice!), the Pilot Vanishing Point, and the Chinese retractables. At this point, it’s almost as if I have an obsession with them! Considering I haven’t yet written about my Majohn A2, I probably am!

Enough beating about the retractable fountain pen bush! After waiting for a good bit, I got my hands on the Ensso Bolt Retractable Fountain Pen. This was a pen that straightaway caught my attention when it was announced. It was made of titanium, had a retractable mechanism like an old-school ball-point pen from my childhood, was super compact and seemed to me to be the most minimalist implementation yet of a retractable fountain pen. In my head, it was the most perfect retractable fountain pen!

I got my hands on the pen a while ago, and real life caught up with me - a bit of travel, and some work stuff kept me occupied. I resolutely kept from quickly inking it up one night since I wanted to make a video about some of the things just so I could share it you folks! Finally, I was able to do that, and you can see the video a but further down.

The pen is everything I thought it would be. Held in my hands, it is a lightweight, compact, sturdy instrument with a satisfying bolt action that works every time. A satisfying thunk assures you that the nib has been deployed or retracted. Well before I inked it, I disassembled and reassembled it a few times, familiarising myself with the different parts. I was struck by how much the experience was similar to doing the same with plastic ball point pens in my childhood.

One thing, perhaps the only ‘negative’ thing I can say about the pen, is how tiny the parts are. A pro tip is to always disassemble it on a table top or a place where there is no chance of a small part dropping to the floor and rolling away or going missing. The tip with the silicone seal and the spring are the most easy-to-lose parts.

And then I inked it. This is when the whole experience was transformative. The medium nib was a smooth wet writer that took me completely by surprise. Given the size of the whole package, I was expecting a rather dry writer, and I couldn’t have been further off the mark. Check out the inkling and the writing in the video below:

On a side note, having to share the video with you folks made me set up a YouTube Channel as well. That’s where I will be hosting any video content I make for the newsletter - so if you want to get a sneak peek at videos before I send them out, do subscribe!

The Ensso Bolt is a complete winner in my book. It is a retractable like none other, and it is a solid performer. It definitely is pricier than the Chinese alternatives, but given it’s sturdiness and how well it works, I would definitely say it is worth the price. This is one pen that is going to stay in my collection as well as rotation. At this point, I would go out on a limb and say that this is the most perfect implementation of the retractable fountain pen yet!

We talk so much about fountain pens as instruments and their technical capabilities, that we sometimes forget the output we get from them - the writing. This week, we paid some attention to the writing part of owning a fountain pen as well!

A few of us from the Hyderabad Fountain Pen Club had the opportunity to attend a handwriting workshop organised by Montblanc. We had a fun afternoon learning the basics of handwriting and trying our hand at some exercises, which, if practiced diligently and repeatedly hundreds of times, have the potential to make our handwriting better.

We got to write with 146 pens on some really nice Montblanc stationery.

The workshop was conducted by K C Janardhan, a well-known handwriting expert, among many other things. The session was fun and engaging, if a little bit rushed. Such a fun and interesting topic should very well be done over the better part of a day, rather than just a couple of hours. Nevertheless, there was a lot of learning, and a good time was had by all.

At the end of the workshop, KC took the time to write out certificates for us. The Montblanc folks did a fantastic job putting the event together, and we hope we get more of them in our town.

Thanks to Harish G from the Hyderabad Fountain Pen Club, I had an opportunity to experience a Pineider Bellezza with a Quill nib. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

With the Pelikan Hub mere weeks away, and with 37 signups in Hyderabad, we are excitedly making plans. This week we are looking forward to having the venue finalised and communicated to all attendees.

Share your take on fountain pens and related things in one (or more!) of our upcoming issues.

Any and all content you share will belong to you and will be credited to your name (or a pen name of your choice) and linked to any of your online profiles. Ideal content would be a write-up between 200 and 400 words with 1 to 5 images.

Here are a few things that can go in the Fountain Pen Weekly:

• Pen / ink / paper ownership experience

• Favorites in FP, ink, paper etc.

• Your social handles with your FP content - Insta, FB, Twitter, Reddit

• Any FP-related content you want to call out - articles, podcasts, videos.

If you have any other ideas as well, do share, and I will be happy to think about it.

That’s all from me this week.

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