Happy International Fountain Pen Day!

My favourite fountain pen is my Nakaya portable in black, it has a soft fine nib on it and a lacquered converter with cherry blossoms on it. Its usually inked with LV Or Audacieux, sadly, a now discontinued ink. The nib has a bit of softness to it that I learnt to love and a section that I became comfortable with over time. The lacquered ebonite is warm to the touch and the minimalism of the pen with just the gold plated clip on the piano black body appeals to me. Happy fountain pen day!

My first fountain pen was the Lamy Safari in Dark Lilac which I used to start my very first journal 3 years ago. And I’ve been in this stationary rabbit hole ever since.

A few years back I became obsessed with finding an oxblood pen. Looked high and low but I couldn’t find the colour I wanted in a regular pen.

I eventually recruited my sister to assist me in my quest. Her solution? A bottle of Diamine Oxblood ink + a Pilot Falcon… and that is how I fell down the fountain pen rabbit hole. Thanks sis!

I bought my first fountain pen when I was 10; it was a cheap Waterman and I had several more Waterman’s during my teens. I did not pick up a fountain pen again until my thirties; a Lamy Safari. Then I discovered blogs about fountain pens, and fell into the rabbit hole…

My first fountain pen was a Platinum Carbon Desk Pen. Ten years and 50+ pens later, I’m still a sucker for a buttery smooth nib!

Years ago when I started calligraphy my first fountain pens were Scheaffer, they are still a part of my collection.

Just wanted to say: loving the beautiful noodler’s inks we got at your store as well as the TWSBI Eco.

Oh thank you to the most amazing team for that incredible givaway! :) And happy Fountain pen day to everyone! :)
Gosh I dream to own of those Aurora pen! Never had an Aurora in hand ever!

Joy

Oh my joy it started whence
The day my computer’s search
Unveiled Wonder Pens
And soon the shipment brought my purchase
Writing paper and fountain pens

Could fortune again fill my shopping cart
And win an Aurora Duo Cart?

My first pen was the turquoise Metro with a F nib, and before I had even finished the included cartridge I was sold and had more pens & inks on order. To this day, I almost always have at least 2 metros inked including my first!

My first fountain pen is a TWSBI Eco purchased from you a year ago. It’s still my only pen and I’m enjoying trying different inks in it. I’m not sure I want to have more than one pen (not because I’m not enjoying it but because I’m scared of the potential collection I could have!).
Thanks for having the give away.

When I had surgery on my left hand, I decided to spend some time improving my writing, and so bought a couple of fountain pens. I fell in love with the process and continue to use fountain pens in my daily life.

Thank you for taking the jump and opening a fountain pen store in the digital age. Your passion and your store have helped this small community continue growing. Just like mechanical watches, fountain pens are now more than just for functionality; it’s the beauty of the workmanship, the smoothness of the writing, the shading of the ink as it seeps into the page. Fountain pens are no longer a tool; they are a statement of who we are (stationery fanatics who care about the little things).
My first fountain pen was a cheap gunked up Chinese made no-brand that I bought at a bargain bin flea market in Hong Kong. It was full of problems, but when I held it in my hands I knew that I had fallen into a dangerous hobby.
My first “new” fountain pen that I bought was a Lamy Safari in blinding neon green. I think as celebration for Fountain Pen day I’ll fill it up and use it again.

Pick me!

Happy fountain pen day!

My first foray into this came about after reading “this is off topic, but…” threads singing the praises of fountain pens (which I had no idea were still in use!) with the Hobonichi Techo (which I was using surprisingly faithfully). I mean, sure, my gel pens were doing just fine, but I HAD to find out what people were raving about. And then I got a Lamy Safari (Petrol), and then an Al-Star, and then…

I got my first fountain pen in highschool. Just bought a metropolitan a few months ago.

I love your story! I don’t remember my first fountain pen to be honest, but my first one I bought for myself is the Lamy logo. I sadly lost that one and ordered a new one, which I promptly lost again :(

Now I don’t bring my important pens outside anymore lol.

Thanks for doing the giveaway!

My first fountain pen was a Pilot Petit1. At the time I never even considered spending more than a few dollars on a pen… Right now, my favorite fountain pen is a Faber-Castell Loom I’ve bought a year ago!

Every day is Fountain Pen Day.
My first, from the early 2000s, was a Mont Blanc Meisterstück. I’ve since developed a collection of various , more inexpensive, for different colours of ink.

As soon as I saw my friend Robin’s new fountain pen, I knew I had to have one. I bought a Lamy Safari at your shop, and the love affair began. I write more because I love the tools. My TWSBI Eco is filled with Sailor Gentle Sakura pink, which makes me far happier than I ever thought pink would.

I’ve loved every visit to your store, which is one of the few things I miss about Toronto now that I’ve left it. Thank you for all the many small joys that I’ve discovered in your pens in stationery!

Love this. I’m now a huge kaweco fan. Just bought the liliput brass and it’s officially my favourite pen! Love, love, love it. That, followed by TWSBI.

I went to Staples looking for a fountain pen and came home with a Scheaffer no-nonsense 1.1 mm italic. Not the best starter pen, but it started me down the rabbit hole.

One of my firsts and continuing favourites are the Twsbi’s. Love seeing the ink swish around them.

The last fountain I got came through a subscription box. I think it’s a generic Japanese pen but it writes very wet. I think I’ll try some ink with glitter or something like that. I love writing with fountain pens because it makes me slow down and think. Thanks for sharing your pens via IG!

My first fountain pen was a Pilot Varsity, but my first “Real” fountain pens were a Pilot Metropolitan and a Kaweco AL Sport sold to me by Wonder Pens. I still have the Metro, but the AL was lost (such is the life of a pocket pen).

Buying two should have properly signalled a future addiction.

Looking for the right pen and ink for my new Hobonichi journal!!!!

I bought my first fountain pen at the age of 12. It seems that I was always crazy about stationary (pens erasers, papers…). It was a Parker with cartridges and I paid $6 (that was in 1974) with my own money. I don’t know the model but the nib was not hooded. Then, in my 20s, bought a Sheaffer Triumph 444 with a bottle of Parker Quink ink blue. Now, I have a nice little collection. My favorites are: Aurora Optima, Sailor 1911, Waterman Carène. My most disappointment is my Pelikan M800 that I bought for my 50th birthday. Recently I found that I could tame it thanks to Diamine ink.

I would love to visit Wonderpens B&M in person, (kid in a candy store syndrome), but, too far… my first was a safari charcoal, which I’m still using. ?

My first pen was a Parker in grade 4, where my math teacher forced everyone to use a fountain pen for math cause we couldn’t easily erase mistakes! Everyone resigned to buy the $1 Hero, but my dad nonchalantly handed me his Parker. It laid in a cubby for 10 years, but worked flawlessly when I finally found it still half filled with Quink. Amazing!

About a month ago I became the lightbulb moment stationery addict of fountain pens, I cant believe I didn’t know about them! My first pen was a pilot metropolitan, but I have since been gifted a platinum 3776 UEF and it is the most luxurious thing I have ever written with. My professor (i am a phd student) and a few labmates are into fountain pens and I feel so excited to join their little circle hahaha

My first fountain pen was a Parker Vector that I had bought from a local bookstore back in gradeschool. Even at that age, I loved vintage and analog things — there is so much soul and life in them.

Thank you for the generous giveaway! I do hope I win. That would be an amazing highlight of 2018 before the year is up!

Thanks for the great post :D. Do you have a post about cleaning fountain pens? I have always wondered when and how to do it.

My first fountain pen was a shitty calligraphy pen from Michael’s that I bought on a whim. Since then I’ve upgraded and have been writing in ink & pencil for my journal at work. Hopefully over time my writing will get better and less sloppy, takes a lot of practice though!

Growing up in China, I learned how to write with fountain pen as part of our handwriting class. I remember being terrified during those classes, because I kept dropping my pen. I cannot count just how many nibs I’ve destroyed…but fountain pen writing and Chinese calligraphy classes convinced me at a young age that my handwriting represents me in some way. As I got older I went through the gel pen craze with ultra thin uni ball pens (which I also dropped all the time) and various other brands, until one day, as I was clearing out my mother’s belongings after she passed, I found a little notebook with all the poems she copied and her fountain pen, a classic Chinese Hero. There was still dry ink in it, so I cleaned it out and kept it with me. I started to get itch about fountain pen, so I begged my family friend to bring me a Hero pen from China during one of her trips – I was over the moon. The pen had super strong flow, more than I wanted, so I had to write it upside down (twisting it 180 degree like someone who doesn’t know how to use a pen xD) and it was scratchy, but I didn’t care. I’m reunited. After that I discovered wonderpens and started building a collection. Every pen I bought I tell myself this will be the last, no more – but I couldn’t resist. Now my daily driver is a pilot metropolitan inked with my favourite ink R&K salix. It has a beautiful smell. I have temporarily been forced back to ball pens because I’d hate to drop my pen while running around the hospital for my training, but every now and then, when I find a few minutes to sit down to write, I whip out my pilot for a small moment of joy, just enjoying the smooth touch of the nib gliding on a patient’s progress note. It feels strange and maybe absurd, but i find a friend in my pen and such peace and happiness to write with it.

I have loved fountain pens and ink (!) since I learned how to write back in public school I would clutch so tightly that I had a dent, usually ink-stained, in my middle finger. I have been thrilled to discover this world of inky adventure over the last couple of years.

I can’t remember my first fountain pen, it was so long ago. In grade school we were only allowed to use fountain pens.. No ball points until grade 3! I never took to the Bic pen, and kept using fountain pounds all through high school, mainly castoffs of my father’s. I remember a truly dreadful leaky pen with a lever filler, and loving peacock blue ink which was just barely tolerated by my teachers. There was a Waterman plant in my home town of Saint Lambert QC – the smell of ink! My first adult purchase was a Scheaffer calligraphy pen (loved the stub nib), quickly followed by a Safari in Petrol, a TWSBI mini, and recently an Ahab in Navajo Tortoise which is my new fave. Thanks for being such wonderful enablers!

Been using my Parker Vendome for as long as I can remember. Always writes no matter how long it sits.

My first decent fountain pen was a charcoal Lamy Safari I purchased from your shop. I had grown up using my grandfathers fountain and dip pens, so I was no stranger to nibs, but this was something I got myself and it really jumpstarted my FP addiction. I have since made the trip to Toronto to see your store and wish I lived closer so I could frequent the shop more often. Thanks for all the love and work you guys pour into the shop, it’s a gem.

My Dad bought me my first fountain pen when I was 12. A now vintage Osmiroid (yup 35 years ago) which I still own and use. Thanks to Wonderpens, I can continue to celebrate my love of all things stationery.

When I was in the sixth grade, their seemed to have been a craze amongst all the girls for fountain pens. I remember lining up all the perfect little cartridges and trying to decide which ink colour to choose. I remember the blots on fingertips as you tried to change cartridges… Sometimes before the cartridge was empty just because you had a whim do use a different color! I remember our teacher, Mr. Wright forbidding us to use peacock blue ink as he couldn’t stand to stare at it as he sat down to mark page after page of curly, swirly girl handwriting in the vivid colour. To this day I cannot stand to use an inferior, scratchy, cheap pen that does not flow across the page. I see fine quality stationary and beautifully crafted pens as the last defender of the written word in a time where we are facing the erosion of hand written expression in the face of keyboard communication.

Thank you for sharing the detail about Nock’s predecessor. I didn’t know that part of the story.

I am glad to learn more about your story as well.

Because I took the chance and bought a Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen a year and a half ago, I’ve attended a fountain pen themed wedding, made an enormous amount of amazing friends, attended 3 pen shows and counting, laughed harder than I thought possible, and spent a lot of money and do not regret one cent.

We had to write with a fountain pen in elementary school! My handwriting was bad in the first year, but in the second year it got much better and I won 2nd place in the handwriting contest! Ever since I collect fountain pens, I inherited many from my sister :) I have around 20 fountain pens (7 of them more pricey bought in the last year), but some of the older cheaper ones do not work anymore, although I have cleaned them many times. I love colourful inks too! :)

Hi, I got into fountain pens about 5 years ago. My first pen was a Noodler. My first cool pen ( in my opinion) was a 30-40 year old Parker. I love it! I live in Newfoundland so I like that I can order paper, ink and pens from you folks to T.O. !

I’m just getting into fountain pens, but am loving the connection I feel to my pens. I have a pilot metropolitan and a Kaweco Lilliput. I love them both equally and carry them in my pocket everyday. I want to branch out though and try some new pens. I find that my handwriting is too small to get good use out of anything other than EF or F nibs, but I’d like to learn script and try my hand at a bigger nib. Thanks!

I got my first fountain pen from my parents when I was in elementary school – we had to learn to use one – and I was immediately hooked. I actually found it a few months ago, cleaned it (wasn’t even that inky!), and it worked like charm. By the feel of it, it’s a cheap plastic pen, the coating on the nib is coming off, but let me tell you something, that thing stomps some more expensive pens. However, I only really got into the hobby two years ago, when, after so much talk about pens, my lovely SO got me my first REAL pen – a black plain Pilot Metropolitan in fine – and even though I’ve acquired some more expensive (and some cheaper) pens in the meantime, that Metro is dearer to me than any other object I own.

I went down the rabbit hole just around May of this year starting with Pilot Metropolitan as I was trying to improve my handwriting going through videos on youtube. And then bought the Lamy’s and now drooling over the Monteverde Invincia and the Visconti’s. I think I need an intervention now. Lol!

I stumbled into The Bombay Compnay while I was still in university (20+ years ago) & discovered my first fountain pen there! A swirly navy/hints of cream/cobalt Schaffer that took those Skrip cartridges. I used to ransack Staples for the turquoise! The pen was $20 or so which felt like $100 to my poor student heart. My roomies thought I was crazy for spending that much on a pen & scoffed at my wild & impulsive spending. I just loved how it felt in my hand. I used it for journal writing (which I’ve done since I was a kid., another serendipitous moment.) There was (& still is) something magical watching the ink flow out onto the page as I try to keep up with my thoughts. Writing has turned into my solace at the end of the day.