Montblanc Bhoeme Je t’aime

I first caught on to this pen when Figboot introduced it on his YouTube channel 2 months ago, sometime in February 2021.

My jaw dropped as I did not know Montblanc made such intricately designed fountain pens.

I check out more videos by other YouTubers and pursued the internet to garner more knowledge and discovered that the Boheme has such a broad and extensive range. 

Some might say the mechanism is a pure gimmick, others might think it is cumbersome but all who had tried it agreed that for a Montblanc enthusiast, this pen is a must.

There is even a YouTube video of such a pen sent to a nib mister for up keeping and he was so impressed with it, he was on the lookout to purchase one.

And money is no object, you might even want to look for the Soulmakers 100 years 1906 limited edition Bhoeme fountain pen, released in 2006. Granite pattern resign, stainless steel cap with a dragged show cap logo and 43 facet floating snow cap diamond at the top.

https://youtu.be/7aj1VBjivbo

Hence, I kept this fountain pen at the back of my mind for future purchase.

On 29 April 2021, I was badly bitten by the Boheme bug when a renowned retailer offered a price that was too difficult for me to ignore. I called him to query, confirm on a mutually agreed price, made online payments within 15 minutes and that was that. The deal was done.

The pen arrived on 6 May 2021. 

First impression was... WHAT THE FxxK? You mean, I paid so much for this tiny piece the size of a Kaweco Sport!!!???

After the initial shock had subsided and I composed myself, I started to play with the mechanism. That was that, I was smitten.

The Heart Shape synthetic ruby color jewel, Je t’aime. It means love in French

Hold your horses. Where is the nib? Unlike the Pilot Vanishing Point. To make the nib magically appear, you will need to unwind the cap at the end of the barrel

Dual tone 14K gold nib

The end of the barrel uncaps to load the ink cartridge. Similar to loading the ammunition on a cannon

The rest of the bells and whistles

International warranty

Being a NOS (New Old Stock) from 2002 certain things was a tad tight but upon using it, it became silky smooth.

The pen did not write immediately after loading the Montblanc Le Petite Rose Burgandy ink cartridge. I was worried for a while but sitting at the back of my mind that this was an unused pen way back from 2002.

I remembered seeing one YouTube video on fountain pens that have difficulty writing and tried this method. I dipped into an inkwell for a few seconds to allow the nib and feed to get saturated with ink and then tried to write. I did but shopped after a few scribbles. I repeated the process a little longer this time. I wrote beautifully and as all Montblanc it preforms flawlessly until now.

My advise, get this pen. It has so much going for it.

This pen seized production in 2015, making it even more desirable.

More on the Montblanc Boheme range can be viewed on the blog below:

https://penstylo.blogspot.com/p/hr-display-block-margin-top-0_6.html

 

ASC Arco Bronze Celluloid

ASC (Armando Simoni Club) ASC was founded by Emmanuel Caltagirone.

The fountain pen collecting and craze by enthusiast in Europe did not go unnoticed and ASC was founded catering to Armando Simoni fans. The club gave birth to a publication meant to celebrate Italian fountain pens by creating a privileged group of collectors who deserves special attention and could have access to special pens which was not meant for the public and could not be purchased in stores.

The yearly clubs fees were rather high compared to other European Collectors Clubs but they justified the cost by the fact that they offered access to pens which could not be had otherwise.  

The first pen to be offered to club members was the OMAS extra Red Brick piston filler. The pens came in a limited run and numbered according to the members club enrollment number. Can you get more exclusive than that?

This pen is now highly sought after in the secondary market.

NOW coming to our current pen the ASC Gladiatore Medio Arco Bronze Celluliod.

It sure is a handful of a name for a pen. But is is most befitting. Elegant, eloquently designed and has a presence like no other pens. It is one of the rare pens that demands you to notice its presence. 

Why does this pen command an audience and make its presence felt? Well for one, the pen is made from celluliod. Celluliod due to its composition, is highly flammable, difficult and expensive to produce. The building blocks for celluliod are nitrocellulose, camphor, cotton, other agents and dye. The dye is used to produce the desired effect.

During its heyday, celluloid was used for photographic films, tennis balls, combs, guitar picks, dolls and much more.  

Initially sold under the OMAS brand as Arco Bronze Celluliod Paragon. The design remains relatively unchanged into its current evolution, ASC Gladiatore. 

OMAS (Officina Meccanica Armando Simoni) was founded in 1925 in Bologna, Italy by Armando Simoni. He was a visionary and far ahead of his peers in innovation and design creation. 

OMAS went into liquidation in 2016 and the remaining arco rods were purchased by ASC. Which explains why the design remained relatively unchanged. Well, if something is not broken, why fix it, right?

OMAS was revived in 2018 by its new owners Ancora.

Well this pen indeed has provident and a rich background of history.

The pen I purchased on 17 April 2021 has an added history as it was lost during transit in Memphis,  Tennessee on its way to Malaysia. I followed regularly with PenGallery on its status and even offered to write in to the courier company FedEx. Skipping a few heartbeats, the delay was worth it. I thank Mr. Lai for his relentless following up with the courier and grilling them.

You always remember a pen more when there is a story attached to it. 

The pen is utterly gorgeous. Breathtaking. Looks heavy but its actually very light. 

Without further ado. I present the Gladiatore

Gladiatore Medio Arco Bronze Celluliod 

The pen packaging looks like the pen has a floating effect. The scraps of arco celluloid provided is a nice touch

12 facets piston filler 

From this angle, you can faint looking at the pen

Closeup. No other pen looks like it

Even the side profile has a uniqueness to its arco design

The pen clip with the wheel is unique and fully functional. It is the smoothest clip I had ever used to fasten to my pocket. It literally glides into position

18K Gold nib. A dream to use and write effortlessly on the fist ink fill up

 

 

1000 Year Old Olive Tree Wood used to make my Pen

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair...

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.

Well that was basically how I felt in coming weeks whilst my Visconti nib was not up to par.

It was during that time to sooth my despair that I stumbled upon the internet on Duncan Ross fine work from Xzotic Pens.

A particular pen design caught my eye and I WhatsApp him my queries and on a bright sunny Saturday at about 10am, 6 March 2021, we had a pleasant casual conversation on a pen I fancied.

Unfortunately, the design I wanted he was unable to make it into a fountain pen, so I had to settle for a ballpoint type style. The design was so cool, I thought what the heck. Go for it. We agreed on a price, I choose the type of wood and finishing.

Once payments was made, Duncan proceeded and it was delivered super fast by Grab delivery. This was the fastest delivery on record time. Once Duncan informed me that he had passed it to grab, I received it within the hour. Talk about express service.

The wood I chose was from a 1000 year old tree from South Africa. I wanted the finished wood to be all natural with no varnish or any artificial finishing. 

The trim of the pens were brass coated in bronze.

The end product was pure art. Not one bit disappointed. It was beyond my expectations. 

The product arrived in a very simple yet elegant packaging. Although simple, the overall feel, built quality and magnetic features, would have cost Duncan a pretty penny. The Ang Pow packet was my refund for excess payments made via cash deposit machine at the ATM.

I would not mind repurposing this package for a pencil box

You can see Duncan took the time to provide explanation on the makings of the pen

I stressed to Duncan on the importance of wood grains to me and he did not disappoint 

Look how the grains pop after applying beeswax

Before (right) and after (left) the application of beeswax 

The pen is rightly names Knights Armour. The Knights armored helmet and sword  is the finial and clip for the pen.

  

Pen Storage Case

Greetings.

21 April 2021, 10.44am. It is such a bright, hot and humid day.

The sun is burning as I type this blog. I am 10 feet away from the window, yet, I can feel the heat of the blazing sun. 

I was recently shopping for a place to store my pens. I had options from Lazada, Ikea and other websites.

Lazada has some nice wood pen storage holders but they were bulky 

Ikea has the Alex drawer. This is the same holder used by Brian Goulet in his office room and also David Parker, better known as Figboot. The smaller drawers are used to store pens and larger ones are suitable for inks. Mind you, that you will need to get pen trays as it is not provided

The net had lots of other wooden options and I was flabbergasted but it suddenly dawned on me that it would be hard to conceal in my drawers. I certainly could not have the wooden storage left out in the open or displayed openly.

So I ended up settling for this. A Monteverde 36 slots nylon pen case. It may not be luxurious like a leather case but it is cheap and does it job to store pens well. AND being small in stature, it is concealable in my cabinet.

Measuring 12 inches by 10 inches

Visconti Homo Sapiens Bronze Age

This exquisite pen was purchased in the first weeks of March 2021. But why am I only writing about it now? Well, because other than the looks it had nothing going for it. It was a terrible writer. I was utterly disappointed. I have been eyeing the pen for some time and at the time of purchase I paid more (extra RM300) as it was a new stock and the international price of gold had increased, further infuriating me. But, I just needed it in my collection. I had goosebumps all over just waiting for it’s arrival. 

When it arrived, the box was rather simple. Different from the overseas packaging I saw being reviewed widely on the internet. The overseas packaging was more rubbery inline with the packaging for my Lamy 2000. Disappointed?, in a way yes but packaging did not really matter as it will just end up in storage and not being used for anything. So I consoled myself by mentally thinking that I might have ended up paying more had the packaging been the ones I saw on the internet. 

This is the packaging the pen came in

The inside of the box housing the pen

The promotional materials that came with the pen. Enclosed is a lint free cloth to keep your pen always sparkling 

This is the packing generally being reviewed on the internet by many users, NOW see what I mean? My expectations were high because of the hype even from the packaging 

Snuggle fit of the pen inside the velvet lining 

Ok. Enough about the packaging. 

The looks, feel and overall ecstatics did not disappoint one bit. I was truly ecstatic and flushed by it. Stunning and a beauty from every angle. Solid built and carved out from the heavens. I was wowed! 

The pen cap utilizes a hook safe lock. The caping system prevents accidental unscrewing of the cap in your pocket, thereby preventing unwanted leaks. The cap is so easy to hook and unhook that it can be done in one hand. I have a video on this but unfortunately it is not compatible with IOS videos to download here   

 

The pen is made from basaltic lava  (from Mount Etna, Sicily, Italy) mixed with resin. Matt dark grey in finish with a ebonite rubbery look. But if far from rubbery. Don’t be deceived by its looks. It is virtually unbreakable and heatproof to over 100 degrees celsius. Rock solid in your hands. 

Slightly hygroscopic. It absorbs moisture in your hands. Using this pen for long hours will not make the grip section slippery. Warm to your touch and surprisingly soft, although it is built like a tank

Solid bronze trims. The clip is bridge shaped inspired by the ancient Ponte Vecchio bridge in Italy 

Picture from the net. Pointe Vecchio bridge, Florence, Italy

Vacuum power filler system made from titanium to resist ink corrosion 

18K gold nib. A beauty and a dream to look at. But that was about it. 

The writing was a major screw up, scratchy and skipped constantly. So much so I was so disheartened. I kept thinking I paid so much for a something that will end up a paperweight. I tried various inks but none was the wiser. The problem persisted. I used pressure to write (which I nave never done so with any of my other pens), yet it still skipped endlessly. 

Writing sample. I was so disheartened, that I chucked the pen somewhere and refused to use it or even see it. I wanted it to be a distant memory

The piss poor writing. 

My writing took a toll for the worst from the frequent skipping

Another thing that I was not happy was that the print Homo sapiens was facing the feeder

So much was not going for me with this pen. A pen was supposed to write on a its own weight effortlessly. 

More than a month went by. 

It was just in storage and I completely forgotten about the pen as I had managed to successfully block it out of my mind. 

Until one day, I followed up with Mr. Lai from PenGallery on another purchase and HE enquired about the Homo Sapiens Bronze Age. I informed him of my predicament and he assured me not to worry and to come by to get it sorted out. 

I did so in mid April. He tinkered with it for less than 2 minutes and it was sorted. He had a special tool to remove the nib and align the face of the nib to the word home sapiens. Another tool was used to separate the nib a litter making a gap to allow better ink flow from the breather hole.        

The problem was solved. It now wrote so smooth with the gentlest touch and I had used this as my daily writer since.

It is now not only beautiful to look at but a delight to use.

I wrote fast on purpose and not even a single skip. It is now a juicy wet writer. I purposely took a Fine nib as reviews from the net, the Medium on Visconti are like Broad on some other pens, due to its wetness. 

Thanks to Mr. Lai or should I say nib master

Visconti was founded in 1998 by Dante Del Vecchio and crafted in a 15th century villa in Florence, Italy.

Picture from internet, Villa II Chiuso