My Favourite Pens!!!!

Writing tools are a waning industry of yesteryear, with writers calluses being replaced by the smartphone pinky. Yet the atavistic activity still brings many benefits. Research indicates that writing facilitates better memory consolidation. A 2024 study by F. R. van der Weel and Audrey van der Meer, published in Frontiers in Psychology, found more extensive patterns of brain connectivity when university students wrote with a digital pen than when they typed. The experiment did not directly test whether they remembered more. Still, it suggests that handwriting engages the brain differently and gives a convenient pretext to browse a stationery shop.

I went to CN Square in Hong Kong, an entire building for office supplies. It was a rewarding visit despite no single product ensnaring my eyes. A display of rotring writing instruments near the entrance was an encouraging start.

rOtring pens are the classic entry point for becoming a full fledged writing snob. They feature metal bodies, knurled grips and narrow lead sleeves. Even the name is literal: rot is German for red, and Ring means ring.

The company traces it roots back to Germany 1928, when the company introduced the Tintenkuli, also known as the Tiku, which delivered ink through a tubular point rather than a conventional split nib. The company’s own timeline traces the later Rapidograph to the current design. The main problem was: how to deliver a controlled line of ink reliably through a tube at different pressure points? When lifted and placed back down? Its founder was Wihelm Riepe who likely comissioned the tiku. Prior to that the inventor worked in a wildly different industry - dried fruit commodity trading,  before serendipidously encountering american stlographic ink pens and drawing inspiration from them. 

Next to the mechanical pens are the ballpoints which I have no interest for. This is a prejudice, certainly, however this is an article about pens so what do you expect huh 👀.

When a pen becomes a pedestal

A few steps away, the luxury displays made a different argument. Montblanc and Graf von Faber-Castell sell more than an instrument for writing. Their pens carry the weight of presentation, materials and a name recognisable across a desk.

I understand the appeal. I also find myself resisting it. With each elaborate edition, what has improved beyond the ceremony? Does it feel better in the hand? Does the nib suit the way I write

Perhaps that is unfair to a collector, for whom design and rarity are pleasures in themselves. But I am shopping for something I want to use. 

Fully within the store I was on a mission to find some of the products I love

Farther inside, I found a more persuasive kind of ingenuity: Mitsubishi Pencil’s Kuru Toga. A mechanical pencil normally wears its lead into a sloping edge. You compensate by turning the barrel in your fingers. The Kuru Toga turns the lead incrementally as the point is pressed down and lifted, helping it wear evenly.

The Advance version makes a specific improvement. Its W Speed Engine completes a rotation in 20 strokes, doubling the degree of rotation. I prefer it for English handwriting, where longer strokes give the mechanism fewer opportunities to turn. It really makes a difference.

The Mitsubishi Pencil Company actually predates Mitsubishi Motors, despite the familiar name and similar three diamond mark which is actually the family crest.

Its founder, Niroku Masaki, encountered pencils at the 1878 Paris world’s fair. According to the Japan Writing Instruments Manufacturers Association, he went on to study their manufacture and established a pencil factory in Tokyo in 1887. Mitsubishi's founder value lies in his ability to transport existing information to Japan. 

The company’s uni pencil arrived in 1958; the name comes from “unique.” Today I associate uni just as readily with affordable everyday pens. They fulfill a very similar market share to BIC: disposable tools with suprisingly effective design that results in a great writing experience. I particularly like the capped gel pens and hybrid-ink models. The ball point however often flex within the socket and prone to directional skipping, as similar to other cheap ballpoints.  

Brush Pens

I encountered alot of brush pens at the store. Brush pens offered another answer to an old inconvenience. A portable reservoir and a brush tip bring together what would otherwise require a brush, an ink supply and room to arrange them. Soft resevoirs let the writer squeeze the barrel to encourage the flow. Its interesting how covenient polymers can add a new layer of technique to a otherwise stale tradition. Its good that HK is adapting anachronistic traditions. 

The point is convenience rather than a replacement for every pleasure of traditional calligraphy. A brush still asks something different of the hand from a fountain pen. But reducing the preparations makes it easier to begin.

I also encountered stationaries such as sisscors and staplers of every kinda and design. These uniquely asian designs haven't really been adopted in the west. They're largely form over function and aren't actaually useful besides perhaps compact design, which is only useful if youre living in a 20 sqft house (like me right now) which in unheard of in places like canada. 

The fountain pen I came looking for

I did not find the Platinum Prefounte, one of my favourite fountain pens. It sits a step above the inexpensive Preppy in appearance, while retaining the practical qualities that make that family appealing.

The best feature is its cap. Platinum says the Slip & Seal mechanism keeps the ink from drying out for a year with the cap closed. In my own use, that claim has held up. 

I like the fine nib for small writing, though I feel its more scratchy than from a broader point. Platinum calls the choices 03/F and 05/M; those markings should not be mistaken for a promise that every line will measure exactly 0.3 or 0.5 millimetres. Paper, ink and writing angle all have a say.

CN Square had Preppys and Platinum Starlets instead. The Starlet’s little nib decoration gives an inexpensive pen some personality. They come in 0.3, 0.5 and 0,7 mm thickness but only 0.5 and up were on sale at this shop. They were very smooth write and are really great for entry level writers. They are largely marketed towards students, as chinese hard tipped caligraphy 硬笔书法 requires fountain pens. Its ink cartridges and refillable cartrige are cross compatible with the prefonte and preppy. For most people experimenting with nib flex these product are well suited. 

I spent around an hour at the stationary store, in these times its the highlight of my week. There are worse reasons to spend an afternoon in a stationery shop.