Welcome to Glenn's Pens...
For years I have been hooked on pens.
I enjoy the experience of writing with a fountain pen.
With a fountain pen, your writing has character. Ball point pens have a place, but the round ball produces a rather boring writing
With a fountain pen the nib responds to the pressure of your hand and this gives the stroke of the letters different weight and character. There is the shape of the nib which gives even more distinction to the formation of the letters. Finally, there is the ink colour and its the characteristics of fountain pen ink that gives dark and light shades.
So being hooked on fountain pens, on my travels I have always been on the look out for great pens stores. Often, it meant looking in phone books, or asking at hotels, and usually not finding the store. So I started collecting names and addresses of stores that sell fountain pens and published a directory. The first directory listing of great pen stores when up some ten years ago..
Some of the pen stores I found to be "pen stores of note", or "great pen stores". When asked as to what makes a pen store one of note, or a great store, I have found that there is no single common element. Overall it is a pleasure to stop by the store, talk about pens and ink and sometimes even buy a pen.
Since I started "Glenn's Pen Page" and published my reviews on pen stores, others have provided reviews of stores they have come across in their travels. I greatly appreciate hearing from others and it all results in creating a good reference point on pens, pen stores, pen inks and pen companies.
When you come across a "Great Pen Store" or a great bottle of fountain pen ink or other pen accessory, send me an note with your thoughts. If you can provide address information and hints on finding the store that would be very helpful. I will include it with the next update.
The Tour of the Pen Companies
Over the last number of years I have been fortunate to be able to visit and tour some of the great pen companies while in France and Italy. For 2009 I have made arrangemetns to meet with the folks of Delta Pen.
Formed in 1982 by Nino Marino, Ciro Matrone, and Mario Muscente, Delta Pen has certainly made its mark in the pen industry.
The company designs and create a range of very attract and good quality pens. I will be visitng with the company in September 2009 and will be writing about my visit on the site in October 2009.
A bit more about Delta Pen and their great pen which include the Dolcevita, a very attractive pen that I wil have to add to my collection.
In September 2008 I visited with with Visconti, located in Florence (Firenze, Italia). It was a very interesting visit and tour and I so much enjoyed the opportunity to meet with founder and president, Dante Del Vecchio.
For the past twenty years Visconti has been designing and producing pens of beauty and quality. The offices and factory are located in a 15th century villa just outside the centre of Florence. The Florentine company established in 1988 is headed by Dante Del Vecchio, deus ex machina of the creative dynamism pervading Visconti creations. Led by his passion for vintage pens, he has been constantly in a quest for new expressions in the art of writing. Read about the Visconti visit.
In 2007 I had the opportunity to visit the OMAS pen factory which is located in Bologna, Italy. The visit and tour was very interesting and it brought out an appreciate for the amount of craftsmanship and work that goes into making an OMAS pen. Read about the Omas visit.
In 2007 I had the opportunity to visit the Stipula pen factory. Here is a small company that turns out some impressive looking pens. Read about the Stipula visit.
In 2006 I was fortunate to take a tour of the Aurora Pen factory located just outside of Turin.