Sparkle. As a noun the term “Sparkle” signifies the quality or state of being effervescent. As a transitive verb, to sparkle is to cause to glitter or to shine. As an intransitive verb, to Sparkle is to emit or reflect bright, moving points of light, to even perform brilliantly. In another sense it is fizzy – the bubbly fizzle of wine, the wink of wit, the shimmer of life itself! As a fountain pen, it is all of the above… and more!
In a world laid waste, shrouded as it is under the killing spell of a pandemic and the lock-down it has induced, the world desperately needed a Sparkle and when iconic fountain pen brand Esterbrook unveiled the Sparkle, the dykes literally gave away. On the very first day of its launch, the entire lot was sold out, with connoisseurs clamouring for more. As a matter of fact, such is the demand pull, that the dealers are having difficulty in meeting the distributor orders for the second shipment that is expected in the near future. And you thought that the fountain pen is dead?
There are solid reasons behind this apparently unprecedented scamper for the Sparkle though. For one, it is a beau-ti-ful pen! The pen is actually a collaboration with USA based name-brand rod manufacturer Tim McKenzie of McKenzie Penworks in Charlotte, NC who has obviously crafted the Sparkle with tender loving care. Besides, the material, connoisseurs opine across the board, is stuff dreams are made of. And the three stunning colours that the Sparkle is made available in – Garnet, Montana Sapphire and Tanzanite, are sheer eye-candies.
Secondly, the Sparkle comes in the trademark Esterbrook “over-size” – girth and weight that is uniquely suited for, and aids the process of writing. As one aficionado puts it, it is the fountain pen equivalent of the aerodynamic styling of a racing car that blazes it trail in the circuit – a solid, no-nonsense performer, an ode to the science of craftsmanship.
As for the nib, what is there to say that is not already well documented and known? Richard Esterbrook started by making nibs for dip pen in the middle half of the nineteenth century. Calling him a pioneer will be putting things mildly, as more often than not, he had to create even the machines that would be used to make them nibs. With time Esterbrook may have moved away from dip pens to fountain pens, but Richard Esterbrook, maintained that the grinding of nibs should remain artful in nature and the company had created an interchangeable nib system that offered variety and flexibility to its growing clientele – a feat that is written with indelible ink in the annals of fountain pen history. This is to say that quality nibs were, and quality nibs continue to be the mainstay of the Esterbrook story and the Sparkle is no exception, fitted with internationally accepted German made Jowo nibs. Sparkle, the words written with them certainly do, to the delight of the eyes of the beholder.
But hang on, for there is more to the Sparkle that catches the eye – the glitter in the Sparkle comes, hold your breath, from real diamond dust! Dipping into the knowledge base of his mother, a GIA Graduate Gemologist and his own research, Tim figured out the precise size of diamond dust particles needed to allow his pen material to be machined effectively without losing the intense sparkle of the gems. The result is the patent pending “DiamondCast”. This material shines from within, catches the light, shimmers with each move of the hand across the page and has, needless to say, made a huge impression on the world of pens.
The real deal-clincher for the Sparkle however, at least to me, is the fact that it is kinda “up-cycled”, in that the diamond dust that is used to deck up the pen is reclaimed diamond particles that are acquired from diamond cutters and would otherwise have been wasted.
It will be sacrilege if I do not mention a few facts about Esterbrook before I sign off, glitter, sparkle and all. Esterbrook, established in 1858 has been playing a stellar role in the making (and writing) of America’s history as a pioneer in commercial pen making. Espousing the same values that the rest of the world knows as “Americana”, at its height, Esterbrook was the largest pen manufacturer in the United States. It produced 216,000,000 pens a year, 600,000 pens a day, made by its 450 workers. U.S. presidents Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson signed legislation with their Esterbrook pens. Famous Disney artist Carl Banks brought Donald Duck to life with an Esterbrook No 356. Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz used the No 914 for all his comics, while millions of students grew up learning to write using Esterbrook pens.
Esterbrook has since been acquired by Kenro Industries which is busy charting the path forward into the future, its feet firmly planted on the present even as it basks in the peerless legacy of the past.
Features
- Comfortably balanced fountain pen in a complete range of points for the writing
- Nib size/point size extra fine, fine, medium and broad. 1.1 Stub also available in Rhodium trim. (Specially manufactured in Germany by Jowo)
- Blended and turned acrylic with a high polished finish
- Cushion cap closure provides a secondary seal to ensure a wet point
- Cartridge / Converter filling system
- Sleek palladium clip. Provides clean accent for the cap and slides easily into the shirt pocket
For more information visit: https://www.esterbrookpens.com/