John Culmer has been repairing and restoring fountain pens for over thirty years, having acquired the skill from his father Charlie. John’s skill is such that his services are recommended by Parker and Waterman. Today, although the Peel Pen Shop (London) retail store location has now closed, John still repairs
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly had written Frankenstein, or, The Modern Promethius (published 1818) in a summer spent in Switzerland. She would later go on to describe that period in her life as the moment, “when I first stepped out from childhood into life”. While Frankenstein continues to remain, a genre defining
Death. Depression. Devastation. These are indeed difficult times. And I must commend the Inked Happiness for having not only broached the topic of depression, but for having, so eloquently at that, focussed on the light at the end of the tunnel. Let us accept that the first step towards victory
S Mordan & Co – the story of a sterling dip pen in Calcutta. The Dip Pen, also called the nib pen, was the predecessor of our fountainpens. Dip pens, in their turn, had started becoming popular in the early 19th century when they had replaced the quills and in
Nino Marino – an Inked Happiness Exclusive Inked Happiness: From the pyre of Delta, Maiora has come out purer – like gold. How has the journey been so far? Nino Marino: Maiora was founded on January 28, 2018, after the closing of my beloved Delta, which took place on
Vintage Indian ebonite fountain pens, anyone? “What is your greatest regret as a fountain pen collector?” asked the young lady who had come to take my interview. “Regret”? I heard myself mumbling far away, for her question had hit me straight in the solar plexus. “Fountain pen collecting, on
East India LE 2020 chalks a first for Indian pen lovers The Indian fountain pen manufacturers are a risk averse lot, say the apologists. Ask the critics and one is greeted with a fusillade of sterner stuff – that they have zero research and development; are content only with
Beena Pens. Naam to suna hi hoga! This is a remarkable story – of yesterday, today and tomorrow – of growth, decay and renewal that typifies the Indian fountain pen in the larger context, hopefully. It began more than five decades back in 1965 when Satramdas Motwani went into
Ohto pens are now in India, thanks to Tushar Vaghela I met Tushar Vaghela for the first time in the Ahmedabad Pen Show – fondly christened the Global Pen Expo – in the beginning of this year. Frankly speaking, I had reached the venue not expecting much, not having
Pricing, pricing and pricing – the holy trinity of buying foreign fountain pens Pricing of imported fountain pens is a thorny issue at its best, a contentious one leading to massive heartburns at its worst. Buying from the swank, authorized retail outlets with liveried assistants, gives one the scare
Valuation and Certification services now available in India – Diwali comes early for Fountain Pen lovers. I always buy fountain pens – especially the old, vintage stuff of Indian origin – blindly. I know it is a path full of pitfalls, with dangers lurking in the corners and would never
Makoba feels that the best is yet to come, gets ready to reap the rewards on the other side of the pandemic Inked happiness: Before everything else, what does Makoba mean? How old is the ecommerce platform? What attracted you to the world of writing accessories? How has the journey
