#10 last weeks’ pens: weeks 13-20 of 2026
There are beautiful purple flowers in a vase. Outside, cornered between a worn brick wall, the plaster peeling; and white wood panelling, the screws anchoring the panels to the wall mossed over. The vase sits on a powdery pink aluminium stool, its smooth lines and perfect paint against the old walls behind it. Yet, everything seems to pale compared to the violet of the flowers. Even in the shade, they are so vivid that the world’s saturation seems to be turned down. Their papery, wrinkled petals crown heavy heads, bending the supple green stems. Today is the first really hot day of the year, and I am about to fall asleep dreaming about the most vibrant violet flowers I have ever seen.
Time has a way of running away from me, especially when life is actually going great. I feel less desire to be online, even if it means depriving you of fountain pen content. Well, that’s why the pen friends page was created, so I hope you’re still getting your reading. Somehow, “I’ll write later, let me finish this assignment first,” or “I’m so tired because we’re launching this new thing,” turned into a dusty blog. I’ll tell you about pens in a little bit, let me show off what I’m doing in regular life. I managed to write the first big “thesis” assignment and got an amazing grade; I couldn’t have been prouder. In the meantime, we (meaning me and my study association) launched a zine that breaks everything our faculty has ever allowed. We didn’t ask for permission, and nobody has stopped us (yet). I guess that means that a lot of writing has been going on, just not on a fleeting ripple.
Considering how familiar the keyboard of my laptop feels, it is surprising that I used my fountain pens so much. I didn’t have a lot of time for maintenance, so I was mostly putting pens in and out of use within a 5-pen rotation. Yes, it is in a 6-pen case. No, I simply didn’t want to ink another pen. I have pictures for the initial rotation, and I will give approximate inked durations. What I can tell you from the beginning is that there were no half-fills. Let’s get into it!
Sailor Pro Gear Slim Winter Sky -M- Pennonia Alkonyat
This pen fits into my hand wonderfully, and I am obsessed with the way this nib sings. It hums on the paper, its rhythm rising and falling to the dance of words on page. Pairing it with a bright purple-almost-blue ink that flows smoothly simply made me happy, there’s nothing like trying to survive Deleuze and your notes are bright purple. Pennonia really makes some of my favourite pinks and purples that I reach over and over again. This was refilled once, stayed inked for almost two weeks.
Leonardo Momento Zero Nuvola -M- KWZ Firecracker
I was enjoying these medium width nibs quite a bit at that moment, especially with KWZ’s All That Glitters series. I have no words to explain these inks; I cannot stop using them, I want to drink them, cover myself in them, they’re just so unbelievably awesome. Like, awesome in awe-inspiring. The colours are bright, the shimmer is the finest I’ve seen, and the smooth flow is unlike any other shimmer ink. There is not much to explain about the Momento Zero, they are well-known and the shape fits my hand well for long writing. Believe me, you have not enjoyed studying until there is twinkling orange ink involved. I refilled this pen multiple times a week at one point, I think it was inked constantly for over three weeks. I want to say four, maybe five refills?
Pelikan M400 -EF- Shanghai Stationary Western Hills
This year, I’m really into exploring inks more than pens, and Shanghai Stationary is one of my latest finds from last year’s Dutch Pen Show. I enjoy quite a few of their inks, and this one is no exception. It’s a basic dark green that is not so dark that the green only comes through if you look very closely. This nib is an unexpectedly dry writer from Pelikan, and I wish I put a slightly wetter ink, as I do prefer a smoother writing experience. Still, there was shading even in a fine line. I did not refill this pen, it had plenty of ink to last me through the entire two-month duration with the dry nib.
Pilot Custom Heritage 74 Blue Stone -B italic- Shanghai Stationary Moonsong
Honestly, I don’t know what to think about this pen. The nib is simply too smooth, and even the italic can’t curb it. I use it somewhat, and a lovely shading ink helps immensely to increase my enjoyment of it, yet I cannot give up on it. It doesn’t help that the CON-70 converter in it is probably broken, sometimes it just explodes ink in the barrel… Maybe it’s time to ink it up with a basic ink, a different converter, and decide whether this pen stays or goes.
Kaweco Liliput Green -F- Shanghai Stationery Mudan
I love the shade of this ink so much that I wrote a secret review of it! I will publish it soon, I promise, and in the meantime, you get to bask in this swatch. Perhaps it’s a general thing that Shanghai Stationary inks tend to be a tad drier than, say, the almost-gel consistency of many KWZ inks. Green pen + pink ink (or vice versa) makes my heart happy, so the pen was an obvious choice. I thoroughly enjoyed this pair, especially during lectures. Refilled only once.
Thank you for reading this extended version of last week’s pens! Look at the shine of KWZ Firecracker!
