On June 12th I attended my third Utrecht Pen show and I must say that the organizers demonstrated how the two essential aspects of a successful pen show are: public and exhibitors

In the early 1990s the passion for fountain pens experienced a powerful revival in Europe and in Italy in particular.

Pen collecting became a very  fashionable hobby and many Italian manufacturers started producing their first limited editions, which flanked their standard production.

Pen makers such as Delta, Stipula, Visconti, Marlen, Montegrappa, Tibaldi, Omas and a few others, manufactured some of their best products ever.

Publicity creators of the past often found a powerful source of inspiration in the world of animals, exploiting this realm of images and logical association to create refined and sophisticated advertising messages.

Fountain pen collectors and users prefer smearing their fingers and struggling with ink bottles instead of adopting pens with a cartridge filling mechanism.

A visual comparison to check wether you are buying a fake Montblanc Boheme ball pen.