Atelier Winsonli

Around 2 months ago I decided to send the Lamy 2000 to Michael Masuyama for a cursive italic regrind. The factory EF nib writes too broad for my likings. The Lamy 2000 saw little use since I purchased it almost 2 years ago. I sent an email to Michael to inquire about the possibility of putting on a cursive italic regrind on the EF nib to add line variation. His reply was very informative, making sure that my writing style would suit a EF cursive italic nib, which is inherently less smooth due to its nib shape. As the nib is already fine, putting on a cursive italic regrind would make it very fine, which might dig into paper if one writes with high pressure on low quality paper.

When Michael received the pen, he sent an acknowledgement email, saying that he’ll get back to me when he works on the pen. After 7 weeks in his task queue, the regrind was done. The factory EF nib is now a 0.3mm cursive italic regrind. Michael was kind enough to try the pen on the paper I printed the order form with, to ensure that I would be satisfied with the line variation the nib offers.

One day when I got home, there’s this package waiting for me on my desk. I couldn’t wait to open it. There, it is the Lamy 2000 with a 0.3mm cursive italic nib. I loaded it with the Montblanc Midnight Blue ink I specially bought for it, and laid down a stroke with beautiful line variation.

Written on Rhodia paper, 5mm grid.

The nib is a joy to write with. I would not say it is butter smooth, but then it could be mooth when held at the correct angle. The regrinded pen took just a few minutes to get used to. The line variation is prominent as you could see in the scan above. MB Midnight Blue (which is the same as MB Blue Black), is also a very beautiful beautiful shade of blue. The appearance of this ink depends a lot on the flow and nib size. This combination of nib and ink is producing excellent results. I am very satisfied with the regrind.

Pilot called me today to say the Iroshizuku inks arrived. They imported only one for each of the 14 colors, so I had to go as soon as possible to secure my bottle. I got the tsuki-yo which is a blue black ink with greenish hues.

I believe the bottle is hand blown. The surface is not perfectly smooth, and there are bubbles inside the glass. I like the bubbles. The label is also textured, as you can see in the picture below.

I am a fan of Japanese products. People from the country put a lot of attention in their products and package design. Even for engineering of precision instruments like wristwatches, I would trust Japanese craftsmanship as much as I do with Germany or Swiss ones, with the exception of Japanese cars.

I have yet to try the ink. Would post some samples later.

Included in the version 0.3 update:

• Iroshizuku in 14 colors
• Waterman in 8 colors

Icons could be downloaded here. Enjoy!

The Sailor Blue Ink. Got it for the reddish glow it gives when used in a wet pen. Apart from that special effect, it is a very business like blue. This one is more conservative than Visconti Blue.

See the reddish glow? The effect is subtle in real life, but I exaggerated it by taking the photo at an angle and using strong lighting. Some papers show the effect more prominent. This one is the Moleskine Cahier.

Figured out a way to deal with thick glass walls. So here it is, the Iroshizuki bottle icon:

I think I can make icons for Caran D’ache with similar techniques. Iroshizuku and Caran D’ache icons would be included in the next update.

Uploaded the Bottled Ink Icons version 0.1 for download. This version includes 26 icons, including Visconti, Sailor and Montblanc bottles.

Made the Montblanc bottles today, regular editions:

Left to right: black, blue, blue black, violet, green, sepia, bordeaux.

Also these Season’s Greetings scented inks:

Left to right: 2005 chocolate brown with cookies and spices scent, 2006 chocolate brown scented with cinnamon, 2007 red with vanilla scent, 2008 white forest green in pine scent.

I haven’t made the Love Letter Red yet as I can’t find good pictures of the bottle. More icons to come.

Finished the Visconti and Sailor icons today:

Would upload a zip file containing all the icons after I have completed them.

Created these bottled ink icons today:

From left to right: Visconti Blue, Montblanc Season’s Greetings 2007, Sailor Blue. I also attempted the regular Montblanc bottles but it doesn’t look nice.

I’ll make icons of the other colors and bottles later. I’m stuck trying to make a Caran d’Ache one, because from the front all you see is the sticker and thick glass.

I have been looking for a red ink. Most brands make only Bordeaux inks which has either a purple or pink hue. I wanted to try some Japanese inks, so I went looking for Sailor and Iroshizuku. The former carries only a red brown which looks more like brown, and the latter was no where to be found in HK. I remembered that Montblanc carries a few red inks, the rose scented Love Letter Red and the vanilla scented Montblanc Season’s Greetings 2007.

The sales assistant was very helpful. She let me dip tested the inks. the Season’s Greetings 2007 is exactly the red I am looking for, so I got it. I also tried the new 2008 one which is a green, didn’t like it. I also tried the Montblanc 146 and 149. Very beautiful pens.

The ink is scented, but the only time you will notice the scent is when you refill your pen. This one is a bit expensive, and the bottle holds only 30ml of ink, compared to the 50ml standard Montblanc bottles. The bottle is very beautiful. This ink is a limited edition, but I believe there’s still a lot of stock. Still, I am looking for a substitute as I don’t want to use a limited edition ink as my everyday ink.