Pens in Use - April 11, 2025

I discuss the fountain pens and inks I've been using this week, and I delve into pricing changes with recent political events.

Waterman Exception (F) - Omas Black (June 29, 2022)
Stanford Wood Pens Christmas Miyuki Magic (BB) - J. Herbin Bleu Myosotis (November 3, 2021)
Parker Duofold International (M) - Sailor Jentle Apricot (January 13, 2021)
Parker Duofold Streamline Jr. - Pelikan 4001 Violet (August 22, 2018) 🐿🐿🐿
Cross Townsend (M) - J. Herbin Lie de Thè (December 22, 2021)
Loft Pens Winchester (B) - Lamy Turquoise (April 32, 2024)
Parker Duofold Senior - de Atramentis Red Roses
Apparently I don't have a video for this one!

Chapters
Start 00:00
Pens 01:06
Ink 16:46
Money 19:02
Outro 32:49

Links

YouTube Video Link

Pens in Use Music
Lazy Day

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[mumalogue]

The tariffs may give the rest of us a reason to empty our ink bottles too! And to enjoy the pens that we already own instead of chasing the next one.

[nicholasadams]

Don’t hold back! Pens and prices. Good for you! Thank you.

[MrAndrew]

I bought some Lamy Sepia and Lamy Petrol (2 new inks) and I’m told Van Dieman’s have a nice new apricot 45 mil bottle coming out.
I picked up a new Safari to go with the Sepia. I like the material Lamy uses on its Safari pens.
That Winchester is a very uplifting pen to use and admire.
I’ve enjoyed being able to get some optional Jowo /Bock nibs with Chinese pens. I hope this tariff business doesn’t ruin a wonderful hobby that breaks down a lot of barriers abroad.

[ralphwells]

Always enjoy your PIU videos, like open photo.. I will continue wait and see on the tariff dynamics, I have too much ink and enough pens for 2025, so likely a limited buy year for this hobby. I will continue to enjoy new inks and pens vicariously watching your videos.

[MissMarilynDarling]

I've been noticing with your videos lately that the ink runs into the swatch perhaps might I suggest you do the pen on one line and the ink name on another so its easier to distinguish the two :) thanks Great video Keep up the good work <3

[K_rye]

That rainbow pen is stunning. I've been looking at their site and dreaming. The Lamy turquoise is lovely. I just got a bottle and really like it.

[ChrisSaenz]

Even if there were no price increases or tariffs I'm being very careful with saving and making far fewer purchases because I have general unease about the economy.
Maybe going forward more pen people will buy * sell * trade more with each other.
I don't want to give my SSN first a pen purchase that sounds scary!!

[Goldilockszone]

My plan is to enjoy the pens I how have. Any purchases will be made during sales like fountain pen day or don’t miss the boat 🛥️ sale, if they still occur. My collection is large enough to allow this. The changes being made will affect us permanently. There is no going back.

[peggylove]

Thanks for your comments on the tariff situation. If it’s Friday, it probably changed 3 times today, right? Such a mess (and that’s putting it politely). I like Japanese pens because I love their finer nibs. I like to buy direct sometimes and now I don’t know what to expect. I guess we’ll soon find out, that is if it doesn’t change a dozen more times. Scary times for sure. I sure enjoy your videos.

[ichirofakename]

1. To complete my accumulation, I only need one or two or possibly three more Sailors, and two or three more Franklins-Christoph. Lucky for me, FC's are made here in the USA. And Sailors are already so expensive that if they go up I will have to limit myself to used pens that are already in the USA.
2. I wonder how your conscious using up of ink may have influenced your taste in ink going forward. Assuming you ever need to buy another bottle, are you more focussed on certain colors, or brands, or qualities, that you know suit you?

[sajjadhusain]

Over the last 3 years, I’ve been buying almost exclusively Italian and Japanese pens - direct from Italy and Japan, respectively. Although I don’t intend to buy more than 2-3 pens (max), this year, I’m still somewhat anxious about what my next $500+ Italian pen coming in from Italy would ultimately cost me, with the tariff regime in place at that time.

[teresaharris-travelbybooks]

I enjoyed the video. How do you find music that won't earn a copyright strike? I like the Chinese pens, and I hope we don't get priced out of that market. Thank you.

[jeffroberts]

Nice group of pens & inks, as always. I appreciate the effort to be apolitical on the tariff topic. Hopefully the whole tariff issue will in time turn out to be successful and beneficial to the US economy and will result in trades, skills & corporations returning from overseas. Only time will tell.

I’ve been wondering about your driving excepts, which I very much enjoy. Most of the time you travel unpaved or dirt roads/highways. Are they the exception or the norm in North Dakota, as compared with paved?

I checked eBay for your Waterman and the most inexpensive was around $335! Wow! 😮 I think you are sitting in a small fortune with your fine collection!

[johntoledo]

Nothing like planning and easing into a new world. The import taxes are assessed upon entry. Previously it was stable and so baked into the price. If you buy something in April and it doesn't arrive until May and the new rules take effect, the duty/tax will be due. It's a little worse than just a percentage. The new rule states that items previously exempt from tariffs, will now be subject to either a 120% tariff on the value of the package or a flat fee of $100 per item, increasing to $200 on June 1, 2025. This basically shuts down consumer purchases from China. There will be no $5 Jinhao being sold with a $200 add on tax. Let's not even get to all the products that are "made in America" with foreign parts. Apple reported got a cargo ship to rush 600 tons of phones, etc to get it into port before May. $3, 500 iphone anyone?

[marilyngardner]

Random question. I just rewatched your first impressions video on the clear Pilot Custom 823 with a Signature nib. I don't think I've seen that in any PIU and I'm considering getting one. Thoughts on why you're not using it?

[dancrews]

It sticks with me that you once said, using fountain pens were an 'excuse' to write your fiction (paraphrase). I think partly in jest. But i like it. It turns on head the idea that art comes before expression. Do you express your self through a tool? or is there a drive to use the tool so you have to come up with some reason to uses it. Art is the side effect of using the tool! Hahhahah. I used a fountain pen to tally up my taxes. I have to say it made doing taxes less of a chore.

[sathishrao]

Tariffs are both good and bad ! I, as an individual consumer have cried after having paid 42% duty to get the watches imported to India. While I have not imported any fountain pens, I’ve got them through friends traveling from US/Japan/Singapore to India and I know how much more I’d have paid if I had bought them in India. At the same time such huge tariffs have kept many Indian watch and fountain pen makers still afloat and also thriving !
But, coming to an import dependent country like yours which doesn’t have mass production capabilities and affordable manpower, such a tariff imposition in one go is a bad idea and being a largest economy in the world, it has a potential to get the whole world into recession !!!
BTW, even I know that you have 3 (not 2) Cross pens - the other two being Wanderlust Antelope and Bailey Light !

[davidanderson]

As someone from the UK it has been interesting to observe the US tariff situation and the escalating trade war with China. In this hobby, it will hit pen enthusiasts with a low disposable income. China tended to be the entry-level pen supplier for many people. From May this will no longer be the case. The value we once saw in Chinese fountain pens will diminish. It could even lead to one or two Chinese pen companies going out of business or having to reduce productivity levels. That is one way of looking at it. Another is that the actions of the US government might halt China from flooding the market with worthless uninteresting copies of old designs. People may put more emphasis on acquiring only a few good quality fountain pens and not buy stuff they don't need. Two different arguments. Take your pick!

[keraba]

I have a slate-colored smooth-finish Cross Townsend. I think it's gorgeous, but that's my style. I don't use it, however, because I learned that I like much lighter pens, but mainly because I hate the "slip" cap, which is more like pulling out a wine cork. You capped and uncapped yours off camera but I was curious if yours was that bad too?

I'm in a position where I don't need to worry about the cost of any fountain pen, but I'll be darned if I send the govt another dollar just because one person woke up and decided that I should. And I can't "Buy American" until my favorite pens are made here. Making a company mfr their pens in every country on Earth, just to avoid tariffs, seems incredibly inefficient to me. So, oh darn, I'll have to use the pens that I have longer.

[RainmanP]

You did a good job of keeping the tariff discussion non-political. I am going to offer some thoughts that I hope will offer some explanation, ease some of the concern about this topic and also be non-political. If it becomes a lightning rod I will have been misguided and will quickly take it down out of respect to you. If you reach that conclusion before I do or immediately feel it is too controversial, please take it down yourself immediately. I will certainly understand. I love the channel too much to cause a fracas.

Here is my two cents worth, and just my opinion. I am 99.9% certain these tariff increases were never intended to be implemented though they could if the affected countries refuse to negotiate. Many countries have exclusionary (very high) tariff rates onerous regulations, or other unfair trade practices related to certain types of goods because they do not want competition for some of their industries. For decades the US has quietly attempted to negotiate these measures in order to open those economies to fairer trade. The currently suggested ridiculously high tariff rates are the proverbial 2x4 to the mule's head to get his attention. "If you want to continue exclusionary trade practices, we can play that game, too." so to speak. Sometimes when one side refuses to negotiate the other side sometimes resorts to ridiculous threats (that the other side knows can be implemented in extremis) in order to get things moving.

With regard to China, they have their backs up now, and both sides are playing hardball. Before long the US will make some kind of move that will allow China to agree to some type of negotiations without "losing face, " and agreements will eventually emerge. The revenue from tariffs is a tiny amount compared to income tax. Many, many types of goods are imported duty free. Tariff revenue is about like the fountain pen market as a percentage of all writing implements. We don't care about tariff revenue; we care about markets more open to our goods and fair trade practices. Nobody wants a 125% tariff rate on fountain pens. We care about being able to sell cars and other products that make up huge parts of our economy. Again, this is just my opinion, but I certainly hope it turns out to have some validity. I will be very surprised and disappointed if things do not smooth out soon.

I majored in economics and worked most of my 40+ work life working for the US Bureau of Customs/US Customs Service/US Customs and Border Protection strictly in the commercial area. For almost 20 of those years I was an Import Specialist. Those are the people in the back rooms reviewing Customs Entries, the document packages filed on every import shipment for proper value and tariff classification according to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA). There was a lot more to the job, but the tariff part is the main thing for purposes of this discussion. Although we had nothing to do with with tariff rates we were at least in the loop when there were major changes being considered in order to be prepared to implement whatever changes did come.

I hope that I have kept this discussion non-political; I have tried to present my response from a strictly economic point of view. I am just trying to talk folks in off the ledge.