The Journal of Writing Culture
AP Limited Editions: enchanting visions of yin and yang the women behind
Taccia Pens, Online Pens, and Phoenix Lacquer Art vote! PW Readers’ Choice Awards
APRIL 2018 $6.95US $7.95CAN
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The Finest Expressions of Traditional Lacquer Art that tell a story on Perfect Writing Instruments Exclusively for
Davidoff of Geneva since 1911 A Limited Edition of 25 numbered pieces
By
AP Limited Editions
Horology
GENEVA: Davidoff of Geneva Since 1911, Rue De Rive 2, 1204 Geneva
Le Cigar
HONG KONG: Davidoff, Shop G12, G/F, LANDMARK ATRIUM, 15 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong
NEW YORK: Davidoff of Geneva Since 1911, 515 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022
For enquiries, kindly contact rc@bespokeww.com www.bespokeww.com
April
VOLUME 31, NUMBER 3 ON OUR COVER: The Enchanted Garden by AP Limited Editions.
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38 love and fountain pens
What’s more enchanting: the pens of AP Limited Edition or the people behind them?
26 heavy metal
In the mid-20th century, the Parker 51 got a luxurious, metal makeover.
35 we, the pen people
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Vote for your favorite pens in the 2018 Readers’ Choice Awards.
42 Online in the United States
Online of Germany invades U.S. shores, and the results are exquisite.
46 Taccia’s growth spurt
A major merger with Nakabayashi Co. means big things for this brand.
50 get your fill
Phoenix Lacquer Art’s Russian Feasts collection is a spiritual awakening.
54 an expanded Opus
Detroit’s Opus Mechan is getting glitzier.
57 fill ‘er up!
46
Graviky Labs turns car soot into “Air–Ink.”
26 54
50
departments 6 8
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view “We can pen it!”
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mail our readers speak
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14 show
L.A., Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis
16 now
spring into pens
20 news
Montblanc, Pen It Forward, Paperword, Art Contest!
29 nibs
leave your stamp
32 shop
CW Pencil Enterprise
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60 network
classified advertising
62 source 64 imho
brand contact information
Dipnomore
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view What’s Blue and Pink and Wrong All Over? BY NICKY PESSAROFF
PBA Galleries is proud to announce
Ivan Briggs, formerly of Bonhams, as our new
Director of Fine Pens
Montblanc Charlie Chaplin Fountain Pen, Limited to 88 Estimate: $20,000-$25,000
Debut Fine Pens Sale July 19th San Francisco
CONSIGNMENTS SOUGHT Contact Ivan Briggs 415.989.2665 ivan@pbagalleries.com © PBA Galleries. All rights reserved. Bond #08BSBGK1794
E
rnest Hemingway was considered a “man’s man”—writer of meaty prose, hunter, womanizer, heavy drinker, fighter, carouser. Until age six, his blonde hair was styled in a shoulderlength bob, and he wore pretty white dresses. Just like Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Just like most boys of that time. In the late 19th century, pastel textiles were introduced to the United States, and the hues became a favorite for baby clothes. By World War I, American society had embraced pink and blue as easy markers of gender in babies, but not in the ways you might expect. Specifically, a June 1918 article from the trade publication Earnshaw’s Infants’ Department said, “The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.” It bears repeating: pink for a boy, blue for a girl. So when did the trend begin of dressing girls like princesses and boys like halfbacks? Most historians of fashion trace the rise of pink as a girl’s color to post-World War II culture—a symbolic reaction against Rosie the Riveter, the famous female factory worker dressed in blue coveralls showing off her massive bicep. When men returned from World War II and needed jobs, that deep blue became the color not of manufacturing but of masculinity. Meanwhile, women were urged to embrace their inner Donna Reed and spend their time in heels, pearls, and pink dresses. And all this wasn’t really implanted in us until about 1985, when technology allowed parents to know the sex of their baby in advance. Toy companies like Mattel and media corporations like Disney still use marketing strategies that reinforce pink as feminine and blue as masculine. There is your sex, and there is your gender, and the way you identify is your choice, but your purchases are also influenced by marketing. That’s why you hear people talking about “men’s pens” and “women’s pens.” And that’s why you hear just as many people lamenting the existence of such categories in the first place. Even in 1948, a woman didn’t see a pink pen and think, “That one’s for me!” She picked up a number of pens, tried them out, and picked out the one that spoke to her personally. Just as men did. Just as we all still do. In this issue, we highlight a number of leading women in the writing instrument industry, but our point in doing so is to reinforce that women have always been here and that pens never have been a “men’s accessory.” Women like Shu-Jen Lin, Smita Poddar, Inna Kaufmann, and Alexandra Batsch are heads of major pen brands because they are good at their jobs, not because they’re women. It’s not necessarily a “feminine” perspective they bring to their companies, it’s a “human” one. Anuj and Smita Poddar often talk about the union of the male and female in their work with AP Limited Editions. Shu-Jen Lin grew Taccia from a small brand to part of one of the largest conglomerates in Japan. With Batsch’s new partnership with Yafa, Inc., Online of Germany is breaking its U.S. sales records. Phoenix Lacquer Art is helping preserve an entire school of art. A pen only represents your gender if you want it to. Color preferences are not encoded in our DNA. Pink and blue are nothing more than refracted rays of light. Your identity is determined by character, not color choices. So if you consider yourself a “man’s man,” and the new Opus Mechan Hot Pink Glitz on p. 55 speaks to you, don’t worry so much: it’s actually a sign of your virility. editor@penworld.com
AP Limited Editions offers both classic lacquer art pens and pens that defy categorization.
Pushing Boundaries and Building Bridges BY NICKY PESSAROFF
F
or over 10 years, Anuj and Smita Poddar, the husband-and-wife founders of AP Limited Editions, have produced fine lacquer writing instruments. Calling both Singapore and California home, the Poddars infuse each of their writing instruments with Eastern and Western culture. The artisans of AP Limited Editions specialize in Russian miniature, urushi lacquer art, and maki-e art—often pushing the boundaries of what said art can be.
“Our pens celebrate life, inviting you to experience perfect moments of timelessness that are immortalized in the finest visual expressions.” --Smita Poddar The company offers a number of series and body styles for its ebonite writing instruments. The Emperor-sized, clipless, eyedropper-filling Connoisseur line is the company’s most exclusive series, always limited to nine pieces. The Writer series is a mid-sized, converter/piston-filling fountain pen, with or without clip, and also available as a rollerball. (Any AP Limited Editions pen can be ordered as a rollerball pen through the company’s bespoke service.) Editions are limited to nine or 18 writing instruments. Newest to AP Limited Editions is the Apprentice line, which premiered in 2016 as an entry-level line of the company’s Urushi and Sakura Lacquer Art series. All AP Limited Editions pens have 18 karat gold nibs in extra-fine, fine, medium, or broad. During the span of their 30-year marriage, the Poddars have always worked together. Anuj notes, “It’s actually made us more aware of our strengths and weaknesses and the value of working together as a team. AP Limited Editions is our common objective, and our common goal is to make it a success.” Far left—Part of the Writer series, The Enchanted Garden is a limited edition of nine pens in multiple maki-e forms by master artist Tamura San. The converter fountain pen has an 18 karat gold nib in extra-fine through broad and italic. Left—Celebrating the Year of the Dog is a Connoisseur fountain pen honoring the 2018 Chinese New Year. Two adorable dogs grace the barrel while a backdrop of red urushi lacquer on the cap offsets cherry and mandarin blossoms. The eyedropper-filling fountain pen has an 18 karat gold nib in fine, medium, or broad. Right—This Connoisseur limited edition of nine eyedropper-filling fountain pens with 18 karat gold nibs in fine, medium, or broad is called The Magnificence of the Double Phoenix. The body displays a male and female phoenix and symbolizes the union of yin and yang.
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From left—Paragon fountain pen with bicolor 18 karat gold nib, Abstract 4 fountain pen, and the tranquil Cascading Streams fountain pen.
Smita continues, “Working together, we ‘create’ in a unique sense: an individual and combined expression of our personal evolution and the evolution of our company, its employees, and partners.” Binary structures are everywhere in the work of AP Limited Editions. East meets West, male and female symbolism unite, classic techniques are married to postmodern philosophy. “We apply Western art techniques to express Eastern forms and Eastern art techniques to express Western culture, creating bold and subtle fusions that are pronouncedly different yet harmonious,” Smita says. “Our creations are both traditional and modern, feminine and masculine, subtle and bold, realistic and abstract.” Abstract, geometric designs have been a part of AP Limited Editions since 2007, but in the past few years, the company has skewed toward the abstract in a big way. “I was always keen to create fountain pens showing a variety of very different abstract and geometric patterns that depicted forms from a wide spectrum of different cultures,” Anuj notes. Two designs take that abstraction to its logical extreme. The Paragon Writer-series fountain pen is a maki-e display of geometric principles, with applications of orange, green, and teal as well as shimmering abalone shell. This high-end maki-e pen was composed by renowned artisan Tatsuya Todo. Abstract 4, part of the company’s Writer series, uses hand finishing by master artist Matsuyama San to create fluid panels in shades of olive green, brown, and black along with more glittering abalone—a truly abstract, tidal appearance. The artisans who create these abstract works tend to be younger, with a strong background in sculpture and deconstruction of form. Anuj notes, “The Maki-e Shi [maki-e artisans] are a unique set of individuals who thoroughly enjoy working with new ideas. The more unique the idea, the better the resultant product is.” That focus is perhaps most pronounced in the Apprentice collection, AP Limited Editions’ line of introductory Urushi and Sakura Lacquer Art series of writing instruments. The simpler artwork allows the company to keep Apprentice price points lower, but the quality of the writing instruments and the hand-made nature of the designs remain the same. AP Limited Editions is creating a new collector’s base that skews younger and more female with these series—and the Poddars are proud to have expanded their demographic. “Our Apprentice series is dedicated to these new collectors, who want to explore alternatives, understand techniques, and have options in regard to technical aspects,” Smita says. “In response, we now offer rollerball pens in our Apprentice series.”
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Left—The Hunt fountain pen is a brilliant example of Kholui-style Russian miniature art. The Mighty Tiger is a chinkin-style fountain pen featuring fine chiseling and gold fill. Above—This close-up shot of the AP Limited Editions Umemi (Plum Blossom) fountain pen displays chinkin’s fine etching. Below, right—The Apprentice series Chrysanthemums and Blue Birds fountain pen.
Chrysanthemums and Blue Birds is a fine example of this introductory series in the discipline of sakura lacquer art. An image of the flora and fauna of spring, the cartridge/converter fountain pen has an 18 karat gold nib in extra-fine through broad and is offered in limited numbers. On the luxury side is AP Limited Editions’ bespoke service, encompassing the most rarefied of experiences open to clientele. Anuj says, “Our bespoke service is a direct answer to what I, as a collector, sought for years—the idea of a pen with just what you want depicted and in the manner that you imagined. We are able to realize people’s visions with our bespoke service.” Smita—who heads the design team for all AP Limited Editions writing instruments—works on the initial design based on the customer’s expressed concept and budget. After a series of discussions on application techniques, style recommendations, and the technicalities of the writing instrument’s internal mechanisms, a final design is approved and completed. Each bespoke piece is a singular piece of art, and the process can take anywhere from two to four months, sometimes even longer. Anuj, for his part, is an avid practitioner of handwriting and constantly quests to create the most technically perfect pen he can. “A pen takes on the character and writing style of its owner,” Anuj says. “Our endeavor is to improve continuously our nibs, feeders, filling systems, and materials. We use the highest-grade ebonite, the best nibs and feeders, and we are working toward a brand-new filling system that will allow for a constant flow and the maximum amount of ink to be housed. Upon request, we also provide our collectors a nib personalization service through a renowned nibmaster.” AP Limited Editions also sets itself apart through its specialty in two of the more obscure schools of lacquering art: the Japanese process of chinkin and the Russian miniature Kholui style. Chinkin involves minute chiseling and carving of a lacquer background that is then filled with gold, silver, and other precious materials. Only a handful of artisans the world over specialize in this rare art technique. Kholui, the most modern of the Russian lacquering art techniques, focuses on fine detail, warm but subtle colors, and an aesthetic focus on landscapes and detailed profiles. 40
A fine example of the company’s work in chinkin is The Mighty Tiger, which has a black urushi background with a snarling, stylized tiger on the barrel. Stalks of bamboo running uninterrupted from the barrel to the cap provide the backdrop. Other than the pop of red on the tiger’s tongue, the entire composition is made in simple, elegant gold tones—minimalist maki-e. Smita notes, “Chinkin can be used very effectively to sculpt three-dimensional, realistic animal and plant life and also very modern, abstract forms. Kholui allows tremendous opportunity for abstract expression and is also great for expressing realistic art, such as in our pens, The Hunt and Lovers in a Landscape.” In all its writing instruments, AP Limited Editions strives for harmony. Indeed, there is an artistic and social philosophy to these creations—a call for multiculturalism and unity. “Our products honor the traditional stories of a multicultural world and explore new ways of expressing these themes through color, form, technique, and abstract expression,” Smita says. “We consciously present our collectors with the whole gamut of experience through contrasting binary systems—East and West, male and female, past and present. Through contrast, we enhance the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual experience of life.” Visit aplimitededitions.com.
Cigars, Watches, and William Wagner Writing Instruments The luxury brand William Wagner Geneva specializes in bespoke and limited edition objet d’arts. “I got to know about AP Limited Editions by reading an article on Anuj [Poddar] in the Gulf News, a leading newspaper in the United Arab Emirates,” Charaf-Wagner says. He commissioned two pens: one to honor his family’s watchmaking heritage (Swiss watchmaker William Wagner is Charaf-Wagner’s grandfather) and one for his love of cigars. The Writer-bodied Horology No. 1 Limited Edition is a converter filler with a sky blue urushi background flecked with silver and an intricate design of watch gears in taka maki-e. Artist Tanbo Hiroshi also used various maki-e techniques to create a three-dimensional illusion. The Connoisseur-bodied, eyedropperfilling Le Cigar No. 1 Limited Edition is its own illusion—on a glimpse, one could mistake this fountain pen for a real cigar. Artist Kotaku Kitahama used shades of platinum and gold lacquer to achieve this pen’s marvelous detail. Both these fountain pens are part of the AP Limited Editons bespoke service and have 18 karat gold nibs in various sizes, and both are limited to 25 pieces. Pens come in a matching presentation box complete with a plaque bearing the edition number and (optionally) the customer’s name. Included in the package are two 30 ml bottles of Diamine ink in black and royal blue. The series are carried exclusively at Davidoff Geneva boutique stores in New York, Geneva, and Hong Kong. bespokeww.com
Left—Cherry Blossoms in Silver features inlaid ornaments and blossoming sakura flowers and has an 18 karat gold nib with the engraved company logo. Right—Horology No. 1 and Le Cigar No. 1.
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Classic M120 Iconic Blue
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network 2018 St. Louis Pen Show The Gateway City’s Own Pen & Writing Show June 29th – July 1st, 2018
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