My personal collection, to the amusement of everyone I’ve told “it will never exceed 30…” is generally in the range of 40-50 pens, with unremitting effort to keep it there. For years, I did not admit to having a collection, since I don’t collect things, but as fountain pen people know, it just happens. To help keep it manageable, I periodically let a pen or two loose to the public.
Truth be told, I do know how it happened. As I bought pens and taught myself how to restore, I read, studied, and sought new adventures. That broadened my taste to include vintage French, English, German, and Italian pens; these different styles are all fascinating and elegant, and my restorations of the collection pens broadened my knowledge and skills. It wasn’t long before my eye started telling me to “maybe keep this one…”, and that’s how collections happen. If there is a common thread, it is that most of my pens are from 1930-1960, my restorations, and almost all are pens with some intrinsic elegance and historical interest to me — these are not coffee table pens to be admired, but dignified and handsome user pens with individual stories. Enjoy my collection!
PS — Generally speaking, the pens in my collection are not for sale, although I promise to at least listen to any unusually generous offer for all but a few…