(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)
Before I get started, I just wanted to say thank you to folks who were so kind about my article last week on family memory loss/dementia. It really means a lot to me.
The end of May has marked my penversary for the past 6 years and I wasn’t really in a good head space to celebrate it last week but I’m much better this week, so I can now say “Holy cow! How can it be that I have now been in this rabbit hole for 6 years!” Time to celebrate, right?!
You may recall that last year, I had a bit of trouble trying to figure out what my 5 year penversary pen should be. When the Platinum 3776 Shape of Heart was announced last spring, I knew that would be the perfect penversary pen! But, it turned out, it wouldn’t be available for several months. And by the time it got to the states, I had put it on the back burner and sort of forgot about it.
Since I didn’t get around to getting one when it came out, it became harder and harder to find. For some reason, it was sold out everywhere! I checked ebay, international vendors, Japan, and even the US distributor Luxury Brands of America didn’t have any more. Nooooo!!!! But wait! A pen friend found one for me!! Hallelujah! (Of course, I have since seen the pen for sale multiple times, but that’s just how it goes, I guess!)
I won’t go into a full blown pen review of Platinum 3776s since it has been reviewed by many folks already. I think they are beautiful pens and I love how they write (the Medium nib is just perfect for me), but this one is special. Platinum stamps out a heart-shaped breather hole in their nibs and subsequently recycles & melts the punched out hearts to make more nibs. For the Shape of Heart pen, however, they take the heart cut-out and put it inside the crystal-filled finial!
Heart-shaped breather hole that’s cut out of the Platinum nib (and Nakaya too!)
Look at the heart!
The little heart in the cap finial really embodies the love I feel for pens, this hobby and this community. I inked up this pen with Colorverse Brunch Date partly because of the matchy match and everything about this combo makes my heart warm. Yes, Platinum and Colorverse always reminds me of my friends at Luxury Brands of America who distribute both brands, but the Colorverse Brunch Date ink from Smruti Pens also reminds me of my conversations with owner Akhila Sheth about Instagram’s frustrating algorithms, parenting and pen shows. It also represents the friendships I’ve made, both online and in real life - penabling people, being penabled, sharing, learning, playing with inks and pens over meals, at the bar, cafe, coffee tables, stationery shops, and of course, I will always think of my friend who remembered I was looking for this pen and helped me buy it when they saw it.
Writing sample of the Platinum 3776 Shape of Heart, Medium nib with Colorverse Brunch Date on 90 gsm Clairefontaine Triomphe.
I am still in shock that I have found a hobby that I’ve embraced this tightly for this long and that I’m still loving every minute of it! Yes, the pens and things are wonderful and all, but it’s really about being a part of this community that keeps me coming back for more! I love spending time on Slack, Instagram, Facebook, Discord, Zoom, and traveling to pen shows and meetups so I can hang out with pen friends old and new. So whether or not I’ve met you, I want to thank you for being a part of this rabbit hole and for making the past 6 years such a blast! Onwards to the next 6 years and beyond!
