Hey, Delta pen company fans. Airline International--that great pen shop in El Paso, Texas--has an exclusive on a fabulous and forthcoming new Delta Roma Imperiale Demonstrator fountain pen. It is a limited edition of just 25 pieces and, to my knowledge, it is the largest demonstrator pen every produced. The body and cap are crafted from clear hand-polished resin and the details are in vermeil. It features a large 14-karat gold nib (size 8) with an ebonite feed; the pen is piston filled. It's a handful at almost 6.5 inches (closed) with a barrel circumference of 2.28 inches. The pen will be available in about two weeks, I understand, and it's priced at $1,395. The artist's rendering shown offers a pretty good idea of the pen's appearance, but I'll post a photo as soon as one is available. I'm a huge fan of demonstrator pens, and this looks like a fun one to own, produced by a respected Italian firm.

Delta MOMO 30th

Carbon fiber, celluloid and pure titanium combine to create the new limited edition MOMO 30^th by the Italian pen brand Delta, celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the MOMO Design company. The collection includes 981 piston-filled fountain pens ($1,095) with a flexible titanium nib and 981 rollerball pens. There are also 30 exclusive fountain pens in 18-karat rose gold, black celluloid and carbon fiber, the nib of which is 18-karat gold. Delta is celebrating MOMO with this edition, since their design partnership dates to the early 1990s, when Delta enlisted this Italian automotive accessory manufacture to collaborate on the first titanium and carbon fiber pens. 

A sense of humor and a $2 mirror

Yair Greenberg has been in the pen business for as long as I can remember, and that’s a very long time. He is the founder of YAFA (an acronym formed from the first two letters of his name and the first two letters of his wife, Fay’s), which distributes a number of pen brands, including Monteverde, which he founded (the name means “green mountain,” as does his surname), Conklin and Delta. He is also the distributor of Schmidt, Hauser and Star Minen refills. A busy man, he is, since he typically introduces between five and ten new pen collections each year. It was fun to catch up with him recently in NYC, since we always have lots to talk about, not the least of which is pens.

When YAFA purchased Conklin not too long ago, Greenberg immersed himself in the brand, studying its history and its products. The result is a refreshed line that makes the most of contemporary ingredients—like some really lovely acrylics—all the while paying homage to what made Conklin a favorite during its heyday many years ago. The new Deco Crest in silver and rose gold vermeil is reaching stores right about now. It’s a very pretty pen with a vintage-style overlay, available as a fountain pen or ballpoint pen. The ballpoint with a partial overlay retails for $595, and the fountain pen, $695. With a full overlay, the ballpoint is priced at $1,495 and the fountain pen, $1,595. Within the next two or three months, a new Symetric will be coming out in vintage-looking colors: red, green or brown. Later in the year, watch for the Glider and a piston-filled Nozac. Greenberg is also working on a Duragraph and a great looking Mark Twain Crescent (it’s crescent filled—just like the old days) in a chased design, black and ivory and burgundy and blue.

In case you haven’t guessed it, Greenberg is captivated by names, and this extends to his Monteverde line in which each collection ends with the letter “a.” Most of what’s new here are line extensions, except for one as-yet-to-be-named collection launching later this year. Rest assured that it, too, will end in the letter “a.” There’s a new Mini Jewelria, new colors in the Prima and Regatta lines, and the new Color Fusion in red or yellow (based on the Black Stealth) in the Invincia Collection.

Delta, based in Naples, Italy, also has some exciting news. The Dolce Vita Oro with yellow gold vermeil trim launched in May. It is available as a ballpoint, rollerball and fountain pen in two styles: oversized or piston-filled. Also making its debut is the Titanio with a titanium nib (very smooth and flexible) and the Mapuche. The limited edition Windows collection is gorgeous. The transparent body of the pen features a scene from each of the four seasons, and there are just 200 pens in each of the four designs.

When I asked Greenberg if he avails himself of any help in managing all of his companies and indeed designing new products and even inventing a few things (he patented the Mega Ink Ball rollerball that fills like a fountain pen), he replied with characteristic good humor that he gets his best advice “from a $2 mirror.”

I love New York

I had fun at the recent National Stationery Show at the Javits Center in NYC. While there weren't a whole bunch of pen companies exhibiting, those that were there showed some great stuff. Trends? Affordability (which usually includes steel- rather than gold-nibbed fountain pens--not a bad thing!); see-through areas on the barrel to show ink level (I like this, since ink color then becomes part of the aesthetic of the pen); and classic colors: white, black, off-white, taupe and brown (can this be ascribed to the Hemline Theory of the economy?). Both Delta (Titanio collection) and Stipula (Model T) showed titanium nibs, which are somewhat flexible, durable and less expensive than 18-karat nibs and more exotic than steel. More details and pictures to come...

I’ll Take Two if by Sea

Delta, the Naples, Italy-based pen company, recently came out with another limited edition pen: the Amerigo Vespucci. You may remember earlier limited editions, such as the Giuseppe Garibaldi, Enrico Caruso and the Giacomo Puccini. But lest you think the company only pays homage to deceased men of Italian descent, don’t forget the iconic Dolce Vita (a great and very lively Italian movie, but I think the pens were named more for the spirit of the phrase, which means: “the sweet life”). I am a huge fan of Delta and its owners, and the Amerigo Vespucci did not disappoint me. Just 931 pieces of each version (ocean blue or night black resin) trimmed in sterling silver are available (Classic), with a special 18-karat gold-trimmed version (Celebration) limited to just four pieces. Why just four pieces? Well, I’m glad you asked. This number apparently commemorates the four wooden helms on the ship used for Vespucci’s voyage in 1501—his first under the Portuguese flag. Thus the overlay on the cap of each of the pens in the collection is crafted from wood. The collection includes a fountain pen and rollerball, which can be converted to a ballpoint. The fountain pen (with an 18-karat gold nib) is filled by cartridge or converter, though the four Celebration fountain pens are button filled. The pen comes in a collector box with a dramatic blown-up image of nautical rope on the front.

I particularly like the natural matte finish of the wood overlay on the cap, which is hand finished using bee and carnauba waxes. It is perfectly and smoothly fit between the clip ring and the lower cap ring. The section is the same material as the pen (blue or black resin), which I like, since a pet peeve of mine is an obtrusive gripping section on an otherwise nice pen. The sculpted clip has good action, and I’m pleased, as always, that something other than a cartridge- or converter-filling option is available, albeit for a higher price. In general, I appreciate the subtle nautical theme of the Amerigo Vespucci, which is neither overbearing nor kitschy, as some commemorative limited editions are wont to be.