Category: Fountain Pens

Posted in Fountain Pens

New Pen Day (Parker 25)

Posted on by Charlie

When I dove back into fountain pens I didn’t think I’d start collecting “vintage” pens. Sure, my mum picked up some fountain pens in Germany that could very well be vintage if I could figure out how to date them with no discernable marks other than a green ink window. Vintage pens didn’t exactly interest me until I watched one of the many videos from Doodlebud (YouTube). While I can’t recall exactly which video it was in order to link directly, it was one of his videos about starter pens and he recommended a Parker 25 if your budget allowed for it.

I looked for one on eBay off and on over the course of a year, I think. Not putting too much effort into it honestly. I particularly like the blue version which was ubiquitous when first made but now you usually find the black versions on sites for sale. At least, that seemed to be the case for me. I’m hesitant to purchase things on eBay so it took me a while to find a listing that I felt I could trust as being real and was at a price-point I was comfortable with paying.

A brown box with the word Parker in the right bottom corner in a pale cream color.

The pen I purchased came in its original box. On the end of the box are stickers indicating the pen name, material, nib size and suggested retail price ($20.00). I haven’t figured out what the number below the suggested retail price is yet. I’m assuming it’s an inventory code, but I could be incorrect.

Image of the side of the brown Parker 25 box that has stickers indicating the type of pen, nib size and suggested retail price

The pen arrived in excellent condition. It had all of the original parts including the original converter. I soaked all the relevant parts in warm water to make sure there wasn’t any dried ink leftover before filling it to test how it writes.

close up of the nib section on the parker 25

It writes really well, with only the occasional skip (which could be the paper), and if not, I think will work itself out with a smooth and tune from someone more capable than I am. It’s a broad nib but feels more like a medium. For a stainless-steel barrel the pen is surprisingly lightweight and very comfortable in the hand.

One of the fun things about getting a vintage pen is figuring out exactly how old it is. The listing didn’t have any information in regard to this. So, it required some sleuthing on my part. I learned that the Parker 25 was produced from circa 1974/75 to 1994.

view of the parker 25 on a pen rest

It took some additional digging to figure out how to read the marks that indicate when the pen was made as well as notable differences between versions (mark 1, 2 etc.) I referenced ParkerPens.Net (website) an excellent resource on the history of Parker pens. From what I can tell, this Parker 25 was made in 1982, making it a 44 year old pen. It is possibly the oldest pen in my collection if I don’t count the pen that I carried over from Germany when I was a kid.

As I said in the beginning, I’m not big on collecting vintage pens. But I think it would be rather neat to have a pen in my collection that was made the year I was born, and if I can find a mark 1 of the Parker 25 it would likely be the one I add.

As of right now, this pen has been designated to be permanently inked with Waterman’s Serenity Blue.

Posted in Fountain Pens

New Pen Day (The Wren)

Posted on by Charlie

It’s hard not to know about Tom’s Studio and the pens he makes. For a time you couldn’t scroll through any social media platform and not see an ad or a “pen-fluencer” talking about Lumos or the Wren. These pens weren’t traditional fountain pens but they made use of fountain pen ink. I thought they were cute but not enough for me to purchase one. At least that was until he released the Write-Off Wren. Specifically, the raspberry and funfetti combination. I went back and forth about purchasing until it was sold out and I submitted a re-stock notification from Dromgoole’s. As often happens, I forgot I requested the notification until it appeared in my email in early January. I had just had a discussion about not spending much for 2026 and still found myself placing the order for this little pen. (The colors are so cheerful.)

The writing tip of the Wren. Taken with iPhone 14 Pro.

The Write-Off Wren comes in a windowed box to show off the cap. The box itself contains the pen, a single reservoir, a tip/nib, and a sample bottle of Tom’s Studio ink (black). I was surprised that it didn’t come with a few extra nibs or reservoirs. Especially given the sales pitch that you can change inks by switching reservoirs.

For a moment I was a little disappointed by the lack of extra reservoir until I realized I was likely only going to use a dark ink – in this case Tintype from Birmingham Pen Co. not changing the ink negates the need to get replacement tips or reservoirs.

(Note – the reservoirs are little plastic tubes filled with cotton that pulls ink in for use. If you only have one reservoir and you feel like changing inks before the reservoir is empty you basically waste what ink is left when you rinse it out.)

A capped Write-Off Wren sitting on top of a commonplace notebook.
All the pretty swirly colors. Taken with iPhone 14 Pro.

The Write-Off Wren is a pocket pen. When the pen is posted it fits comfortably in my hand. Once the pen is primed with ink it writes smoothly and works equally well for quick notes and longer writing sessions for me.

I think this pen would be a great pen to toss into your bag (which is what I am likely going to do) as an alternative to a pocket fountain pen. I’m not exactly worried about the Write-Off Wren breaking or leaking in some way. And I still get to use fountain pen ink.