Expensive pencil purchases
There are two pencil purchases I’ve been thinking about for a while. One of them is a Rotring 800+, but with a price tag of more than £40 I haven’t been able to convince myself to buy it yet [1]I guess I should buy it. In a recent Pen Addict podcast they were talking about a similar situation https://www.relay.fm/penaddict/204 , it all reminds me of a Bavarian movie called ‘The sooner … Continue reading.
Every now and then I check whether I find a good offer for this pencil in online stores, on Amazon and on eBay. Earlier this week I was just checking CultPens again (so far they have been the cheapest store for the Rotring 800+ when taking postage into account) when I saw an offer I couldn’t resist: Lots, really lots, of ‘free’ items if you buy a Staedtler Initium pen.
The Atoma leather notebook
The most tempting of these ‘free’ add-ons was Atoma’s Leather notebook [2]Mady by Belgium’s Ruitertassen.. Most tempting for two reasons:
- I am using my Atoma notebooks on a daily basis, at work and at home, and I really like it
- and I really like the look and the graceful ageing of tanned leather [3]Think Yo no bi, which reminds me: I just hope my Rustico notebook doesn’t get too dark over time, but based on experience with a leather bag I think I will be fine
…so this notebook was the reason why I went ahead and ordered the Staedtler Initium pencil.
I think I was probably even more interested than I otherwise would have been because of the recent flood of blog posts about William Hannah’s similar notebook after they sent free samples and discounted samples to many bloggers [4]including Scribble, Philofaxy, Pen Paper Pencil and Gourmet Pens.
Staedtler’s premium line
I do love Staedtler products, you might have noticed that this blog has more articles about Staedtler than about any other manufacturer [5]So fat there are 50 Staetdler articles. Faber-Castell, the number two only has 39 articles at Bleistift. but so far I haven’t been very excited about their foray into the world of more expensive stationery, their Initium line. Based on the photos I have seen online I think the Initium fountain pens look like cheap ‘own brand’ pens from a high street stationery chain – I might revise my opinion when I see one in reality, though, photos can be deceptive. The pencil on the other hand looks nice to me, but maybe not >£60 nice. So I went with the mechanical pencil instead. On the photos it looks better than the fountain pen, but I couldn’t really imagine how the clip works – is there a spring like in the Lamy 2000?
Arrived!
Well, my purchase has arrived now, I just unpacked the items. First impression: The body of the Staedtler pencil looks a bit more plasticy than expected, but overall it looks good. The Atoma leather notebook looks just amazingly beautiful!
I’m very much looking forward to trying all the items out.
You can read more about Atoma in my 2012 blog post about this system.
References
| ↑1 | I guess I should buy it. In a recent Pen Addict podcast they were talking about a similar situation https://www.relay.fm/penaddict/204 , it all reminds me of a Bavarian movie called ‘The sooner you die, the longer you are dead’ |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Mady by Belgium’s Ruitertassen. |
| ↑3 | Think Yo no bi, which reminds me: I just hope my Rustico notebook doesn’t get too dark over time, but based on experience with a leather bag I think I will be fine |
| ↑4 | including Scribble, Philofaxy, Pen Paper Pencil and Gourmet Pens |
| ↑5 | So fat there are 50 Staetdler articles. Faber-Castell, the number two only has 39 articles at Bleistift. |