Ana Reinert | From the Pen Cup

Egad. Do I even remember how to write a blog post? Let’s see.

So I DID go to the Atlanta Pen Show and HAD A BLAST, and I want to write about that—my experience, my purchases, all of the thoughts running through my head as I browsed and shopped and met other pen friends. And I will (promise), but time is short.

So here’s a quick post—sort of an appetizer—about a refill that I learned about at the show, thanks to a chance conversation with Ana Reinert.

Ana was passing around Studio Neat’s Mark One Kickstarter pen (very cool) so I scribbled with it and asked her about the refill. She had swapped in a Premec 0.4 mm G2 (Parker style G2, not to be confused with a Pilot G2 refill) gel refill, and it wrote great—fine, crisp, and smooth.

As we talked, it dawned on me that this might finally be the solution to my desire for a fine point refill for my Retro 51s (of which I have…ahem…a few).

The tip of the iceberg

Clearly these are a thing

The standard Retro 51 refill (P8127) is a little too broad for my taste so I typically swap in the slightly finer P8126 refill which is 0.6 mm vs 0.7 mm. Those numbers are a little misleading because the refills contain liquid ink and lay down wetter/broader lines than their gel and ballpoint counterparts. As great as their pens are, I wish Retro 51 offered them with different refill sizes right out of the gate, or made the 0.6 mm refill the standard offering. But obviously this little quibble hasn’t stopped me from acquiring Tornados on a steady basis.

I’ve been on a quest for a FINE GEL refill for the Retros, and found my answer at the Atlanta Pen Show, thanks to Ana the refill expert.

The Premec 0.4 mm gel refill is great quality and fits perfectly in the Retro 51 Tornados. I swapped one into my Mission to Mars Tornado and have been using it regularly in my personal and work pocket notebooks. Very fine, in more ways than one.

A glimpse inside my Sunday

I ordered a handful of these from Passion4Pens at the fair price of $2.55 each. Along with black, they’re available in blue, red, and green.

I do enjoy the 0.7 (P8127) and 0.6 mm (P8126) Retro 51 refills for their smooth bold lines, but when I want something significantly finer in a gel ink, these Premec refills fill that need perfectly.

Many thanks to Ana for the tip! (Yes…pun intended.)

Did you miss me?!

More good news: This refill also works in the Baron Fig Squire (twist version). I just tested it myself.

SaveSave

seeing more pens in one place than you’ve ever seen before.

For visiting favorite vendors.

[Scott Franklin, of Franklin-Christoph]

For adding to your already healthy stash of ink and pocket notebooks.

For meeting the very nice guys who make those notebooks.

[Story Supply Co.’s Vito Grippi and Gabriel Dunmire]

For finding the pen that calls your name…

and meeting the man who made that pen…

[Carl Fisher, of Fisher of Pens]

AND the man who made the material for that pen.

[Jonathon Brooks, Carolina Pen Co., and his wonderful wife, Elizabeth]

For having a little nib work done.

[Dan Smith, The Nibsmith]

For helping a friend at home get started with this fountain pen ~~obsession~~ hobby.

For testing the patience of your “not really into pens” husband.

(In all honesty, he did very well. Better than I do at car shows, where I’m “over it” after an hour or two. When we got home Sunday night, he did say, “Well…I think I’ve seen enough pens to last me a few years.” Fair enough.)