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There is a famous French brand in the world, many of whose products have a 1957 date. Although the company Charles Chevignon was founded in 1979, the backdating doesn't really bother either the sellers or the buyers. The odd thing is that not many people have thought about it before, but tompens.com has found out who Charles Chevignon is—or rather, who he isn’t.
I recently came across an interview with a fountain pen maker in a printed daily newspaper, titled “Pens That Have a Soul”. Since I have been working with pens, I have regularly come across similar sentiments that pens have a soul. In connection with this title, I decided to investigate the question and, if the pen has a psyche, to dive into the subject as a pen psychologist. The question is a tricky one, since if the conclusion of my reasoning is that pens are soulless, the same diagnosis could easily stick to me. So I will make it clear from the outset that whatever the outcome, the question is unprovable. But there are a few things to ponder about whether any object has a soul.
We met Tamás Szűcs in the centre of Budafok, on the outskirts of Budapest, in the Spiller confectionery, where he brought the smallest and largest pieces in his fountain pen collection. In our report we introduce the country's only pen restorer, who photographs his own antique pens and reflects on aesthetic questions and the abstract aspects of life while repairing them. Statistically, there is no data on the percentage of the population that uses fountain pens, but it is safe to say that they are mainly used by intellectuals, so don't be surprised if the country's only fountain pen restorer presents the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán with an antique pen and even initiates a correspondence with Queen Elizabeth II.
When I was a primary school student in the early 1980s, my friend Lisa brought a strange pen to school. When we looked through a tiny opening at the end of the pen, erotic images appeared—hardly compatible with socialism. Turning a small ring brought several enlightening slides into view. At the time, I had no idea that I was holding one of the last remnants of a fashion almost a century old.
At the temporary exhibition of the National Museum, I came across the aerial photographs of Milán Radisics, entitled Our Footprint - Man's Impact on the Planet (worth seeing as part of the World Press Photo exhibition). Because we rarely look from above, aerial photography alienates and beautifies our environment. From above, only the play of colours, lights and shadows prevails, and only those of us on the ground have to contend with the small details. From a distance, distracting details disappear, but up close, a slice of reality can be shocking. That's how we might see this pen, which looks like a cheerful, lively kiwi, but on closer inspection...
We can become so attached to an object that we would give anything to have it repaired, especially when it was a gift from a parent or grandparent. That's not the case here. The Eversharp pen in the picture was recently purchased from me by my client, but two weeks later it broke. The seemingly hopeless situation was resolved. I will detail the repair of the fountain pen below.
The inspiration for this short article is the exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. In some of El Greco's paintings, we can see the writing tools of the period, as well as the master’s own handwriting in the margin of a page. After seeing the pictures, I wondered how handwriting could have survived in the 15th and 16th centuries after the invention of printing. Surprisingly, printing gave handwriting a considerable boost!
For decades, the French-based company Waterman was a hallmark of high-quality writing instruments. I use the past tense because, in the course of repairing fountain pens, I have encountered numerous modern Waterman pens of inferior quality. In some cases, rust had eaten away the underside of the nib; in others, the metal was poor quality and bent easily. Waterman laser-engraves many of its inscriptions, which also seem less carefully finished than those of other brands. The Carène is one of its higher-quality models, although its 18-carat gold nib is also laser-engraved. Gravity, however, affects every nib: even the best-quality nib can be damaged if the pen is dropped. That is what happened to the nib shown here. Someone had already attempted a repair, but it needed further work because it frequently skipped while writing. The top photo shows the nib as I received it, and the bottom photo shows the finished result. The work was not straightforward…
On 15 March 2022, the Money Museum, founded by the Hungarian National Bank, was opened on Széll Kálmán Square (still called Moscow Square by the political opposition, although that name has now acquired a different resonance), in the former Postal Palace. An exhibition on the history of money is housed in a quarter of the building's floor space. Unfortunately I was unable to make it to the opening ceremony, but I recently made up for it by visiting the museum. During my trip, I came across two fountain pens on display. I shouldn't have.
