The Writer's Technology Companion

Emerald of Chivor

Ink Review: J. Herbin 1670 Emerald of Chivor

  It’s hard to imagine an ink as hyped up and highly anticipated as this year’s entry into J. Herbin’s “1670” line: Emerald of Chivor. Launched in 2010 to celebrate the ink company’s 340th...

Pencil cup

Pardon the Interruption

Sorry to have stepped away for a few months. The museum I run has a big 4-day event every June, which keeps me busy in April and May, and this year I came out...

Yafa Fountain Pen

Fountain Pen Review: Yafa Fountain Pen

Going through some old office supplies I’d packed last time I moved, I came across a Yafa Fountain Pen, dried out and abandoned for reasons I don’t remember. Yafa is about the only brand...

Palomino HB

Pencil Review: Palomino hb

A couple years ago, I started hearing the crazy stories about the old Blackbird pencils selling for $20, $20, $40 and more for a single pencil, and about the pencil company that was determined...

General's Cedar Pointe

Pencil Review: General’s Cedar Pointe

There aren’t many pencils still made in the USA. Hell, there aren’t many things still made in the USA! What a joy, then, to find a USA-made pencil of the quality and sheer pleasurability...

Eberhard-Faber Mongol #1

Vintage Pencil Review: Eberhard Faber Mongol #1

Way back in 1889, at the Paris World Fair, an Austrian company introduced their Koh-i-noor Hardtmuth woodcased pencils. Painted yellow in honor of the Austrian royalty, the Koh-i-noor became a wildly popular pencil, setting...