The Dapper Dad

The beauty of fountain pens is that they are a combination of utilitarian design. They serve a function and, most of the time, they look pretty darn cool. Many manufacturers are bringing back multi-colored celluloid as building material for fountain pens and not only does it make for a well balance and light weight writing instrument, but it allows you to pick and choose your own style.

Omas has been making such pens since Armando Simoni (OMAS stands for Officina Meccanica Armando Simoni) combined his love of Greek culture to his pen manufacturing know-how. Since 1925, OMAS, based in Bologna, Italy has designed the classic multifaceted OMAS pens that are unique in appearance. Recently they added a 360 triangular line that incorporates Greek trim as well as celluloid construction. OMAS has always used some of the finest nib technology and one hopes that even as it is transitioned into the larger reality of LVMH and it’s Hong Kong based partners Xinyu Hegdeli Group that OMAS will continue to maintain the Italian craftsmanship that has made it one of the most celebrated pen manufacturers in the industry.

There are always long wish lists for the Holidays (as well as for Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, Any Excuse To Get Presents Day etc.) and for guys they are usually full of the gadgets and gizmos, meat cooking related objects or something to do with alcoholic beverages and how best to prepare and drink them. There are plenty of great lists out there and to put another one up would be presumptuous of me because I really wouldn’t do justice to everybody’s true desire. So I am going to be completely self centered and tell you the three items that I want this Holiday season and that there is no way I am actually getting, but I figure you should always dream big.

I love my watches as I am sure you can tell from related posts around here, but there is one watch that I crave above all. It is one that I truly believe is the most elegant watch ever made and defines the gentleman’s watch. If Santa truly exists then tell him to stupefy me by putting a Cartier Tank Americaine under the tree.

The original Tank watch was created by Louis Cartier in 1917, and inspired by the lines and proportions of the Renault tanks that fought on the Western Front in WWI and the prototype watch was presented by Cartier himself to Gen. John Pershing of the American Expeditionary Force.

I know it is not the most expensive, I know it is not from a pure watchmaker, I know it is not on many a watch connoisseurs mind, but if you asked me right now what watch I would want to pull out of thin air it would be the Tank Americaine – understated, elegant and timeless.

This brings me to my second wish from the “me list”. Fountain pens, as you well know, are one of my many obsessions and for some time now I have pined after an elusive beauty. The Montblanc Czar Nikolai Legrand Platinum Plated fountain pen.

A 1999 limited edition that rarely shows up on the auction radar these days. A particular twist to the classic Montblanc that I can only hope to see in person one day.

And last, but not least I would have to request Smythson’s A4 Lippiatt Folder. My version of a very retro iPad. It holds the essentials for writing and note taking.

You do not have to recharge it and it stays on mute throughout all your meetings. Lightweight and elegant. Drop tests prove that it is shatter proof, but not scuff proof. The scuffing, though, will give it that broken-in look that will have people oohing and aahing. Granted the price tag is higher than an iPad, but there won’t be a second generation coming out next year to make you spend more to keep up-to-date. There are certain perks to old school.

Now that I have shared my deepest and most secret desires with you, I am off to Staples to see if they have any sales on Bics and Mead notebooks. Maybe with a little collage work I can get them to look like replicas of the aforementioned goodies.

You cannot help but smile to yourself when you pick up and start writing with the Lamy 2000 fountain pen. You are holding a pen that not only has won many design awards, but also is on permanent display at the Museum of Modern Art.

Made of a combination of fiberglass and brushed stainless steel known as Makrolon. It is piston filled and as such can only be used with an ink bottle and not with ink cartridges. The fountain pen has a 14 carat gold, platinum coated nib and I can assure it is incredibly smooth writing.

Letterpress is by far my favorite form of printing for calling cards and personal note cards. The depressed lettering and markings makes the finished product feel hand made and yet refined and elegant. There are many new shops popping up here and there as people rediscover this lost art form. It is certainly not for those looking for an alternative to the cheap online business card printers, but it is worth every penny. If you want to impress with a calling card then letterpress is the way to go.

Since Gutenberg invented the letterpress in the mid-15th century, it revolutionized the way people printed just about everything. Until printers made there way into people’s home and the advent of cheap digital printing as well as the more standard engraved, thermographed, or offset-printing, letterpress was the standard. As many print shops began discarding their “obsolete” machines, artisans and other aficionados started to buy and restore the presses to start their own niche businesses or to accommodate their own artistic flare.

You can learn more from the Briar Press counts more than 50,000 people dedicated to the preservation of letterpress.

For those of you interested in getting a few of your own calling cards, here are just some of the shops that offer letterpress:

Greenwich Letterpress (New York, NY)

Sesame Letterpress (Brooklyn, NY)

Letterpress Chicago (Chicago, IL)

Rohner Letterpress (Chicago, IL)

The Lettered Olive (Charleston, SC)

Crooked Letterpress (Gainesville, FL)

Three Bells Press (New Orleans, LA)

Vertallee (Austin, TX)

The Mandate Press (Salt Lake City, UT)

Spark & Flourish (Boulder, CO)

Aardvark Letterpress (Los Angeles, CA)

Dependable Letterpress (San Francisco, CA)

Ruby Press (Portland, OR)

Dahlia Press (Seattle, WA)

In an age of “who screams the loudest” branding, I am relieved to see a small, yet growing, minority of individuals and companies embrace the “less is more” mentality. It may sound cliché, but quality trumps quantity. This is something that has been forgotten here in the land of all-you-can-eat buffets and XXXL and it is hard for anybody to be immune – myself included. There are exceptions to the rule, but they are so hard to come by these days. Commercials, websites and billboards are crammed with colors, slogans and word clutter because many companies are just too lazy to sit down and do the hard work of finding the key message they want to convey.

I bring this up to preface my appeal to all of you to invest in the now forgotten calling card or visiting card. It is not the same thing as your business card which these days reads like a phone book (Tel, Fax, Ext, Cell 1, Cell 2 etc.). Although, born from stuffy aristocracy, the calling card is a simple and elegant way to introduce yourself not only to anyone really whom you might meet and want to exchange basic contact information. It is certainly not as advanced as bumping your cell phones together or madly typing out the other person’s information into your BlackBerry, but it does the job far more quickly and elegantly and does not require batteries or backups.

It can and should be as simple as your name, phone number and e-mail address. The information you print is at your discretion and should fit your style of interacting with people. Keep in mind, though, that a calling card means that you do want to be reached by that person at any given time. Use a simple and elegant font, non-glossy white stock and avoid any illustrations unless you have a particular icon you feel you must display (you never know when family crests will make a comeback). Try letterpress to give it a vintage touch. If customization by Crain’s or Smythson (understandably) turn you off then online printing makes this seeming “luxury” very affordable. Make sure to keep a couple in your wallet and you will realize that the exchange occurs in just a few seconds, but has much more staying power than today’s hyper-connected technological means of passing on your information. You can give it to teachers, doormen, friends, play dates, babysitters, pediatricians and even potential clients you meet in more casual social settings and anyone really that you feel would need to contact you for any reason.

Maybe I am being a bit too nostalgic and many of you (especially those with business cards) may find it superfluous, but I find that many people I interact with on a daily basis are appreciative of the gesture that shows that some thought went into how you want to present yourself – personally – to others.

I have a sizable collection of pens. Mainly fountain pens, but there are ballpoint and roller ball pens with which I enjoy writing. With so much of our daily routine (work and play) dominated by computers and multimedia gadgets and gizmos, we almost never use pen and paper unless it’s to leave a quick note or a Post-It. Despite my own love of all things electronic, I still find myself using pen and paper everyday because it is such an enjoyable experience. You can read more about my love of pen and paper by going to Verba Volant Scripta Manent because what I wanted to write about here is the discovery of a pen that has been around for a while, but that I was always skeptical about adding to my collection. I am talking about Monteverde USA’s Mega Ink Ball.

A cross between a fountain pen and a roller ball, this pen is quite unique. I was worried about the ink flow given the differences in the inks that are found in fountain pens versus roller balls and I wondered if the angle at which you held the Mega Ink Ball would make a difference when writing. I got it all prepped and filled with ink and took it to work to put it through the rigors of my vigorous scrawl and exaggerated note taking. I have not put it down since that first day. I am struck by how smooth it is and by how the ink settles just as it does with a fountain pen. The only friendly warning is to test one out at a local store because it is larger than most pens you may be used to and you want to make sure you like how it fits and feels in your hand while writing. With Father’s Day around the corner, I would put this on your wish list if you are looking for something different. There is nothing quite like putting pen to paper – even as today it becomes more and more a luxury.