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The Universe of Writing Culture
CROWNis a jewel from TF Est. 1968
good medicine:
Sir AlexanderFlemingby David Oscarson
paper picksfor all your needs
Each of the slender writing instruments of our series “Tamitio” is the expression of pure elegance and therefore both an eye-catcher and stylish accessory.
The finely fluted barrel made of metal is lacquered in several elaborate working steps. An innovative lacquer ensures a long-lasting matte surface.
Available in midnight blue, rose, taupe and black.
Handmade in Germany
AN ELEGANT EYE-CATCHER
For more information please visit www.Graf-von-Faber-Castell.com • Faber-Castell USA, Inc. • 800-311-8684
724 263 2286 201 894 4710 [email protected] www.TotallyWorthIt.com
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see the results!We unveil the winners of PW’s 2015 Readers’Choice Awards.
letterpress to impressSee for yourself what letterpress printing cando for fine stationery.
paper reviewHandmade, mould-made, or machine-made—wegive you options to suit your taste.
Crown-ing achievementThe Swiss brand TF Est. 1968 finds anew, affordable price point.
mighty good medicineDavid Oscarson honors the discoverer ofpenicillin with a new limited edition.
life’s silver liningsRiKwill finds a new direction with the help ofConklin, Delta, and Stipula.
can you believe it?Yes, Virginia, once upon a time, there werepens that made their own ink...
a nib master’s legacyRemembering Nobuyoshi Nagahara.
VOLUME 28, NUMBER 4ON OUR COVER:Crown by TF Est. 1968
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departmentsWHAT’S HOT NOW
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mail our readers speak
news people, places and events
show Baltimore and Atlanta
now new pens and other products
date mark your calendar
shop Executive Essentials
strokes Gilded Age Greetings
nib Cross
page Collecting Old Writing Equipment
contributors meet the writers
network classified advertising
source guide to products
imho My Mother’s Pen
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Winner, Best Fine Art PenPEN WORLD
Readers’ Choice Awards 2014 Tropical Fishes • 2013 Storks
Not only perfect writing instruments, but also your own museum that isalways with you.
One-of-a-kind & limited edition pens.Custom ordered pens and desk sets.
www.artuspen.ru • [email protected]: +7-4932-478-111
Artus pens now available at Airline International, El Paso, TX
P.W. Akkerman, Den Haag, Holland
Both one-of-a-kind magnum emperor
The Lynx andthe Eagle
The Storks
view
But DidYou Put Itin Writing?
As one who makes her livingprimarily by putting wordson paper and helping others do so, I’ve thought a
lot about what it means to do that.There’s a reason why most agreements,to be legally enforceable, must be put inwriting. It’s almost as if something isn’treally, well, real, until it takes the formof the written word.
And I believe that the writtenwords that will survive are muchmore likely to do so if they have beencommitted to actual paper. Ironic, isn’tit, since paper is so easy to destroy andcyber-missives are impossible to get ridof? But I don’t think I’m unusual inthis: I can search my email fruitlesslyfor a message I know is there, yet putmy hands immediately on a note Ireceived six months ago.
We always devote some extraattention to this miracle product,paper, in our June issue every year,and this time, we offer a survey of thethree major categories of paper andpractical advice on choices. DeborahBasel returns to Rosemary Buczek—previously a subject for an article inher series on the best of today’s callig-raphers/lettering artists—to exploreBuczek’s Gilded Age Greetings, which
takes the concept of greeting cards to awhole new level! Michelle Leung writesher first PW feature based on a visit toa letterpress print shop that, amongother things, turns out beautifully personalized stationery.
And yes, about instruments withwhich to write on that gorgeous paper,we’ve got the latest on TF Est. 1968,whose handsome Crown pen is seenon the cover, a pen from DavidOscarson honoring a scientist whochanged the world through the discovery of penicillin, and pens from RiKwill resulting from new collaborations with other brands, plusa host of other new pens in our Nowsection. Richard Binder begins a serieswe’re calling “Can You Believe This?”in which he will explore some of thepen products and episodes in pen history that leave us scratching ourheads today. Sound intriguing? Wethought so!
There’s much more, including ourunveiling of the winners of our 2015Readers’ Choice Awards. See if yourpicks won on page 24!
When Alexis Sarkissian was growing up in Switzerland in the1970s and ’80s, he and his classmates were allowed to use onlyone type of writing instrument—the fountain pen. Students
were not allowed to use pencils…and especially not ballpoint pens.Sarkissian remembers using a fountain pen for writing every assignment
and even for punishments. He recalls writing, over and over, “Je ne battraipas en cours de recreation” (I will not fight during recess) and “Je n’ai pas ledroit de jeter la nourriture” (I will not throw food). When taking notesduring the courses he took at Penn State and Boston College, he used afountain pen. Once he graduated and earned his degree, he continuedwriting with fountain pens as he found his way in the corporate world.
“As I went on, I acquired pens for work that were gradually nicerand nicer,” he says, adding that he is attracted to shapes and color as wellas the unique features of the pens of Japan, where he lived with his familyfor several years while working for the watch brand Piaget, and of India,where he has traveled extensively.
Sarkissian established his own distribution company—TotallyWorth It—in 2004, dedicated to brands that manufacture the kinds ofproducts he likes himself. When his childhood friend Freddy Tschumilaunched TF Est. 1968 in 2010 to make watches and watch-themedaccessories and writing instruments, it was a perfect fit for TotallyWorth It. Regular PW readers are already familiar with TF Est. 1968’sfirst pen offering, the Tourbillon, which features a functioning tourbil-lon-style balance mechanism at the top, visible through a transparentcrystal. It was followed by the T-Mechanic, which holds an entirebaguette watch movement with a working balance wheel, and then bythe WheelWork and ClockWork, introduced a year and a half ago.“The WheelWork and ClockWork brought us great success,”Sarkissian says. “They are thinner, simpler, and range from $450 to
$550.” The Tourbillon and the T-Mechanic are considerably moreexpensive, both with a list price in excess of $1,000.
The Swiss brand TF Est. 1968 finds an affordablenew price point.
Crowning GloryBY JULIA DAVILA
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This time around, the companyintroduces a new pen that Sarkissiancalls a revolution for the brand. “Wecame up with something super sexy,high-quality, and French-made, but atan incredible price,” he says.
The new pen, called the Crown,comes in two finishes: sleek black,priced at $220, and steel engravedwith a watch parts motif, priced at$250. Sarkissian points out that thebasic design of the pen already existedin the form of the ClockWork. Onthat pen, the watch parts were depict-ed by an overlay of rose gold–platedmetal or PVD; on the steel version ofthe Crown, the same basic design isengraved into the pen.
The low price point is unprece-dented for TF Est. 1968, which pridesitself on the quality of its materialsand workmanship. And there’s anoth-er new pen on the horizon (whichwill remain nameless for the timebeing because the launch date isunspecified) that incorporates gen-uine watch parts but at a moreaffordable price point than the previ-ous watch-parts pens. The brand’spens are produced in Switzerland orFrance, depending upon model.
Along with the new offerings, TFEst. 1968 also has created a new vari-ation of the Open Side Tourbillon, aversion of the Tourbillon pen thatreveals the mechanism inside notonly from the top of the pen but alsofrom the side. The addition to theline features embossed crocodile
leather covering the upper portion ofthe pen. A French saddle makerstitches the leather by hand.
TF Est. 1968 also makes watches,cuff links, and leather goods, butwatches are the common denominatorfor nearly all of their products. In fact,among the latest new products from
New versions of the Tourbillon Open Side,MSRP: $800
Opposite—Crown in black and stainless steel
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TF Est. 1968 is the Rotor belt. Thebuckle is actually a large rotor from amechanical watch, which spins withthe wearer’s movements. The leatheris reversible (brown/black), and thebelt’s beige topstitching is reminiscentof a leather watchband.
In spite of Alexis Sarkissian’s loveof fountain pens, TF Est. 1968 hasnot produced one to date—all areballpoints. But that could be changingin the not-so-distant future. SaysFreddy Tschumi, “Alexis is pushingme to come up with a fountain pen.It is in the works for 2016. As anythingwe do, it has to be the best. We cannotdeal with an average pen or somethingso-so. We’ll hopefully have somethingreally great soon.”
Visit tfest1968.ch and
totallyworthit.com.
Rotor belt; ClockWork pen, thedesign of which can be seen on thenew Crown pen in steel.
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Boys (and Girls) Just Want to Have FunRarely does a company and its products so accurately reflect the personality of the founder as does TF Est.1968. Even the name of the brand TF Est. 1968 comes directly from its Swiss-born founder. The initials comefrom his name, Freddy Tschumi. And it’s not the company that was established in 1968 (that didn’t happenuntil 2010) but Tschumi himself: 1968 is the year of his birth.
Underneath his name on his company website bio isthe phrase “Swimming against the tide,” and we think thatsays it all. He answered a few questions for us by emailwhile traveling in the Middle East.
Your products seem to be aimed almost exclusively at
men, although we’ve seen some beautiful women’s watches
on your website. Do you have many female fans? If so,
what draws them to the products of TF Est. 1968?
A lot of the pens can be, and are, used by women. InGeneva, I see professional women buying the WheelWorkto use for themselves. I have a friend, a judge in the cantonof Zug, who uses a palladium and black ClockWork—imagine the convictions signed using my pens...
According to our study last year, 44 percent of purchasesof our products were made by women for gifts—whethermothers for graduation, wives for their husbands/partners,or women for business executives, etc.
Do you have a personal interest in writing instruments?
What attracts you to a particular pen?
I have never been a great pen collector but a tremendous watch aficionado. This is the common denominatorfor all people involved in the TF Est. 1968 adventure: watches, cars, motorcycles, all things mechanical,beautiful things in general, and pens. On the other hand, I write a lot and when doing so, I like to have apen that fits me well. It has to have body, substance, grip, presence, and above all, character. I don’t carefor pens that are too weak and require too much involvement. In that sense, my pens are for people with amessage and with a direction.
Each pen we release fits this profile and is a true product of our desire to excel. For this reason, wedesign them in Switzerland and make them in France or Switzerland so we can closely, and daily, control
the quality. We make no compromises and release products only when they are ready. The guarantee weprovide is serious, as my name is on it. We are not a nameless multinational with offices in 50 cities.
We are Geneva-based and my best childhood friends are my business partners in this crazy butlovely adventure.
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The Universe of Writing Culture
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