And a warm welcome to the new Serendipity hybrid dip pen. For us artists, dip pens are a necessary evil. Often a bloody nuisance with long term usage resulting in calloused and ink stained fingers.

A Collaboration between James Finniss of Pensive Pens and Robert Oster of Robert Oster Signature Inks this Hybrid Pen takes the form of a traditional dip pen but it has been engineered to hold a modern fountain pen nib and feed. The ebonite feed allows the pen to have a generous gulp of ink and with a single dip you can write or draw well over a page!

This type of pen is absolutely ideal for artists or calligraphers who like to change colours often. The first thing I noticed is the comfort! Yes! It’s actually very comfortable to hold. Secondly, it has a great writing nib and thirdly, it easily sucks up ink into the large feed and away you go! It writes beautifully with the broad JoWo nib it comes with. Brilliant stuff, BUT the JoWo the nib is inflexible so great for handwriting but not for that all important variation in line width which illustrators demand. Well don’t walk yet. The Serendipity will accept any size 6 nib, so you are free to try out any nib size you like. See below:

A Noodler’s flex nib fits perfectly and the barrel is strong, so that you really can apply good pressure. That said, it is stated in the sales blurb that “You may have some success with a flexible nib but please keep in mind that it is not meant to be a replacement for a typical flex pen.” In spite of that, I feel that the product would set itself apart if a flex nib on the flex scale of the zebra G could be produced for it? Big hint there!

If I have one slight concern, it’s that the feed is large and really does suck up the ink! If you’re ink sampling and only need ink for 20 words or so this feed will last well over a page! So if you only have a limited 2ml sample, this beast is thirsty! You have been warned! And it fits perfectly into small sample vials without touching the sides!

Without a doubt, this is a big move forward and great to see. It’s definitely got my seal of approval and as I say, if more flexible nibs can be developed for this, this could well be the ‘GO TO’ pen of our dreams.

The Serendipity Hybrid Pen can be sourced at http://pensivepens.com.au

If you’d like to know more about this project, please take a look at the Mission Statement.

Just for the record – I do this for myself, I receive no remuneration what-so-ever and I tell it exactly how I see it.

Please Note: There is a patent pending for this product. If you have any questions relating to the patent pending, please contact James Finniss of Pensive Pens and/or Robert Oster of Robert Oster Signature Inks.