{"id":450991,"date":"2026-09-02T11:30:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T11:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/450991\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T11:30:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T11:30:25","slug":"for-these-millennial-fountain-pen-fans-community-is-the-real-collectible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/450991\/","title":{"rendered":"For These Millennial Fountain Pen Fans, Community Is the Real Collectible"},"content":{"rendered":"

Angelique Ramsey of Long Beach owns about 25 fountain pens<\/a>. Her favorite is the Benu Euphoria, a glittering pen with a custom \u201carchitect\u201d nib, a specialty grind that changes the shape of the line as you move the pen across the page.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was looking for something that wasn\u2019t a throwaway,\u201d said Ramsey, 38. \u201cI like that intentionality of sitting down and writing a letter, having something that\u2019s a possession that you take care of. And so, you know, you can go overboard with it, but you don\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this era of incessant, instant communication, fountain pens seem like a novelty from another, analog era. Perhaps this is exactly why millennials especially are flocking to events like the S.F. Pen Show<\/a> at the end of August, to rub shoulders with an estimated 5,000 people in various stages of vintage writing instrument obsession at the Westin San Francisco Airport Hotel in Millbrae.<\/p>\n

Though the San Francisco show isn\u2019t the biggest in the country \u2014 that distinction belongs to the Washington, D.C., Fountain Pen Supershow<\/a> \u2014 the S.F. Pen Show has become a major gathering for the Pacific Rim pen community.<\/p>\n

\"\"From left, Angelique Ramsey, Tracey Velasquez and Jennifer Harford attend the S.F. Pen Show in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 28, 2026. Ramsey and Velasquez said they were primarily focused on drawing Harford, new to fountain pens, deeper into the obsession.\u00a0(Rachael Myrow\/KQED)<\/p>\n

\"\"Pens on display at Michael\u2019s Fat Boy pen booth at the San Francisco International Pen Show at The Westin San Francisco Airport in Millbrae on Aug. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"Clare Coco holds up a pen made from abalone shells at the San Francisco International Pen Show at The Westin San Francisco Airport in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n

Patrick Yandell, 31, manages U.S. business for the pen manufacturer OMAS, founded a century ago in Bologna, Italy. Like many vintage pen brands, OMAS has had a complicated corporate history. LVMH bought the company from the founder\u2019s heirs in 2000. After subsequent ownership changes and a period of dormancy, the brand was revived by descendants of the founder, Armando Simoni.<\/p>\n

Yandell says most people own digital devices to accomplish most of the practical tasks that used to be accomplished with pen and paper.<\/p>\n

You can still find the sober black and navy blue pens similar to what your parents and grandparents wrote with, to be sure. But the display cases at the Pen Show are filled with iridescent resin, glitter and breathtakingly elaborate Japanese lacquerwork. The taste today is for pens \u2014 and accessories \u2014 that deliver maximum delight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fountain pens cost anywhere from a few dollars for something like a Platinum Preppy<\/a> to millions of dollars<\/a>, depending on a pen\u2019s brand, craftsmanship, rarity and the precious materials involved. Your mileage will vary depending on your taste and bank account balance. That said, you don\u2019t need to spend a lot of money to have a good time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like collecting things that are shiny,\u201d Velasquez said.<\/p>\n

In contrast with her friends Ramsey and Velasquez, 38-year-old Harford of Berkeley owned exactly one: a Pilot fountain pen widely celebrated as an entry-level favorite. That was her entry down the rabbit hole that is fountain pen collecting, one her friends watch with affectionate excitement. They traveled north just to see her eyes agog at the crowds and the vast array of pens on display at the S.F. Pen Show.<\/p>\n

\"\"A display case of Ogivas at the S.F. Pen Show in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 28, 2026, showcases materials and techniques that evoke the hundred-year history of Italian pen maker OMAS. The old world is still there. It just has more glitter.\u00a0(Rachael Myrow\/KQED)<\/p>\n

\u201cMy fianc\u00e9 bought me my first pen and ink, and so he was kind of the one to push me into it,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd once I had that start, then I was like, I see what the hype is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The California Pen Show<\/a>, held near Los Angeles each February, also has a particularly strong West Coast presence, but if the presence of Southern Californians at the Westin was any indication, the two shows complement each other as much as they compete.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s true for Fernanda Izidorio, who lives in Los Angeles and owns about 40 pens. She said the trip north is as much about community as it is machinery.<\/p>\n

Izidorio is a member of the Greater Los Angeles Metro Pen & Ink Group, or Glampig, which has a presence on Instagram<\/a> and Discord, as well as IRL groups that meet in L.A. and Orange counties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Michael Hochstetler hovers a magnifying glass over a fountain pen at Michael\u2019s Fat Boy pen booth at the San Francisco International Pen Show at The Westin San Francisco Airport in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 30, 2026.\u00a0(T\u00e2m V\u0169\/KQED)<\/p>\n

\"\"Francesca Izidorio is a member of the Greater Los Angeles Metro Pen & Ink Group, or Glampig, which has presence on Instagram and Discord, as well asIRL groups that meet in L.A. and Orange counties. \u201cI actually really like meeting people in person,\u201d said Izidorio.<\/p>\n

\"\"Attendees browse at the San Francisco International Pen Show at The Westin San Francisco Airport in Millbrae, California, on Aug. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually really like meeting people in person,\u201d Izidorio said. \u201cIt is, in a way, online. We get to contact each other, communicate through Discord. But then we actually meet in person and try pens. That\u2019s very fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are careers in this universe beyond manufacturing and retail. Nik Pang, 43, for instance, is a professional calligrapher<\/a> who repairs and sells vintage pens.<\/p>\n

Pang and his wife have imposed a hard \u201ccap\u201d on his personal collection: 700 pens and pen-like objects.\u00a0<\/p>\n

About 500 of them, he said, aren\u2019t particularly useful for writing, but he\u2019s interested in the history of the technology. His wife once asked him a morbidly useful question: If their house were burning, and he had time to save just a few pens, which ones would he take?<\/p>\n

Two of them are family heirlooms. His grandfather\u2019s fountain pen was a Parker Duofold, commemorating 30 years on the police force. His father\u2019s was a Parker 75, used while earning his doctorate.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s part of what makes the fountain-pen revival so multifaceted. The appeal is craftsmanship, as well as beauty, style and the pleasure of finding a community that draws in people from multiple generations, across the globe.<\/p>\n