By Zsarlene B. Chua
As the world moves inexorably towards the digital, with many analog processes replaced by their digital counterparts, it seems that handwriting is bucking the trend as seen in the rise of the fountain pen.
A 2016 Euromonitor study showed that fountain pens have shown year-on-year growth for the past two decades, with the exception of 2009 when the global financial crisis was at its peak. According to the London-based market research company, global fountain pen sales reached $1.2 billion in 2015 and is expected to increase to $1.5 billion by 2020.
“Indeed, perhaps the greatest achievement of the fountain pen — and ultimately the key to its endurance — has been its transformation from a workhorse of classrooms and offices into a luxury personal accessory,” noted Euromonitor in its Feb. 21 blog post.
“Without necessarily trying to reinvent themselves, the top selling brands have become symbols of old-school refinement and craftsmanship.”
The creation of the fountain pen in 1827 is credited to Romanian inventor Petrache Poenaru, though origins of reservoir pens stretch way back to the 10th century where Ali Abuzar, caliph of Maghreb (a region which today would cover much of Northwest Africa), wanted a pen which would not stain his hands nor his clothes. He was presented with a reservoir pen where the ink is stored inside the pen, then transferred to paper via the nib.
ONLINE STORE
The Philippines has not been isolated from the rest of the world when it comes to this rise of the fountain pen — EverythingCalligraphy, a local online store which sells fountain pens and other writing paraphernalia, has noted an increase in its sales and credits the increase to the millennial generation.
“[The growth] is mainly driven by the younger people which is a good thing. There used to be this stigma or stereotype that fountain pens are only for old people. I think nowadays, people are realizing that that’s really not the case,” Jillian Joyce Tan, owner of the online site told BusinessWorld in an interview last month.
She explained that the writing instrument provides what the generation seeks: individuality.
“I think it’s because the millennial generation generally prioritizes individuality and fountain pens provide that individuality: that unique thing that when you walk into the room, no one else has it and then it becomes a talking piece or conversation piece,” she explained before adding that nostalgia also plays a huge part in its popularity.
“The second thing is nostalgia: we’re so overwhelmed by everything digital and then you just want to stop and sort of enjoy something as simple as writing.”
EverythingCalligraphy carries fountain pens, inks, paper, pen cases, and calligraphy materials, many of which are hard to find in the country. These include Diamine and De Atramentis inks, and Franklin Christoph pens, among others.
Ms. Tan started out selling local Elias-brand notebooks in 2014 and in mid-2015 she opened the site and introduced fountain pens, inks, and all the other accessories.
“We’ve grown quite a lot actually. I think, on our very first month, we started around 20-plus orders for the entire month. Now, we can do 20 (orders) in a day,” she said. The company operates from a small office in Pasig City which she shares with her sister.
The growth, she noted, was pretty surprising — but then again “we’ve worked intensely on providing the products people have been searching for like Franklin-Christoph, Noodler’s, Rhodia, De Atramentis.”
“I wanted to make sure that the Philippines is not the last one to receive new ink colors and products and I think we’ve done that. I think that’s one of the reasons why we’ve been growing consistently,” Ms. Tan said.
The growth of the industry is also apparent in the entry of new brands like Robert Oster, a months-old Australian company which produces fountain pen-friendly inks.
“The rise of the fountain pens is not located only in the Philippines. I think we’re just getting a much bigger spike than other countries but the rise is tangible all over. The reason why I can say that is now you can get a lot of brands: a lot of people are starting to manufacture [fountain pen-friendly] inks,” Ms. Tan explained.
Then there is the increase in the number of members of the local branch of the Fountain Pen Network, a global forum of pen and calligraphy enthusiasts. In 2014, Fountain Pen Network Philippines had about 1,000 members but by the end of 2016, it had 3,000, she said.
The question is, is the trend a fad that would vanish as fast as it appeared?
“So far, I hadn’t had any indication that it would go down because — at least just talking about our customers in general — they’ve always come back, and, to be honest, I think that once you start using a fountain pen, you don’t want to go back to not using one,” she said.
THE JUMP-OFF
But what exactly pushes a person to make the shift towards fountain pens?
Ms. Tan laughingly said that that’s what she also wants to know, but guessed that a person is moved to buy a fountain pen when they see a person using it.
“A lot of it has to do with community building and word of mouth,” she said.
Fountain pens differ greatly from roller-ball pens or ballpoint pens which require no maintenance and, in many cases, are cheap enough to be disposed of once it runs out of ink. Fountain pens are rarely disposable and they require more effort from the user — there is a need for regular maintenance to remove the ink which may clog the pen.
Fountain pens also cost a lot more than regular pens. Limited edition fountain pens can sell for as much as $1.5 million, like the Montblanc Johanne Kepler High Artistry Stella Nova Limited Edition 1, decorated with 570 diamonds and 5,294 sapphires meant to imitate the Milky Way.
“To be perfectly honest — and this is something I’m also struggling with — fountain pens, even though [their sales] are driven by millennials, do require a certain level of income. I’m trying to break that down and I’m trying to look for ways to make fountain pens more accessible,” Ms. Tan said before adding that the Philippine market has a “very small consumption rate compared to bigger Asian markets like Japan, South Korea and Singapore… where disposable incomes are five times more than the Philippines.”
They are making some headway, she noted, with the introduction of the Chinese brand Jinhao which she describes as a good entry pen.
A Jinhao 500 costs P399 on the site, a far cheaper option when compared to, say, a Franklin Christoph Model 66 which costs P8,599. An even cheaper option would be a Platinum Preppy which starts at P195.
Other good beginner fountain pens include the Pilot Metropolitan at P600 and the Lamy Safari at P1,499.
Ms. Tan said that they’re also trying to make acquiring and using a fountain pen easier for first-timers. The site recently introduced pen bundles which includes a pen (usually a Jinhao), a bottle of ink (usually Pilot), and a fountain pen-friendly notebook.
She explained that first-time customers usually inundate them with questions about using the pen, as getting a pen is only the first step — one would need to buy ink separately (unless the manufacturer, like Lamy, provides two cartridges) and/or a converter/cartridge (the ink reservoir).
“Shifting to a fountain pen from a regular pen does require a little research,” she noted.
