Hi Pen Fans!

I’m happy to announce that we have refreshed the Production Line Beaumont with new materials! All three of these materials are based on fan-favorites.

For those of you who like the originals, I see that some of our retailers still have some stocked, but once they are gone, they are gone!

So here are the new materials! (if you cannot see the images below, please click here).

If you are interested in these new materials, all of our retailers should have received their shipments by now. You can follow this link to see all of the retailers carrying this for purchase.

I’ll discuss a little regarding each material.

Amber Glass…

Amber Glass is a material that we’ve used in the past, but only in our Signature Line with the exception of a small limited edition from several years ago. Up until now, we’ve called it Flecked Tortoise. This has been a very popular material within our Signature Line, but the material is pretty expensive. For this reason, it never really lent itself to the price structure of the Production Line. However, with our growth in the last 2-3 years, our volume is getting to the point where we can negotiate larger quantities at a better price, making this material a lot more attainable for us in our Production Line.

The material is lightly translucent as you can see by looking at the cap in the top photo. Held up to a stronger light source, you’ll see through this material. It does have some nice pearlization, but the tighter flecked pattern breaks this up. So there is definitely depth, but small “chunks” of depth.

Twilight Embers….

Twilight Embers has a base color that is dark, but also with some hints of indigo. The swirls are orange and yellow, making a nice contrast. Some of you might recognize this from our custom line when it was called Elderberry Neon.

Of the three materials, Twilight Embers has the most uniform depth and pearlization.

This material has been very popular in our Signature line, and I feel that it’s a welcome addition to our Production Line.

Unicorn…

Unicorn has a pretty interesting backstory, and has been awfully popular in the past. The whole thing started about 4 years when we introduced this as a new material at the DC Pen Show. A customer (@faustine2012) loved it, bought it, and said “this looks like Unicorn Barf!” She hash-tagged this on social media, and as a result the name took off and stuck (even though we had always called it Hawaiian). If you look up #unicornbarfpen on Instagram or social media, you’ll see how popular this moniker has been! After this, the pen was used in a successful limited edition, and now we are happy to add it to our Production Line.

While I personally love the name Unicorn Barf, I’m not sure that I want to ask our retailers to put the word “BARF” on their websites! So we shortened it to “Unicorn”. This way, it still has the same panache, and is perhaps inside joke! 🙂

While the slightly outrageous colors speak for themselves, there is also a good amount of depth and pearlization contained within in the blue portions.

So these are the new materials! We are considering adding a 4th to this line over time. Let us know what you think would be a good addition, and we’ll certainly consider it!

CLICK HERE to find a retailer for purchase.

Thanks!

Brian at Edison

Hi Pen Fans!

For those of you that have followed the history of the Edison Pen Company, perhaps you’ve noticed that literally, we have never had a price increase in the last 9+ years, nearly the entire history of our company.

When this business began as the Edison Pen Company 10 years ago, we started offering some of the models that we still do today in our Signature Line. For the first 6 months or so, our pricing was a little lower than the present. After this 6 month period, prices on these Signature Line pens became what they are today. Then when we started with our Production Line in 2011, that pricing structure began and remained the same as today.

Over the years, this pricing has worked fine for us. My thoughts have always been “it ain’t broke”. But things also remained relatively simple for us until early 2017.

At this time, we moved the business from an outbuilding next to our house to a commercial building with a heck of a lot more space. This means going from no rent, utilities, real estate taxes, etc., to pretty high rent in addition to all of those other expenses at commercial rates. It seems that this transition triggered some other events, as well.

Many of you remember when we had a machine go down in the late Summer (I’ll never forget!). The primary machinery that we have utilized were bought used years ago and quite frankly they are just outdated and becoming more difficult to repair when required (which is becoming too frequent). This is what led to our issue in the summer. I can’t have another problem with our machines like we did in the summer (it took us about 3+ months to become fully caught up), so we are investing in brand new machines that are much bigger, faster, more accurate, but also pricey!

In addition to the machinery upgrades, we are also more than doubling the number of machines from what we have had up until now. We hired another employee in the Spring of 2017, and as these new machines are up and running, it’s likely that we’ll be hiring even more employees in 2018.

While there are actually more factors occurring than what I’ve mentioned above, the big items here are lots of additional machinery, more employees, and commercial real estate along with the associated costs.

For these reasons, it’s time for us to increase our prices effective January 1st, 2018. This will occur as outlined below….
 
 

Production Line, All Models
(Collier, Beaumont, Pearlette)
Steel nib – $149 will be raised to $169
18k Nib – $274 will be raised to $299

Signature Line, All Models Raised by $25
Mina from $200 to $225, Steel Nib
Pearlette from $225 to $250, Steel Nib
All other models from $250 to $275, Steel Nib
Herald and Huron Grande $275 to $300 Steel Nib

18k Nib Adds $100
14k Edison Stock Flex Nib Adds $125
Draw, Pneumatic, Bulb, or Pump Filler Adds $100

 
 
Along with these changes and growth, I think that we can expect the new machinery and employees to increase our productivity significantly. This means that my time will most likely be freed up a bit so I can focus on designing new models, introducing new materials within our Production Line, designing new filling systems, publishing video blogs that I’ve had in my head for sometimes years, as well as more Group Buy Limited Editions, and higher volume of Seasonal Premieres (which always sell out very fast). It might take us a bit to settle into our groove with the new machinery and employees, but I’d expect all of the above to gradually take place in 2018.

I’ve always felt that our prices were quite reasonable for handcrafted pens that require a good amount of labor and especially skill. I hope that our customers agree with me that our new prices that accompany our growth are indeed still within that reasonable range.

If anyone has any questions, please reach out.

Brian at Edison

Hi Pen Fans!

I’m super-excited to share our latest filling system. The Draw Filler!

Have a look at this video and I’ll give some more details below.

What do you think?

Highlights….

1. This is a new filler, not a new model of pen. This filler can be added to any of our pen models.
2. This filler uses chemically resistant o-rings rather than latex, so there are no restrictions regarding inks that you can us in this pen. Pens that use latex such as our Pump, Pneumatic, and Bulb Fillers need to avoid a few inks or the latex can be damaged. This is not the case with the Draw Filler. However, if the pen has an ink window or is translucent, we still don’t recommend harsh inks as they could certainly stain the interior of the pen.
3. The Draw Filler works just about the same as the Pump Filler, but there is no spring to retract the piston unit. So you will need to push and pull the Draw Filler mechanism, rather than only pushing the Pump Filler mechanism.
4. Due to the Draw Filler mechanism displacing more volume, it will fill faster, empty faster, and have a greater ink capacity than our Pump Filler (Draw = 2.0mL, Pump = 1.7mL).
5. The mechanism is made of a sturdy anodized aluminum.
6. We do have some of these Draw Fillers that are currently inventoried and ready to ship! You can see them here.
7. Here is the full gallery of all examples of Draw Fillers, or see the slideshow below.
8. Price is the same as our other more “exotic” fillers. This mechanism will add $100 to the price of what a pen would have been as a converter filler. So ballpark of $300-450 depending upon model and Steel vs. 18k nib.

Let me know what questions you might have!

Brian at Edison

Hi Pen Fans!

We are proud to announce that we now have Edison Stock Flex Nibs!

These are not to be confused with Richard Binder Flex Nibs. These flex nibs are different. All details are in the video below.

These new stock flex nibs add $125 to the price of a pen that would have normally had a steel nib.

We can also sell these nibs individually for $125. Email me if you are interested.

They are #6 size only. And are available in EF and F. We have Two Tone, All Gold, and Rhodium plated.

The writing sample mentioned in the video is here.

Email me with any questions!

Brian at Edison

(First, and most important…some of you may already be aware, but Andrea’s surgery went fine! Flying Colors! She’s in recovery mode now and most likely won’t be back to work for a couple more weeks, but everything is as planned! We had quite the outpouring of good thoughts and well wishes, so many thanks! Our fans are the best!)

Hi Pen Fans!

We are very excited to announce our new lineup of Pearlette materials within our Production Line! These pens certainly are a smorgasbord of chatoyance (perhaps my favorite word)!

Each year my family takes a nice vacation to Arizona. When we organized these three materials, we were quite inspired by the Arizona landscape. We decided to name these pens after our favorite vacation spot!

So the new Pearlettes will be somewhat of a “Desert” theme.
From left to right…Sonoran Sunset, Azure Skies, and Canyon Trail….

Sonoran Sunset is a nice deep copper-ish color with some pretty amazing depth and pearlization (chatoyance). Many of you will remember the Pearlized Wine that we used on the 2014 Limited Edition Glenmont as well as plenty of custom pens. If you’ve seen that Pearlized Wine material live you can certainly appreciate the amazing chatoyance that this material displays. Well, this Sonoran Sunset is the exact same composition as the Pearlized Wine, but obviously a different color (which I like better, personally). So expect these photos to not do the pen total justice. When you see this pen live and rotate it in the light, you’ll see all of that beautiful chatoyance that can’t always be captured accurately in a photo.

Azure Skies is also made from the same composition as the Pearlized Wine and the above Sonoran Sunset, but is obviously a nicely saturated blue. Being the same composition, expect the same chatoyance!

Canyon Trail has a very similar chatoyance (notice a pattern here?) to the other Pearlettes, but rather than a random mottled pattern, you’ll see some neat speckles within the material.

All of these pens are part of our Production Line, so you will not buy these directly from Edison, but through any of our retailers listed here.

We are pretty excited as each of these materials is a personal favorite of at least one person here on our crew. We’re taking bets on which one turns out to be the most popular!

Be sure to give us your thoughts on this new lineup!

Brian at Edison

Hi Pen Fans

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we will be revamping the materials used on the Production Line Pearlette.

We are going to be introducing three entirely new materials to the Production Line Pearlette that we are pretty excited about. We are manufacturing them now. We should have this ready to announce in the next 3-4 weeks, barring something unforeseen.

The reason for this blog post is to give everyone fair warning….if you like the original Pearlette materials (Lapis Lazuli Flake, Violet Flake, or Aztec Gold Flake), then now is the time to buy one. Once our retailers no longer have inventory, then the originals will be completely gone. I will attach a photo of these original materials below.

So if you like any of the original three materials and have been on the fence, now is the time to decide!

And then stay tuned for some new and exciting materials coming to the Pearlette!

Thanks!

Brian at Edison 

Hi Pen Fans!

It’s time for our annual Signature Line Group Buy Pen!  The 2016 Group Buy Limited Edition Pen is a converter filling Stealth Glenmont!

Please watch the video below for details.

SOLD OUT (in only 11 hours!)

As opposed to previous years, we are not doing a buying and waiting period for the Group Buy Pen. Instead, all of the pens are currently made and ready to ship!

These pens are made with solid black acrylic end caps and section.  The barrel and cap are made from a pearlized black acrylic that has plenty of pearlization and depth, but is not too visually “busy”, keeping with the stealth theme.

The clip and nib are given a black oxide treatment for a nice deep black appearance.

All pens will carry a Limited Edition numbered engraving.  The edition will be limited to 150 pens.

The nibs are available in steel only.  Tip sizes can be EF, F, M, B, 1.1mm italic, or 1.5mm italic.

Price is $185 for this pen (normally $250).

Be sure to watch the video above for all details.

Lastly, if you would like to add any of our leather goods to this order, you can do so by adding those items to your cart in addition to the pen (the leather sleeve that fits the Glenmont is the Medium size).

You can click the link above to purchase.

Thanks!

Brian at Edison

We picked up pretty neat tool!

Brian at Edison

Hi Pen Fans!

The Edison Pen Company is proud to offer Leather Goods!  These include pen sleeves, pen rolls, and hardcover journals.

We have been wanting to offer leather goods for quite a while, but we required the following aspects that are also embodied in our pens…

1. Top Quality
2. Handcrafted
3. Made in the USA

Without these qualities, we never felt that we could stand behind any leather products in the same way that we stand behind our pens.  Our Guarantee that we offer with our pens will also apply to our leather goods.

These leather goods are being made by a husband and wife team who are doing excellent work for us!  This is also the only time in the history of Edison that we have offered a product that we have not manufactured ourselves, with the exception of roll stops and overlays.  But even in these cases, we manufacture the pen itself.  I believe that this illustrates the pride, excitement, and faith that we have in these leather products.

Our leather products are 100% handcrafted in the USA, sourcing leather from a tannery in Ecuador. The leather is responsibly harvested in regards to animals as well as the local eco-system. The leather is primarily vegetable tanned and then waterproofed. This leather will break in nicely and show its character over time. But if you prefer to restore it to like-new condition, you can do so using mink oil.

Please watch the video below for more details.

Click on the images below to see a description and pricing for leather goods.

If there are any questions, feel free to leave a comment or reach out!

Brian at Edison

Hi Pen Fans!

All of the LE Minas are one their way to their owners!  Tuning all nibs, final touches, and shipping more then 200 pens made for a very busy week!

If anyone who bought this pen has not received tracking information, please reach out.

I’d like to again thank everyone for your patience. We did make our delivery estimate, but just barely. The delay was due to our very busy Holiday season. The next time that we do this, we will avoid the Holidays, for sure!

I’ll attach some pics below.

Thanks to everyone who participated!  Stay tuned for a similar project this year!

Brian at Edison