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09 February 2013

Rhetorical Question (I)

Recently, a friend confessed –yes, that is the right word— that she had purchased a luxury mechanical pencil for the amount of JPY 1575 (about EUR 16 or USD 17), and that was expensive. Sure enough, to any normal person, to any healthy mind, any writing tool over EUR 10 (or USD 10, or JPY 1000), is expensive. We stylophiles are the abnormal ones in here, and we might need to rethink our perceptions on what is cheap or expensive in our small world.


Lamy Safari, JPY 3800. Cartridge-converter. Converter not included.


Parker IM, JPY 2900. Cartridge-converter. Converter not included.


Pilot Prera, JPY 3500. Converter included.


Twsbi Diamond 540, USD 40. Piston filler.

Case in point—can we really say that a EUR 30 fountain pen is an entry level fountain pen? Can we seduce any sane person into buying a writing tool that is about 10 times more expensive than those regular pens he might use?



Sailor Profit Junior, music nib – Diamine Graphite

Bruno Taut
Yokohama, January 30th, 2013
labels: mercado, estilofilia, Lamy, Parker, Pilot, Twsbi

2 comments:

willard said...

> Can we seduce any sane person into buying a writing tool that is about 10 times more expensive than those regular pens he might use?

If that person is addicted to gel pens, that's easy: recall to that person how much she invested in disposable cartridge for the last six months.

If that person is not addicted to gel pens, offer that person a gel pen for that person's birthday.

A more direct way of showing off your collection can do wonders too.



9/3/13 06:49
Bruno Taut said...

Thanks, Willard, for passing by and commenting.

Nice insight! I am not really familiar with gel pens and their actual cost. Thanks for the information.

I am skeptical, though, about the effect of showing a collection of fountain pens. That person might realize we are nuts.

Maybe, after all, my question was not so rhetorical.

BT

11/3/13 22:42

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