#nuremberg penshow

[plasmodiophora]

Kaweco DIY Sport Berry

I built this Kaweco DIY Sport myself at the Nuremberg Pen Show. The berry design is exclusive to events and not sold online. I love the color and it's a nice replacement for the Sport Royal Amethyst which I cannot get, since it's a US-exclusive. ._.

[plasmodiophora]

This Parker fountain pen was given to me as a gift at the Nuremberg Pen Show. c: About an hour before I was about to leave, one of the vendors at the pen show came up to me with this pen in her hands. She told me that she had seen me walking around all day and that she wanted me to have it. I was so grateful and kept thanking her, while she explained the converter to me.

When I came home, I wanted to find out which model it was, but that took some detective work. :D

A first clue was the "Parker Insignia" written on the cap. The Insignia line was produced from the early 1990s until 2007 and there are around 60 different designs, so I still wasn't sure which one I had.

But then I noticed something else on the cap: "IIP" Turns out, Parker has been marking its pens with date codes since 1934, indicating the year and quarter of production.

1995 - IIIT IIT IT T 1996 - IIIY IIY IY Y 1997 - IIIP IIP IP P 1998 - IIIE IIE IE E ...

More information about the date codes can be found here:

Now I knew the pen was from 1997 (which is the year I was born in) and this website also had a great overview of all the different Parker Insignias.

And I finally found it: It's a Parker Insignia Laque Green Bronze

(I'm still somewhat confused because the website states that this model is from 1998 while the date code indicates the year 1997. Which one is it? :D) Unfortunately, the converter seemed to be broken and it was badly stuck (like it was glued to the pen) but I was eventually able to remove it. Now, I'm trying to clean out the dried ink, while a new converter and some cartridges (just in case the pen isn't compatible with current converters) are already on their way.

I can't describe how happy this has made me. It's such a beautiful pen and it will forever have a special meaning to me. c:

[plasmodiophora]

Some pictures from the Nuremberg Penshow