The Harmonic Nib. Image via Opus Cineris.
(This is a guest post by Andrew Coon. You can find more of Andrew’s fountain pen favorites on Instagram.)
Whenever a pen of note arrives, something interesting, I hand it to my wife. I play with pens, she knits. I appreciate the yarn she finds, and she appreciates the pens that show up. Over the years, many such pens have arrived and we have found a pattern.
She takes the pen, and writes the following:
A Harmonic BB nib, with Diamine Aurora Borealis on a Nock a5 Cahier.
And then she asks what makes it special. I have handed her a Pilot Emperor, a Pilot Custom Urushi, Jowo 6's, Bock 8's, King of Pens, stacked nibs of all different types, and many more.
This time, she said "this could be my favorite."
My wife has good taste.
What she wrote with is already one of my favorites - both for who made it as well as for what it is.
Anabelle Hiller, first being trained as a musician, then made the jump to metal working. A trained jeweler, she has focused on a particular piece of metal that anyone reading this holds dear - the nib of a fountain pen. After creating her own nib for her masterpiece she experimented with a batch of silver nibs. After a few truly lucky people tested them out at length, she moved on to make a batch of ten nibs in 14k gold.
I was lucky enough to obtain one of these, and I would like to tell you about it because there will be more of her creations. They will be worth finding and cherishing.
The Harmonic Nib, in Silver. Image via Opus Cineris.
What is immediately striking about this nib is the double layer of metal that frames the entire nib. I don't know how this is done - but I can see what it makes possible. On these, this edge has a hammered finish that is very striking. On Anabelle's second set of nibs, a set of 8 made in silver, this edge was engraved in a leaf border, complementing the scrolls down the center of the nib.
Matched with an ebonite feed from FPnibs.com, these nibs can be customized with any grind. What I have is a round BB, tuned for showing off the sheening and shading properties of any ink. And, it is perfect. Responsive and well behaved, I can only wish that all my nibs wrote like this one. I have used multiple brands of ink with it, multiple types of paper, and the performance has been consistent and superb.
The Harmonic Nib, with Giants' Pens ebonite barrel. Image via Opus Cineris.
The pen this nib came in was made by Teun and Joep of Giants' Pens, and is elegant and clean. The material is a black and grey ebonite, that is almost impossible to photograph. The tolerances are tight - and the quickest way to tell is with the threading. This threading is smooth and exact. Matched with the immaculate polish, the pen is a stunner. Its shape is that of a Nakaya Naka-ai, and that is what it reminded me of. Light, nimble, a pen that I reach for multiple times a day.
It is not often that something truly new comes along in the pen community. This is one of those moments.
Anabelle makes nibs sing upon request, for any pens purchased from Appelboom. In addition to employing her, Appelboom also allowed Anabelle to use their website for the sale. This is very cool - It is always good to see those who are well established in the field support those who are starting.
I look forward to following along with what happens next. Engraving, gem setting, overlays? I don't know. But it will be great.
I invite you to join me in following Anabelle at Opus Cineris and on Instagram @opuscineris
(This nib was purchased by Andrew Coon at the 2022 Washington DC Pen Show, directly from Anabelle Hiller. Opus Cineris images provided for this post with permission.)
