Our Four Seasons

Time wait for nobody. Three Hundred and sixty five days ago, we created this blog with the objective to share with our joy of our pens collection with others, and as a source of reference as many pen magazine come and go.

During the past year, we received support from our friends, and family. We would like to take this opportunity to take all our visitors, readers and our friends.

Especially, Mr. Wong and staffs of Fook Hing Trading, Mr. Tan and staffs of Aesthetic Bay, Mr. Peck of Signature Gallery, Christophe Larquemin of Velet, Max Davis of Vintage Waterman Pens,  Thomas A. and staffs of Rohrer & Klingner Leipzig-Co, and ...

... our local fountain pen users group Joel C., TK Chiah, IsTel, Ludwig, Karen, Leon L, Ernest L, Ms. Wee, Jason C, our Japanese friends H. Kohri-san  and M. Sunami-san ,all our Taiwanese and Hong Kong friends.

Finally, my beloved wife Jenny and my three boys.

Since we had past thru four seasons, today we introduce a brand that we hardly see nowadays locally in Singapore, Ancora.

In 1919, Giuseppe Zanini found the company on the shores of Lake Maggiore, Italy. The company was founded with one simply objective - produce beautiful pens in his own factory.

Unfortunately, Zanini's untimely dealth in 1929 bequeathed the fruition of this dream to his son Alfredo. If Zanini is alive today, he will be very pround of his son and what Giovanni Santini had done to the brand today.

Within a year after Zanini's death, Alfredo manage produce all parts of the company's ebonite and celluloid button-filled pens within the Ancora factory.

Eighty over years later, in 1991, Giovanni Santini resumed the product Ancora pens with the original mission of the founder: to produce exquisite pens with passion and care and share them with those who appreciate the timeless fervor that created them.

Ancora pens are known for their interesting designs and moderate price points. The company is also well known for its micro-painting. The pens posted here is the 2005 Limited Edition, The Four Seasons — a collection of fountain pens, each of which depicts a painted scene showcasing each season. It is limited to 25 pieces worldwide.

Other popular micro painting limited edition includes the Jules Verne limited edition fountain pens, each depicting a scene from Around the World in Eighty Days and Twenty-Thousand Leagues under the sea (88 pieces of each).

Cappella Sistina, or the Sistine Chapel limited edition (33 pieces) that was introduced in 2004.It features a rendition of Michelangelo's Last Judgment hand-painted on mother-of-pearl. The mother-of-pearl must first be cut into strips, glued perfectly on the barrel and then polished. Finally, the micropainting artwork is manually hand painted on the mother-of-pearl.

Ancora also produce limited editions with unique metal overlays, such as the Nautilus — a pen-size rendition of Verne's famed submarine. The Cellini, in sterling silver of vermeil, is another example of the brand's stunning metalwork.

We hope you had enjoy yourself while visiting us, as much as we enjoy sharing our pens collection with you. And you will continue to visit us and render your support in the future.

A million thanks to all you.