There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
Here are a few of the pens on his site....
Last night, I saw some of his pens and I inquired about them. Andew replied right away and we spoke for quite sometime about his craft. He clearly loves what he does. From our discussion, I learned that he takes custom orders. I think he may be the one to make my custom ’Grail” pen. ( he is definitely closer to my budget for a grail pen )
Custom as in, you select the materials, colors, styles, nibs... pretty much anything you want. I am not familiar with too many pen makers that will work one on one with you to craft your pen. So that is kind of fun, to have the option to design your own pen. He was kind enough to send photos of different materials and pen styles as I was telling him what I’d like.
Of course this morning I had to visit his site and do a little poking around. Wow - he has absolutely amazing pens. He uses a variety of materials, abolane, acrylic and wood pens from old wine and whiskey barrels. I would have a hard time deciding on which one I would finally choose.
The pens have the #6 JoWo nibs and options for two toned, steel and ruthenium and your choice of size, EF, F, M, B, 1.1, 1.5. - It is always nice to have the option of being able to swap out nibs easily.
With all that said - Obviously price is always a factor in buying a new pen. I think his prices are really quite reasonable for a customizable pen and the pens listed on his site. I am comparing them to pen makers at our pen show and even a drop here with similar pens.
Feedback would be great if anyone has purchased from him or if you want to check out his work and share some thoughts.
Maybe if there is enough interest we could arrange a poll and hope for a drop ?
Check out the face book page for Caledonia Custom Creations - https://www.facebook.com/caledoniacustomcreations/
I happened on a review of an acrylic pen. It talks about Andrew ( started making pens at age 15, crazy) There maybe other reviews on you tube, but this one has a discount code ( not sure if it s still current for 15% off ). -
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=ZCaUq4QEkk0