Write Your Own Penventure

The David Oscarson Black Water Snake Collection from 2013 is considered a classic.

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To honor the 2025 Chinese zodiac Year of the Wood Snake (or Year of the Green Snake, wood being associated with the color green), Oscarson presents the new Green Wood Snake Collection. The sterling silver body features multiple layers of diamond-cut guilloche engraving and Oscarson’s trademark combination of opaque and hard enamels. Two snakes intertwine upward, wrapping around the cap, one in gold vermeil and the other in sterling silver. Two more snakes are engraved in low relief around the barrel. The ancient Chinese character for “snake” is inlaid on the cap dome in opaque black hard enamel, and the character for “wood” repeats in high relief around the cap top and barrel bottom. The David Oscarson Green Wood Snake is produced in five striking colors in editions of only eight rollerballs or fountain pens with 18 karat gold nibs in a variety of widths.

MSRP: $6,995 fountain pen, $6,795 rollerball davidoscarson.com

Italian artisan Sergio Montagna is gaining attention for his maki-e and urushi fountain pens, and we'll have much more information on the brand in our upcoming August 2025 feature on his brand Bottegando Italia. For now, enjoy a glimpse of Land and Sea: part of Bottegando’s Natural Beauty Series, its first ever limited edition (nine total), and its first in a series of entry-level maki-e and urushi fountain pens. The black urushi cap is adorned with raden application, and a center barrel ring features black lacquer and abalone application in a checkerboard pattern. The remainder of the torpedo-shaped cartridge/converter-filling fountain pen comes in yew root burl wood, with a chrome-plated grip and stainless steel nibs in fine, medium, or broad. The U.S. exclusive Bottegando Italia Land and Sea releases on August 1 and is only available by special request. Contact U.S. distributor David Lanier at [e-mail] or text him at 859.771.2512.

MSRP: $700 bottegandoitalia.com