The Pen Addict 513/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	513
Title:	What Do You Think About Nuts?
Release Date:	May 11th, 2022
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 513
Audio File:	Audio Episode 513
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 513
Length:	6868 min <br />1.133 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 513. Today's show is brought to you by Uni Pizza Ovens and Squarespace. My name is Myke Hurley. I'm joined by the first and last words in pens.

Brad: We're gonna have to stop that pretty soon. Nope. Keep doing it. You made me laugh when you, the way you said the episode number. I stumbled on it. I thought you were gonna say, yeah, but it sounded like you were about to say episode 500 and I was about to have a panic attack. I stumbled on the 13 today.

Brad: So, good reason to stumble. We got lots of behind the scenes chatter we've been efforting this week, so we're excited about this episode.

Myke: Welcome back up on today's episode of The Pen Addict. Exclusive news on Johnny Ives' favourite pen. Stay tuned in. This is true. This is not a joke. Stay tuned in to later on in the episode. We got the deets. We got the deets. We got more than we asked for. Literally nobody else has for some freaking reason. We have it.

Brad: Financial times in your stupid pink paper. Yeah, stupid. That I kind of like. But you big dumb financial times. Yeah. You big dumb.

Myke: Look at us. We got the news. All right, but first we got something to talk about.

New Pen Acquisition

Brad: Oh, this is gonna be a great episode. Number one, because I have a new pen, Myke, that I wasn't gonna buy.

Myke: Mm-hmm.

Brad: And then now I have it because our friends, Tom and Dan at Studio Neat, could not not send me the Mark 1 in orange. Right? That's great, right? Like, I didn't ask them for it. I didn't buy it. Like, I was in a, I had just spent a bunch of money on pens, so I was like, I love this pen. I do not need to buy it. Mm-hmm. And, you know, I just didn't. And, you know, it's cool. I've enjoyed other people getting theirs. And then I got an envelope in the mail. And on the back of, it came from Studio Neat. And I knew I didn't have anything on order from them. And I was like, hmm, this is interesting. And then I flipped the, flipped the, flipped the image over. And it's like, how could we not? Was written on the outside of the envelope. And I was like, I know what this is. So, I want to say this with the caveats that Tom and Dan, I consider them my friends. I'm a Studio Neat fan. We have, obviously, you have business, multiple business relationships with them.

Myke: Yep.

Brad: The thing about this pen, I, and I will say that I have, you know, the original Mark 1 prototypes, you know, I was part of the crew that helped them kind of suss out what they needed to do and build and things like this. So, I have an intimate knowledge of the Mark 1. And I'm a super fan of this pen. The thing you forget about pens you may already have that you don't use on a daily basis is what brought you to them in the first place. And when I unpackaged the bright orange Mark 1, it just put a smile on my face, right? And there's a few products that do that because of how they feel, how they finish, just like all of the technical aspects combined. They put a smile on my face. And, like, that's the best feeling about any product. And, like, it was a given that I was going to love this pen, right? There was just no doubt in my mind. But if I don't use something like the Mark 1 on a daily basis, which I don't, I don't use any pen that religiously because I am the first and last word in pens. And that means all of them, Myke. I literally use all of the pens, which means I can't use the same one every day. When I picked up this pen, clicked it, and started writing with it, I was like, this is such a good pen. Like, that's it. Like, that's all I have to say. Like, that's when you know, like, a product is designed right. It's made specifically for you. Like, you know, I'm talking about myself here, right? Like, not everyone's going to like this pen for very valid reasons. But the products that we like, we tend to have more than just a technical relationship with them. We tend to have something, you know, a little bit more personal relationship with them. And that's how I feel about a product like the Mark 1. And, like, I feel that about a lot of products, too. And, like, there's some products that friends make that I don't have that feeling about. And that doesn't mean they're not great products. It just means they didn't check all of my boxes. And the Mark 1, regardless of the color being orange, which is a great color orange that they nailed, the Mark 1 is just one of those problems. To borrow a completely overused phrase, it just sparks joy, right? That's an accurate phrase because it does, you know, meet a lot of the criteria for, like, certain products. And sometimes that's all you need. If you can check that box, for some people, you're in a good place. And I think that's where the Mark 1 is with Studio Neat. Yeah.

Myke: I mean, obviously, I love the Mark 1.

Brad: Yeah. I have six of them now, I think.

Brad: So, yeah. It's, like, I don't want to, like, overstep and overgush over friends and people you have personal relationships with and things like that. But, like, I do it. Why shouldn't I, right? If I genuinely like the product, I'm going to tell you I genuinely like the product. And I don't care who makes it. I just happen to be friends with the people who make it. And I'll tell you this about my products, too. Like, there's products I make that I just have complete bias for. And you better hope that I do when I'm making things, right? If I'm designing something that I'm not completely biased for, then I'm just, you know, any generic retailer who carries all the things, right? Yeah. Yeah. That's the way I feel about it.

Myke: I mean, I do believe that, especially from some companies like all of ours, you know, mine and yours and Studio Neat, I do believe that the products only work if they have your full, like, heart in them. Right. Because, you know, you've got to be able to create something that speaks to the people that will buy it in a way that, like, Moleskine don't need to. Right. But, you know, it's a different way of doing business, I think.

Brad: It is. It is. And I've been thinking about a lot of these things in the background a lot separate from this. Like, I'm just, my brain is in overdrive, like, thinking about things. And I'll be writing about a lot of just, you know, related but just kind of ancillary stuff, you know, not straight up pen review type stuff. Because I'm having, I mean, like I mentioned, like, I feel like I'm in a really good place right now. So, like, my creativity is peaked. Good. And sometimes that means sharing, like, more personal things on, like, how we got to this point. And not just, hey, here's my next pen review. Right?

Myke: Good. I look forward to that.

Brad: I was going to say it started last week when I just talked about, like, hey, how am I managing, like, my phone home screen. Right? These are all these things tying together into how I'm able to create things. And talking about a dope orange pen is one of those things that I just enjoy doing. And I feel like I'm doing it extremely well right now, Myke. And I'm the first and last word.

Myke: First and last word.

Brad: Mm-hmm.

Bonus Episode Preview

Myke: It's that time of year where we put out some bonus episodes for RelayFM members. For the last, I don't even know how many years we've been doing the Lego builds now. But we have been building a Lego set together. Yeah, that sounds about right. Four, I think. This may be five. And the way that this works is, in case you're new or need a refresher, we don't build the same set together. There's one set that's being built. One person's doing the building. One person has the instructions for the build. So this time, I'm going to be building a Lego set. Brad has the instructions. I will not see the instructions. And I need to work out what Brad wants me to do. So it can lead to hilarity. Last year, almost violence. Last year, we messed up. I messed up big time. The set I chose was way too big. And it took like six hours. And we wanted to kill each other by the end of it. Yeah. This time, I'm expecting it to be way better and kind of more akin to previous years. As we have a much smaller set. And we're only building a portion of that set. It is the Mercedes AMG F1 W12 E performance set. Yes, I'm building a very tiny Formula One car that Lego made in collaboration with Mercedes. So that's what we're going to be doing. If you want to get access to this episode, you can just become a RelayFM member. With this type of content, it doesn't matter which show you support. Obviously, we would love your support here. But if you're a RelayFM member supporting any show, you get access to our crossover feed, which is where these bonus specials are published every year. So thank you for your support. If you are a RelayFM member. If you're not, you should check it out. Go to relay.fm slash membership where you can find out more about all of the great benefits that are on offer to you. And obviously, content, extra content is great. But access to our RelayFM members Discord is a fantastic thing. Happy two-year anniversary on that, by the way. I know. We just passed two years. Because this was about that time in 2020 when we were pulling our hair out trying to work out how we were going to save our company. And we really doubled down on the membership, which is when we created the Discord and when we created the more ad-free shows in some instances for extra. But over that time, the Discord has become a great place. And it is now where basically all of the live chat occurs during the live streams of the shows. A number of shows record live, including this one. And you can get access to that wonderful Discord and many, many other benefits, including our member special at RelayFM slash membership.

Brad: All right. So, yeah, we're recording that tomorrow. It comes out a mere few days. It comes out on Monday.

Myke: I don't think I mentioned that. We're going to put it out on Monday, May 16th. Yep.

Brad: So, very cool. Very cool. All right. You ready to talk about some more pens? This is the Pen Attic Podcast. We should probably do that. That's what we do. What do you think? All right. So, I saw on Instagram a marketing sheet from Sailor. This is the Sailor Mano fountain pen. All right. So, this crossed my feed. At pens, ink, and paper. This is the link I saw it from first. We'll put that in the show notes. It is since propagated pretty much everywhere. Since. Since. So, this is a lineup of Sailor pens. Sailor fountain pens.

Brad: Related to their popular Sailor Mano ink lineup. That recently came out two years ago. I think is when they started. Sailor. Don't ask me when Sailor launches ink products. Or pen products, for that matter. Because they are all the time. And different names. And different price points. And different sizes. And different quantities. And all of that stuff. So, who knows, really, when the Mano ink came out. But now they have a pen set. Which Sailor has been on a kick of doing a multiple pen pen set for a while now. Myke. Like, they've done, like, you know, different. I don't know. Spring rain. And all these other colors. Like, five pastel colors. You know, they'll be a set. And they did the five cocktail series. Right. They're a set. So, this is five inks. This is called the overseas exclusive. I think this means outside of Asia. So, they'll be pretty well propagated around the world. In the European, American markets. And everywhere else. Outside of Japan. And I pulled this link up.

Brad: And I have to say I was impressed. I was expecting to be let down.

Myke: Every one of these pens. This is their five of them. Every single one is an absolute knockout.

Brad: Yeah. I was. That killer. Yeah. Looking at this from a distance. I was like, how is this any different or more special than literally everything else they release every three months with five pens at a time? Mm-hmm. And it's better. Like, I'm surprised that I'm saying this because, you know, I'm not burned out of Sailor. Like, I just bought a Sailor at the Atlanta Pen Show. Like, I like my Sailors. I will continue to buy Sailors. But they do a lot of things. Mm-hmm. All of the time. You're never lacking from new products from Sailor. And sometimes that can be a problem. This one, I think they nailed.

Myke: Oh, they're fantastic. They're so good, man. Every single... So, explain this to me because it's a bit confusing. So, each one of these pens is based on two ink colors. But then they made an ink color for each combination, which is different.

Myke: Am I correct here?

Brad: Yeah, kind of. But, like, I look at them like, okay, let's take one, for example, like the Yamogi, which is one of my favorite ones. It's a blue with the red finials. Yamogi ink already existed. It is... I don't think that is a new ink.

Myke: Well, but this one is called Plum.

Brad: Mm.

Myke: Right? And it's based on Yamogi ink and Ume ink colors. And then it looks like they made a particular ink to go along with that. Do you see what I'm saying? No. Based on the images?

Brad: Not this one. Because if you look down, since this is like a press sheet, you look down, they have the set ink for it. So, Plum is what they're calling the pen, I think.

Myke: Yeah, that's what I meant.

Brad: But the ink, are they saying that, but it says set ink, it says Manio ink Yamogi 50 milliliters. That tells me that that's the bottle of ink that comes with the Plum pen.

Myke: Fair enough. But the colors of the pens are based on two inks. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. But then they choose, I guess, the dominant color, and that's the one you get in the set. Yeah. Because each pen has a dominant color, and then there's like an accent color too.

Sailor Pro Gear Slim Discussion

Brad: Yeah. And then they kind of take the combination to give them a name, right? To give them a name. So, like, Plum is the name of the pen, but it's the mixture of Yamogi and Ume, right? Yeah. The Yamogi blue and the Ume red, reddish color. So, that's made into the product name Plum.

Myke: It's going to be really hard for me not to buy a couple of these.

Brad: What do you think about nuts?

Myke: Why did they call it nuts?

Brad: How amazing is that?

Myke: Oh, my God. It's one of my favorites too. Absolutely. Absolutely. It's one I would.

Myke: We broke mic. Oh, boy. Anyway, I think color-wise, I like willow, nuts, and deanthus the most.

Brad: Yeah, I like willow, plum, and nuts. Cherry Blossoms is my least favorite, although it probably will end up being one of the most popular.

Myke: I feel like I've seen this a bunch of times, right? Like, that colorway. Like, the other ones, like willow, nuts, and I would say deanthus. Those, like, the main body colors seem more unique to me, I think, in some of the sailor pens that I've seen before. Right, right. The plum one is a beautiful blue, and the cherry blossom is a beautiful pink, but I feel like I've seen these before. Agree on both accounts. But the other ones, like the two purple colors and that gray color are really good.

Brad: I think nuts and willow are the standouts, honestly, and I think we've kind of seen things along the lines of the other ones. The interesting thing about this lineup, which they don't always do, like, I can't tell when they're going to do it. They created finial art for these. Like, sometimes it's just the anchor. These have specific finial art. Like, the nut has, like, an acorn on there, it looks like. They also match the trims to the general colors. Like, some have gold trim, some have silver trim, right? Oh, yeah. So, based on the look of the pin. So, they, like, really thought about each of these pins as an individual.

Myke: This is an absolute home run from Sailor. Like, knock this one out of the park.

Brad: No question. Like, I'm hesitating, but I agree completely, and I'm the one that's been.

Myke: That's what settled it for me, because I hadn't noticed that, that they changed the furniture color to match the pen. Like, yes, you should do that more, you know? I'm into this. I think this is great. I love it.

Brad: I think it's legitimately fantastic. So, this is the Pro Gear Slim. So, this is the smaller one, 14-karat gold nib. You'll have, I guess, three nib choices, which they do limit the nib choices when they do these special editions. So, fine, medium, fine, and medium. The only thing I don't see on here is the price point, but certainly with the ink, with the new price point, these will be, you know, got to be mid-300s. I should have looked that up before. Like, I did research for other things on this episode, Myke. I did not research the price on this, but I imagine they're mid-300s for the set.

Myke: That would be in line with what you would expect.

Brad: Yeah, because I think the pen alone was around $319, $320 was the new price for the Pro Gear Slims, like the special Pro Gear Slims like this one. So, apologies for not having that directly on hand. But I think they're just, you know, for the market and for the customization and, you know, what they are. They are certainly going to be on the new price point.

Myke: And any indication of when they will be available?

Brad: That's a great question right when I close the link, Myke. Cool. Okay. Cool. So, no. Why would I look this up? It's coming in July. It's coming in July. So, very soon. Yeah. These are usually not, like, long-term out. Right. You know, there's not, like, six months out type of releases. Sailor's always pretty much, like, the next few weeks to the next month or two. So, it looks like July. So, you know, the next six or eight weeks, we should be seeing these. So, maybe in time for me to see it at the San Francisco Pen Show and try not to buy one. I really don't need one of these. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll talk about that more as we get closer. But, like, this is a pen that I don't need because I prefer the larger size Pro Gear, right? Yeah. And, but it's going to be hard not to buy nuts when they're there presented to me in person.

Myke: I mean, who couldn't? Brad? I can't. I'm not going to. No, you know what? I'm not going to say it. I'm not going to say it. I'm not going to. There is an obvious joke to make and I'm not going to make it.

Brad: All right. All right. That's on you. That's on you.

Myke: You can't do it, can you? I really want to do it, but I can't.

Johnny Ive's Favorite Tools

Brad: Let's just say, let's just be on the same page that the nuts pen is one of the greatest pens made this year. It's tracking quickly the pen of the year category. So, here's the fun thing.

Myke: This wasn't the joke I was going to make, right? But like where I grew up when I was a kid, you could say, for example, that's the nuts. And like that means it's really good, you know?

Brad: Right. Right. I mean, that's a common phrase in poker or any kind of like a gambling hand. When you hold a position that cannot be beat by anything else, no matter what happens, you are holding the nuts.

Myke: Yeah. I mean, it is, you know, you're probably going to buy it because, Brad, who couldn't get these nuts? All right. So, this episode is brought to you by Uni Pizza Ovens. Uni is the world's number one pizza oven company. They make surprisingly small ovens powered by your choice of either wood, charcoal, or gas, letting you make restaurant-quality pizza in your own backyard. Uni Pizza Ovens are super easy to use. They're incredibly portable and will fit into any outside space. Uni Pizza Ovens can reach incredibly high temperatures. We're talking 900 degrees Fahrenheit or 500 degrees Celsius. This is really important and pivotal to help you cook that restaurant-quality pizza in incredibly fast speeds. It's a little 60 seconds. You're going to have a wonderful pizza done at home in your own backyard. This is what separates these pizzas from what you'd be able to make in a regular home oven. One of the most popular models that Uni makes is the Uni Coda 16. This is a 16-inch gas-powered oven with an innovative L-shaped burner at the back to give you even heat distribution. Another popular model is the multi-fueled Uni Caru where you can choose whether you want wood, charcoal, or gas for making that pizza of your dreams. Uni Pizza Ovens start from just $299 for free shipping to the US, UK, and the EU. They also make an awesome app as well so you can perfect your dough recipe and give you loads of pizza-making tips. Brad, as the weather's starting to change, I'm sure it's like its peak Uni season.

Brad: It is full-on Uni season. We have not cranked it out yet, but it is time. In a matter of days to weeks, we will have the Uni Pizza going probably once every two weeks. Once we get started going with it and realizing, number one, how easy it is to use and make pizzas, and number two, how good they are, we can't stop making them. We stop a little bit when it's cold and I don't want to be outside fussing with pizzas, but now that it's warm, it's time to be outside, we'll just get people together or just our family and make our own pizzas, throw them in the Uni, and just have the best time. It's like this little communal event that sometimes gets lost around certain things. You can have fun making pizzas and cooking them and everyone just having a big time, and a lot of that revolves around the Uni.

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Brad: Hey Myke. Yes. Did you see that article on the internet this week about Johnny Ive?

Myke: Uh-huh. People kept publishing articles and then sending them to me. So, Johnny Ive had a takeover of the Financial Times supplement called How to Spend It. and it's basically, he wrote some like articles, but the thing that was lighting my corner of the internet, our corner of the internet up was the, it's called Johnny Ive chooses the 12 tools of his trade, which is part of one of the articles where basically he is, you know, like you see like, you see these videos on YouTube, right? Here's my everyday carry. This is Johnny Ive's everyday carry, right? This is the stuff that he thinks is like, these are my perfect tools. I love these things. And there's a vast variety of things. Do you want to go through any of these?

Brad: I want to go through all of them, to be honest. Some shorter. You want to go through the whole list? Okay. Some, yeah, some real quick and then some with a little added commentary, but let's hit all the, let's hit the full list because I think it's what, 12 items? Yeah, 12 tools of the trade. That's right there in the thing. You know what? I'm going to go ahead and say the mistake here right out the jump. They did not list what paper they used for the photography for this. So this is not a Johnny Ive favorite thing. It's like this part French rule, part accounting grid paper. And I'm sure they've had questions about it. And it is in every single image they use this paper without mentioning what this is. And it honestly looks like something they just got a digital image of and printed off a copier to be, if I'm being perfectly honest. But hey, that's neither here or there. It's cool paper, but it's like an engineering style paper. So not a surprise to have all of these designery engineering tools on here. The first two, a torque wrench. Myke, he's a big fan of the snap-on adjustable torque wrench. Checks in at 455 pounds. This is going to be a recurring theme of this list. And, you know, something, you know, we kind of understand. I don't know what a tone arm is, Myke. Are you a big fan of the tone arm, his tone arm selection here? A Linn Titanium Ecos SE tone arm for only $5,600.

Myke: I don't know what a tone arm is.

Brad: Well, clearly, you're not as cool as Johnny Ive.

Myke: I think so. I'm trying to look it up, but I'm not having much luck at the moment because my web browser is failing me.

Brad: Yeah, yeah. So that's a thing. The kind of every man set here is shockingly inex...

Myke: The movable part of a phonograph or record player that carries the pickup and permits the needle to follow the record is part of a record player. Okay. So it's essentially the arm? Yeah. Okay. So my assumption here is beautiful. So that's probably interesting. Yeah. I can see it. Now I know what it is. I can see what it is.

Brad: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Myke: It's peculiar that he picked that one specific thing, but...

Brad: As opposed to what? The record player or the needle or the deck or the amp?

Myke: Honestly, I'm just surprised that there's a tone arm in here at all. Mm-hmm. You know?

Brad: Because there's no other audio file type stuff in here. No. In this list. And that's one very specific... Like, I would have understood the needle more than the arm. I don't know.

Myke: For all we know, it could just be like he really appreciates the design of this thing.

Brad: It is beautiful. Sure, sure, sure, sure. That's probably a lot of it. But this is the tools of his trade, Myke. The designer selects things for making, for marking, for measuring, and for carrying with you every day. Everybody needs to carry their tone arm with them. What you can carry is his Hex Keys Choice, Myke. The Weha color-coded Hex L-Key set. I have these. $369, little rainbow Hex Key. I have this exact set. Everyone needs a Hex Key set.

Myke: With the rainbows? My friend Ian recommended that I get it, and he made a good recommendation, clearly.

Brad: Probably everyone should have this set. It's not something you need until you need it, and then you need this exact thing. Mm-hmm. So, yeah, it's great. And it's inexpensive. I went, in response to many of the comments we got on this on Twitter, his paper folder recommendation, whether you choose his paper folder, which is also known as a bone folder, which is right out of the ninth century. You know, terrible tools of the trade. The bone folder is a tool that actually everyone should have. I tend to use things, if I need something that a bone folder would handle, I tend to use, like, the backside of a ruler, right, to straighten paper or to straighten, flatten edges, different things like that. The less sharp side of a ruler, like the backside of a ruler, that is my bone folder of choice. But, like, I've always threatened to get, like, hey, let me just get, like, a decent, you know, $10, $20 bone folder that I keep here on my desk for the few times that I actually pick one up to use it. I will actually probably get something along these lines. The measuring tape, Myke, this is one where...

Myke: I see this one memed. This one has been memed.

Brad: Okay, I was going to say, because this is one of the two where he loses me a bit. The second one you might be surprised on, the Hermes in-pocket measuring tape. This is not functional. Like, I get the design aspect of this.

Brad: No one... It's stupid to say no one needs this, but, like, this is...

Myke: Why is it not functional?

Brad: Oh, it's completely functional. It's just unnecessary. But I guess this is an exercise in excess and things like that. It's a $530, probably a six-foot tape. I didn't look at that. It is 2.6 meters. Like, at this point, I am a big fan of the Taylor's tape, right? You know, the ones you see in movies that they just wear over their neck. It's just a very... Why? Why do you hate those? Because you can just wrap them up and put them in your pocket. No, I like the retracting.

Myke: I'm on Team Johnny here. Okay. All right. I will just say, like, you know... I understand why it's funny that he has a $530 measuring tape. He is a multi-millionaire. I know. I know. Right? Like, if he was rocking up with a frigging, like, oh, here's my measuring tape from the hardware store, honestly, I would be disappointed by the list. Nah, I'd appreciate that. Because there is stuff on this list that anyone can buy, right? Like, those hex keys. It isn't all absolutely obscene. Most of it is obscene. But, like, it would be weird if Johnny Ive is rocking up with the exact same products I have in my drawer. It would be a bit like, I don't understand what's happening here, you know?

Brad: He does have an aesthetic with his choices here. Oh, it is fantastic. It's very natural colors. Yeah. It's very natural colors, right? So, the leathers or the ivories or the... It's all pretty much on theme. The hex set is the outlier. It actually has a hint of color in it. So, next one is a loop. They don't even have a link to this, but it's a beautiful loop for someone who would use a loop all the time. I could see him having this. This is a lights loop from Johnny Ive's personal collection. So, there is no link to that one, but it kind of looks stunning. Like, I would be down with that. That's probably... I haven't looked this up. That's probably a several hundred dollar loop, and that's probably worth it, right? More so than a $500 tape. Just a little bit.

Myke: That feels like something where, like, the clearness of the glass and all that kind of stuff can really make a difference.

Brad: Right, right. So, we're going to skip number seven, Myke, with the fountain pen to talk about that the most here at the end. Number eight is one that I have probably the most problem with. This is a horribly designed eraser. So, this is the Graffon Faber-Castell Platinum Plated Eraser for 100 pounds. I understand the design. I understand why this is in this post, and I understand why Johnny Ive uses it. This is... I hate round erasers to begin with. Mm-hmm. And having this little fidget spinner style eraser is just going to lead to frustration of use. Designed beautifully? Absolutely.

Brad: Functional? I have a hang-up on these. You know, using... You know, there's a popular kind of round eraser on the end of a kind of a whisk brush pen. Or like a whisk brush holder, right? So, on one end, you have this eraser that rolls. And then on the other end, you have a little whisk brush to clean off the eraser, you know, shrapnel. And this is just basically like the wheel end of the eraser. And I actively dislike this product. I think it's beautiful. I think it's completely beautiful. I think I would never use it because I would pull my hair out. Why? Like, because it would move while you're erasing. It's a bulk eraser, right? But it's small, so it's not designed to be... It's a bulk area eraser, not a tiny detail eraser. Because if you're erasing details, you can't grip it in the center because it's a wheel design. Okay? So, it rotates generally. I didn't assume it rotated. I believe you, but I didn't assume that it rotated. It may not. Let's see. Circular eraser with platinum-plated hub. Yeah, it calls it a hub. Which, to me, says that it rotates. It's designed...

Myke: Well, it can be replaced.

Brad: Yeah. So, it definitely rotates.

Myke: Hmm.

Brad: So, it's just non-functional, right? This is a product I would like, just like I like the Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil as an idea and as a design. But in use, it doesn't hold up to the price that they're asking for it from me.

Myke: Is that the one you own, the Perfect Pencil?

Brad: I ended up selling it, yeah. Right. Yeah. Right. So, because I realized real quickly that I was going to be disappointed with this. But it doesn't change the fact that, like, it wouldn't look perfect in this picture, right? It's right. It's that type of product.

Myke: Because I was getting ready to roast you. So, I'm pleased you told me. Oh, gosh, no. Oh, yeah. You know, this is a Glass Houses and Stones thing when we're talking about the eraser. No doubt.

Brad: Because that pencil is just as bad. It is. I mean, and plus, it's got a worse name. It's called the Perfect Pencil. Yeah, and it is. I mean, you're just setting yourself up for all kinds of problems. Next up is this pencil case. It's just like a classic leather pouch. I don't know that it's specifically designed for pencils.

Brad: The brand is called Visvim. Visvim. Visvim. This is someone who sells, like, you know, $1,000 chinos and, you know, $700 t-shirts and things like that. So, it's, like, this is basically Johnny Ive, Inc., right?

Myke: I mean, they have, like, wallets and essential cases that are, like, $300.

Brad: Right, right. Like, this looks like a brand that he would have ownership of to a degree, although there's more color on here than he would probably get into. So, yeah, that's fine. Like, expensive leather pencil pouch, go for it. Like, that's going to last you a lifetime. It's going to look awesome. It's going to be awesome. A protractor, like, you know, that's a Johnny Ive thing. Like, I have never been in the protractor business, but this looks like a completely awesome protractor, and it's 264 pounds. This looks like a 264-pound protractor. It looks awesome. There's a lot going on with this protractor. It looks super good. This isn't your basic, you know, elementary school protractor. This looks, like, seriously, seriously cool.

Myke: And again, following with a lot of these products of, like, because I do think that there is an element of, and he appreciates the design. Right.

Montegrappa Pen Speculation

Brad: Right, right. But the depth gauge, like, this is probably a tool he uses a lot, I would imagine. This is a very, very useful tool for someone who's creating the variety of products that he has been involved in over the decades. And, you know, I don't know anything about micrometers, but, yeah, knock yourself out. Same with the weather station. This one, like, is this, like, on his desk? Is this, like, a pocket carry? What are we doing with the weather station?

Myke: This is one of those things where, again, I think, like, the tuning, like, the tone arm. Yeah. It's a thing he actually owns and uses. Mm-hmm. But more than anything, I expect just really appreciates the way it looks and functions. Agreed. Because this is, again, like, just.

Brad: It's the OG Braun aesthetic is what this is. Yeah, it is. Right. And it's fantastic.

Myke: Yeah. It's, like, just a piece of something, you know?

Brad: Yeah. It's basically, it's a Navigator ship clock weather station. Yeah. It's, like, a two grand device, like, and, you know, I wouldn't profess to know how to use it. Other than it just looks really cool, right? Yeah. It's really, really cool. So, that's the list. Yep. Minus the most important thing in the list, which we're going to dig into now. Yeah. The fountain pen. Yep. This infuriated me. What, then you start.

Myke: All right. So, I'm seven. This is why this came across our desks, right? Yeah. Vintage pen by Montegrappa from Johnny's personal collection. So, I have two issues here. One, they didn't do any work in trying to identify the product. And, you know, this is actually the same for, like, the pencil case, right?

Brad: There's no direct link to this pencil case or anything like that, right?

Myke: But the thing that frustrates me the most is they have a Montegrappa pen featured heavily throughout the imagery of the entire supplement. But it is not a vintage Montegrappa. That is exactly correct. So, I don't understand. So, like, this is, like, you know, you are led to believe the products you are looking at belong to Johnny. I don't think any of these products do. I assume that the, like, art director at the Financial Times just collected these things and took pictures of them.

Brad: Well, you see that in the leather case, right? They are not used, right? These are not loved leather goods. Yeah. Right.

Myke: And it just really, I don't know, it just really frustrates. It just, I just find it very frustrating.

Brad: But, like, the loop is from his personal collection. I imagine this is, I imagine to a degree some of this is his own stuff because... I don't know.

Myke: You can buy these things, right? Like, they just bought a loop from Light's, White's, sorry. I'm doing a terrible job here.

Brad: Yeah, yeah. I'm actually going to go look at those loops. Like, if anything I'm interested in, I'm interested in that loop. But, yeah, the, from our perspective, being the pen podcast, they left us hanging big time and immediately incorrect in their statement, right? Or a mismatch between, you know, what Johnny has offered and what they've showed in the picture. But, again, like the loop from Johnny's personal collection, that tells me that this is his pen. And, Myke, as it turns out, it is his pen. Because we did the follow-up that Financial Times could not do. Uh-huh. So, we got some information. I wanted to know more about this pen because using the word vintage to describe this pen was an immediate red flag. Like, this is a modern Montegrappa just from design.

Myke: This is the thing. This is where it's like, what is truth, right?

Brad: Mm-hmm.

Myke: So, is it that he does actually use a vintage Montegrappa that they didn't identify? Or he uses this Montegrappa, which is clearly not vintage, but they didn't know and just said it was a vintage pen because it was a fountain pen?

Brad: So, here is their confusion. And, again, like Moon Knight, who used a Lamy Safari with the shipping cardboard still attached to the pen, they could have used a pen person to help them write this description. Because what this pen is, is the Montegrappa Extra 1930, representing a pen originally made in the 1930s, Myke, but is a completely modern, you-can-buy-it-today pen. This is not a vintage pen. Mm-hmm. So, when I saw this, I reached out to Kenro Industries, my good buddies over there. Talked to my friend, Kerry, over at Kenro. They are the U.S. distributor of Montegrappa. And they actually hadn't seen the article. I sent them the article. And I said, can you tell me more about this pen? Just because I want to talk about it and I want to talk about what model of pen it is and what's the deal with this pen. So, Kerry was interested in finding that out. So, Kerry went straight to the top. And I don't mean the top of Kenro Industries. He reached out to Giuseppe Aquila, the CEO of Montegrappa. And he replied.

Myke: Yeah, you see?

Brad: Yeah. You see? This is how you get it done. So, I've gotten to know Giuseppe from an event at Dromgoos. He's a great guy. I enjoyed spending some time with him. So, Giuseppe was nice enough to give us the real details and even gave us a little more than we asked for and gave us the permission to share this bit of information. You ready for me to read this? I sure am. All right. So, this is from Montegrappa CEO, Giuseppe Aquila. And he says, Johnny has been a loyal client for a number of years. He loves the Montegrappa configurator. I seeked his advice when we were still beta testing the platform. So, we've talked about this in the past and we'll talk about it again at the end here. One of his favorite configurations is the Extra Custom with Mammoth Ivory and Sterling Silver trims. He owns a number of them, both with piston filling or a version specially made for him with a cartridge converter filling system, which he finds more practical when traveling. We're going to talk about this.

Myke: That's the last way right there. Oh, my God. First and last word. You lost the last word part, Brad. No one's making you a cartridge converter filling system.

Brad: This is like a hundred word email that says a lot. All right. It continues. He is an avid fountain pen user and writes a lot by hand. Another product that he loves is our Elmo Ambiente Caledo, which is made using recycled plastics. This model is a favorite for gifting to his friends. Kind regards, Giuseppe.

Myke: So bad do I want Johnny Ive to give me a pen. You know what I mean? God. This is a cool pen. I didn't know this pen, actually. The Elmo Ambiente pen. I saw it come out. How fun. I bet they all look different, right? I mean, that's just going to be the nature of it.

Brad: Yeah, exactly. And we'll talk about that. Let's start this from the top. So number one, thank you, Giuseppe. Thank you, Kerry. Thank you so much, Giuseppe. Getting this information.

Myke: If you hear this, like, this is so cool. I love this.

Brad: Like, this is, I'm not speaking out of turn. This is, like, important stuff to our fans and to ourselves. Like, this is the level of nerdery that when we get a Financial Times article that says Montegrappa pen, I want to know more. And that Giuseppe was kind enough to spend the time to give us way more than we asked for instead of, yeah, here's the link to the pen that Johnny's talking about. Uh-uh. He's like, let me tell you about my friendship with Johnny Ive and how we work together at Montegrappa. And I'm like, thank you, Giuseppe. I really, really appreciate that. So, yeah, this is cool. So, number one, the Montegrappa configurator. We talked about that a couple years ago when it came out. And it's just a really cool, Montegrappa did the configurator right because they made it a high-end product, right? Like, as much as I want Lamy to allow you to go in and customize your Lamy Safari and maybe charge 50 or 60 bucks for it, the amount of work involved in that is really, really huge, right? Yep. But if you take a premium brand and create a premium configurator, you can manage it a lot better and you can meet the needs of the people who are using this configurator, right? It's not for everybody. You walk into the configurator, you're spending four figures just as a base, right? It's just that's how this product is designed. So, they work with Johnny.

Brad: I seeked his advice for when we were still beta testing the platform. Like, how cool is that? Hey, Johnny, we're working on this thing. Can I ask you a couple questions? I know, right? That's pretty cool. Yeah. So, on to the pen. So, the pen model is called the Extra. The Extra 1930 is the specific design and it's a traditional Montegrappa design. For those who are fans of Montegrappa, you recognize this shape, right? This is a shape used throughout their product lineup but with different details for different items for different pens in the lineup. So, the Extra 1930, this has like a fully silver trim. He has upgraded the barrel to mammoth ivory. So, I had some questions about this. Is mammoth ivory a literal description? Is this like some type of acrylic, like the name of some kind of acrylic or celluloid or something like that? So, I asked Carrie to send me those deets and this is what mammoth ivory is.

Brad: Cured by nature for more than 70,000 years, ancient mammoth ivory features a rich organic grain and a handle echoing epochs predating humankind. Found above the Arctic Circle in the Siberian permafrost, this rare material is ethically sourced. It's ethically sourced and carries its own certificate of origin. It's real. Like, it's literal. It's literally mammoth ivory.

Myke: This is not a thing you can buy. Now, on their website, on the Financial Times' website, the model they are showing is the Tusk model, which is an ivory colored acrylic. Look, so, I think we've gotten to the bottom of this.

Brad: It's vintage barrel material on a modern pen design. Is that what you're alluding to?

Myke: I think the pen that Johnny Ive showed the Financial Times or mentioned was the Montegrappa Extra 1930 in a special design, like a limited design that he got access to, made from mammoth ivory. Like, because I would expect it would look similar to the one that the Final Times ensourced and took pictures of.

Brad: Incorrect. Incorrect. Oh. If you click the link, it brings you to a configurator build of this exact pen, including the mammoth ivory barrel.

Myke: Where is this?

Brad: Which link? It's the shortened URL because it was like 500 letters. Did I not put it in there?

Myke: Oh, you put it in the notes for me. Okay, let me go take a look at this now.

Brad: So, yeah, that's my mistake. I didn't make that clear that this is the link to the exact pen and it prices out at 4,700 euros. So, like five. So, this is the mammoth ivory one? Okay.

Myke: Because they do make one called Tusk, which looks basically the same. Which would be, hey, the more reasonably priced version. No, but no. Okay. So, all right. I'm confused. When I click the link that says Tusk on the extra custom website. Don't do that.

Brad: But when I do that. That is not a link I have provided you in this document. Right. What I'm saying is. You're on your own here.

Myke: But I'm, if you allow me to speak. On the extra custom website, there is a pen model called Tusk that is the same price. Ah, okay. So, that's where it takes me. Gotcha. Right? So, I don't. Oh, yeah. Okay. And it is mammoth ivory when you click into it. Okay. So, they have a configuration, just a standard configuration called Tusk. That configuration is made of mammoth ivory and features the same silver adornment. So, it may actually be the pen then.

Brad: Yeah. So, this is not a vintage pen. Right? It's not a vintage pen. It's a modern pen.

Myke: I think we may have gotten to the bottom of this. That could actually be Johnny Ives' pen in that imagery. I may have been wrong about that. But I think the thing that we have cleared up is that it is a vintage pen. It is not. It is a modern pen that you can just go and buy if you want to put down $4,000 of your own dollars.

Brad: Right. Right. Exactly. So, yeah. This is a, for lack of a better term, an available pen. Right? This is not completely. This is a specially made pen. But like Myke said, you could, you too, if you have the money, could go have this pen. Looks nice. From Johnny. It's not an off-the-shelf pen, but here is the way to build his exact model. And that's what this link will have in the show notes. And you see now why I shortened the link. Yeah.

Myke: It's actually so long that RCMS is rejecting the link. So, I have to also use your shortened link. Yeah.

Brad: It's too long. Because it's a configurator, right?

Myke: Oh, they make Bitly links, too. I'm going to use that.

Brad: Good. So, this is a link where all the buttons have been clicked for this pen, right? To get you to the final price and the final design. So, the final item, Myke, is the Elmo that he mentioned. Yep. I am a huge Elmo fan. Let me clarify that. I'm a huge Elmo fountain pen fan. Montegrappa Elmo fountain pen fan. Brad likes to tickle fountains. What can I say? I do. I do prefer that. I did try to make a Cookie Monster Inc recently, Myke.

Myke: These are beautiful pens.

Brad: So, the Elmo lands, not this model. The standard Elmo landed in the best pens under $200 category. It checked in right at $200. And I was shocked that it was actually that Montegrappa came in at that price point. This is usually like the starting price point. So, this link for this one is €310. So, like €325, you know, €330. US dollars, somewhere in that range. And that's normally like the price of Montegrappa's a little bit fancy, but still kind of in the starting point of their fountain pen lineup range, right? So, when they redid this Elmo, and the model that I had is called the Cross Gentian. I don't know. It's got a really long name. About as long as that URL. And it was exactly $200. It's a great shape. It's a great feel. It's got this great steel nib. And this is the same exact model as far as the barrel shape goes, the Elmo barrel shape, but with a different material. So, this is a newer material than I have. This one came out last year, I think. Late last year. Using this recycled material. And it's just a really neat product. And there's actually three different colors you can get it in. This is the link that was provided to the one that he buys for gifts. Which I thought that was great. Thanks, Giuseppe. That was some information there. One of these days, I might get one of these. I probably maybe replace my current Elmo with one of these models. Just the upgraded barrel material Elmo. And it's just a cool pen. This is a universally quality. I hate using the phrase entry level on a $300 pen. But this is kind of like your first big Montegrappa purchase without breaking the bank. It's an expensive pen. But that's kind of like the entry point for the really good Montegrappa stuff that I appreciate. So, I have two pens in this price range. The Elmo. Which is around $200. Then I have the Mia. The Meteor Shower Mia. Which is around $300. And I also have the Montegrappa. Montegrappa. Which is in that $3 to $350 category too. So, they make a lot of great pens in that $200 to $350 category that I just genuinely love. So, yeah, it was cool to see that Johnny Ive appreciates this pen for what it is. And is willing to gift people this pen. I think that says a lot. Anytime any person bestows a gift on you of a specific product that they love, they take it pretty seriously. So, I thought that was pretty cool to see that. So, all in all, Myke, this was fun. This is not where I thought this article was going to go. But thank you to Financial Times for doing such a poor job that it made us ask more questions. And thank you to Carrie at Kenro and Giuseppe at Montegrappa for giving us the answers that we asked for. And even more of that. So, it was great.

Myke: That's so good. I'm so happy we did this. Thank you for doing that. Yep. Yep. No problem. All right. We should start making our own lists.

Brad: Yeah. So, this is a challenge. We're going to play the role of Johnny Ive. And here in a second. And I am interested to see what goes on here. So.

Myke: All right. This episode of The Pen Addict is brought to you by Squarespace. The all-in-one platform for building your brand and growing your business online. With Squarespace, you can stand out with a beautiful website. Engage with your audience and sell anything. Your product services. Even the content you create. Squarespace has you covered. Because with Squarespace, you can get blogging. They have powerful blogging tools to share your stories, your photos, your videos, updates about what's going on in your life or your business. You'll be able to categorize, share, and schedule your posts to make your content work best for you. You can also use insights to grow your business with Squarespace. If you've ever wondered where your site visits and sales are coming from and which channels are most effective, you can analyze all of that in Squarespace. Once you've got that data, you can improve your website and build a marketing strategy based on your top keywords or most popular products and content. Now, of course, you know, Squarespace has detours. Talk about commerce tools. We talk about how beautiful the templates are and how you can really just very quickly and easily make the website that you want to make and make it all beautiful. But they have more than that. It's so much more. You know, talking about marketing campaigns, talking about easy design. What about Squarespace email campaigns? Why not encourage your visitors to sign up as email subscribers and start them on the journey to becoming a loyal, long-time customer? Maybe you could get a journey of your own, you know? You just start with an email template and you can customize it by applying your brand ingredients like site colors and logo. Plus, you also have built-in analytics to measure the impact of every email campaign you send. Go and check all of this out and so much more for yourself right now by going to squarespace.com slash penaddict. And you can sign up for a free trial. No credit card needed. And you can really just get in there and build your website. Then when you're ready to launch it to the world, use the offer code penaddict to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That is squarespace.com slash penaddict. And then when you sign up, use the offer code penaddict and you will get 10% off your first purchase and show your support for the show. Our thanks to Squarespace for the support of this show and all of RelayFM.

Brad: So before I got all of this Montegrappa information, in the show notes I had written as part of this topic, do you have any must-have tools, Myke? Like, do you have a must-have podcast tool? Like, is there something special that makes you, you know, that you have to have when you create? Do you have must-have writing tools, stationary tools? So I said, let's, you and I, explore this a little bit because as I thought about this list that Johnny I've created, I came up with almost nothing that I would be comfortable putting as must-have in a list like this, right? I think it's a little bit more. I'm taking a much more nuanced look at this and, like, a very particular type of nuance at this. But then I thought about it. I came up with, like, two definitive things and then, like, a third thing. And there has to be more. So do you want me to try to explain what I've put down here first?

Myke: Yeah, ma'am.

Brad: The Notco Sinclair is my favorite pen case of all time. Agreed. Jeff Bruckwicky designed this case. It is the perfect pen case for the things that I like to do and the way I like to carry things and the amount of things I like to have and the access to those tools that I like to have. It is the, if I had only one pen case for the rest of my life, that's the way I looked at this list, Myke. Like, if I'm picking the thing to last me for today and for the rest of my life and be the one thing, so maybe I'm looking at this wrong. Like, I took a very strict view of this, which is why I had such a short list. But I'm putting the Notco Sinclair on it, and I just think it's that good of a product.

Brad: So, yeah, that is 100%. The first thing that came to mind. The second thing was reasonably easy to make the list, and it's the Rotring 600 in silver. The older the model, the better. Like, I would actually pay money for a model older than mine. Mine is about 10 to 12 years old, which I love, and I will have this pencil for the rest of my life. It is one of the best products ever made. It is, it will last you a lifetime, you know, with obviously proper care and use, things like that. And that was it. Like, that's what I came up with. Like, no fountain pens, you know, standard pens. We're going to talk about one I did put down that I would probably pick over everything else. But must have, you know, one and only type of things. I had a really tough time with that. So, I could probably spend some more time and really think about this more. But the third product, and I was thinking about at this point filling out my Sinclair. The Sinclair's made from three, has three pen slots in it. So, I'd have the Rotring 600. The second one I'd have would be the Spoke Pen, which is the barrel that Brian and I collaborated on for Spoke Design to use the Uniball Signo DX Refill, which I prefer the .38 Refill. It's just kind of one of the great all-time refills that I love using. And that's a pen that I use all the time. I keep it on my desk. I keep it near at hand at all times. And that's where I stopped. Like, I couldn't even pick a third pen or pencil to go into my Sinclair. And you'll notice that I didn't pick a fountain pen. I'm trying to think, is there a must-have fountain pen for me, despite having, like, literally hundreds of fountain pens? Could I narrow my fountain pens down to one fountain pen? And I couldn't. I think you will probably, even if you're not going to put this in there, you know, you would probably go, like, M90 or something like that. Like, I couldn't even go as far as going, like, just the Murex. I don't know. Maybe I could eventually if I thought about it. But, yeah, I took an extreme view of this list. Maybe that's the wrong way to look at it and just have more of the things I really enjoy. But then I go from this very strict list to, you know, a list of 50 to 100 things. And I was trying to thread the needle, and I didn't do a very good job. You might have done a little bit better job at that than me because I kept it on a strictly stationary basis.

Brad: What about you? You took a little bit wider view, but also a very, very cool view and a cool perspective at this.

Myke: I'm doing what I think these articles are meant for and what I think Johnny's was. I think that maybe DFT kind of framed it a little weirdly. This is like, give us a list of things that you love that you would recommend to someone. And so that's what I've gone with. This is not a complete list. This is just something like I threw this together in 10 minutes, but I would actually like to think about it some more. So we might come back to this. But it's a selection of items that I own and are important to me or I think are things I would recommend to people. So one is a Bellroy wallet. I've had multiple slim Bellroy wallets. The model that I have, they no longer sell it. I don't know why, which is really disappointing to me. And that makes me sad now because if I ever need to replace my wallet, I'll have to get a different one. But I've used Bellroy wallets for years and I've been very, very happy with their product options.

Brad: I actually use a Bellroy wallet as well and it's kind of like the only wallet I would use. It's a different model than yours, but I didn't know if you knew that I too use a Bellroy wallet because it's the design. It's a design-based type of wallet that it gives me everything I need and nothing that I don't. So yeah. So we'll put that in the show notes too. So your one is the Apex Slim. Apex Slim. Yeah.

Myke: I tend to like their card holders. So they're not like you have bifold. It's opens. I don't have any of that. It's slim. Yeah. And as small as possible.

Brad: Yeah. I'm front pocket only wallet for 30 years.

Myke: See, I'm back pocket. So I'm slim and small. Yep. The Apple AirTag in their leather keychain. I think AirTags are fantastic. It's one of my favorite things Apple's done in years. I own the Saddle Brown keychain. I think that they have done a great job of designing a good-looking keychain. It's just a good-looking keychain. And it also happens to have an AirTag. Obviously, you have to buy one and put it in there. But you can also laser engrave the AirTags. And so I have to have my initials on it. So I just think I have a very attractive keychain that also helps me find my keys if I lost them.

Brad: Right.

Myke: Obviously, if I was going to make a list of things that I think are things people should own in their lives, I'll put a theme system journal in there. Yep. One of my favorite little items that I own is the Paul Smith Travel Clock. It is a collaboration between Paul Smith, which is my favorite clothing brand, and Braun. Mm-hmm. It's a £35 travel clock. And it's beautiful.

Brad: Yeah, see, this is the kind of thing I like. If I were to expand my list, these are the type of things I would want to see on that list. Things that I use in my everyday life, maybe not stationary-related, that I just get pure enjoyment from. Yep. And appreciation from their design or their functionality or their usefulness to me personally. This is exactly the type of thing that I think is great for this type of list and conversation.

Myke: Yep. I will actually also add a Paul Smith Anglepoise lamp to this collection here.

Brad: Mm-hmm.

Myke: So the lamps that they do in collaboration with Anglepoise are just beautiful. I've bought one as like a celebration for the studio. It sits here on the desk with me. Nice. I love it. It's like that classic, almost Pixar-like lamp design. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. But the clock is just such a nice little thing. And it's like, it was a lovely gift that I got for Christmas from Medina. And it's just like, I love it. It's got the Paul Smith stripe on the second hand. Like, it's perfect.

Myke: If I was going to also choose like a pen, I would choose the Mark I. Like, this is to me in that element of like, what is a product that you love that you would give to someone? Mm-hmm. The Mark I is definitely that for me. I totally agree with that. I thoroughly, wholeheartedly recommend, if you are an Apple Watch owner, the midnight leather, oh, no, sorry, not midnight specifically, but the leather link bracelet. So this is the leather strap that has magnets that runs all the way down. Mm. So you can put it on. Is that what all the ridges are? Yeah, they're all magnets. Okay. So it allows for adjustability. It's nicely adjustable, stays in place. What I like about this strap specifically, I think it significantly elevates the look of the Apple Watch. Mm-hmm. I will say it is one of the, I think, rarer owned bands because people, it is more expensive. Mm-hmm. And then people tend to go with the sport bands because there's more choices of them. There's only four color options in the little link. Right. I think it elevates the Apple Watch and makes it look like a better watch than it is. Mm-hmm. And more stylish. Yeah, that's interesting. I've never seen that before. I want to get the green one. I have the midnight, which is like a bluey black one. And I've been meaning to get the green one too because I just think it does a great job of making the watch look more stylish than I think it is. And then if I was going to choose a keyboard, it would be the 65 by Mode Designs. Now, this keyboard is not available at the moment. They have two other keyboards available. One is the 80, which I also recommend. And then a keyboard that they've got upcoming is in pre-order right now called the Sonnet. I love their products. Like Mode are the apple of keyboards. Okay. In my opinion, from like the quality of the product but also the buying. They started this with the 65 and they do it with the Sonnet too where you can – they have a fantastic tool on their website where you can go in and like customize the options. It's like that configurator we were talking about earlier. You can choose all the materials. You can get them really up there in price. These are expensive tools. I will also say Mode are going to be a sponsor on upcoming episodes of Upgrade. But I have bought two of their keyboards now – well, actually three of their keyboards now out of my own money. Because I genuinely love their product and I'm an advocate for it and I want to be able to speak more about it. So I think they make truly excellent stuff. So that would be – I feel like I had to put something keyboard related on here. And honestly, this is the one I would recommend to most people even though it can get up there in price but you will get your money's worth.

Brad: That's why I wanted to do this with you. Like mine is very like stationary centric but I like having these additional accessories. Like I don't know that I have things outside of like my pens and papers. Like I could probably pick out a notebook to like add into my thing. I'd probably pick, you know, a Musubi notebook. A Musubi bank paper notebook would be one of my like must-haves. That would be my Johnny Ive level product. Like, you know, more expensive than you need to pay but worth it because of the quality and the emotion that it brings. You know, it's like a $200 note. Not always but like $130. I think my last one was like $130 or something like that. It was worth every penny, right? That would be on my list. So, yeah. Very cool.

Brad: Financial Times. Call us.

Brad: Financial Times. If you need the real work done, let us know. Let us know. Or at least, you know what? Let us interview Johnny Ive. Your answers would have been a lot better.

Myke: Yep. Or, you know, if you want to print a correction in an upcoming article, you have our permission as long as you credit us. Yep. That works. If you would like to find, there's lots of links for this episode, of course. If you would like to find them, you can go to relay.fm slash penad. Addict slash 513. You can find a bunch of information. You can find links if you want to sign up to become a member and support the show. Don't forget, you'll get our bonus content that way, too, and access to a bunch of great benefits. If you want to find Brad online, you can go to penaddict.com. You can find him. He's penaddict on Instagram. Dowdy is on Twitter. I am iMike. I-M-Y-K-E. You can go to cortexmerch.com. We have a bunch of great products available for you there. I will say this, but I don't know how helpful it's going to be. We have some more of our Mark 1s going in stock soon. Nice. But I think they're going to sell out almost immediately. We have a wait, like a- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're managing the wait list. Yeah. I think the email list is, last time that I checked, over four times the amount of stock we will have available. So I don't know how long that will be. But there will be more. There will be more. And I want to do a different color as well in the future. But you'll have to wait and see about that. Nice. Thank you so much to Uni and Squarespace for their support of this week's episode. But of course, thank you for listening. And we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.