The fountain pen has been called the iPhone of its time - the portability freed people from their desks. And now, despite these digital times, their popularity is swelling.
The increase in handwriting has seen worldwide pen sales grow in the last decade, but uptake of the fountain pen both as a working tool and an accessory is in line with the uptake in analogue items generally - vinyl records, film cameras and wristwatches, for example.
Pen and ink enthusiasts Pat and Suzanne Clay own Inkt, one of the few specialist pen shops in the country, which is nestled between two cafes on Victoria Ave in Whanganui. Its glass cases hold literally hundreds of pens and the shop is full of accessories to go with them.
"We've got over 30 shades of just … orange," Pat says. "I've got two pens I use every day, one's got bamboo green and one's got bright orange because why would you use a pen with a boring colour in it?"
Interesting inks and other accessories are part of the appeal of owning a fountain pen. Dot journals and bullet journalling have taken off, Instagram is full of pictures of fancy yet efficient "to do" lists and diaries that use the bullet or dot journalling system. It is basically a notebook, either grid-dotted or lined, with the special paper that makes a pen glide.