The Hermès Dipping Pen Project

As a child I fell in love with Le Monde d’Hermès while reading about Émile Hermès and looking at pictures of his office in Architectural Digest. Growing up, entering Hermès boutiques reminded me of visiting my Grandfather’s private workshop, where he worked with leather and wood. What draws me to Hermès, today, is not its modernity, but is history.

Now, as an adult, when I touch the vellum paper in an Hermès notepad or pick up a fountain pen to write, it reminds me that there is another world from which I draw, where beauty and memories collide to form dreams. As an author and editor, my work is painting landscapes of thought, and my tool is often, first, a pen. But, whether writing a book or penning a letter, writing always connects us to some other world.     

And so, we at The Circle present, above, a design for a pen which we would love to find in Le Monde d’Hermès. Designed for dipping, this pen is made from ribbon-striped Honduran Mahogany (or covered with simple black lacquer) with a soft calfskin underside which rests on the hand of the writer. With no moving parts, this pen never-the-less presents the innovation of a specially designed nib, shaped like a pelican’s beak, which allows the writer to dip once and write multiple pages. Although beautiful and often included in the collections of fountain pen aficionados, dipping pens are usually not made to the same standards of quality and aesthetic beauty as piston filling fountain pens. Thus, we have designed this bespoke wood and leather dipping pen to be built to the same standards as the best conventional fountain pens. 

Hermès is renowned for its ability to draw from a fantasy and bring an idea down, in tangible form, to compliment our needs with the whimsy that makes our lives beautiful. With your support, we wish to submit this creation for the consideration of Hermès, and perhaps inclusion in Le Monde d’Hermès. We invite you to join this initiative and to be a part of the possible creation of this beautiful writing instrument. Please leave a supportive message in the comments below to join the initiative.   

Joel Derksen Banck

Editor, THE CIRCLE | VANCOUVER