Yard-O-Led Viceroy Grand Barley B Nib

[jar]

Three of Eight employees have worked for Yard-o-Led for over 40 years.

 

What happens when that institutional knowledge is gone?

[Pen Nut]

I have been using the pen for some time now, so time for an update, I am sorry for the length:

 

The pen started skipping in the first few days of use. I was anyway sending a small lot of pens to Oxonian and I sent the YoL in the lot for him to take a look. He reported that the nib was generally OK, but the problem was with a loose fit of the nib and feed and he did the best he could to make them sit together firmly. The pen was away for a few weeks with the express shipping and repair times.

 

The pen was still not satisfactory, still used to skip annoyingly and then I decided to use the warranty on my pen and have Filofax have a look at the pen. I got in touch with Filofax in the US explaining the problem and that I had bought the pen from an US dealer, they asked me to send the pen in, but the problem was in paying them the 10USD handling cum return shipping charge, they accept only a cheque and no paypal. This is where our FPN member Jar volunteered to come to my rescue, taking care of the payment part. I am really grateful for his help. I got many generous offers of help from members in the UK like carlc and twdpens with useful contact information of the UK headquarters. Anyway, I sent the pen off back to the US by Express mail, Lloyd G and Bob at Filofax were super efficient and turned the pen back within a few hours of receipt! They detected the loose feeder housing and replaced that. I received the pen back in a few days from my shipper in NYC. The pen came back all nicely polished up. The pen was behaving itself this time, but still skippy certain times. Then I decided to take matters in my hand and reset the nib and feed and adjusted the flow, after some tuneup the pen is now finally a satisfactory skip free writer, I have found the ideal ink, works well with Aurora black and pre slovenia Skrip Jet black, uniform wet lines finally.

 

In conclusion, since I fell in love with the feel and the balance of the pen, I think, I stuck to the pen despite the problems, I am glad I could work it out. It is a very sturdy pen and never did I baby it. Now I have acquired a few more YoLs. The second Yol, a Smythson edition was delivered today which I will seperately review once I get a chance to use it a bit.

 

Regards,

Hari

 

I once owned a YOL Viceroy Grand in Victorian finish. I must have got a bad one and cannot praise the sfter sales service enough but some of the quality control issues were, to be honest, bad.

 

After my third nib and feed unit I sold it on. Looks wise it was fantastic performance wise....it was not.

[hari317]

Looks wise it was fantastic performance wise....it was not.

IMO.

Yol is an excellent pen body maker, I really love their solid silver construction. I don't think so highly of their writing performance: based on just three examples, FWIW. Nibs are OK. feeders are inferior. Certainly better third party feeders and housings are available, I feel an ideal combination would be a YOL with a 146 or a M800 nib unit, but i can only dream.

[jar]

Looks wise it was fantastic performance wise....it was not.

IMO.

Yol is an excellent pen body maker, I really love their solid silver construction. I don't think so highly of their writing performance: based on just three examples, FWIW. Nibs are OK. feeders are inferior. Certainly better third party feeders and housings are available, I feel an ideal combination would be a YOL with a 146 or a M800 nib unit, but i can only dream.

 

That's what is so interesting about fountain pens and their owners. I would say that all of my YOL nibs and feeds are far nicer than any of my Pelikan or Montblanc nibs and feeds.

[hari317]

That is right Jar. We both speak differently, but based on our personal experiences and thankfully so much choice is available that various aspects of this hobby can be enjoyed by using pens from different marques. Why settle for just one pen/brand.

[raging.dragon]

That is right Jar. We both speak differently, but based on our personal experiences and thankfully so much choice is available that various aspects of this hobby can be enjoyed by using pens from different marques. Why settle for just one pen/brand.

 

It seems luck may play a role as well. Your YoL's were on the bad side of the QC bell curve, and Jar's were on the good side. It's also possible you and Jar have different preferences for nib feel - for example a little feed back vs. completely smooth.

[Pen Nut]

Looks wise it was fantastic performance wise....it was not.

IMO.

Yol is an excellent pen body maker, I really love their solid silver construction. I don't think so highly of their writing performance: based on just three examples, FWIW. Nibs are OK. feeders are inferior. Certainly better third party feeders and housings are available, I feel an ideal combination would be a YOL with a 146 or a M800 nib unit, but i can only dream.

 

Funny enough I was talking to my son whilst driving back from Belguim the other day about all the cars I have owned and driven how I would like this from one car and that from another and eventually have a great vehicle with components from many makers. This was brought about by the Saab I was drinving have three water jet nozzles on the bonnet so when you spray the windscreen you get six jets of water hitting the screen, two driver side two passenger side and two bang in the centre, resulting in a crstyal clear view. Just a little thing but impressed me as did the two sunvisors per side. Anyway pens, yes I do love certain things about certain pens which then let themselves down, badly in some cases, in other departments.

 

The force needed to take the cap of the YOL was also considerable which I didnt like, I am a screw cap person as a rule. I may start a thread to design the 'perfect pen' but I know even before I start it we could not even agree on a pocket clip! (Montegrappa are the best with that little wheel thing on but Montblanc have the best tension) IN MY OPINION

[fabrimedeiros]

Hari, thanks for your great review and very interesting posts like the date code chart. I love the pics of your magnificent pen.

 

I'm glad it's working properly now.

[GutSchrift]

I only have experience with one YoL, my Viceroy Grand Barleycorn, which was perfect out of the box. The nib and feed are tremendous and perform just as well as my Pelikan and Montblanc. In fact I set my heart on the YoL because I had (until now) heard nothing that indicated real concern or problems with the nib/feed.

[Toolattack]

Great review and lovely looking pen.

I really love the 'old fashioned'/classic look - very jealous!

[PAKMAN]

Just for fun and comparison of the runs, I have the following Grands:

Victorian 2007 - 5678

Barley 2001 - 7278

Lined 2005 - 3778

 

Now if I could find one of the plain... :hmm1:

 

Probably my one and only.

 

Grand Victorian 2011 - 6458

[hari317]

I only have experience with one YoL, my Viceroy Grand Barleycorn, which was perfect out of the box. The nib and feed are tremendous and perform just as well as my Pelikan and Montblanc.

 

Thanks for sharing your positive experience.

 

Great review and lovely looking pen.

I really love the 'old fashioned'/classic look - very jealous!

 

Thanks!

 

Probably my one and only.

 

You might buy a few more, you never know. The Sterling silver body and construction quality is very addictive, I have now bought two more YOLs.

[1point1mm]

Great write up and a stunning pen to be sure! Now this has got me looking more into Y-o-L, especially the Viceroy Grand Victorian!

[Pen2009]

By looking at those close-up photos, YOL pens do not look like made with precision manufacturing. It seems there are so many tell tale signs of hand-made looks (I think even hand made pens should not look so coarse in details). Maybe craftsmen's eyesight and dexterity could be suffering from natural human aging?

[raging.dragon]

By looking at those close-up photos, YOL pens do not look like made with precision manufacturing. It seems there are so many tell tale signs of hand-made looks (I think even hand made pens should not look so coarse in details). Maybe craftsmen's eyesight and dexterity could be suffering from natural human aging?

 

Possible. Also, I believe YoL are using vintage WWI or WWII era machinery which may be less precise than modern machinery. However, for many of us the "old fashioned charm" of their lesser precision is part of YoL's appeal.

[Pen2009]

Based on other photos on YOL's Grand Victorian or Barley, it seems some of the less-than-perfect craftmanship reported by the OP are not the norm in general.

I myself is in the middle of making of selection for my next sterling silver pen and the YOL Grand Victorian or Grand Barley is in the running along with MB Solitaire Sterling Silver, Silver Barley (yes, another one:)) and a few others.

[hari317]

Based on other photos on YOL's Grand Victorian or Barley, it seems some of the less-than-perfect craftmanship reported by the OP are not the norm in general.

I myself is in the middle of making of selection for my next sterling silver pen and the YOL Grand Victorian or Grand Barley is in the running along with MB Solitaire Sterling Silver, Silver Barley (yes, another one:)) and a few others.

 

I really hope my pen is the exception, but these shortcomings are not my imagination, as the photos show. After all, the USP of the YOLs is their traditional "craftsmanship", if they were to consistently fail in that front also, it will be tragic.

 

Having said that i have explored more YOLs and have been more or less pleased with the pens. I will be buying more of these.

 

If you decide on a YOL, do report back here about the workmanship, so we can compare notes.

[Sherwood Forester]

Just for fun and comparison of the runs, I have the following Grands:

Victorian 2007 - 5678

Barley 2001 - 7278

Lined 2005 - 3778

 

Now if I could find one of the plain... :hmm1:

 

Probably my one and only.

 

Grand Victorian 2011 - 6458

 

Hmm. Just when I thought I had that numbering system worked out, your pen threw a spanner in the works!

 

I got my Viceroy Grand Victorian only a few days ago and the number on the clip is 6230...a lower number and presumably a pen made earlier. So why did you not get mine? Unless the clips were already made and stamped prior to assembly.

 

That would seem to suggest that there is a stock of finished pens at YOL awaiting orders, but for a couple of reasons I think that is not so.

 

Firstly, YOL are such a small company that it would likely be beyond their manufacturing capacity to churn out enough pens to have such a stock of finished products.

 

Secondly, whilst the body of my example is just the same as any other, the cap most certainly is not. That's because I had mine done a little differently and it was made (or at least finished) as a special order just for me after I placed my order for it a couple or so weeks ago.

 

So I am back to being puzzled again! Is each different model numbered in sequence for only that type or are all the different models just stamped cosecutively as they are finished, irrespective of model or whether fountain pen, pencil or something else.

 

Let there be light!

[jar]

Just for fun and comparison of the runs, I have the following Grands:

Victorian 2007 - 5678

Barley 2001 - 7278

Lined 2005 - 3778

 

Now if I could find one of the plain... :hmm1:

 

Probably my one and only.

 

Grand Victorian 2011 - 6458

 

Hmm. Just when I thought I had that numbering system worked out, your pen threw a spanner in the works!

 

I got my Viceroy Grand Victorian only a few days ago and the number on the clip is 6230...a lower number and presumably a pen made earlier. So why did you not get mine? Unless the clips were already made and stamped prior to assembly.

 

That would seem to suggest that there is a stock of finished pens at YOL awaiting orders, but for a couple of reasons I think that is not so.

 

Firstly, YOL are such a small company that it would likely be beyond their manufacturing capacity to churn out enough pens to have such a stock of finished products.

 

Secondly, whilst the body of my example is just the same as any other, the cap most certainly is not. That's because I had mine done a little differently and it was made (or at least finished) as a special order just for me after I placed my order for it a couple or so weeks ago.

 

So I am back to being puzzled again! Is each different model numbered in sequence for only that type or are all the different models just stamped cosecutively as they are finished, irrespective of model or whether fountain pen, pencil or something else.

 

Let there be light!

 

It seems that pens are numbered up to 9999 and then it starts over. But since there is model and a date stamp on the pen it is not a problem.

[PatientType]

I purchased a YOL Victorian Grand largely inspired by Hari317's initial review. I've not been disappointed. The pen is even more beautiful in person. Normally, I'm not drawn to silver pens but this was an exception.

 

My nib/feed alignment has the same off-center look at Hari's did initially but mine has not developed a skip. My pen cap must have been imprinted on the same machine that Hari's was as my "Made in England" looks just as his does with part of the indent a tad faint. I have also found slight variations in the decoration of the barrel and cap where the pattern isn't perfect. That is a characteristic that I rather like in that it reflects the hand made nature of the fabrication process.

 

So far as number series, my Victorian is an m, or 2011 model, #6137.