Campo Marzio Design 'minny' Fountain Pen.

[Shangas]

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a215/Fruffles/CampoMarzioDesignMinnyfountainpenAr.jpg

 

First Impressions.

 

My first impressions of the "Minny" fountain pen, made by Campo Marzio Design, was the size and the courrogated barrel and cap. The pen's cap was the click-on type, which I thought was handy; no need to fiddle around with screwing and un-screwing caps. It was small enough for my hands to handle properly and yet was large enough to be felt in my pockets, so that I knew that if I didn't feel that lump there, my pen was missing.

 

Appearance and Finish.

 

The pen's barrel and cap are made of courrogated metal, with smooth gold-plated bands and clips. The rounded ends of the cap and the barrel are also smooth, unlike the rest of the majority of the pen. Due to it's distinctive silver colouring, the pen stands out easily on a desk or even on the floor, if you chance to drop it, making it very noticable. When brand-new, the silver and gold plating shine beatifully, but both tend to dull, tarnish and rub off over time, due to constant rubbing, use and contact with other surfaces.

 

Size.

 

Very similiar in size to the Montblanc Meisterstuck 145, the Minny measures 5.5 inches capped, and 6.25 inches when posted. It wil fit comfortably into most pockets and into the hands of many different writers with ease.

 

Nib design and performance.

 

The nib is made of gold, with the inscription: "IRIDIUM POINT GERMANY" engraved on it. It has a simple, curly design around it's edges, and supports a strong, tough and rugged tip, which can put up with several dozen months of hard, fast and admittedly on my part, rather brutal writing, without breaking. Over the years however, significant wear and a rougher and less smooth point may be noticed, whereupon, writing speed should be slowed down.

 

Filling system.

 

The CM Design 'Minny' fountain pen is a cartridge-filler, designed to take INOXCROM fountain-pen cartridges.

 

Cost and value.

 

I bought the pen in Paris, France, and at the time (2003), I paid under 100, I might even say under 75 Euros for it, and I consider it very good value for money. It has been a steady and durable writer ever since.

 

Overall opinion.

 

While not sure about the overall appearance of the pen, it is durable, strong, tough and writes very well (despite a now well-developed roughness due to four years of constant use). My particular pen has been dropped on at least two or three seperate occasions onto solid concrete, it has not broken in any of those falls and has come away unblemished, save for VERY minor scratching on the back of the barrel and on the cap, which would be barely noticable unless you were looking for blemishes.

 

I would recommend it to anyone who would want a strong, durable and **TOUGH** fountain pen for daily, carry-anywhere use. It will stand up VERY WELL to years of hard writing and handles "general wear and tear" very well.

Edited April 20, 2007 by Shangas

[georges zaslavsky]

classy pen and very sober too

[Maja]

Thanks for the review, Shangas...and keep 'em coming!

I don't think we've had a review of a Campo Marizio pen before. Always goodto hear about another newer/lesser-known brand!

[Shangas]

I doubt that you've had a review, either. To my knowledge, this brand is only a few years old. I bought it from a little out-of-the-way penshop in Paris, France, in the Christmas of 2003.

 

The brand has spread much further now, though. It recently (2006), set up shop in Singapore.

[tutelman]

Wow! Thanks for the review. I won a new blue Minny on e-Bay before I read yor review. For $3.99 (plus $9 shipping), I guess I'm a sumgai. I can't wait 'til it arrives.

[Shangas]

Hi Tutelman,

 

The CMD "Minny" fountain pen is definately a good writing-instrument. It's not super-expensive, but it is very asthetically pleasing and durable. In a hundred years with proper care, my CM pen would still be able to write a whole book. They seem to be pens that are definately MADE TO LAST!!

[Shangas]

I have recently discovered that the 'Minny' can take international-size piston-converters. A useful little bit of information.

[Lloyd]

Nib design and performance.

 

The nib is made of gold, with the inscription: "IRIDIUM POINT GERMANY" engraved on it. It has a simple, curly design around it's edges, and supports a strong, tough and rugged tip, which can put up with several dozen months of hard, fast and admittedly on my part, rather brutal writing, without breaking. Over the years however, significant wear and a rougher and less smooth point may be noticed, whereupon, writing speed should be slowed down.

I always thought that the inscription "IRIDIUM POINT GERMANY" impies gold plated. Am I mistaken?