Filcao Atlantica Oro

[KendallJ]

Well, my latest purchase arrived from Richard Binder yesterday, a new Filcao Atlantica Oro. I had been eyeing this family of pens ever since Richard announce the Columbia, and when the Oro came out, I decided to take the plunge.

 

Overall: ****

A great writer with a great calssic look, at a reasonable price point.

 

1. General Design *****

As a concept, this is a great idea of a pen. Reminiscent of vintage pens in design, it's a button filler, with a washer-style clip, and lines reminiscent of a vintage flat top. The lapis resin gives it a refined and understated tone, not as jazzy as a marbled celluloid, but as formal as any black/gold pen. The resin appears a deep midnight color in low light, and a grey blue in sunlight or flouresent. It's opaque so it doesn't have the "depth" of a celluloid marble, and the gold flaking quickly disappears under the resin.

 

2. Size / Weight ****

At 5 1/2 in capped, and 1/2 in in width, the Atlantica is almost identical in size to a Pelikan 800. However, it is quite light, more like a 600 in weight. For those of you who like a little heft to your pens, this one will not satisfy, but I found the weight perfect for long term writing, and the pen well balanced.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/justiniano/DSCN2733.jpg

 

3. Nib ****

The 18c gold nib by Schmidt is well proportioned to the pen body, and it comes in single tone gold. I like the looks of two toned nibs better, but heck that's not what's important about the nib anyway. Richard tuned it for me before shipping it out so I can't say what a factory nib was like. It now writes like a great Pelikan fine, just enough tooth, but still smooth.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/justiniano/DSCN2731.jpg

 

4. Filling mechanism ***

The button filler is accessed by removing a short blind cap. The button, and its collar can easily be removed by unscrewing the collar. The button is small and has a very short stroke, but seemd to fill readily in a pump or two. Let you know what the capacity is like, but has lasted through a day at work so far.

 

5. Fit / Finish / Hardware **

This area held my biggest complaints. While the pen is a looker, close examination revealed what to me are some flaws in attention to detail. Most noticable, the plated clip and gold cap band are noticably different in color tone. The clip is formed from flat metal, as most are nowadays. Most of the time its tough to tell without straining to see under the clip, but this one is noticable at the top of the ball from even a relatively shallow angle. The engraving on the cap band looks somewhat poor, and on mine wasn't centered on the cap band. Finally, the resin could do with one more polish step, as it came to me with a little bit of a dull finish, not terrible mind you, but with the swirl marks you usally see on resin after its been used a while. However, these are esthetic details that only come up on close examination.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/justiniano/DSCN2732.jpg

Edited November 23, 2004 by KendallJ

[KCat]

Very nice. I look forward to your assessment of the nib and filler.

 

lovely nib pic (all the pics are lovely but I'm especially fond of nib close-ups)

[Guest Denis Richard]

Very nice Kendall. I have a Columbia and I find it to be a very interesting pen. I am very fond of the idea to bring the vintage feel to modern pens... without having to spend the price of a LE.

 

Do you have or have used a Columbia ? If you had, can you compare the two ?

Edited November 23, 2004 by Denis Richard

[KendallJ]

Denis -

 

I too liked the idea of how to incorporate vintage elements into a decidedly moderne pen. I think Richard did a very nice job of design on this one.

 

I have not tried a Columbia. I try to keep my collection small and broad and as a result don't generally buy more than one pen of the same family.

[Taki]

From the name of the pen I expected a gaudy gold pen (forgive my ignorance) But it is very beautiful. I would love to see a writing sample with the pen.

[Free Citizen]

Nice review Kendall Looks like I better get cracking on mine that has been sitting around unfinished for some time now.

[antoniosz]

To be honest, if they really wanted a vintage feel (and a slightly less expensive pen) they should have put a 14K nib on it....

[Free Citizen]

Does the cost of the nib add up a lot to the total?

[KendallJ]

Does the cost of the nib add up a lot to the total?

To upgrade from the Standard to the Oro is $60 on Richard's site. That includees moving from steel nib to 18c, and steel hardware to gold and gold plate.

 

I see this sort of cost as the usual upgrade to gold nibs so it didn't seem outrageous to me. Frankly, they could have leftt he hardware as it was, and that would have been fine.

[Leslie J.]

Great review Kendall. I saw Richard filling button fillers at the Toronto show, and was impressed by how quick and easy it looked. I'm very fond of silver-toned appointments on pens, but I think with the gold in the resin on this model, that gold trim seems necessary. What did you have Richard do to the nib? I think I saw that he would tweak a nib with the purchase, or is that not true? Was it extra for the 18k nib, *plus* extra for a regrind? Just curious. Great pics too.

[Leslie J.]

To be honest, if they really wanted a vintage feel (and a slightly less expensive pen) they should have put a 14K nib on it....

I agree with you. Even if they put in a 14k single toned nib. One advantage (to me) would be that it would be less soft and easier to have reground. I think I'm among the very few who actually prefers the look of single toned gold nibs.

[Free Citizen]

Even if they put in a 14k single toned nib. One advantage (to me) would be that it would be less soft and easier to have reground.

I think it matters not whether the nib is 14K or 18K where grinding is concern. This is because only the tipping would be ground. And tipping material is often made of very hard metal chosen for their anti-wear property. About the only effect it would have is the feel of the nib when we write. Theoretically. 18K should feel softer than 14K. But other factors play their roles. Such as nib thickness and nib shape and construction.

 

$60 is a high premium to pay for a nib upgrade. One can buy a good quality pen with that money. If the feed is the same, it should not have to cost that much.

[Taki]

I read somewhere that 18K nibs are actually harder than 14K ones. May be I just read or remember it wrong. I know in jewerly the higher the number the higer the gold content (and therefore softer), but is it all depends?

Edited November 23, 2004 by Taki

[Leslie J.]

I think it matters not whether the nib is 14K or 18K where grinding is concern. This is because only the tipping would be ground.

The nib material still makes a difference in regrinding. Also, the charge for regrinding an 18k nib *is* higher than for a 14K nib, as stated to me by a certain nibmeister who shall remain nameless.

[KendallJ]

I'm very fond of silver-toned appointments on pens, but I think with the gold in the resin on this model, that gold trim seems necessary. What did you have Richard do to the nib? I think I saw that he would tweak a nib with the purchase, or is that not true? Was it extra for the 18k nib, *plus* extra for a regrind? Just curious. Great pics too.

I am also more fond of silver trim, and two toned nibs. I had same thoughts as you did on the need for gold trim on this pen.

 

He indicated that the nibs were true FINE's, and I asked him for something more like Pelikan FINE (which is alittle wider). I believe he spread the tines just a touch (although I'm not sure). The adjustment was FREE from Richard as part of the pen purchase. That is a feature I like a lot, and one that comes with the fact that you're buying from a nibster. Most nibs from pen companies I don't previously own always come out of the box with something I didn't expect.

[Guest Denis Richard]

I think it matters not whether the nib is 14K or 18K where grinding is concern. This is because only the tipping would be ground.

The nib material still makes a difference in regrinding. Also, the charge for regrinding an 18k nib *is* higher than for a 14K nib, as stated to me by a certain nibmeister who shall remain nameless.

 

Everything else being equal (same nib model), 14k or 18k should not make a big difference. True 18k is softer, but I somehow doubt it is critical for nib grinding. Only thing I could eventually think about is an increased risk of de-aligning the tines (?).

 

May be there is some marketing thingy behing the 18k grinding being more expensive than the 14k.

Edited November 23, 2004 by Denis Richard

[KendallJ]

I would love to see a writing sample with the pen.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/justiniano/Atlantica.jpg

Here you go!

[Free Citizen]

I read somewhere that 18K nibs are actually harder than 14K ones.

Well, the generalization is more of a guide than a rule. The Sailor 1911 nib is 21K and it is said to be stiffer than the 14K. Again, we have to look at all angles why this is. First of all, thickness has a bearing on structural strength. Also, the shape of the nib plays a role in how stiff a nib will be. If all things considered are equal then we have to consider the actual metal content. Often the trace elements makes the most contribution to the hardness of a metal. Also, the heat cycle when the metal is made plays a role in determining its mechanical properties. This may sound too technical and boring to you but this is my understanding based of what I have learnt about metallurgy in college.

Edited November 24, 2004 by Free Citizen

[Richard]

The nib material still makes a difference in regrinding. Also, the charge for regrinding an 18k nib *is* higher than for a 14K nib, as stated to me by a certain nibmeister who shall remain nameless.

I'm not sure what your nameless nibmeister was on when he or she told you that 18K is harder to regrind and therefore costs more than 14K. So far as I'm concerned, there is no difference in the charge. Steel, 12K, 14K, 18K, 21K, palladium silver, I charge the same for all of them.

 

Some 18K nibs are "harder" than 14K nibs, but others aren't. This is why flexing up 18K nibs is IMHO a non-starter. The softer 18K nibs bend too easily, without giving a reasonable flex-type spread, and once bent they stay bent. The harder ones resist flexing until you push them too far, and then they fail catastrophically. A Nib Doctor column in an upcoming issue of Stylus magazine addresses this issue with a technical explanation.

[Keith with a capital K]

Richard...Let me say welcome first and then that I agree with you on the nib grinding thing. It makes one want to know who the nameless nib-meister was.

 

No matter what a nib is made of, the only thing that is reground and polished is the tipping which is going to be very similar among most pens with some variances in the quality of that tipping material.