This tale began with me opening a pen case of a coworker. He asked me if I knew what I was doing (I did not) and out came a lavish blue and platinum behemoth. It turned out to be a very expensive Michel Perchin Fleur-de-lis. He calmly allowed me to uncap the pen and investigate. I could appreciate the craftsmanship. I later decided to do some more research...I wrote every day with a MB rollerball that my grandfather gave me for years, so I wanted a matching fountain pen, but didn't really love the nibs, or the feel. I did like the bird splat though, but that's another story.
I left with a Lamy Al-Star, just to get started, but didn't like the nib, as it was medium and very stiff. I ended up doing more research on the internet, and spending some lunch hours shopping and trying out Pelikans and MB's. I finally went back to the store to purchase a medium Fidelio with the plan to order a fine nib later on. The lady smiled and told me that they did in fact have a fine nibbed Fidelio, and that the other sales people just didn't know where to look. I took it out of the box, dipped it in ink and wrote "this is my pen". Sorry for the long winded introduction.
So, on to the review of the Dupont Fidelio.
My first impression of this pen is that it is understated, sleak, black and very sexy. The Nib's engraving is very different, as is the look of the pen in general. I really love the way this pen looks.
The black lacquer is very nice, the pen has a good weight and is accented nicely by silver details.
The design is also very nice, but I would change the butt end if I could. The end is rounded, and doesn't match the rest of the look of the pen. This pen seems to have a quality about it that makes me want to pick it up and write with it. It has a very sleak body, yet a comfortable feel to the grip. It is a hefty pen for how thin it is. I especially love the way the cap snaps down, almost feels like a magnetic attraction. I like writing with teh cap posted, but push the cap down as far as I can to move the center of gravity lower.
The filling system is a piston type converter or cartridge (I prefer the converter), which is fine with me, and it works very well. I do like the idea of a Pelikan type piston with a window, but that's for another pen on another day...
The cost of this pen is what it is...costly enough for me to really do my homework and decide that this was the pen for me, but not so much that I would never buy it. I think it is a good value for the quality.
The nib is a fine nib, 14K gold and feels very nice...very smooth. Very different from my Lamy and other pens I have.
Overall, this is one terrific pen. It is everything I had hoped for, I look forward to many years of enjoyment. I did a good deal of homework before purchasing, and tried dozens of pens, none of which felt as nice as this one. I also have a Parker 51 which is a really neat pen, but an altogether different pen.