Twsbi Diamond 530 With Gold Nib

[RobbW]

For me, fountain pens are all about the nib. I do like the pens to have some type of self-contained filling system (I don't care for C/C pens), but nib performance is paramount. TWISBI interests me because they offer a reliable self-contained filling system, and Speedy takes feedback from the customers here to improve his product. They keep getting better!

 

I've been holding out, but when the pens are offered with nibs that allow for line variation: Cursive Italic nibs, and Ti nibs flexible enough to produce line variation, I'll buy a Diamond, Vacuum, the bottle, and probably multiple copies of each. For me, TWISBI stands for function, performance, and user-servicability.

 

I'm especially interested in nibs flexible enough to produce interesting line variation. Any ballpoint pen can produce monoline. The distinction of a fountain pen is that you can produce line variation based on flex or on an Italic shape.

[SamCapote]

To me a flex nib is more appealing than a gold nib. There are lots of companies offering pens with gold nibs with different price ranges. In that way TWSBI is trying to become a contender in which there is already big time competition. On the other hand, no company offers flex nibs to my knowledge. TWSBI will have no difficulty in finding success in a non existent market.

 

A quality Flex Nib is a high value addition with an existing demand that noone is meeting. Consider adding this, as it would expanded TWSBI appeal.

 

A gold nib has no real appeal to me.

 

The initial price of the 530 was a draw but the UK customs/postoffice scam inflated the price considerably. If you could set up an EU outlet to dispatch pens from they would be much more appealing to Europeans.

It seems the distribution profit is blocking the European distributor taking the pen, The price structure of this pen does not allow me to give them what they expect. But it also seems no one understand fix profit amount can be

1. small volume x high price or

2. high volume x lower price

all the commodity item has lower profit rate.

 

 

I honestly think you should plan your market just distributing on EBay like you are doing now (or something you setup and control distribution). There is no way to actually know what people will buy and the various price levels. If a final product costs $100, $150, $175 as a direct purchase from you, and provides exceptional increaded features and value to inside enthusiasts who are rewarded for giving feedback, that will establish reputation. People need to know they can get parts as a part of this relationship.

 

If price/distribution method then changes to more conventional retail distribution, then those who got in early as benefit of supporting product creation would feel rewarded. If the quality competes with higher priced name brand pens, that stands on its own merit for conventional distribution. The key is you are trying to break into an existing market, and you must find unique features like the complete disassebly model. Most pen owners are not used to being able to take their own pen apart, and when I found I could, there was a whole other geek appeal for this pen.

 

Your biggest untapped market which other pens are not meeting is showing the videos of how to service our own pen, and providing upgrade/replacement parts at a reasonable cost. That is what makes it a pen of the people, because we don't have to send it to a nib meister, or company repair department. If people want to buy a Limited Edition, or get desired parts like gold nib, that would be a nice extension of the "do it yourself" TWSBI platform

.

After Speedy's instructional video on how to remove the nib (essentially, just grab the nib and the feed and pull it out), I was able to replace out the Schmidt nib for a vintage gold nib (Pencraft, 14K). It took a couple of nibs, and a bit of adjustment. However, I now have a $200 pen for $40. What does the gold nib give me: 1) A bit of a warmer feeling on the paper; 2) The ability to place very narrow lines with hardly any pressure; 3) Various line widths in a semi-flexible nib. I'll offer to demonstrate writing samples and pictures upon request.

 

Some people would prefer buying the complete $280 pen to carry around as a status symbol. I would love to buy various parts and hot-rod an existing pen. My idea embodies the TWSBI company philosophy.

 

For example, I find that the Schmidt nibs are too small for the pen. The pen needs a larger nib to give it a better balance. However, the feed, feed-assembly, and cap are all designed around the Schmidt nib. So I can't just shove an oversized nib into the pen. It would be neat if I could purchase a larger feed-assembly, feed and cap, and place one of those oversized acre-of-gold Sheaffer Lifetime nibs into the pen.

 

Exactly what I was just trying to say.

 

Now, I would also be interested in a limited edition, but I believe there are too many people who have had problems with the ink incompatibility, restricted feed/flow in the Medium with the narrow neck of ink holder, and extremely narrow slit of feed that I think that needs to be resolved before I would pay a higher price overall. I would not expect this feed to work at all with a broad, stub, or other higher ink volume demanding nib. I would love to have a gold nib, but having a nice flex nib would be even more desired.

Edited November 16, 2010 by SamCapote

[PianoMan14]

I'd be all for a Ti nib!

[Chrontius]

Your biggest untapped market which other pens are not meeting is showing the videos of how to service our own pen' date=' and providing upgrade/replacement parts at a reasonable cost. That is what makes it a pen of the people, because we don't have to send it to a nib meister, or company repair department. If people want to buy a Limited Edition, or get desired parts like gold nib, that would be a nice extension of the "do it yourself" TWSBI platform[/quote']

 

Fer instance - I'd love a stub italic with just a little bit of flex. The stock steel nibs may be flexible enough, honestly. But a little bit of line variation? It'd be great. I'd totally upgrade my pen with an italic nib like that, if I could get one for a reasonable price.

[Hellmark]

A quality Flex Nib is a high value addition with an existing demand that noone is meeting. Consider adding this, as it would expanded TWSBI appeal.

 

That is why Speedy is working on getting titanium nibs. An extremely durable flex nib without the expense of Gold.

[RobbW]

A quality Flex Nib is a high value addition with an existing demand that noone is meeting. Consider adding this, as it would expanded TWSBI appeal.

 

That is why Speedy is working on getting titanium nibs. An extremely durable flex nib without the expense of Gold.

 

How flexible are Ti nibs, and how much variation will they provide? I know enough not to expect Waterman 42/52 performance, but would they compare to an Esterbrook 9128 in terms of line variation?

 

I like what Sam wrote: user serviceability and flex nibs are your market differentiation. Those would make me a repeat customer...a regular repeat customer.

Edited November 16, 2010 by RobbW

[skipwilliams]

Too much premium for gold nib over the steel nib for minimal advantage. If it was $40-50 difference, I'd bite.

[Hellmark]

Here's a sample of other titanium nibs.

[RobbW]

WOW, that's a lot more flex than I expected. Pretty impressive. I'd definitely be up for a couple of those nibs (and pens). Thanks for the photo.

[Lloyd]

Hopefully the TWSBI can supply ample ink to feed a flexer.

[SamCapote]

A quality Flex Nib is a high value addition with an existing demand that noone is meeting. Consider adding this, as it would expanded TWSBI appeal.

 

That is why Speedy is working on getting titanium nibs. An extremely durable flex nib without the expense of Gold.

 

How flexible are Ti nibs, and how much variation will they provide? I know enough not to expect Waterman 42/52 performance, but would they compare to an Esterbrook 9128 in terms of line variation?

 

I like what Sam wrote: user serviceability and flex nibs are your market differentiation. Those would make me a repeat customer...a regular repeat customer.

 

Hellmark, I missed that Speedy was working on those. Sweet!

[Hellmark]

Hellmark, I missed that Speedy was working on those. Sweet!

Yeah, he's been working on it for a few months now.

[jalison]

My favorite nib is a flexible medium italic, and I am more concerned about the writing quality than the material of the nib. If it can be steel and be flexible I am happy. Titanium and gold are cool and pretty, respectively, but write quality is number one.

[davidw]

it is also true for me. I pay more attention to the quality of the writing then

what is on the nib. I rather have a pen which produce flex then

a $ 200 pen with a nail 14k nib.

[coldman]

Honestly, if you think about it, the TWSBI is just a Taiwanese copy of the Pel m8xx.

 

Obvious troll is obvious.

[redisburning]

the Ti nib sounds interesting.

 

btw just because Lamy can make a 2000 and sell it at 89 dollars doesnt mean another company can. Lamy invented the pen in 66. Not only have they been making it for a long time (meaning they can optimize their production and can slowly add new machines in instead of replacing all their tooling at once to gear up for a new pen) but they make a much higher quantity of pens; the tl;dr version of that is that they face lower costs than TWSBI in all likelihood.

 

the TWSBI is good because it's filling in an underserved market. but it's purposefully underserved.

 

anyway, I think instead of selling the complete 530 with a Ti nib, you should sell the nib separately; it's two-part pricing and it WILL make you more money than only selling it with the complete pen.

 

btw I have to admit I do have a little bit of country of origin bias but if it's good I don't care. not all that long ago I never thought I would buy a knife that wasn't made in America or Japan but Spyderco made the Gayle Bradley in Taiwan and it was so good I bought one and gave it to my dad as a gift. The owner of Spyderco talked about how eager the Taiwanese plant was to make a top quality product; they weren't there to make copies or cheapies. And you know what, their product was much better than the American made knives.

 

would I buy a Taiwanese luxury pen? I can't answer that frankly, because I am not at the point where I would buy an American/German/Japanese/Italian pen that cost 280 dollars either.

[smoores]

Here's a sample of other titanium nibs.

 

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_7AlUqveS3BY/TH6l4ONI4CI/AAAAAAAAATc/pc93R7bxctc/s800/Stipula%20Model%20T%20writing%20sample.JPG

 

Another example that isn't super clear, but a chance to check out a Stipula Model T with the titanium T-flex nib. I believe it would do more, but since it was very new I didn't want to push it.

 

 

speedy,

Could the titanium nib be an option on the vac filler, then, since you mentioned that it will have a larger nib size? Would it fit better on that pen? I can't wait to try one!

Waiting eagerly for the broad, stub and italic nibs, a solid black Diamond 530 and the V750!!

[fabrimedeiros]

"speedy,

Could the titanium nib be an option on the vac filler, then, since you mentioned that it will have a larger nib size? Would it fit better on that pen? I can't wait to try one!

Waiting eagerly for the broad, stub and italic nibs, a solid black Diamond 530 and the V750!! "

 

+1. I agree 100% you said!! I really like your Stipula T Model. Imagine when we can use a TWSBI Vac with Ti flex italic nib!

 

Best regards,

 

Fabricio

[Siv]

Speedy, I just want to say that you make an excellent pen with an excellent nib. Nobody is going to buy gold nibs because they write any better - they don't. Gold nibs will only be be bought for ego (and I know all about ego since all my pens are gold nibbed with exception of my 3 TWSBI).

 

You have entered into the market place as a seller of value for money pens. As you have seen, dipping a toe into the mid range market has mostly been dismissed by the people here on FPN but this is primarily because they think of you as a seller of value pens. I see all the recommendations for buying a Pel M8xx series instead of your gold nibbed version and laugh at the the perceived value of the Pel - no one mentions that your current pen is about half the price of a M2xx series, has the same nib and to my eye is much better quality.

 

If I was you I would put out some more nib sizes in steel (B, BB, stubs, obliques etc) and keep going with your vac filler. If you decide to venture into the higher pen market, you will probably get a better response with "Lexus" type branding.

[epo]

Deleted

Edited November 27, 2010 by epo