What's Your Favorite Gvfc Pen Of The Year?

[phrenzy]

Hello pen friends.

 

I've been thinking about going mad and buying one of those elusive and special beasts that are the Graf Von faber-castell pens of the year....the fact that I can't really afford spending a months pay on a pen has been transformed into a dull buzzing sound that is drowned out by the powerfull visual symphony that is the amber 2004 pen of the year...

Also, did you know that GvFC provide a yearly servicing for free? All you have to do is pay to have your pen of the year shipped to them and they will service and send it back free of charge. Seems like that would add up to quite a saving over a whole lifetime of use vs 20 or 30 years of paying to have a MB serviced.

 

My impending financial doom aside, it got me to wondering what your favorite pens of the year might be...

 

Mine is obviously the amber 2004 but I really like the look of the jade 2011 and the idea of the mammoth tusk and petrified wood pens...

 

So have at it people, what's your pick of the litter? Assuming cost was no object which material / design makes the blood pump to your credit card hand?

[BrandonA]

How often do you send your pens to MB for servicing? Personally I've never sent any of mine and would not do so unless I had an issue. Although it is good that GvFC offer this (anything is better than nothing) I would not class this as a huge benefit.

 

I like the jade of this years pen.

 

http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Graf-von-Faber-Castell-Pen-Of-The-Year-2011.html

[encremental]

2005's shagreen for me!

 

http://www.stylophilesonline.com/images/05-05/05sting4.jpg

 

A Guilloche on the way, a Classic under the tree and now a Pen of the Year? Phrenzy, I think you've earned a place on Count Anton-Wolfgang's Christmas card list!

 

John

[SHK]

GFC POTY 2006

[Owner of a Lonely Heart]

The Amber one I think would be my choice, but it is in close competition to the Ivory one of 2006!

[phrenzy]

 

A Guilloche on the way, a Classic under the tree and now a Pen of the Year? Phrenzy, I think you've earned a place on Count Anton-Wolfgang's Christmas card list!

 

John

 

 

Sigh, I know. I know. The problem is that I'm home full time at the moment waiting for a shoulder operation (my 8th) and it's left me with far to much time to look at and think about things I might likes to own...I've managed, through a titanic effort of strained logic to rationalize the purchases. Both my DR and physio agree that six weeks or so after my surgery that taking up more pen and paper writing would make excellent exorsise and be quite beneficial...although why I can't do this with my safari is a mystery for the ages...I've just fallen in love with the design if the GvFC pens, I'd love to own a 149 or maybe an m800 and I'm sure I will one day but the shape of the GvFC pens has worked its magic on me.

 

I know I've asked this before but does anybody else wish that they offered their other standard pens with a piston fill option? Clearly they are capable of making them if the pens of the year have them. If the problem is that some people prefer the flexibility of cartridges then Why not produce two versons of the same pen?

 

Anyhow If anyone reading this actually owns one I'd lve to see some pics, particularly alongside other GvFC pens.

[bjornhansson]

2005's shagreen for me!

 

http://www.stylophilesonline.com/images/05-05/05sting4.jpg

 

 

+1 for the stingray! I like the amber pen too. In fact, I like all of the 2004-2008 PotYs.

[humblescribbler]

My favs are '08 Indian satinwood and 09's horsehair. But can't handle their metal sections very well.:embarrassed_smile:

[welfvet]

Like the Jade.

 

Love the Amber! Was the one that snared me. Bought when a great opportunity presented itself. Writes like a dream.

[tanalasta]

In no particular order:

 

1. JADE 2011

 

2. AMBER 2004

 

3. Fossilized wood

 

4. Ivory

 

They're all quite unique! I don't have one due to price but have always eyed them enviously.

[phrenzy]

My favs are '08 Indian satinwood and 09's horsehair. But can't handle their metal sections very well.:embarrassed_smile:

 

Were you like me and a couple other posters I've read on here in thinking that they had somehow actually used the hair from a horse as a material for this pen? I felt a little silly when I found out that horsehair is a type of grassy tree thing...

Edited December 11, 2011 by phrenzy

[encremental]

Sorry phrenzy, but you're wrong about that one - the 2009 is 100% pure Dobbin. I seem to remember that part of the deal was that for a fee you could even use hair from your own horse as a lasting memento (which beats stuffing it, I suppose). At first I thought the whole concept was creepy and rather dreaded what material they would come up with for the following year (flayed teddy bear fur?) but it actually is rather attractive when you see it on the hoof.

 

John

[phrenzy]

Really?! Thats what I get for trusting wikipedia which said that it was puzzle grass, otherwise known as horsetail...I suppose it just made sense so I didnt really question it...I am happy to stand corrected. Is it a material commonly used in other things? I can't recall seeing it used in anything else...

[JonSzanto]

I can't recall seeing it used in anything else...

Horsehair? Look at any professional quality violin, viola, cello or bass bow.

[encremental]

I think it's largely a 19th century thing, certainly in jewellery - bangles and the like. Making cheery everyday objects out of bits of dead animal was very much a British & German preoccupation in those days.

 

G von FC reckon that the lady who does the pens is currently the last in the line of horse tail fabric weavers, which I can imagine to be true.

 

John

[opus7600]

The only one so far that has caught my eye has been the 2008, but once I finally bought it, I discovered the weight is more than I prefer.

 

<shameless plug>Mine's for sale right now in Classifieds.</shameless plug>

[voop]

How often do you send your pens to MB for servicing? Personally I've never sent any of mine and would not do so unless I had an issue. Although it is good that GvFC offer this (anything is better than nothing) I would not class this as a huge benefit.

 

I like the jade of this years pen.

 

http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Graf-von-Faber-Castell-Pen-Of-The-Year-2011.html

 

Drooooool......yes, the 2011 is actually my favorite GvFC POTY. Nice.

[humblescribbler]

I can't recall seeing it used in anything else...

Horsehair? Look at any professional quality violin, viola, cello or bass bow.

 

 

I think it's largely a 19th century thing, certainly in jewellery - bangles and the like. Making cheery everyday objects out of bits of dead animal was very much a British & German preoccupation in those days.

 

G von FC reckon that the lady who does the pens is currently the last in the line of horse tail fabric weavers, which I can imagine to be true.

 

John

 

I used to give tours in a U.S. Federal period home (built 1794 -- +/- 1820's) and the 7 ft. parlor sofa was entirely horsehair. Green. I've also seen a similar sofa in black-dyed horsehair, I believe at George Mason's Gunston Hall but don't hold my feet to the fire on that. And of course my own fiddle bows. But agree w/ 'encremental' that it beats stuffing the dead horse a la Roy Rogers and Trigger, eh?

 

Fahrney's (no afil. etc.) holiday sale catalog has the 2011 jade, listing at $3995, but you have to call them for the selling price.

[professionaldilettante]

Would you trust the postal system with your pen? Even though insurance is available, no system is failproof. The less I would have a pen in the mail system, the better.

[trickydicky]

Would you trust the postal system with your pen? Even though insurance is available, no system is failproof. The less I would have a pen in the mail system, the better.

 

From ebay you will probably have "cover" when purchasing in most cases, which means insruance is probably not necessary.

Personally never had a pen go missing (2 months, yes, but not missing!). Insurance can be very expensive, which is the main deterrent.

james