Get Ready For A Rant

[Pentode]

It's great that there are many custom pen makers but this raises the price range and therefore makes the market smaller. So who knows maybe the growth of custom pen culture is paradoxically killing the fountain pen industry as a whole. For me, I can't afford a pen that costs over a few hundred dollars or I don't think it's reasonable for me to spend that much money on a pen given my situation.

 

Fortunately there are also tons of really good sub-$100 pens out there, too. More now than there have been in a very long time, actually. The custom makers can take care of the well-heeled enthusiasts and less pricey pens can take care of the rest of us.

 

I think the hobby's pretty healthy, really. What is easy to forget is that the classic pens (including the classic MB and Pelikan pens) were made at a time when a quality fountain pen was a necessity for most people. That's simply not the world we live in today and we have to accept that our love for these objects is a hobby. The manufacturers have already accepted the fact that a product they once produced for everyone is now only wanted by a small group of people. It's actually pretty interesting to see how each manufacturer has chosen to deal with the new reality. Who would have expected them each to choose such different tactics?

[Tseg]

The fountain pen industry is not much different than the automatic/mechanical watch industry, but not as mature nor marketing sophisticated. Custom pens will always be a niche play, but the next evolution will be certified nibs by the manufacturer, rather than a reseller with their own 'nibmeistering brand'. The Japanese brands already have a nearly certified-like reputation. The Euro brands... not so much. With watches, the best brands are making strong timing variation claims and continue to improve upon and tighten the variance. It is easy to measure time variance but not so much nib variance, which does not help the issue. One man's glassy smooth is another man's hint of feedback. There is an opportunity for the first brand that will seize it and formalize a nib certification process.

Edited April 24, 2018 by Tseg

[pepsiplease69]

@OP: I feel your pain.

 

We all buy valuable pens because they add quality to our lives. Some of us use these instruments for the advancement of our skill of either writing or our penmanship.

 

The unpleasant bit is the shoddy QC issues with very high end items. You wind up spending more money on repairs/adjustments.

 

The way Ive tackled it is to figure out how to adjust my own nibs. I can re-align the tines on my own to make the pen right again. I can increase or decrease flow on my own without a nibmeister.

 

This gives me an added sense of satisfaction when I can tweak the nib to my preferences exactly.

 

You can try your hand at minor nib tweaking on cheaper pens which wont be a big loss even if you totally wreck the nib, but youll gain self-reliance out of it.

[Dip n Scratch]

If you had bought a brand new Cadillac, Rolls Royce or Aston-Martin you would be damned angry if it had a hacking cough through the entire rev range and the fuel injection and ignition needed re-mapping.

Pen or car the item you purchased ought to be fit for purpose.

 

It is damned odd that if you bought a Jinhao 159 it would potentially write better than the Mont Blanc pen it is a clone of.

[TSherbs]

I don't own a pen higher in price than the Custom 74, so these extremely high-priced pen experiences are foreign to me. But, If my Custom 74 had come to me with any problems whatsoever (I paid $115, from Japan), I would have been very upset (It worked great, and still does). I can't imagine the pain of spending multiple-hundreds of dollars on a pen that writes worse than a Pilot Varsity (or Petit1) on its first inking. It's almost a form of fraud, IMO.

[steve50]

My way of enjoying this hobby has become basically finding pens that are best value for money. Pilot, Platinum, and some Indian pens fall into this category.

 

Also ordered a 'Parson's essential' from italix yesterday. Pretty chuffed for getting a custom ground pen with brass body for £35.

[TSherbs]

My way of enjoying this hobby has become basically finding pens that are best value for money. Pilot, Platinum, and some Indian pens fall into this category.

 

Also ordered a 'Parson's essential' from italix yesterday. Pretty chuffed for getting a custom ground pen with brass body for £35.

 

What do you like in the Platinum line?

[Larry Barrieau]

I would get excited if Italix made Parson's Essential in a good plastic. The brass doesn't feel balanced posted or unposted to me.

[pjford]

I would get excited if Italix made Parson's Essential in a good plastic. The brass doesn't feel balanced posted or unposted to me.

The 'English Curate' from Italix might be worth considering. The pan is made from acrylic.

[Larry Barrieau]

Than you pj.