What do you make of this?

[Cam]

Found this on eBay: a box containing 17 individual pen + ink in box sets. All for £50!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=4959290361

 

The individual item is also available here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=4958146427

[Maja]

Well, it looks like the DUKE #116 Carbon Fibre Black--- on HisNibs.com site which retails for about $45 USD individually...The price seems incredibly low, so if they are authentic, the box of 17 pens for £50 would be a great price....

[Cam]

Yeah, I thought it looked similar! Quite a nice looker, if you ask me ...

 

Well, I bought one of the individual ones, so I'll 'report in' once it arrives. Hell, at that price, maybe this is the FPN Pen we've been looking for!! Heh!

Edited January 20, 2005 by Cam

[KendallJ]

Couple of missrepresentations. Duke is not a german company. I believe it is an Asian company, Korean or Chinese, whic explains the low price. I've not used, but Norman could probably tell you about them..

 

As to price, my guess is that's the sort of price that Norman gets them for, and there's a BIG markup for sale in the US.

[ednerdtheonly]

Duke has R&D in Germany, manufacturing in China. They are closely connected to Hero and Uranus if I'm not mistaken.

 

Tell us how nice the Duke pen is, fit & finish, quality of nib. Thanks

[Maja]

From what I could tell on Norman's site, both Duke and Uranus are brands made by Shanghai G. Crown Fountain Pen Co., Ltd.....Hero pens are made by the Shanghai Hero Pen Company....I have a Duke 'Mini-Torpedo' fountain pen and it has a nice smooth nib

 

Cam, please do tell us how the pen performs!

Edited January 21, 2005 by Maja

[Cam]

Well this came through.

 

Initial thoughts: very impressive packaging and presentation. The weight of the pen felt quite substantial (similar to a Legacy II or something like that) and the balance was quite nice either posted or without. The look of the pen is very nice and the quality of the fittings is great. The cap snaps into place at either end and really feels like a quality snap-fit.

 

I filled it up with the included ink (same convertor as a Balance II -- the one where you twist the top and a plunger goes down inside the convertor) and gave it a go. Wow -- super smooth on the page. It really glides. HOWEVER, the ink skips all over the place. Ah, I think. This is where the cheapness comes in. But then I kept writing and coming back to it over the next couple of days and it's really settled down to a good, consistant not-too-wet line. The nib lies somewhere between fin and medium and, as I said, feel really great on the paper.

 

Overall, totally worth the money.