Grifos Pens

[5lartibartfast]

During 2009 I purchased a fountain pen from the Grifos Pen Company, based in northern Italy. Previously this company was unknown to me, and they produce pens with designs that are pleasing to the eye as well as being made from a variety of exotic materials including precious metals such as solid silver (0.925) and gold. These pens come complete with the assay marks of Italy proving that they are made from solid silver or gold. When I received my pen it was far better than I had envisaged, and it was found to be light and perfectly balanced, which greatly improves the posture of the hand, therefore, maintaining good handwriting. It is obvious that Grifos Pens have a keen eye for detail and perfection.

 

A few months went by when I desired a pen of my own design, so I contacted the Grifos Pen Company in the first instance with the aim to produce what I had termed the ‘BKUK’ pen. Together with my idea and their design expertise, they agreed to produce the pen but they said it might take some time. I was prepared to wait for the pen and then, some months later, I was informed that the pen was ready and was sent a few pictures. I asked if it was possible to produce a ball pen of the same design, and send both pens together in one package, all this was done very quickly with no complaints or quibbles whatsoever and at a reasonable cost. Both pens arrived within ten days of posting, and now they take pride and place on my desk proving to me that the wait was worthwhile.

 

This only goes to prove that there are pen companies in this world; Grifos Pen Company is a prime example, where all the pens they sell are manufactured in their own workshops in Northern Italy. This is in direct contrast to those retailers who assemble pens for resale made from parts produced elsewhere in the world. I was surprised, but very delighted, when Grifos Pens agreed to produce my design as an individual pen along with their normal production. Both pens were to be made from Sterling silver (0.925), the nib of the fountain pen being made from 18 carat (0.750) white gold, with the small fittings and highlights being gold plated on top of Sterling silver. When both pens have their caps in place the design appears continuous along the whole length of the pen showing how much attention to detail was used in its manufacture. This attention to detail applies to each and every pen they produce including my pens.

 

Whenever I require another pen I will certainly make Grifos Pen Company my first choice. Their service was both excellent and second to none; they produce high-quality products in which they take great pride, and this can be seen in their pens. I would suggest that anyone who would like to see the range of pens produced by this company, to use one of the internet search engines and enter the words “Nero-Muse”.

 

At this point it must be made absolutely clear that I have no connection with this company other than being just one of their many customers. This is being posted just to let others know of the complete satisfaction I have received from this company.

[mdbrown]

Yes, I retailed their pens for awhile back in the early 00's. Excellent fit/finish and unique designs. I still have a few that I may sell but have several that I will keep. I have toyed around with the idea of retailing them again. I am curious as to your pens, do you have pictures? Congrats on finding them, most of my customers had never heard of them. Excellent products... excellent company.

[Flounder]

Could you post a photo or two please? Their website has this awful "your call is important to us, please hold" tune that makes my ears bleed.

[5lartibartfast]

Here is a picture showing two of my beautiful pens that Grifos Pens made especially for me.

 

Hope these satisfy.

 

Ken

[watch_art]

Beautiful pens. Would you mind writing about the nib? The filling system? Also some idea about cost?

 

Thanks!

[mdbrown]

Can't speak for that nib but the steel nibs were all stiff but smooth writers, the 14k nib was slightly more flexible and still very smooth. Every pen they had that I saw (and that's pretty much their entire line at the time) were all international cartridge/converter pens. All the ones that I used were very reliable writers, no skipping and always started even if left untouched for weeks at a time. All around quality products.

[Malcy]

Beautiful pens. Congratulations.

[5lartibartfast]

The impressions I have of using this pen is like pointing ones finger and the words appear in ink as if by magic. I agree that this is a very simplistic view, but when one remembers the ancient phrase (original spelling) ‘The moving finger writes and once writ moves on’, it applies wonderfully to my pen as it has perfect weight and balance that it seems that my finger is doing the writing not the pen. This also reduces dramatically the occurrence of writer’s cramp. I have had many plastic pens given to me as presents in the past, and these were heavier and not so well balanced, as a result I always knew there was a pen in my hand, but this pen feels as if there is nothing in my hand. I have to agree wholeheartedly with the comments of member mdbrown, who has very similar feelings as me about this company’s products.

 

I use the ink converter for the simple reason I like to refill my pens from a bottle of my favourite ink, we all have our personal preferences and I am no different. The days of the old rubber bladder seem to be a thing of the past, and the new ink converter gets my vote every time as there is no rubber to perish and that fiddly lever on the side of the barrel. At least with the ink converter one can see exactly how much ink is being stored. One of the downsides to this is ink converter is that the quantity of ink stored is considerably reduced, mainly because of the size of the finger grip to operate the plunger, but this observation is a minor gripe because the quantity of ink should be sufficient for most people’s use. I have never liked the cartridge system, but will not decry its use because they are useful as an emergency supply of ink should one be away from home and one’s favourite ink supply.

 

As regards the price I think that as this was produced especially for me as a one-off item the cost is irrelevant, my reason for saying this is because every one-off pen entirely depends on the complexity of the work involved, materials used, etc., and cannot, in all reality, be compared with any other pen unique or not. The more complicated the work, the more expensive the pen will be, but I will say the cost of my pen was very comparable with the other exotic pens already in their range plus the cost of the white gold nib. Even the rollerball pen compares well with the cost of the other rollerballs produced by this company. Just remember one thing, this is a quality made item that will still be working many years from now, just as it did when it was first received, and its cost over the years will become cheaper than even one of those plastic ‘throwaway’ pens. Go back to the 1920’s when one bought a quality motor car, you just bought the chassis and had it taken to a coachbuilder who would construct a body around the chassis to your own personal design, this made each and every coachbuilt car unique and, therefore, unable to be compared on price with any other model. It is exactly the same with what happened here, I bought the nib, ink system, and the ink converter and had the rest of the pen build around these parts to my own design. When I placed the order the cost of the materials (silver and gold) were reasonable, now they seem to be rising on a daily basis and what I paid for my pen will certainly not be the price you would pay today. My pen is not a stock item and, therefore, is not available ‘off the shelf’ as they say.

 

Nevertheless, I have not seen many pens with a two-tone design running along the whole pen including the cap.

[FP Writing]

Hi

so happen i do have a grifos too. and is i ground to italic, just to add on the pen

this is made of celluloid. Silver trim...

material wise is good quality,

 

cheers

 

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[Wjones7412]

very beautiful.

[ArchiMark]

Very handsome looking and unique pens....

 

Thanks for sharing these with us....

 

[Pepin]

Did the pen come with inconsistent plating on the pocket clip? Or is that part of the aging process?

[mdbrown]

As I stated above I retailed Grifos for about 3 years at the turn of the century. Excellent company to work with and I never sold one that the buyer wasn't completely satisfied with the pen. I kept 4 for myself. The two on the left side both have vermeil sections (hallmarked) and the one top left also has a vermeil cap (not good if you post your cap). Both of these pens feature blue lacquer on a brass body, lower left is brass cap with blue lacquer. The one on the upper right is acrylic and very pretty (forgive my photography... wife has the Nikon so I'm using the Lumix). Lower right is a tortoise shell lacquer over brass. Section is gold plate over brass. All are steel nibs with plastic feeds. All are C/C and all have gold plated clips and trim. All have proven to be very reliable and smooth, no flex in the nibs though.

Overall beautiful craftsmanship.

[5lartibartfast]

From what has appeared here each contributor either has or knows about the pens made by Grifos Pen Company, and all are very happy with them. Until I found them as far as I was concerned a pen was just something that one wrote with, now they are not only for writing but also an item of beauty.

Edited March 1, 2011 by 5lartibartfast

[5lartibartfast]

Does anyone else want to display their Grifos Pen for others to see?

[mdbrown]

Actually, I have been corresponding with the owner of the company and will be getting advert materials and some samples to show to prospective retailers. I am rather excited about working with them again and I will post some info here once it is in my hands. Wish me luck!!

[georges zaslavsky]

very nice pens thanks for sharing

[CRB]

Here's a Grifos Moire in sterling that I've had for about a year. The original nib was misaligned, and had to be replaced; but I really like the pen now. In fact, it's currently inked.

 

 

 

 

Thank you, other Grifos pen owners, for sharing pictures and comments on your pens.

 

 

Cheers,

Joe

[5lartibartfast]

Actually, I have been corresponding with the owner of the company and will be getting advert materials and some samples to show to prospective retailers. I am rather excited about working with them again and I will post some info here once it is in my hands. Wish me luck!!

 

I wish you all the luck in the world, as these are very nice pens and I have found the company to be very consistent in their high quality products. Let us hope that all goes well and you introduce more retailers of what Grifos Pen Company produce.

[avalonww]

Hello - I have a query for you Grifos pen owners. I have two of their wonderful pens, and recently the screw portion that screws the point and converter away from the barrel broke off. The Grifos people sold me a new point and nib, which would be wonderful, except that the converter that was on the old and broken point will not fit. The hole is much too large and it will not snap one - the little stem to which it should snap is visibly smaller than on the old broken point, as well as on the existing functioning pen. I cannot find any pen shop who will address this issue; they are all unfamiliar with Grifos, and can tell me only to send it in for "repairs" and they will look at it.

The gentleman at Grifos tells me that no doubt the converter is old and worn, thus the non-fit. Perhaps the language barrier is preventing him from completely understanding what I mean.

So, after all of that, I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to a converter that I might try. I refuse to give up on this favourite pen of mine.