Edison Collier/pearl

[bartlee01]

This is my first Edison pen. I liked the Pearl on Brian's website but I was worried I would not like the "step" above the cap threads on the barrel. Brian suggested the Collier which appears to be a modified #76 and strikes a balance between reducing the size of the step and not having a cap that is much larger in diameter than the barrel (this is an issue if the cap does not have a metal ring around which means the cap must be thicker around the threads for strength).

 

I decided on a Collier with conical Pearl ends and asked for the length to be 0.5 inch longer than the standard Pearl (this was because I wanted it to be a bit like my Aurora 88 which I marginally prefer to write with posted and the Pearl does not post). It has an 18k rhodium plated gold nib.

 

The pen is stamped as a Collier but I think it is really a Pearl with increased barrel length and the "step" smoothed down. The smoothing down of the step worked really well. I guess you could have this done to the standard Pearl and Morgan (the Morgan look weird though).

 

I first filled the pen with J Herbin Perle Noire and it wrote quite well. It would sometimes take a moment to start and it was just a tad dry. Perle Noire is not a very free flowing ink. I ran my thumb nail between the tines once and made sure they there aligned together (with a 20x loupe) and also smoothed the nib a tiny bit with some Mylar sheets from Richard Binder. It now starts very reliably and flows just right with the Perle Noire.

 

Things I like about this pen:

 

1. The black ebonite (hard rubber) material is very nice to hold. It feels kind of warm and the pen cap and body is much smoother and shinier than in my photos (I think the camera flash exaggerates microscopic imperfections in the pens surface that you can't ordinarily notice). I was originally after a celluloid pen but I'm not disappointed with the ebonite and I'd get another ebonite pen.

 

2. The ink capacity is large and the bulb filling mechanism works well.

 

3. The pen starts reliably, has exactly the right flow and the nib is smooth. If you are going to spend this much money on a pen I would seriously recommend you do some research about how fountain pens work so that you can make minor adjustments to their flow and tine alignment. I have quite a few fountain pens and the only one that ever wrote absolutely perfect out of the box was a Pelikan M400 Tortoise from Richard Binder.

 

4. General construction quality is perfect. The cap and blind cap screw on smoothly. The cap goes on and off with 2 turns.

 

5. I basically have a Pearl with no "step".

 

6. The pen does have a smell of burnt tires but its not strong unless you put you nose against it and it doesn't bother me. I understand the smell will go away after a period of time. I wouldn't let this stop me getting another ebonite pen though.

 

 

Things I don't like or am not sure about:

 

1. The section grip is convex and is of a smaller diameter than my Visconti Divina, which I find very comfortable to hold. I think this pen would be more comfortable for me if the section was straight instead of convex although I didn't order this modification... I'll know next time.

 

2. The extra 0.5 inch barrel length I ordered might not have been necessary. This doesn't really matter though because the blind cap weighs almost nothing anyway, although it may prevent it from fitting some pen cases/rolls.

 

Photos:

 

First 2 photos emailed from Brian:

 

 

 

These photos taken with my phone (it's a better camera than phone actually):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Yuki Onitsura]

Great looking pen! Thanks for the review. The ebonite smell will never fully go away but like you said, unless you've got the pen jammed up against your nose, you won't notice it.

 

Yuki

[Tennessee Dave]

Thanks for that great review. Enjoy it. Congrats.

[GiJin]

Great looking pen! Thanks for the review. The ebonite smell will never fully go away but like you said, unless you've got the pen jammed up against your nose, you won't notice it.

 

Yuki

 

Great looking pens! I have never seen an Edison pen and will now be searching my local spots for one! I really liked it.

[KrazyIvan]

I have to STOP looking at all these beautiful pens!!

[lovemy51]

one day...

[bartlee01]

Great looking pen! Thanks for the review. The ebonite smell will never fully go away but like you said, unless you've got the pen jammed up against your nose, you won't notice it.

 

Yuki

 

Great looking pens! I have never seen an Edison pen and will now be searching my local spots for one! I really liked it.

 

Edison is a custom pen company operated by Brian Gray. His work is excellent quality and he also made me a Mina in Tortoise Lucite that is excellent.

 

http://www.edisonpen.com/

 

I am getting used to the narrower grip section, I think I might end up liking it.

[tanalasta]

Beautiful. Great review.

 

I love my Edison Pearl ... although like every bespoke product, it is always something that can be evolved and is often better once refined with subsequent fittings and orders. I also have the standard concave section and would ask for the straight (e.g. similar to MontBlanc) section and a slightly wider diameter next time. The pen is comfortable to hold but takes a little adjustment if I'm rotating from a MB149 or Danitrio Densho onto the narrower gripped pen.

 

Thank you for the size comparisons also - much appreciated!

 

I might have to order a Collier - and the great thing is I could probably swap the nib units in between this and my Pearl

[bartlee01]

I think if this was the only pen I ever used I'd get quite used to the narrow grip section, but the next one will have a wider grip... maybe a Herald Grand, they look amazing. Haha still searching for the cure.

[kiavonne]

I think if this was the only pen I ever used I'd get quite used to the narrow grip section, but the next one will have a wider grip... maybe a Herald Grand, they look amazing. Haha still searching for the cure.

 

 

Just some food for thought, Brian can customize the section of any of his pens. If you find one you prefer over another, Brian can usually work that for you, and he might even be able to make a replacement section for your Collier/Pearl. Something to consider, anyway.

 

And by the way, this is a lovely pen!

[bartlee01]

I think if this was the only pen I ever used I'd get quite used to the narrow grip section, but the next one will have a wider grip... maybe a Herald Grand, they look amazing. Haha still searching for the cure.

 

 

Just some food for thought, Brian can customize the section of any of his pens. If you find one you prefer over another, Brian can usually work that for you, and he might even be able to make a replacement section for your Collier/Pearl. Something to consider, anyway.

 

And by the way, this is a lovely pen!

 

Excellent idea. I've emailed Brian to order a Herald Grand style grip section. The grip section unscrews easily.