5280 Summit Zig Zag in Silver by Paradise Pen

[staceyaj]

1. First Impressions - Mmmm... Shiny. I bought the pen at the Paradise Pen store in Las Vegas, while on vacation. It was eye-catching and had an unusual magnetic cap (at least unusual to me at the time). You can see the box it came in, which included a jeweler's cleaning cloth.

 

 

2. Appearance & Finish - The barrel and the cap are sterling silver. (It does have a 925 hallmark on the cap band.) Like most sterling silver is does tarnish, thus the jeweler's cleaning cloth included. The silver can be scratched. I've only used it a couple of times, and it has already pick up a couple of small minor ones.

 

 

3. Design/ Size/Weight - As you might have already guessed this isn't a light-weight pen. While it is heavy when posted, it isn't a particularly bulky pen.

It is 5 and 5/8 inches capped, 6 and 3/8 inches posted, and 4 and 5/8 inches w/o the cap. Because of the design, I do have to adjust my grip on the pen, so that it is farther back, away from the nib. This isn't a pen for marathon writing sessions.

 

4. Nib Design & Performance - The nib is a medium Schmidt. It is smooth, but not particularly wet. Overall a good nib.

 

 

5. The Filling System - It is a cartridge/converter. It came with a converter, and it will also take international converters.

 

6. Cost/Value- It usually sells for $140, but I was able to catch it on sale for 10% off.

 

7. Overall Opinion/Conclusion - I really like the look of this pen. It has a nice, clean look that is eye-catching at the same time. It writes nicely even on cheaper paper. The negatives are the weight and having to adapt my grip. As a result, this is more of a pen for light use - to sign important documents, light note taking in meetings, etc.

 

[Maja]

Thanks for the review and photographs!

(are those Periodic Table of Elements placemats?? )

 

Any idea where the pen was made? I Goggled the pen and couldn't find an answer (although I did find out that the city of Denver, Colorado is 5280 ft above sea level...but I doubt the pen was made there...although you never know... )

 

I was just thinking of the weight of the pen---have you tried using it unposted...or is it too short to hold comfortably without a cap on it?

Edited June 14, 2008 by Maja

[Univer]

Hello there Maja,

 

Well, Paradise Pens did buy Colorado Pens a few years ago. So the Denver connection - not necessarily as place of manufacture, of course - could well be perfectly legitimate. Maybe this pen was a model made for Colorado Pens...inventory that passed to Paradise at the time of the acquisition?

 

staceyaj, thanks for a look at a pen I hadn't encountered before!

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

[staceyaj]

The card that came with calls it the "Paradise Pen Company - 5280 Collection". While the 5280 is suppose to be a reference to Denver, I don't know if the line pre- or post-dates the Colorado Pen Company. It was purchased this past March and it still listed on the Paradise Pens website.

 

Link to the 5280 Summit at Paradise Pens.

 

I haven't been able to find a reference to were it was manufactured.

 

I do write with it unposted and it is much lighter without the cap. Since my hands are on the small side, the pen isn't too short for me to manage.

 

And yes those are periodic table place mats. I think I got them at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC.

This is them.

 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2008 by staceyaj

[journeyman42]

Thanks for the post. I have been eyeing this pen for some time and tried one out at the store a week ago. It is definately on my list of pens to get, I really like the shape. I emailed the company a few questions some time ago and posted their response here

 

Thanks again

[fatehbajwa]

I wrote to Paradise Pen asking if it was Sterling Silver.

 

The reply as pasted below says it is Sterling Silver Plated..............dunno what to make of it?

 

"Fateh-

 

Thank you for your email. I noticed you placed an order for the Summit

Silver Zig Zag Fountain Pen, thank you! We will be processing your order

soon. I'm sorry it has taken me a while to get back to you. The pen you

ordered is sterling silver plated and is hallmarked. Please let me know if

you have any further questions. Have a wonderful day!

 

Sincerely,

 

Andrea Hochstetler"

[fatehbajwa]

I wrote to Paradise Pen asking if it was Sterling Silver.

 

The reply as pasted below says it is Sterling Silver Plated..............dunno what to make of it?

 

"Fateh-

 

Thank you for your email. I noticed you placed an order for the Summit

Silver Zig Zag Fountain Pen, thank you! We will be processing your order

soon. I'm sorry it has taken me a while to get back to you. The pen you

ordered is sterling silver plated and is hallmarked. Please let me know if

you have any further questions. Have a wonderful day!

 

Sincerely,

 

Andrea Hochstetler"

 

Could anyone please confirm if it is silver plated or solid sterling silver?

 

Thanks

[Opus104]

Looks a lot like the Franklin-Christoph M14.

 

http://franklin-christoph.com/

 

 

[juderb21]

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but I wanted to clear up some information about this pen.

 

The 5280 Collection is a collection designed and produced by Paradise Pens. (Though the nibs are Schmidt and I am not sure who produces the bodies).

 

5280 pays homage to Denver, CO, where Paradise Pen was founded in 1988 and where their headquarters are currently located.

[rsx]

QUOTE (fatehbajwa @ Jul 16 2008, 12:53 AM) I wrote to Paradise Pen asking if it was Sterling Silver.

 

The reply as pasted below says it is Sterling Silver Plated..............dunno what to make of it?

 

"Fateh-

 

Thank you for your email. I noticed you placed an order for the Summit

Silver Zig Zag Fountain Pen, thank you! We will be processing your order

soon. I'm sorry it has taken me a while to get back to you. The pen you

ordered is sterling silver plated and is hallmarked. Please let me know if

you have any further questions. Have a wonderful day!

 

Sincerely,

 

Andrea Hochstetler"

 

Could anyone please confirm if it is silver plated or solid sterling silver?

 

Thanks

 

 

OK, this is an ancient post but in another thread I came across an answer. For completeness sake I thought I would drop it in:

 

 

"Dear Fateh,

 

I was looking through FPN and came across your post regarding the Sterling Silver 5280. My name is Jim Paradise and I am the head buyer for Paradise Pen Co. I wanted to clear up some confusion regarding this pen. The barrel and cap are in fact produced from solid sterling silver. The appointments, (i.e. - clip, center ring, etc.) are not sterling silver but instead a chrome plated alloy. Since sterling silver is such a soft metal it does not make sense to use it for the parts that receive a little more wear and tear. Anyways, I hope that this answers your question more correctly.

 

Thanks,

Jim"

 

 

And, by the way, I have one of these pens (the 5280 Sterling Grid design) and love the way it looks, handles and writes!

Edited May 24, 2011 by rsx