Snob Appeal/anti-Snob Appeal Pens

[guilhermejf]

Interesting the fact that using a ballpoint Montblanc is not so flashy as using a fountain pen of any brand, mainly for the one who doesn't know fine pens.

[JimB]

Oh puh puh puh!!! I want to be a pen CLIP snob! I also want a snob smilie. One in a top hat and with a monocle.http://freesmileyface.net/smiley/others/snob-014.gif

Don't forget to add an upturned nose. As though something smells decidedly bad. YES! I would love to see that!

[FriendAmos]

I feel that the pens that appeal to snobs are the 'louder' designs - precious stones, lots of gold, and lots of 'bumps and lumps'. In my own humble opinion; plain, darker pens appeal to anti-snobs. This means that most manufacturers fall into both categories to some extent - for example with the classic MB pens pretty understated, but the LEs very much 'show off' pieces (I own a few so I am not dismissing LEs!).

A Parker Cent. Duofold in black is not a pen for snobs, but costs £300 ($450) and there are certainly some very bright, 'showy' pens for less.

So are there brands that appeal to snobs? Maybe, but I think that pens say more about the owners than the manufacturers!

 

Interestingly, MB has become such a status symbol that even the plain black is one of the most high-rated in terms of snob appeal. Indeed, I have three such pens, in different sizes, that were gifts from people who told me it would "suit your status". Anyone who is serious about writing knows that taken purely as a functional instrument, MB ranks below several other brands.

Edited December 23, 2011 by FriendAmos

[FriendAmos]

The only place (outside a pen store) that I have ever had someone notice me carrying a FP was my local Apple store one of the staff had a Lamy Studio Black.

 

I find that I am inwardly snobby - the other day I had 4 of my fountain pens at work that had a combined purchase price of close to USD $2000 - no one in my office would have known (or cared) that had such a cost. The only way someone knows that one of my pens are expensive is if I only let them look but not handle.

 

I suppose it is similar in a way to a story that I remember a few years ago you could buy a bracelet made by a Swedish(?) designer that was basically made of high quality rubber but inside one section of it was a gold nugget - the gold was not visible from the outside so unless you were in the know you would't give it a second look.

 

So, what was the point of the gold? Gold, taken just as a material, has certain useful chracteristics, which is why it has over time acquired its status.

[Batman]

If carrying my fountain pens makes people perceive me as a snob than so be it, I'd rather have them see me in that light while carrying my pen collection rather than carrying my iphone, ipad, macbook, oversized watch, burberry attire or starbucks coffee, all of which I don't purchase or have other than the iphone.

 

Brad

[toomanypelikans]

The only place (outside a pen store) that I have ever had someone notice me carrying a FP was my local Apple store one of the staff had a Lamy Studio Black.

 

I find that I am inwardly snobby - the other day I had 4 of my fountain pens at work that had a combined purchase price of close to USD $2000 - no one in my office would have known (or cared) that had such a cost. The only way someone knows that one of my pens are expensive is if I only let them look but not handle.

 

I suppose it is similar in a way to a story that I remember a few years ago you could buy a bracelet made by a Swedish(?) designer that was basically made of high quality rubber but inside one section of it was a gold nugget - the gold was not visible from the outside so unless you were in the know you would't give it a second look.

 

So, what was the point of the gold? Gold, taken just as a material, has certain useful chracteristics, which is why it has over time acquired its status.

 

I suppose it was the use of a such utilitarian material like rubber to hide something that is so not utilitarian. I suppose if you were held as a hostage you could use the hidden gold to bribe your way out...

[beak]

.........

 

Is Starbucks a status thing in the US? I had no idea. Whenever I've seen them I assume they're like McD and go somewhere else. Interesting.

 

'Snob' can be a catch-all sort of insult; 'I've no interest in this therefore anyone who does is a snob about it.' Needs to be used carefully, I'd say.

 

Tend to think the title belongs to those who are socially elitist - about people, not about things; some will look down on an MB/BMW/w.h.y. owner because of the person they are, regardless of what things they happen to have enough cash to buy.

 

Funny, but anyone considering themselves superior because of what they can buy seems to me to be in pursuit of the social snobbishness of some others - but you can't buy that. It takes years of training!

Edited December 24, 2011 by beak

[XiaoMG]

Is Starbucks a status thing in the US? I had no idea. Whenever I've seen them I assume they're like McD and go somewhere else. Interesting.

Starbucks is where college students go with their iPads and MacBooks to blog scathing commentary about corporate greed and the folly of consumer materialism.

 

To help them sleep at night, they must spend at least half as much time at relatively unknown cafés (where is that bloody accent key?) with typewriters to do the same thing.

[georges zaslavsky]

your money then buy what you like, but don't blame others for their purchases

[georges zaslavsky]

If carrying my fountain pens makes people perceive me as a snob than so be it, I'd rather have them see me in that light while carrying my pen collection rather than carrying my iphone, ipad, macbook, oversized watch, burberry attire or starbucks coffee, all of which I don't purchase or have other than the iphone.

 

Brad

couldn't agree more with you :clap1:

[georges zaslavsky]

if you think pens have snob value and care what others think then you might have a problem not the pen

 

Nowadays I guess one can prove himself more snob in carrying the latest technological device than in using a good FP.

so true

[georges zaslavsky]

 

High quality and snob appeal are completely different things. Completely. I do not even begin to understand how some members here can confuse them.

 

Snob = s.nob. = "Sine Nobilis" = without nobility = "new rich" at the time when the abreviation was crafted.

New rich subculture is based on identifying brands of prestige, and seeking prestige (legitimization) by not only possessing, but also displaying such items of prestige.

 

If the new rich cannot identify a brand, then the brand does not have a snob appeal.

 

 

A subsequent and easy way to detect snob appeal: the new rich will be ready to pay extra for the prestige. The % of the price dedicated to the manufacture is a good indicator of what is or isn't a snob-appeal pen. If the price of the pen comes mostly from the careful and expert manufacture and from the initial cost of high quality materials, then it is unlikely to be a snob item.

 

Some houses have understood that, and propose different items for different customers. Pristine items of high quality for refined people. And absolutely outrageous and overpriced garbage for those who are looking for "anything with the brand's name on it". I mean why waste energy for those. Those, are the snobs.

Overpriced garbage is what makes Romain Jerôme or Jean Pierre Lepine or sometimes Krone. Parker and Waterman have now become absolute garbage by their lower quality of built and because of their nibs which are far worse than before.

[Rubicon]

if you think pens have snob value and care what others think then you might have a problem not the pen

 

Nowadays I guess one can prove himself more snob in carrying the latest technological device than in using a good FP.

 

I get the impression that people are far too intoxicated with Apple products to see that any other technological device can be "hip", but because such a large segment of the population has Apple products it's hard to be snobbish about it. It's more of a "do or die". If you don't have an Apple product, what's wrong with you?

 

I think MB counterparts in today's culture are Bose (or B&W, occasionally Bang and Olufsen, if people even know it), Mercedes, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Sheraton etc. Overpriced, blingy, but still solid products (and very popularized), seen as "snobs" by anyone who uses other solid, often with superior value, products, but perhaps less attractive, such as Audio-Technica.

 

Those in the know, on the other hand, tend to write off the above brands because we know there are higher end products than the ones listed above, for luxury watches, cars, audio system, or cheaper products that are equivalent if not superior.

Edited December 26, 2011 by Rubicon

[SHK]

your money then buy what you like, but don't blame others for their purchases

 

+1

[cbbp]

I think I fit in the anti-snob snobbery category

[JeanManuel]

Consuming is really like voting. Putting money on a deserving company will increase the likelyhood to find better products at lower prices.

 

Arguably, One can't blame people for what they buy. But One can try to make them more aware of the effect of their consumption.

Edited December 26, 2011 by JeanManuel

[JeanManuel]

Parker and Waterman have now become absolute garbage by their lower quality of built and because of their nibs which are far worse than before.

 

They did give me the feeling that from the desire to make pens... they drifted to the desire to make profits out of pen-users.

[Phormula]

Parker and Waterman have now become absolute garbage by their lower quality of built and because of their nibs which are far worse than before.

 

Walmart effect.

High volume buyers are asking for lower (or at least not increased) prices, not for better quality.

As somebody said, each time Walmart announces a price reduction, somebody on the production floor gets a kick in the stomach. I find strange that Parker did not move production to China, like Faber Castell

[lapis]

Okay, I give up... what is a 'non-pen fan? Somebody who loves 'no pens'??

 

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu264/peli46/-xSick.png <== Mike about to give up

[ajoe]

So, in the context of this discussion, what do you call someone who owns and uses a pen with high snob-appeal but refuses to take it out of his home because he doesn't want to be seen with it?