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Winning the Swiss lotto (Caran d'Ache Varius--Kengo Kuma)


seimodern

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New pen arrived today (courtesy of Fahrneys, who kindly ordered it for me on request), and I feel like I won the Swiss lotto! Caran d'Ache seemingly made 1000 Varius (Kengo Kuma) fps, and guess which number I got? 😋

What are the odds? (Lol, will let the pen itself answer that question...).

 

Of course, the pen # doesn't _really_ matter, and who knows, this limited (or special?) edition may not even be that popular compared with other limited/special editions. But stil, was delighted when I opened the box. 

 

When I looked at it online, I wasn't entirely sure I would like it, but now that it's here, I like it even more than I'd hoped. The light color wood barrel stands out nicely against the darker and more sober colors of the laquered and ebony versions. I also like the cap design (partly because it will hopefully hide fingerprints more than the other Varius fps.)

 

This is also my first CdA broad, at least in a contemporary pen. (I have a broad in an older hexagonal version, but that pen and nib is a very different beast.)

 

Will have to write with it a bit longer before I can give a clear assessment, but so far it strikes me as a nice fat broad (fatter than my Pelikan 600 broad). It's even a little fatter than the B on the CdA hexagonal. 

 

There is some line variation, with slightly thinner horizontals, but it's fairly minimal and so feels more rounded than stubby. (I would have preferred a stubbier, crisper broad, but still like this one.) Perhaps I will send it off for regrind at some point, but I have yet to do that for fear of extended wait times. One day I hope to add a CdA bb nib, but if this is a broad the BB must be pretty fat and juicy.

 

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Love it! I have a few CdA Lémans and they are among my favourite pens.

 

They probably get overlooked by a lot of pen afficionados because of the slender metal section, small sized nibs, and the brand being better known for other things, but they really are excellent fountain pens. The Bock nibs are beautiful and seem to have super high quality control. Every one I have is tuned to perfection and lays down an exactly consistent line width. The pen designs are sophisticated, modern - look premium but aren’t flashy. When I use one at work I get a lot of people asking me what the brand is and showing interest in getting one, which I don’t get when I use Montblanc or Pelikan or others.

 

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😊 Lémans are excellent writers and feel perfect to me in the hand. I was surprised to find myself a fan of the thinness and metalness of their sections, both aspects being counter-intuitive and probably counter-trend.

 

CdA pens also tend to be much much heavier than is commonly appreciated... for ex, the two black laqcuer models in the Varius family pic above weigh a shocking 55-57 grams! I like heavy pens myself but understand the aversion to them too.

 

There are times when the thinness of the Varius sections can make it harder for me to write--especially if its cold and my forearm muscles don't want to relax. But as long as my arm isn't tensing up, the Varius works especially nicely with a forefinger on top (rather than trigrip) hold of the pen.

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@seimodern that is one splendid collection of Varius pens (Varii?)  I think I see an Ivanhoe and a Metrub, but I cannot see the more common Metwood model.  Or is it one in a black wood instead of the brown wood model that I have?

S.T. Dupont Ellipsis 18kt M nib

Opus 88 Flow steel M nib

Waterman Man 100 Patrician Coral Red 18kt factory stub nib

Franklin-Christoph Model 19 with Masuyama 0.7mm steel cursive italic nib

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Thanks, ParkerBeta... Somehow they became my pen of choice!

 

I don't have a Metwood, unfortunately. The newer (longer) models I have include: ebony/rhodium; ebony/rose gold; gold/lacquer; rhodium/lacquer; rubracer; Ivanhoe; and Kengo Kuma. I also have two of the older Varii (I like that that... let's go with that as plural!): Rhodium/blue lacquer and metrub. (They photographed darker than they are.)

One day would love to add the new version black ceramic, and old version white ceramic, and metwood. Maybe the carbon fiber too...

(Apparently, I just want them all, lol... I got a problem, or what?!)

 

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Thanks for your reply, @seimodern, and for adopting the "Varii" term! 🙂 I learned something new from your post, namely that the Varius lineup underwent a design change making the pens longer.  Both my Varii are the older ones (Metwood and Ivanhoe). 

 

And just for the record, wanting all the Varii (I'm proud of myself for putting that into each sentence of my post!) is perfectly normal, as they are all that good!

S.T. Dupont Ellipsis 18kt M nib

Opus 88 Flow steel M nib

Waterman Man 100 Patrician Coral Red 18kt factory stub nib

Franklin-Christoph Model 19 with Masuyama 0.7mm steel cursive italic nib

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It may sound like an anticlimax, I'm afraid that the "1 in 1000" engraving doesn't really correspond to 1/1000 because I saw two Varii Kengo Kuma bearing the same engraving in the local stationery premises. A very well-crafted wood pen nonetheless and thanks for sharing your initial thoughts with us indeed.

 

I myself too own two Lémans (Grand Bleu) whose nibs (medium and broad) don't really write to my satisfaction. A considerable amount of pressure must be exerted on the nib in order to cajole the ink out of the feed even the nib exhibits some kind of give in them, or in other words, the pen doesn't write under its own weight even the barrel is made of metal. Perhaps it's the case of baby's bottom, I've yet to figure it out. I decided to keep them both instead due to their unmistakably beguiling guilloché.

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Lol, that's hilarious, thanks for sharing... I couldn't figure out how a special order that was made quite a bit after release would somehow result in #1. The entire premise of the numbered release is kind of ridiculous to my eye, at least when dealing with the 1000+. 

 

This particular numbering strategy seems a bit disingenuous, though, no? (At least, I have only ever seen numbered pens that identify the pen according to its place in the series, not all pens as 1 out of X number....). Oh well, I hadn't bought it for that reason, and am loving the pen otherwise, so no harm and a bit of a laugh.

 

Sorry to hear that your Lémans are not treating you well. That model is gorgeous, though, so at least you have some beautiful objets d'esk (!). I have only had one CdA with a bum nib, an older geneve sapphire I bought second hand (a kind of predecessor to the Léman) that hard started all the time. I just gave up on it, but thankfully the others have been reliable.

 

 

 

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