Think Pens

[Deirdre]

I know Think is a budget line of Krone, and Krone uses Marlen for their regular line.

 

Today I went into Flax art, looked at one of these (image shamelessly borrowed from FPH, from whom I'll buy other things):

 

http://www.fountainpenhospital.com/images/think_images/KT1100FP-THI.jpg

 

I looked all over the pen, couldn't find out where it was made. Neither could the clerk.

 

My mother comes by the pen area, "oohs" at the same pen, and she couldn't find it either.

 

I'm not sure if I'd have bought it if it were made in Italy, but I'm definitely (emphatically!) not going to buy a pen from a company that plays coy about where their stuff is made. (Yes, I know the nib was undoubtedly German, but you know what I mean.) In fact, I don't even think they're legal to sell (in the US, anyway) if they're not marked.

 

I used to have a lot of Dooney bags, and gave up on them when they started playing coy about where things were made.

 

Anyone know the story on Think pens?

[CraigR]

I have looked at these pens too and liked them. You have intrigued me with asking where they are made. Their web site offers no clue. A quick check of my most recent Stylus Pen Annual shows their office as being in Buffalo Grove, IL but no info as to where the pens are manufactured. I know that most pens are made outside the USA, but it seems strange not to say where. My thought is that they contract with different sources and prefer not to be held to specific locations. I also would like to know prior to buying. /CRaig

[Deirdre]

Ahh, there's another thing! I tried to look it up while I was in the store, but neither my iPhone nor Flax's computer could access their flash-only site. I looked on other sites that carried their pens. They didn't say either.

 

(When will companies learn that you get NO search engine optimization with an all-Flash site? Better to have flash elements on an otherwise HTML page. Rant over.)

 

Grrrr!

 

I just wrote them on their site.

[His Nibs]

I looked all over the pen, couldn't find out where it was made. Neither could the clerk.

 

Hi Deirdre,

 

I'm afraid I can't offer insight as to their manufacturing origin. However, at the Stationery Show last year in NYC, I sat down with their rep -- as I was quite impressed with the pens/cost and some of the really spectacular color combinations -- and wanted to start carrying them. The upshot was that once he found out that I wasn't a B & M store -- even though His Nibs.com was a 10 year old company by that time -- he was no longer interested.

 

One of the few remaining pen companies that won't deal with online-only businesses. Their loss!

 

[Deirdre]

I'm afraid I can't offer insight as to their manufacturing origin. However, at the Stationery Show last year in NYC, I sat down with their rep -- as I was quite impressed with the pens/cost and some of the really spectacular color combinations -- and wanted to start carrying them. The upshot was that once he found out that I wasn't a B & M store -- even though His Nibs.com was a 10 year old company by that time -- he was no longer interested.

Interesting! I mean, they're not Visconti or Omas....

 

I hope I get a response from Krone. I do like some of the combinations, I just prefer not to do business with certain countries.

[Deirdre]

Well, no word from them. Feh. They can keep their pens.

[JayLo]

As the owner of a few thINK pens I've had the opportunity to speak to the company people on a few occassions. I noticed a couple pens would only take the very small plunger type converter and others would take a full size converter. The tech person (not Dana Piet) said they had different manufacturers for different model thINK's and that would explain the converter acceptance issue.

Fyi...

Here is the contact info on an email from thINK...

KRONE | THINK | KRONE TIMEPIECES | SVEND ANDERSEN

1275 Busch Parkway

Buffalo Grove, Illinois 60089

 

phone: 847.215.0011 x373

fax: 847.215.0013

[Deirdre]

I saw a box for a Think pen that had the little tiny "made in China" sticker in it. Loose.

 

I choose to do as little business with China as is practical, thus I'll pass.

 

Even if they're made in different countries depending on the model, if they're not going to make that clear on their site, I'm not going to be buying them. (Nor am I going to be calling them long distance to find out.)

[petra]

Deirdre,

Is it just pens, or do you avoid buying all products made or assembled in China? What's your main reason?

[lapis]

Thanks for the tip. There are so many pens on my want-list that now knowing what NOT to buy is worth something too.

There is an old German saying (or was it Austrian?): "Nobody is completely useless... you can always use him as a bad example".

 

I just LOVE that saying!

 

Mike :ltcapd:

[petra]

Deirdre, just re-read your last post. I don't know about the Think pens themselves, but I know at least 75% of all my pens (across different brands) came in BOXES made in China.

[dumdummuoi]

Ed Hamilton of Century Pens here in Chicago says they're made in China, though I don't know where he got that info.

[Deirdre]

Deirdre,

Is it just pens, or do you avoid buying all products made or assembled in China? What's your main reason?

I buy some things made in China, but where it's easily avoidable, I don't.

 

My main reason is the gendercide practices endemic in China.