Faber-Castell Ambition

[WillSW]

Noticed that no one had done a review, so I used my neatest second-grade-serial-killer-slant printing trying to make this readable. There are some weird sentences, my mind must have been wandering.

 

Summary: worth the money if you like its looks and hold it in your hand before buying, not worth it if you're looking for a fine nib or don't like the balance.

 

Written on the new to us Staples Bagasse paper (a bit of feathering around the heaviest spots of ink) with a Waterman South Seas Blue cartridge chasing a black cartridge (hence the lightening through the review).

 

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/fbca_1.jpg http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/fbca.jpg http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/fbca_2.jpg

 

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/fbca_3.jpg http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/fbca_2-1.jpg http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/fbca-1.jpg http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/fbca_1-1.jpg

[Nickelodeon]

Nice review. I have two of the newer ones with the same nib which is fitted to the E-motion. Both of them are very definitely fines not mediums, so you might find that you like the newer nib more. There still isn't an extra fine option as far as I know. The end of the barrel of my resin one has quite a sharp edge. Not sharp enough to cut yourself but if you hold the pen low down with your fingertips extending beyond the end of the body as I do it's a little distracting. My pearwood one seems to have a more rounded end and is more comfortable in that respect. It's also slightly heavier though not enough to make the pen more balanced when posted.

[Peter from Sherwood Park]

Good review. I have the Ambition in Pearwood and am very satisfied with it, but you are certainly correct in that this is a "love it or hate it" pen. I like the wet line and the heft, but others may not.

[ZeleniLav]

Why do Faber-Castell feel the need to write their full name and address on the most prominent places on their pens? I could stomach the cap, but when they put it on the barrel... Why can't they just put a logo in some discreet place? That's one of the most important reasons I've never bought an Ambition, even though I love the elegant and simple design...

[dannzeman]

Nice review. Did FC change the nib design between the different widths? I have an Ambition in Medium and the nib is dimpled, looks nothing like in your picture.

 

Why do Faber-Castell feel the need to write their full name and address on the most prominent places on their pens? I could stomach the cap, but when they put it on the barrel... Why can't they just put a logo in some discreet place? That's one of the most important reasons I've never bought an Ambition, even though I love the elegant and simple design...

Um, the Ambition only has the Faber Castell on the cap. Its not on the barrel, at least not on my Ambition. Mine looks the same as in the pics of this review.

[WillSW]

Nice review. Did FC change the nib design between the different widths? I have an Ambition in Medium and the nib is dimpled, looks nothing like in your picture.

 

By dimpled do you mean it looks like the Graf von Faber Castell pens, like this E-motion nib? (From Leigh R's review)

 

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d138/leighpod/fabcastnib1.jpg

 

I would have preferred the dimples, but I don't know how they determine the design.

Edited December 15, 2008 by WillSW

[dannzeman]

yes, it looks exactly like that. Thanks for providing a pic. Does anyone know why they're different?

[Silvermink]

Saw some of these in a store today and pondered them, though I'm not sure the combination of narrow and heavy would work for me. The wood finishes, especially, are really nice, though, and the price seemed pretty acceptable.

 

None of the Ambitions I looked at had really prominent Faber-Castell branding, so I'm not sure if there are multiple versions or what.

[lovemy51]

Nice review. Did FC change the nib design between the different widths? I have an Ambition in Medium and the nib is dimpled, looks nothing like in your picture.

 

By dimpled do you mean it looks like the Graf von Faber Castell pens, like this E-motion nib? (From Leigh R's review)

 

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d138/leighpod/fabcastnib1.jpg

 

I would have preferred the dimples, but I don't know how they determine the design.

 

just got my first FC and it's the ambition with this nib in the picture. needless to say it won't be my first faber castell pen... if all there nibs write as smoothly as this one... i love it!

[andy1m]

Very nice looking pen and good pictures also. Must get one for my collection. Thanks for sharing this.

[Louis Chen]

I have the stainless steel version, it's very nice

[Phormula]

I regularly use a black Ambition (fine nib) and I agree with most of the review. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

I like the design (I am addicted to the so called "Braun home appliance" minimalism in everyday things), the feeling, including the heavy cap and I am satisfied with the fine nib, which is exactly the size I need, even if for some people it could be considered a little on the "M" side. What I don't like is the tendency of the pen to leak ink. Seems that mine is not capable to withstand travelling, if I bring it with me, especially on a flight, upon arrival, when I open it for using, I find ink leaked inside the cap. My other fountain pens (Rotring Newton, Lamy Vista and Waterman Graduate) do not have a similar issue.

[hsianloon]

I have a pearwood ambition as well, and actually received it as a gift. I was told that the people at the faber castell shop which they purchased the pen from that the nib was a medium.

 

However, a 'B' is writtien at the nib ! So by logic...it should be a Broad, right? Or maybe the B just means something else

 

This is the first time I've used a fountain pen in ages, so I wasn't sure if this is really a B or a M, as I have no real source of comparison.

 

 

 

 

Ideas guys? I'm told that a M is roughly equivalent to 0.8mm

 

By the way, who makes Faber Castell nibs, do they make them themselves?

Edited October 9, 2010 by hsianloon

[Romeo614]

I was just at Fahrney's today looking at the Ambition, which I loved, and that nib is definitely a broad. The person probably made a mistake. I wrote with a fine and a medium and the medium had an "M" I am pretty sure. It was such a beautiful pen. I really want one. The writing in your pic is much broader than the medium.

 

I hope you like it, and I am sure you can get in touch with the Faber-Castel people and explain the mistake. If the don't change the nib for free it probably wouldn't be too much.

 

Good luck.

[hsianloon]

Ah no, I have no complaints with the pen and nib, it was just that I wanted to have a sense of comparison in case I try thicker/thinner nibs in the future.

 

thanks for the input romeo614 !

[PulpFiction]

I am planning to purchase the stainless steel version of this fountain pen. But I am a little confused concerning the nib sizes. I am thinking to get either the Fine or the Medium nib. Is it true that the Fine version is approximately 0.5 mm, or am I wrong? Is there an Extra Fine version or not?

[owend]

I got an Ambition a few weeks ago, in pearwood; it feels and looks really good and the wood's texture gives a very comfortable hold - I find steel tends to rotate and slip, but that's personal of course. I got a Fine nib, although I usually use Medium; I think the Ambition's F is broader than some others, perhaps F-and-a-half if that helps (there is an EF but I think it would be too difficult for everyday use).

[PulpFiction]

I got an Ambition a few weeks ago, in pearwood; it feels and looks really good and the wood's texture gives a very comfortable hold - I find steel tends to rotate and slip, but that's personal of course. I got a Fine nib, although I usually use Medium; I think the Ambition's F is broader than some others, perhaps F-and-a-half if that helps (there is an EF but I think it would be too difficult for everyday use).

well thats really helpful. Thanks

Do you know which is the Fine's width in mm?

[ds_cham]

Good review. I would like to buy it.

[owend]

 

I found FPN when I was researching a new pen, and I got hooked – I didn't realize there was such a vast number of people interested in fountain pens, and I had no idea of the vast number of pens out thre (doubly vast if I include all the Chinese pens). I've been browsing, and I want to correct my first post, where I was guilty of terminological imprecision and a modicum of inadvertent obfuscation.

 

I had fountain pens at school – we got detention for using pencil for written work and for just having a ballpoint pen in school. Our desks had a hole top right for an inkwell, and about half had their porcelain inkwell still there, thoroughly rammed full of blotch (blotting paper, as opposed to splodge, which was ink); I wish I'd kept a couple of inkwells as souvenirs!

 

I had several, but the one I had for a couple of years including O-levels and A-levels was a Parker with a hooded nib in green plastic, eventually with a cracked cap (several months) and then a crack on the hood which leaked ink, and led to its retirement after several redecorated shirts and jackets. I can't positively identify it now, the name Parker 21 rings bells and looks familiar but mine had a wonderfully flexible plastic cap which could be sat on without damage. My father had an early Parker 51, which I craved, so I was given a budget version. Sadly, I don't know where the pen is now, nor my father's pen, nor my mother's Conway Stewart which fascinated me with its lever fill!

 

After school, I had a few unmemorable fountain pen substitutes such as the surprisingly good Pentel disposable pen with a fibre blade, which was a good writer, but mainly several ballpoints and rollerballs.

 

I went back to fountain pens when I started teaching. I got a Parker 25 which I still have; it marked GCSEs and A-levels for about 15 years until it basically wore out – the ink started dribbling onto the page and the nib had gone to broad. I had had another pen, which I said in my first post was a Vector; I've now correctly identified it as a Parker 88. That was my good writing pen (reports, detention slips etc), and when the Parker 25 was retired it took over the red-ink work and my other, best, Parker 88 took over the blue-ink work. Both nibs have now worn too broad for my hand.

 

I've always written better with a fountain pen. I think it's the way the feel is different with strokes away, towards or sideways whereas a ballpoint or rollerball seem to give the same feel in all directions, and not as much as a fountain pen. The nearest I've got was a Pilot V5 Hi-Techpoint probably because of its liquid ink and slightly flexible “nib”.

 

I've retired now so I don't have to worry about taking a good pen in to the rough and tumble of school, so I got myself a Faber Castell Ambition a few weeks ago, which is very nice quality. I haven't got fully used to having a fairly fine nib again, so my writing has got a bit worse, but that's me not the pen which is very smooth writing, feels good in the hand and looks very nice. Hopefully the handwriting will recover in a couple of weeks!

 

Having opened the door into the unsuspected world of fountain pens, I might get a couple of cheap Chinese pens just for fun; at £4-£6 including postage I can afford to use them as darts if they don't work out!

 

I'll try to post a couple of photos, apologies if they're not here, it's my first attempt at posting photos on this site.

 

Hope you enjoy my ramblings!