Cartier Pasha De Cartier Black Resin / Palladium

April 3, 2015

Cartier Pasha de Cartier Fountain Pen

Greetings fellow FPN members-

It has been a few years since I first joined the Network, so - after much lurking - I have decided it was time to offer a contribution (hopefully one of many) of my own. I had only been bitten by the fountain pen bug for a brief amount of time before acquiring four distinctly different pens if very short order as follows:

Pasha de Cartier; black resin/ palladium; 18 kt medium nib

Nakaya Neo Standard; Kuro-tamenuri (blackish red); 14 kt medium nib

Pelikan Souverän M800; green/gold; 14 kt broad nib

Montblanc Meisterstück 149 (Diplomat); black/gold; 14 kt medium nib

I have decided to limit my first review to the Pasha de Cartier, partly because there is little discussion about this particular Manufacture - yes, despite its Montblanc DNA. (Compagnie Financière Richemont SA owns both concerns.) My interest in this particular pen was piqued upon viewing FPN Member: Shuttercraze’ digital photos of the fine detail of this particular pen and nib. And so began the quest to acquire one of my own; after much research, I settled on FPH in New York.

In keeping with the templates I have seen on many contributors’ reviews, I shall attempt to follow suit:

Pen Body:

Black resin with palladium finish details. The overall fit-and-finish of this pen is very tight with seamless transitions between resin and metal. The pen has a heft that is neither too heavy nor too light and well-balanced unposted, as I prefer; writing a full page, I have found, does not bring fatigue. The end ring at the bottom contains a serial number for reference purposes - I like the fact the serial number is discreetly inscribed so as not to detract from the clean lines of the body. One downside: as all metal surfaces are highly polished, fingerprints are easily noticed.

Pen Cap:

Cartier put considerable thought into the design of the pen cap. The cap head contains the double-C inlay - subtle, yet sophisticated. This theme continues with the design of the clip itself - when looking down the length of the pen one will see the clip ring fastened to the cap with the familiar Cartier-C. The cap has a screw top that fastens with just one and one-half turns, the final quarter turn giving a little resistance to let you know the cap is secure. One cannot help but notice how smooth the cap screws onto the pen body, which indicates precision manufacturing of the screw-threads of both cap and barrel.

Nib:

Medium rhodium-plated 18 kt gold. The nib is finely-detailed with ornate scrollwork and a continuation of the double-C motif. More importantly, it is the smoothest writer of my four pens which I reserve solely for use with Rhodia or Crane paper. Only recently did I learn that nib adjustments are fairly commonplace in order to address manufacturing irregularities, but this particular pen was ready-to-write out of the box. The nib responds immediately upon pen to paper with no skipping or variations in line width. As I have light writing pressure - likely due to that fact that I’m overly-cautious about “sprung-ing” the nib - I was surprised that I have had no difficulty in achieving proper even ink flow. I have noticed that, if unused for more than a few days, it takes a little coaxing to start the ink flow once again. Recently I spent the better part of an hour flushing the nib in order to get the pen to start; this was likely due to the fact that I had not used the pen in two weeks and dissolved solids in the ink clogged the feed. A few FPN forum searches later and I found the perfect flush: Belvedere vodka and water. A ten minute soak did the trick.

Ink:

Cartridge/converter. Much to my surprise, this particular pen did not come with a converter. I purchased the pen from an authorized retailer and, at a pricey ~$500, would have expected the pen to come with all the accoutrements. I have seen a number of discussions in which cartridges may have contributed to clogged nib feeds, so I prefer to use a converter when available. After much difficulty, I finally sourced the correct convertor through special order at a local pen shop. I have only used Cartier ink and have not encountered any issues with respect to ink flow/ clogging. This pen easily accommodates a second cartridge in the pen body if you intend to travel. I find that I prefer the added weight of a reserve cartridge loaded into the barrel.

Final Thoughts:

Clearly the House of Cartier took great care in the design of this fountain pen both in terms of aesthetics and manufacturing. Cartier has managed to create a pen that pays homage to its reputation of creating high-end pieces that still maintain a sense of subtle sophistication. The black/palladium color scheme does not draw unwanted attention and all references to Cartier are discreetly placed. This pen stays at home as it is much too expensive to be a regular traveler. I have found the pen to be a reliable writer that I tend to use for other-than-general writing. Strangely enough, just like my affinity for watches, I find that four pens are two pens too many; often, I feel I’m not giving enough “write-time” that each pen deserves.