The Trafalgar Review

[kaisede]

Introduction

 

For a long time now I wanted to own a Conway Stewart pen. Fascinate by the Nelson Crimson Swirl I decided to do some research on the Nelson series. Not long I discover that the Nelson series is the result of the Trafalgar LE. Being a new fountain pen user and collector the word Limited Edition always have some power over me in my subconscious mind. The next few days were hard on me as I am trying to make a decision on which one should I order. The Trafalgar came out victorious because of the ink blotter. Being a person who likes to read history books sometimes how cool is to own the oak of the HMS Victory? It is like owning a piece of history itself.

 

First Impression

 

The pen came in with a big dark green card board box and in it there is the dark green wooden presentation box. The first time I held the pen I was sprized about the weight of it. It is the heaviest pen I have so far. It weights more than my MB metal StarWalker.

The pen measurement:

Cap close: 5 ¾ “

Pen w/o cap: 5 3/8 “

Pen with cap posted: 7”

 

The Nib (4.5/5)

 

While I would not say it is the smoothest nib I have write with but the ink flow is very consistent. It has a little toothy feeling in it, maybe because I have an Italic M. The nib unit is CS 18k single color, gold, large nib unit.

 

The Design (5/5)

 

The material that this pen is made of is astonishing to look at. So far I have not seen a picture that actually captures activities that is going on in the pen. The best I can describe it is by comparing it which rough blue crystal that still has impurities in them. The ones you see the crystal is still surrounded by the rock. The impurities have a reflective effect when the light hits it. Now picture the crystal in dark navy blue and add some silver dust in it, you got the Trafalgar.

This pen has a brass inlay so has a substantial weight. Unlike other pens I have the weight does not concentrate toward any particular spot but evenly distributed throughout the pen. It gives the feeling of heavy to hold but not heavy to write with.

 

Filling System (4/5)

 

The filling system I got for this pen is a twist-fill. As a first time owner of the twist fill system I am not too big of a fan on it. I still like my piston fill better as it can hold more ink in it.

 

Presentation Box (4.8/5)

 

One of the reasons to purchase a LE is because of the presentation box it comes with. This is my second LE pen; the first is the MB Voltaire, the review for that is coming soon. The presentation box itself measure at 14” x 8”, dark green and very reflective on the top.

 

Cost (3/5)

 

The MSRP is $975 and most of place sells it between $750 ~ $800. While I don’t personally think that it is a “good deal” at that price range but I would give it a fair deal. I got mine from Oscar Braun Inc for $585 now that is an awesome deal. And I am very happy with the purchase.

 

Overall (4.26/5)

 

This number reflects the cost being between $750~$800. Now if the cost is at $585 the overall number would be 4.6, I would rate a 4.7 for cost if getting it at $585 or lower. The initial incentive for me to purchase this pen was to own a piece of history because of the ink blotter being made from HMS Victory. The quality of the pen itself especially the color of the pen had taken me by surprise.

 

This pen I would recommend to anyone who is looking for a nice CS that has some weight in it, maybe not the Trafalgar itself but you should differently look into the Nelson series. However, if you are a LE junky and looking for a nice blue color pen that is subtle but screams out uniqueness when the silver dust sparkles than this is a pen for you. Another thing you should keep in mind is that during my research of this pen I contacted CS headquarter and it is possible to have the same material, blue stardust, made for a non-limited edition pen. Basically you can own the same pen without being a LE and without the presentation box. It can reduce the cost. I am thinking about calling CS to make a BP that would match my Trafalgar, since at work I use more BP than FP.

That is all I have to say about The Trafalgar if anyone has a question please feel free to PM me about it.

Edited October 3, 2006 by kaisede

[kaisede]

Hi all,

 

I do have some photo that I want to share with you, it is more of a comparaing the size of the Trafalgar than anything else. As photo cannot catch the pen's color.

 

 

For you to post pictures you need to load it up into a photo hosting site and than load it here right? Can anyone tell me a good site to do that? Thank you for your help.

 

 

Andy Huang

[rogerb]

I use photobucket.com and it seems OK.

[omasfan]

I use photobucket.com and it seems OK.

 

I second this motion! Can't wait to see the pictures.

[Deirdre]

Flickr also works; it'll even create smaller versions of the images for you.