Caran D'ache Ecridor Retro

[QM2]

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Caran d'Ache Ecridor Retro

in Silver Rhodium Barley Design

F Nib

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I received this Fountain Pen as a gift, and what a wonderful gift it was! This pen comes in a delicious red box inside a glossy red package -- the presentation is sublime. Included are: a lifetime warranty, a screw-in Caran d'Ache converter, and a 100-page user manual.

 

The Caran d'Ache Ecridor Retro is oh so cool. First of all, it looks great. The long and slender body is shaped like a wooden #2 pencil, so it feels very comfortable and familiar to hold as you write. Additionally, the subtle cross-hatch texturing on the body ensures that your fingers do not slip and provides a pleasant massage feeling. I understand that the design of this pen has remained unchanged since the 1930's!

 

The Ecridor is 5.25" in length with cap closed and slightly over 6.5" with cap posted. On the cap of the pen, there is a small engraving plate. Mine was given to me with my initials engraved, and it looks quite nice and low-key.

 

The pen feels extremely tough, solid and well-crafted. It gives you the impression that you can hammer nails with it into the wall. The body is made of brass with 10-micron silver-plating and a rhodium finish. It is made of very few parts, so fewer things to break. It is heavy, but not too heavy -- just right and definitely "well-balanced": Just imagine writing with a #2 pencil hammered out of metal, with a fountain pen nib at the tip instead of graphite.

 

Finally, the nib writes beautifully. It is neither too runny nor too dry and produces a perfect Fine line every time. The nib does not provide any information other than the Caran d'Ache logo and "F", so I assume it is steel. It is a stiff nib, so you have to be okay with that to like it, but it does work flawlessly. I accidentally left the pen uncapped for quite some time while talking on the phone, and it did not dry out. The line width runs true to size, so the F is a classic Fine: thinner then my Visconti and Sheaffer, wider then my Sailor, and about the same as as my F Pelikan. Unfortunately, this pen does not come in EF.

 

I would most definitely recommend the Caran d'Ache Ecridor Retro for its classic design, its functionality, and its fine craftsmanship. I would also recommend it for the "cool" factor. Honestly, you have to see and feel one of these to understand how great it is. I would even call it a must-have pen.

 

I am attaching some pictures from worldlux. Unfortunately, they do not show the red box and how beautifully presented the pen is.

 

Hope this is useful,

QM2

 

 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2007 by QueenMargot2

[bdngrd]

Thanks for the review, I like the feel of the ecridor BP, I would like to see how a FP feels.

[Sharkle]

 

Beautiful pen, QueenMargot--I don't know how I let this review slip by me til now. Thanks for your review. I have an Ecridor Chevron RB and it's a wonderful pen. I tried out the FP version in a pen store and found it to be very smooth and comfortable to use. Enjoy!

 

[guy]

I have a Ecridor pencil dating from the 1950s. It takes 1.18mm lead and has been a great buy. The quality of the finish is excellent - you are tempting me to purchase a matching FP now !!!

[Leftytoo]

A nice and complete review of this interesting pen. I'd like to mention I owned one, purchased in 2000, with an EF steel nib. The nib was very smooth and the ink flow just right.

 

But I never fell in love with this pen and passed it on for several reasons. The cap, rather than employing a screw thread or clutch mechanism, is held in place with a flimsy nylon insert. After a couple years' use it became wobbly. The silver finish scratched and I got some brassing on the matching pencil and ballpoint. When freshly filled, the pen would, without warning, drop a pool of ink onto the paper. Didn't matter how much I wiped the nib, or which brand of ink. After 5 minutes use, it was OK.

 

But the pen did serve me well, and we expect our pens to have "personality".

[OrchidUnicorn]

This is my favorite pen in my meager collection. I love the way it writes and it is a souvenir from "the trip of a lifetime" for me. I was a Girl Scout Leader for my daughter's troop. The "core" of this troop was together from age 5. This troop worked at fund raising (as well as several community service projects) for over eight years. These funds the girls earned were used to take the 7 dedicated girls who stayed the distance to visit 2 of the Girl Scout World Centers, Pax Lodge in London, England and Our Chalet in Adelboden, Switzerland. Now I realize it could be considered a little bit crazy to take seven fifteen year old girls on this kind of trip, but it was a BLAST!! Seeing the world through young eyes is so rewarding. I was determined to bring back a pen to remember the trip, but I did not get a chance to "shop" for one until we were leaving Switzerland for the flight home. I was trying to keep up with 7 teen girls in the duty free shops in the airport when they all came up to me and said "Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Wilson you have to come see this!" (Now they all knew I was somewhat disappointed I had not found a pen.) Well they had all quietly searched the shops until they found a shop that sold fountain pens and all of them helped me pick out the beautiful Caran D'Ache Ecridor that I am now the proud owner of. I can't help but remember scenes from this trip every time I write with this pen and I write with it often. Lashelle

[Garageboy]

That pencil/pen is timeless

[omasfan]

Hi, This post is very informative, however ther are some queries to ask about some specific topic. If someone can help me then please send me a private message. Thanks,

 

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Spam reported!

[hari317]

Thanks for this great review. I have the Ecridor Retro in M nib which I bought as a memento of one of my visits abroad. After reading your review, I have brought the pen back into rotation.

 

Regards,

Hari

 

I would most definitely recommend the Caran d'Ache Ecridor Retro for its classic design, its functionality, and its fine craftsmanship. I would also recommend it for the "cool" factor. Honestly, you have to see and feel one of these to understand how great it is. I would even call it a must-have pen.

QM2

 

 

[bwlpf]

This is my favorite pen in my meager collection. I love the way it writes and it is a souvenir from "the trip of a lifetime" for me. I was a Girl Scout Leader for my daughter's troop. The "core" of this troop was together from age 5. This troop worked at fund raising (as well as several community service projects) for over eight years. These funds the girls earned were used to take the 7 dedicated girls who stayed the distance to visit 2 of the Girl Scout World Centers, Pax Lodge in London, England and Our Chalet in Adelboden, Switzerland. Now I realize it could be considered a little bit crazy to take seven fifteen year old girls on this kind of trip, but it was a BLAST!! Seeing the world through young eyes is so rewarding. I was determined to bring back a pen to remember the trip, but I did not get a chance to "shop" for one until we were leaving Switzerland for the flight home. I was trying to keep up with 7 teen girls in the duty free shops in the airport when they all came up to me and said "Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Wilson you have to come see this!" (Now they all knew I was somewhat disappointed I had not found a pen.) Well they had all quietly searched the shops until they found a shop that sold fountain pens and all of them helped me pick out the beautiful Caran D'Ache Ecridor that I am now the proud owner of. I can't help but remember scenes from this trip every time I write with this pen and I write with it often. Lashelle

 

A wonderful story. I have longed for an Ecridor for more years than I can count. They look so Classic, and I like a slim pen. So after reading all these fine reviews, well, I'm getting much closer to springing for one. Maybe next year. This year's limit is the Pelikan on order from Binder..... Thanks All!

[dapv]

I'm going for the Chevron Ecridor FP with either a fine or medium nib. BTW: I'm told these are rodium covered gold nibs, not steel. Can't wait. I have the Chevron BP, and really like it alot.

 

d.

[milkpowder]

A nice and complete review of this interesting pen. I'd like to mention I owned one, purchased in 2000, with an EF steel nib. The nib was very smooth and the ink flow just right.

 

But I never fell in love with this pen and passed it on for several reasons. The cap, rather than employing a screw thread or clutch mechanism, is held in place with a flimsy nylon insert. After a couple years' use it became wobbly. The silver finish scratched and I got some brassing on the matching pencil and ballpoint. When freshly filled, the pen would, without warning, drop a pool of ink onto the paper. Didn't matter how much I wiped the nib, or which brand of ink. After 5 minutes use, it was OK.

 

But the pen did serve me well, and we expect our pens to have "personality".

This is a major drawback of this pen. I have the Mini version and only three days after using it, the cap was already loose. The nylon inner cap is screwed onto the top metal "jewel", but evidently, it wasn't screwed on tight enough. With repeated use, I have no doubt that it will become loose. There's also no way of retightening it yourself without physically drilling a hole through the top of the plastic inner cap to reach the brass screw which attaches the inner cap to the top metal jewel.

[QM2]

This is a major drawback of this pen. I have the Mini version and only three days after using it, the cap was already loose. The nylon inner cap is screwed onto the top metal "jewel", but evidently, it wasn't screwed on tight enough. With repeated use, I have no doubt that it will become loose. There's also no way of retightening it yourself without physically drilling a hole through the top of the plastic inner cap to reach the brass screw which attaches the inner cap to the top metal jewel.

 

Hi,

 

I have the full size version, and have been using it regularly for over a year. Regularly = almost everyday; this is one of my workhorse pens. There is no looseness what so ever. I have also seen used Ecridors and know several people who have them, and they have not observed this problem. Possibly this is something specific to your pen and should have it looked at?..

 

QM2

[QM2]

I'm going for the Chevron Ecridor FP with either a fine or medium nib. BTW: I'm told these are rodium covered gold nibs, not steel. Can't wait. I have the Chevron BP, and really like it alot.

 

Yes, these are gold nibs. They are quite stiff and put down an extremely precise line. The nibs run just a tiny-bit (but not too much) on the wide side, so fine might be better if you want something in between F & M.

 

I got a fine and then had it ground down to an XXF!

 

QM2

[girlieg33k]

Maybe these come with different configurations in Europe, but I'm pretty sure that most of the Ecridors in the US, out of the box, have rhodium-plated steel nibs. The only Ecridor I've seen offered with an 18K nib is the Type 55 -- but generally, nibs on the entire Ecridor line are steel. I have the Ecridors and Ecridor XS pens in the Chevron, Retro, and Maya patterns. They all have steel nibs. I prefer the steel nib on these pens (believe it or not) to the 18K gold nibs on my Madison, Varius Metwood, and Hexagon Tortoise. The reason is the 18K F gold nibs seem to run even wider than the F steel nibs on my Ecridor/Ecridor XS pens.

Edited April 21, 2008 by girlieg33k

[MYU]

Congratulations on a wonderful retro styled pen, QM2.

 

The design reminds me a little of Yard-O-Lead. Are you familiar with their pens? They have some multi-sided ballpoint pens, but none with nibs. Here's the closest I could find that is a fountain pen:

 

http://www.filofaxusa.com/images/products/yol/large/vs_barley_fountain.jpg

 

I prefer the Ecridor.

[dapv]

Greetings MYU:

Your black-striped Murex is one of my grail pens. Simply stunning. BTW: it may be I'm missing the rationalization of the price, but the Yard-O-Lead pens seem much more costly than the CdA.

 

How about some pics of the balck-striped Murex ... I'm salivating at the thought.

 

d.

[QM2]

Congratulations on a wonderful retro styled pen, QM2.

 

Thank you, Myu! This review was done over a year ago and I've used the pen quite a bit since then and also am more knowledgeable about FPs in general, so I think that I will actually soon post an update that some might find useful.

 

The design reminds me a little of Yard-O-Lead. Are you familiar with their pens?

 

That question made me smile : )

Yes, you can say that we are acquainted. I have a Viceroy Victorian FP, a Perfecta Pencil, and the latest -- a Corinthian FP, the review for which you can see here!

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=59255

 

Best,

QM2

 

 

[Brian]

This is my favorite pen in my meager collection. I love the way it writes and it is a souvenir from "the trip of a lifetime" for me. I was a Girl Scout Leader for my daughter's troop. The "core" of this troop was together from age 5. This troop worked at fund raising (as well as several community service projects) for over eight years. These funds the girls earned were used to take the 7 dedicated girls who stayed the distance to visit 2 of the Girl Scout World Centers, Pax Lodge in London, England and Our Chalet in Adelboden, Switzerland. Now I realize it could be considered a little bit crazy to take seven fifteen year old girls on this kind of trip, but it was a BLAST!! Seeing the world through young eyes is so rewarding. I was determined to bring back a pen to remember the trip, but I did not get a chance to "shop" for one until we were leaving Switzerland for the flight home. I was trying to keep up with 7 teen girls in the duty free shops in the airport when they all came up to me and said "Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Wilson you have to come see this!" (Now they all knew I was somewhat disappointed I had not found a pen.) Well they had all quietly searched the shops until they found a shop that sold fountain pens and all of them helped me pick out the beautiful Caran D'Ache Ecridor that I am now the proud owner of. I can't help but remember scenes from this trip every time I write with this pen and I write with it often. Lashelle

 

Thanks for your personal story. That's what pens should do, cause you to think good things every time you pick one up.

[girlieg33k]

The design reminds me a little of Yard-O-Lead.

I prefer the Ecridor.

Both are great pens, but the YOL and Ecridor are different in significant ways.

 

First, YOL is solid sterling silver, with no coating whatsoever. The Ecridor is silver-plated and rhodium-coated.

 

Second, the YOLs all have 18K nibs. The Ecridors have rhodium-coated steel nibs.

 

Here is more info on the Ecridors from the Caran d'Ache Web Site:

http://www.carandache.ch/products/writing/ecridor/index.lbl