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Hi everyone, this is actually my first ever fountain pen review. I must admit that I won't have a point of reference since I only recently got my first (and only so far) pen - but I guess my first impression was a good one, and I thought I'd try my hand at reviewing it. I've read through the guidelines and I'll be following the template as close as I can. So, a reasonably priced entry level fountain pen - the Faber-Castell Loom. The Faber-Castell Loom Piano White Appearance & Design (9) - Simple, modern and classy The Loom comes in two variants, the metallic finish and the piano finish. I got the piano finish. The first impression I got when I received the pen was that it looked slightly smudged with fingerprints. I had to give it a quick wipe before it looked all shiny and perfect. Smudging is a bit of a problem for the piano finish in this regard. It has a grip section with ring designs, and it is pleasing to the eye. It does not, however, really contribute to improved gripping. Apart from that, the reason I picked this pen for my first was that I liked its minimalist and modern design - it clearly does not have the intricate styling of the higher end pens, but is classy enough to stand out among the company of similarly priced pens. ... Construction & Quality (8) - Solid Most of the parts detach and attach conveniently, and the build quality is good. The cap comes with a clip that has a small spring that makes it a little flexible. Speaking of the cap, I find that it's capped on too tightly on the pen, thus requiring some effort to yank it out. Perhaps this will smooth out over time. Apart from that, it's a sturdy pen that can probably take a beating. … Weight & Dimensions (7) - short and heavy It is actually a slightly heavy pen, compared to the other pens in the same range. This is due to its steel parts. This has both a pro and a con. I like the weight as it lends a little bit of control to the writing, but it gets tiring quite fast. Also, it doesn't sit well in a shirt pocket. I imagine it'll be fine in a jacket, but for everyday uses, it kinda yanks your shirt a little. Thought I'd throw this little practical bit in. … Nib & Performance (7) - Nice nib, lousy ink The pen comes with a steel nib. I got mine in F. There were no skips, and the flow is smooth even when I sped up the writing. My biggest complaint about this pen though, is the stock cartridge. The Loom that I got came with a cartridge of blue ink, and the ink made a terrible first impression. It appeared faded, and was too light. Even my cheap ballpoint pen could come out with a more readable color. (On this note, I also have the Faber Castell black ink - in short, stay away from FC inks. They're too diluted for some reason. I've since bought a Waterman Serenity Blue ink and I think that's a safe ink for a newbie like me. I love it so far). ... You can see the simple patterns on the nib, as well as the grip section Filling System & Maintenance (6) - Cartridge only The pen does not come with a converter. I purchased the FC standard converter and it fits nicely in the pen. I understand that many pens in this class come with a converter, so it's a shame that the Loom does not. The cleaning and refilling mechanisms are smooth and I've done it with zero complaints so far. … Cost & Value (8) - Great entry-level price Overall, this is a decent entry level pen. I got it at around $40. It's slightly more expensive than the Lamy Safari (might be my next one - been reading too many good things about it), but in my opinion it carries an aesthetic look that looks like it should be priced higher. I do wish it comes with a converter for that price, but I'm ranting here... … Conclusion (7.5) - I'm loving it Overall, I'm really satisfied writing with this new pen. I find myself coming up with all sorts of excuses to write more, take notes manually, and more. It doesn't come off as too elitist in my workplace, and I think it's a great pen to have around for everyday writing. Looking forward to my next one already!

The Ondoro is another of my Faber-Castell Design (FCD) pens. These FCD steel nibs are common across the entire design product range - Basic, Loom, Ambition, Ondoro & e-motion and have been impeccable in my experience. My first pen from the design series was an Ambition. I feel that the Ondoro is structurally a much better pen, though it might lack a bit of aesthetic flair prevalent to the Ambition. Below is a link to this review on my blog: Faber-Castell Ondoro Review The Ondoro line comes with a fountain pen (with 4 different nib widths), a roller ball, a propelling pencil (0.7mm) and a ballpoint pen across three coloured resins - Orange, Black & White (now discontinued) and a wooden one (smoked oak) priced substantially higher. PRESENTATION The Ondoro along with the included converter was hand-delivered at my workplace by A.W Faber Castell India personnel, encased inside this moss-green cardboard box. This colour always reminds me of the Australian Baggy Green Caps. The box has a slider where the pen is placed beneath a fabric band on a felted bed, along with a warranty card and a cartridge. Like the pen, the box does portray certain elements of minimalism. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Fc0XQgBbg8g/VeHlxofp3nI/AAAAAAAAFVQ/cm40PCnSoYs/s1600/box.jpg DESIGN - HEXAGON & CHROME (6/6) The pen seems to have an affair with geometry, structurally constituted of two overlapping hexagonal prisms - one orange and other chrome, with domed ends. Bold and minimalistic both in terms of convergence and functionality. The barrel is glossy while the cap is shiny chrome plated metal. Unfortunately the mirror finishes have a magnetic attraction for fingerprints. Faber-Castell calls the barrel material precious resin and it does feel qualitatively substantial. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jwgZbMNod34/VeHl7XF8PlI/AAAAAAAAFVY/ozpam9geDiw/s1600/DSC_5717.jpg The metallic cap snaps on and off the barrel with audible clicks. While putting the cap on, the hexagonal facets of the cap need to be aligned with the ones on the barrel. There is some metal at the end of the grip which actually is part of an insert for the nib unit. And there rests the shiny FCD nib. The barrel is designed to converge with the section subtly initiating a concave taper at the end of its hexagonal facets, leading to a comfortably concave grip section. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UwY4iHyWtyo/VeHmMQG5zdI/AAAAAAAAFVo/_bxi6lwZDgE/s1600/DSC_5725.jpg The finials at either end have smooth and convex domes, the one at the end of a barrel carries a engraved circle or an ‘O’. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2bRPeFtLQrY/VeHmHqEzhMI/AAAAAAAAFVg/gflyaBVtiwU/s1600/DSC_5726.jpg A mirror finish on the hexagonal chromed cap will attract your attention while you keep resisting your instant urges to polish off finger-prints, even after the slightest touch. The dome like finial is etched with Faber-Castell logo of two jousting knights and embossed there is a traditional statement preserving antiquity - Since 1761. The spring loaded clip is shaped like an arc with a concave end. It’s engraved with GERMANY on one side of its loading point. A plastic insert inside the cap gives the snap-on friction. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PZkfeOy0kTQ/VeHlwGjb_LI/AAAAAAAAFVI/RXHG6CgwqS8/s1600/cap.jpg FILLING SYSTEM (6/6) The rather small resinous concavity at the end of the barrel unscrews from the barrel with seven turns and it disengages the section containing the nib and CC filling system. There is a mention of e3 on the metallic thread insert, it’s apparently a reference to their old manufacturing plants. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r54us3mfHlU/VeHmXs1aUxI/AAAAAAAAFVw/ccQWq8h8GSY/s1600/DSC_5755.jpg The insert for the section threads with the metallic insert in the resin barrel. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qscoJSXp5Ls/VeHmkJikquI/AAAAAAAAFV4/l343kFQhwS8/s1600/DSC_5757.jpg The converter says SCHMIDT on the piston along with the brand imprint of FABER-CASTELL Germany on the metallic sleeve. It has a reasonably high capacity of around 1 mL, and the ink does last for quite a while! I usually am biased towards piston fillers, but I like the capacity offered by Faber-Castell or Schmidt converters. In case of GvFC Converters, there is no mention of Schmidt on the converters themselves. This converter will snugly fit many other pens. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NSOno4o5b_g/VeHmlIAnTaI/AAAAAAAAFWI/lWTl-pFgC5k/s1600/DSC_5763.jpg NIB - ALL THAT MATTERS (6/6) The nib is made of stainless steel alloy with an iridium tip. The initially available nib sizes featured F, M and B nibs, though an EF was made available later. I went with an F sized nib. Right out of the box, this was a very smooth nib. The nib has a perforated imprint of dots which cover a third of its surface area. There is a subtle absence of any breather hole. The nib-size is embossed above the traditional Faber-Castell Design logo of two jousting knights near the tail. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GuGepiLE0h8/VeHmk2nj1EI/AAAAAAAAFWE/zimurJDHyqs/s1600/DSC_5776.jpg The feed is standard grey plastic, with a big filler hole for ink suction, which incidentally is used across the GvFC Intuition & Classic Series. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fDBSCfLAAE0/VeHmvEJDeYI/AAAAAAAAFWQ/PTA5tgQflgM/s1600/DSC_5778.jpg Faber-Castell Design (steel) nibs are sourced from JoWo whereas the GvFC nibs (18k except Tamitio) are made by Bock. PHYSICS OF IT (5/6) – RELATIVELY SPEAKING Sans the cap, the pen measures around 12.4 cm, which is quite comfortable for me given the wide girth. The cap can be posted easily. While the posted pen exceeds a 15 cm scale, a steel cap of 17g does make it top-heavy. Uncapped Length ~ 12.4 cm Capped Length ~ 12.8 cm Posted Length ~ 16 cm Nib Leverage ~ 1.9 cm Overall Weight ~ 32 g (Cap Weight ~ 17 g) Some capped, uncapped & posted references with a few pens like GvFC Intuition, Pelikan m205 and TWSBI 580 run below for your reference. Terracotta is much redder than the orange in an Ondoro http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jVgRyXwdBG4/VeHm9LFmMQI/AAAAAAAAFWY/Dtwhl79Buqw/s1600/DSC_5787.jpg Uncapped the Ondoro almost matches a TWSBI 580 http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HH2u5rSS3kI/VeHm_94vbnI/AAAAAAAAFWg/IKajNkSc5vE/s1600/DSC_5804.jpg Not really posted! http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWsHc5_wH_I/VeHnGAQDFMI/AAAAAAAAFWo/3qO8OdWoej0/s1600/DSC_5815.jpg ECONOMIC VALUE (5/6) The Ondoro resin versions retail at around USD 125. I purchased it with a good discount, directly from A.W Faber Castell India, as there were some warranty issues with my other Faber Castell pen. I believe it’s a good value for money pen given such a beautiful nib, which can defeat any other. OVERALL (5.6/6) This nib is moderately wet, runs fine and smooth. There is absence of any line variation among horizontals & verticals. The nib has got some spring and a touch of softness. I find the grip very comfortable to hold the pen, you might say a little bit of barrel weight could have blessed this one. I will definitely recommend this pen to you, if you are looking at the Faber Castell Design Series. Being a moderately wet writer out of the box, the Fine nib puts a decent fine line (finer than TWSBI F) which takes around 15 seconds to dry a wet MB Toffee brown ink on MD Paper. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LtLB1WGbtKs/VeHnQe4ukTI/AAAAAAAAFWw/rHcuB7G_a0w/s1600/DSC_5837.jpg REFERENCES Faber Castell Ambition GvFC Intuition Faber Castell History Bock Clientele Thank you for going through the review. You can find some more pen and paraphernalia reviews here.

Hello wonderful people of FPN, I have a question concerning the Faber Castell Basic carbon fiber finish. I panic bought (never a good thing) one of these recently at a bargain price (couldn't resist) and I'm wondering what to expect. The pen itself looks to be in super condition, only dip tested by seller and has an extra fine nib and I was excited about receiving it. However, after some browsing research, I think it's fair to say I have found more negative reviews than positive. Mostly due to the section or barrel threads snapping easily (on the carbon fiber edition especially). This is disappointing considering Faber Castell claim to pride themselves on excellence. Although, alot of these reviews are 3+ years old, maybe it was to do with a defective older batch? I'm wondering if anyone has any recent experience with the same pen and if it was positive? I'm not too concerned, considering I really didn't pay much but should I be worried about receiving a pen that might break easily? Thanks all!

Hello. i dont use all the much my Faber castell because of the nibs they have , a broad and a medium nib. I was wondering if i could replace these nibs with more interesting nibs , like a architect or a italic grind nib. i know i'd use them so much more with these nibs. that being said , is it possible to change these nibs ? if yes , where can i find interesting ones? Thanks in advance!

I'm just wondering whether the threading on the Loom and Basic sections are identical? I have a Loom that I like, but occasionally have trouble with its grip in sweaty weather. The Basic on the other hand might be too heavy for me, and by all accounts, is not meant to be used posted. So I was thinking about the possibility of buying a Basic and transplanting its section + cap on the Loom. If any kind soul here has both, could you please check whether this would work? Thanks!

Hello Forum, I was in Germany recently and visited the KaDeWe store, the Berlin equivalent of London's Harrods I am told. They have a nice section dedicated to pens, and many German brands were on sale there. I bought 4 cheap to medium range faber Castell pens, ie: Grip (Euro15/-) Essentio (Euro 35/-) - this pen has been reviewed by Brian Goulet but he calls it Basic - maybe the different nakme in USA. E-Motion (Euro 110/-), & Ondoro (Euro 100/-)All pens were B nibs (the size i love). All pens have steel nibs. Back home and on a closer look I see that the nibs are all the same. In Essentio, Emotion and Ondoro the nibs are prefitted into a screw on sleeve which is easily screwed off for servicing or changing, ansd all were the exact same thing and can be fitted from one to the other. The nib of the Grip if a friction fit but the size and design is again the same. So either the cheaper pens like Grip and Essentio/Basic are being sold with a better than price range nib or the medium range pens are being sold with a lower quality nib?? Out of the biox the smoothness was in the order E-Motion - Essentio - Ondoro and Grip. The Grip nib isnt bad just has a bit more tooth to it than the others.

I just bought my first Faber Castell, a very cheap but cheerful Grip, and it writes way too well for a pen of that price. It's wet, it's consistent, it's smooth, I love it. However, the Faber Castell converter I bought for it won't stick to the feed. No matter how firmly I push it in, it plops out. Am I missing something?

I own mostly Indian pens and I want to breach out into foreign brands. On WilliamPenn.net, the Loom and Safari cost similar, but people abroad prefer the Safari as it costs cheaper. Given that both cost the same, which one is better? And if there are other recommendations in the Rs. 2500 range apart from these two, that would be great too.

Hello, I went to the Faber Castell's USA site and it stated that there is a 25% discount on certain purchases. See: http://www.fabercastell.com/ The code that was provided was JINGLE. However, when I tried to purchase a fountain pen (entry level), I did not see an option to add the coupon code. Any thoughts?

Hey! I'm new to posting on FPN but have been reading for a while. I wanted to ask for recommendations of my next pen. I started out with the varsity and preppy and since have expanded my collection. I have the following pens: Platinum 3776 14kPlatinum BalancePlatinum PlaisirPilot MetroTWSBI Eco (lost this )Wing-Sung 3008Wing Sung 6359Monteverde MonzaJinhao Shark I was considering buying the following pens but have not heard as much about them. Diplomat MagnumSailor LecoulePilot e95sFaber Castell Loom I wanted to add that though I have a lot of Platinum pens, I don't really enjoy the writing experience. I like the pilot though it's a bit dry. The pen i've enjoyed the most is maybe the TWSBI. Also, I have smaller hands and typically like lighter pens. Any advice on what to buy next?

I've got a Faber Castell Ambition inked-up with Diamine Eclipse. Unfortunately it drys out after a couple of days of not being used. I'm not sure if this is a function of the pen's nib (it has no breather hole), the ink, the cap, or the storage. It is stored with many other Waterman and Kaweco pens in a dry box - none of which exhibit this problem. Can anyone provide any insight into this problem? Having to dip the pen and invariably getting ink on my fingers each time I use it , is frustrating and discouraging its use. Will a change of ink make a difference? thanks tbzbbt

Good day! I've owned a number of fountain pens: some were lost and some were vintage. I've recently purchased a Faber Castell fountain pen (attached) as a gift to my fiancée, however it gave me some problems.. First was that she noticed that there was a leak. After some diagnosis (cleaning, putting the pen in upright nib up position, swapping the converter with the cartridge), I've concluded that the leak is at the point where the metal meets the plastic part.Kinda annoying since I never had those issues with Parker. Will be contacting the bookstore where I've bought it for warranty in a few hours. Anyone who can enlighten me on the matter will be most useful. Thanks!

I just got my gunmetal Loom in a matte finish today. I was really impressed with the finish but noticed the section fits very poorly to the body of the pen. The run out of the body is so far out theres a big step on one side to the section. Do any of you guys with a Loom have this problem? This is the only pen in my 70+ Pen collection like this and I really didnt expect it from Faber Castell. Hopefully the pics will describe what Im talking about. I ordered the pen direct from Faber Castell. Should I exchange it? This cant be normal for them! Please see the pic of the worst case fitment along with fitment on the opposite side of the pen.

Good morning everybody! I'm new to this community and first i want to write a few things about me. My name is Nora and i study architecture in cologne (germany). Maybe that's the reason why writing instruments have always fascinated me! A few weeks ago i inherited some pens, pencils and other wonderful old things by a good friend of my grandpa (he was a technical drawer)! There are also some 1950s Rotring Rapidograph in their original packaging! But now i will come to my original question. Among the items was also a "old looking" pen by A.W. Faber in a beautiful grey with gold details (i wonder if they are real gold?). The nib says Osmia 14K 585 and the model of the pen seems to be 992 EF. Can anyone tell me what the EF behind the number means? And how old could this pen be? I think it was made in the 1950s, but correct me if i'm wrong! I Couldn't find anything about this model....so i would be very happy if you could tell me something about it! I think it is a beautiful pen and i'm looking forward to use it! I'm super excited and looking forward to your answers! Have a nice sunny day Nora (i hope my english is okay)

Is anyone able to tell me anything about a new acquisition? Picked up on ebay for not a lot as an impulse purchase. Standard smallish plastic pen with a hooded nib and a stainless steel cap (with cone finial). Appears to be a cartridge converter (standard international?). Faber Castell Progress on the cap band 44p lightly engraved on barrell with either an OF or OS below it. Nib is probably steel (or chromed). Currently soaking as the feed is rather clogged with blue ink. I'm guessing inexpensive late 60's early 70s? Thanks

I currently own a pilot metropolitan with a fine nib and find it a little too thin and scratchy at times (I have checked if the tines are misaligned). I am planning on purchasing a faber-castell loom as a second pen, but I'm not sure if I should get the fine or extra fine nib. The fine nib seems too broad on the goulet nib nook, and I'm leaning toward the extra fine loom since I am currently a student and do not always have access to good paper. Does anyone know if the smoothness of the extra fine is comparable to the fine on the loom and how the extra fine loom compares to the fine metropolitan? All suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

Hi All, Does anyone know if the titan #5 nib from bock with housing will just screw in place of the standard faber castell nib for example on the basic or ondoro... Has anyone tried it. Thanks William

Quick Review: I've had two of these, and they've both fallen apart. In multiples ways. The plastic bodies have snapped in two, one clip broken off, etc. And these have only been used as desk pens… I am extremely disappointed. That is all.

I just bought a Faber-Castell Loom and inside was a full cartridge and an empty cartridge. The empty cartridge doesn't have a closed bottom. Whats the purpose of that empty cartridge? Is it to just prevent the full cartridge from slipping down? Or is the empty cartridge suppose to have a closed bottom and I just got a defective one?

Hi, I bought this in a book shop recently, Sept '16, and it seems to be a fairly good writer for the low cost price of £5. It's aimed at the school market, and is all plastic. Nib is steel in a medium width, and it takes an international short cartridge, and it's possible to put a spare cartridge in the barrel too. It writes fairly smoothly, no 'hard starts' or skipping. It was available in black, blue or red.

I use my fountain pens at work daily. I've had too many encounters with spills and drips on my notes to make me wary of what ink I use. One event, in particular, stands out for me when I wrote something down on a piece of paper for someone to refer to. Later, I saw the note on his desk. He had dripped some water on it, and the ink had run all over the place, not even legible! Embarrassing. It's one thing to be retro and insist on using my fountain pens at the office, but it's another when it affects the quality of the work product. So, I've been on a quest to find inks I can use reliably for work and not worry about accidents happening to destroy the writing. I have quite a lot of inks in my collection. with even more samples. I selected some inks that I've been using lately along with a couple I like, but have had bad experiences with their lack of water resistance. I use a lot of Black n' Red notebooks at the office, along with copy paper. I also wanted to compare performance with a premium paper, so I selected Rhodia. The tests consisted of generating a baseline for the three papers and 18 inks. I scanned the images at 600 dpi into jpeg files. They were later down-converted to lower quality jpeg to come in under 1 MB file size. I cut each sheet into two pieces - a control and a test side. After each test, they were scanned with the control and the test side together to provide a good comparison. The first test consisted of pouring a stream of water over the paper for a few seconds and then allowing the paper to dry without touching it. This simulated a spill at work and represents my biggest concern. The second test was for permanence. It was an 8 hour soaking in a water bath with some agitation to slough off any loose ink to see what actually remained behind on the paper. I'm posting the two test results and not the original because each test has its own control side to compare with. There are several ink brands that make water resistant inks. I've posted scans of some others previously (including Platinum). These are the inks I've been using lately as I've narrowed my preferences. One factor I've been looking for is quick drying inks so I can write and quickly turn a page without it transferring to the contacting sheet. A lot of permanent inks tend to dry slowing. The fastest drying permanent inks I've found are the DeAtramentis Document series of inks. The negative to these are that they soak in fast and feather a lot on cheaper paper. It's always a trade-off between dry time, permanence, saturation, and smearing. That's why I have so many inks. No one ink solves all problems. If I had to pick one ink to use exclusively, it would be Noodler's 54th Massachusetts. It drys relatively quickly, doesn't smear after a few minutes drying, and is really permanent with no wash off in spills. It's also a nice blue-black color. A close runner-up is Pilot Black. Dries really fast, well-behaved in all pens, and after a light wash off, leaves behind a very permanent residue. Papers tested: 24 lb Black n' Red, Rhodia 80 gsm dot pad, Xerox 24 lb copy Inks tested: DeAtramentis Document Black Diamine Majestic Blue Faber Castell Moss Green Pilot Black Pilot Blue Black Noodler's General of the Armies Noodler's Liberty's Elysium Noodler's Nikita Noodler's #41 Brown Noodler's Walnut Noodler's Zhivago Noodler's 54th Massachusetts Noodler's Bad Blue Heron Noodler's Heart of Darkness Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher Noodler's Upper Ganges Blue Noodler's King Te cheng Visconti Turquoise Black n Red after simulated spill: Rhodia 80 gsm after simulated spill: Xerox 24 lb copy after simulated spill: Black n Red 24 lb after 8 hour soak: Rhodia 80 gsm after 8 hour soak: Xerox 24 lb copy after 8 hour soak:

Hello hello, greetings to the community. Let me introduce myself. Well, I am not slightly over 30, called Peter, born in the Orwell year, made in Slovakia, currently living in the capital of Czech republic, Prague. I am working as an After sales support in a former IT eshop (now they / we sell many more stuff, so it is not so interesting for me as it was years ago). My hobbies are computers, photography (on film), DX-ing and yes, yes, good pens :-) My deeper interest in fountain pens started about a year ago but I really could not get myself into buying some serious pen. I just read a lot of reviews, dreamed about beautiful royal blue inks in a classy pen. But everything has changed yesterday when I bough my first one (and only one, as of today), Faber-Castell Ambition Black with F nib, Pelikan 4001 blue-black ink. I dont want to write a lot about how it is a change in my life (it is) and how beautifly this pen writes - probably you all know this pen better than me. So everything I wanted to say is: Hello, I am here and I already am using fountain pen. And since 1 picture is better than 1000 words, here it is: Have a nice weekend :-)

Hey Folks, After some follow up with the Faber-Castell India team I got the following update regarding their ink availability in India. You can drop a mail ti Pramod in case you want any of the stock FC Blue/Black inks. Else he can order the GvFC Cobalt Blue/ Carbon Black from Chennai. Hope this is useful. Hi As discussed following Faber castell design -INK bottle available at HO –Mumbai. 1. Material Code Material Description MRP F9180983090001 148701 FCD INK BOTTLE BLUE 1190 F9180983089001 148700 FCD INK BOTTLE BLACK 1190 Below GVFC – INK bottle available but at our Chennai location. (You need to wait 1 or 2 week). 2. Item Code Item Description UOM MRP Group Code Chennai F9180983595001 141000 GvFC INK BOTTLE, CARBON BLACK, 75ML NOS MRP-2890 PPN 15 F9180983596001 141001 GvFC INK BOTTLE, COBALT BLUE, 75ML NOS MRP-2890 PPN 15 You can send your person to our HO (refer address below my name). can buy the same on 25% discount on MRP (payment by cash only). Thanks & Regards Pramod Govekar Asst. Manager- Accounts A.W. Faber-Castell (India) Pvt. Ltd. 801, Kamla Executive Park, Nr. Vazir Glass, Off M.V. Road, J.B. Nagar, Andheri (E), Mumbai - 400059 Office : +91 22 67729137 Fax : +91 22 67729200 Email : govekar@faber-castell.co.in URL : www.faber-castell.com

Hi All! Here comes a new "ruthless review". My ruthless reviews have a few peculiar features: Concise;Very strict. If a pen costs hundred of euros, no faults are allowed. - A good pen gets a 60/100, - A great pen an 80/100, - An almost perfect one a 90/100. - Only a divine pen can have above 90.Don't care about the box,Add a few peculiar criteria:Nib appearance;Usability in shirt pockets;Out-of-the-boxness, meaning to what extent a nib was perfect right after leaving the seller. Faber Castell Ondoro Smoked Oak with M nib Thanks to user dragon666, I can recycle his great review here and I don't need to upload pictures Mine is exactly the same. 1. Appearance and design: 10/10 I don't know who designed it, but this pen deserves a spot in the hall of fame of contemporary design. Here, for example. It's awesome. 2. Construction: 4/10 Ouch... a proof that "German quality" is often a stereotype: the cap doesn't perfectly fits the body, and moves in its place, leaving space for air to sneak through and dry the ink if unused for a couple of days. The clip is 1/5 of a millimeter off-centred, and the feeder doesn't always keep the ink inside the pen. The result: a big blue ink stain on a wooden pen. Impossible to clean Also, the pressure lock is not very secure: it wears out quickly and I already had to strengthen it a couple of times adding a thin layer of cyanoacrylate to make the plastic thicker. 3. Quality of materials: 10/10 The oak is tactile, beautiful, perfectly cut, in one word: amazing. The rhodium-plated metal is shiny and perfect. 4. Weight and dimensions: 8/10 Very good as well. It's 100% perfect for me, but the section might be too thin for some (-1) and it's perhaps a bit short for others (-1) 5. Nib performance: 8/10 Reliable, a bit on the dry side with some inks. No flex. A hard starter after a couple of days due to the poor design of the cap lock. 6. Nib appearance: 7/10 Minimalistic, indeed. Not bad, but they could have made it a bit larger! 7. "Out-of-the-boxness": 10/10 100% perfect in this field! 8. Filling system and maintenance: 5/10 The converter looks a bit cheap and sometimes there are minor leaks; the pen doesn't take all types of converters! 9. Clip and usability with shirts: 6/10 The length is great for any shirt, but the clip doesn't lock very tightly and can drop out. Too short for safe carrying in suit pockets. 10. Cost and value: 9/10 The pen is so breathtakingly beautiful that I'd gladly pay EUR 1.000 have one, Instead, it's around EUR 130. Too bad for the steel nib... Final mark: 77/100 This is a really great pen. Too bad it's not perfectly built, otherwise it would jump very close to my Visconti Van Gogh Maxi, so far the best pen I've reviewed, at 90/100.

This review is going to be a bit unorthodox compared to others I have seen on here, but I still hope my style of writing will be useful for all of you. This is just copy and pasted from my blog so I hope you can check it out as well. Today I am going to talk about the carbon fibre Faber Castell Basic. It is fairly well know in the fountain pen community, but not as widely recognized as the popular Lamy Safari, which is in a similar price range. This particular version is a sexy pen, I will say that right now. The carbon fibre body matched with the matte black cap has a very sleek feel to it, even if the cap is a little on the large side. http://i1.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Cap.jpg?resize=640%2C853 However, I have had some issues with this pen that you will need to seriously consider if you are thinking about purchasing this pen. I will start with something that is more of a feature than an issue depending on your preference. It is a very heavy pen (34 grams according to Goulet Pens), which I don’t mind, but due to the pen and grip section being so round, it tends to roll in my hand as I write. It might just be how I hold the pen, but it is definitely something to keep in mind. http://i1.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Barrel.jpg?resize=640%2C853 For those of you who like to post your pens, start looking elsewhere now. Even though the cap is light enough and actually stays posted quite solidly, it makes the pen waaaay too long to the point where it just looks goofy and becomes impractical. Here are a few pictures to see how the size of the Faber Castell Basic sizes up against a few of the other popular pens out there: http://i2.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Basic-Comparison-Capped.jpg?resize=640%2C480The Basic between a Pilot Vanishing Point, Lamy Safari, and Noodler’s Neponset capped. http://i2.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Basic-Comparison-Uncapped.jpg?resize=640%2C480Uncapped http://i2.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Basic-Comparison-Posted1.jpg?resize=640%2C479Posted For those of you who don’t know, the Noodler’s Neponset is a huge pen! Now look at how short it looks when compared to the Basic when both are posted. Imagine writing with that in a meeting or at school, your colleagues will think you are a nuts! Writing Experience Lets talk about the nib for a minute. I opted for the fine nib because it was only option available at my local pen store, The Paper Umbrella. I have read quite a few reviews on this pen before I purchased it (a few of those are linked below), and the common theme seems to be that Faber Castell has the smoothest steel nibs out there. This has not been my experience. http://i0.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Grip-Section.jpg?resize=640%2C853 The writing experience has been average at best, and frustrating at it’s worst. I currently have it inked with Private Reserve Avacado and while there is definitely feedback, it provides as decent writing experience. It is hard to explain the smoothness of a nib, but it is by no means “buttery smooth.” You might be thinking that a bit of feedback doesn’t sound so bad, but when I previously had it inked with Diamine Eclipse, which is a fairly dry ink in my experience, it was almost unusable. Hard starts nearly every time I went to write with the occasional skipping plagued my writing experience. It is possible that I just got a dud, so don’t discount everyone else’s experiences since mine seems to be an outlier. You can also use this as a learning opportunity that not every ink will work well with every pen. A wet ink with a dry pen, or a dry ink with a gusher may help you find that customized writing experience that you have been looking for. Here is quick comparison of the fine nib on the Faber Castell compared to a few other pens I had lying around: http://i0.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Writing-Comparison-Printing.jpg?resize=640%2C853 The Section Now here is where the real problem with this pen lies. The rubber grip section with little grooves going through it may look pretty cool, but it causes more of a headache than it’s worth. First of all, if you want to fill the pen from a bottle, you will want to dip the converter directly into the bottle rather than with it attached to the nib and section. This is because ink will get in those little grooves and can be a pain to clean out. The biggest issue, however, is the fact that this rubber grip section cracks! Before you go jumping to the conclusion that I just over tightened the barrel or that I have super human strength, I consciously did not over tighten the barrel having read reports of cracking before buying the pen. I first noticed a crack after about 2 months, but over the next month or so, it progressively got worse before I eventually delegated it to storage. http://i2.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Cracked-Section.jpg?resize=640%2C853 Recently I was looking though my pens to decide what to ink up next and I seen my poor Faber Castell Basic and thought there has to be a way to fix this. I did what I should have done when first noticed the crack, and emailed both the store and the Canadian Faber Castell distributer about the issue. The service I received was top notch and I had a replacement section coming in the mail within days! Why didn’t I do this earlier!!? Let me show you quick how to change the section if you ever come across the same problem. First, remove the barrel and converter from the nib and section: http://i0.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Dissasembled.jpg?resize=640%2C853 Next, pinch the nib and feed in one hand and the cracked nib section in the other. Once you have a good grip, just twist the nib unit counter clockwise to remove it from the section: http://i0.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Screwing-in-the-nib.jpg?resize=640%2C853 Finally, just screw in the nib unit into the brand new (soon to be cracked?) rubber grip section, reassemble the pen and you are good to go. Conclusion With this new grip section, I now have a functional pen that I can use everyday. The new grip section may or may not crack again in the future, but I am definitely going to be very delicate when handling this pen in the future. Based on my experiences, I do not recommend this pen to anyone looking for a problem free pen. However, if you really like the look and price of this pen and can deal with the risk of getting a subpar nib out of the box and the potential for the rubber grip section cracking, go right ahead!