The Senator President

[somnath1077]

I've been wanting to buy a new pen for sometime for having successfully defended my PhD thesis. I was wavering between a Lamy 2000 and a Mark Twain Crescent. It was around this time that Hari posted the pictures of the Senator President. My heart was set on the President and I went ahead and ordered one with a medium point. It took me sometime to get the pen (another story) but now that I have the pen in my hands, I'm very impressed. At Euro 100, this pen is cheaper than both the Lamy 2000 and the Mark Twain Crescent, and is my most expensive pen to date. The medium point is slightly on the broad side but I'm not really complaining.

 

1. Packaging (10/10).

 

The package in which the pen arrived was huge. It consisted of a cardboard box containing another box covered in black velvet. This second box has an inner compartment for the ink bottle.

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4099/4800671589_24d7d26f29.jpg

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4096/4800671591_b7158efde4.jpg

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4123/4800671601_7c1246dd0f.jpg

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4123/4800671601_7c1246dd0f.jpg

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4121/4801307900_0e5bab7bbc.jpg

 

Overall very impressive!

 

2. Appearance and Design (10/10)

 

The pen has a classic design: black cigar shaped with gold accents with a screw-on cap. The nib is 18 ct gold and the feed is made of ebonite. The pen is a piston filler and there is blind cap at the end of the barrel that covers the knob that controls the piston. The piston operates smoothly and is made of plastic. The pen is one of the largest that I've handled. I don't have exact measurements but this one is larger (lengthwise and girth-wise) than the Lamy Safari/Studio and is much larger than the Pelikan M215. However the pen is very light and I can hold it comfortably even with the cap posted.

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4800671617_db96f9b891.jpg

 

3. Construction (8/10)

 

The pen is made of acrylic (at least that's what the description said) and seems to be well-constructed. There's nothing loose anywhere and the construction appears to be solid. However I get a feeling that this pen may not stand up well to rough handling and I may not use it as an everyday writer. I just don't want to see any scratches on this beautiful pen!

 

4. Nib and Feed (8/10)

 

As I said, the nib is a medium point in 18 ct gold. it's very smooth and I have no complaints with it. However, I'm giving the nib/feed construction a score of 8 because I'm not really impressed with the feed. The feed is made of ebonite and is a pretty rudimentary: there is a single channel for ink and you don't see the fins that you see in other feeds (Sheaffer pens, for instance, have an extensively finned feed and these have a large buffering capacity). I had to flush the pen with dish-wash and clean the feed before I got the pen working properly. The nib/feed assembly is friction-fitted and can be easily pulled out.

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4074/4801496280_e604d318f9.jpg

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4801496282_85571bfb1c.jpg

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4800671619_de0564f88a.jpg

 

5. Filling System (8/10)

 

The pen is a piston filler. The mechanism works smoothly and is made of plastic. I was expecting something more durable and hence the less-than-perfect score; I just hope that the plastic will last for some time.

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4801496270_5a523b29e1.jpg

 

6. Cost and Value (10/10)

 

At Euro 100, this pen is definitely worth it! I strongly recommend this pen to anyway who wants a nice classic looking piston filler.

 

7. Conclusion (Final score: 9/10)

 

In short, this is a very nice pen piston filler with a classic design. My complaint is that these are quite hard to find even in Germany. Not many online companies seem to sell the President and those that do often require you to buy more than one pen.

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed the review.

 

Best.

 

Somnath.

Edited July 17, 2010 by somnath1077

[John Cullen]

hi Nice photos and great pen. Yeah, it is odd that this one is not so readily available, at least not here in the US.

 

J

[hari317]

Very nice review Somnath and the variant with the 18C nib is a nice find. You got it cheaper than my steel nibbed variant and your packaging is even more fancier! BTW what is that thread like thing inside the zip envelope? Also can you scan and post the literature leaflet, it was not there in my pens, curious to know what is written there.

 

Best,

Hari

[WendyNC]

First, congratulations Dr. somnath1977. Thanks for a thorough review of a classic looking pen at a good price point.

[somnath1077]

Very nice review Somnath and the variant with the 18C nib is a nice find. You got it cheaper than my steel nibbed variant and your packaging is even more fancier! BTW what is that thread like thing inside the zip envelope? Also can you scan and post the literature leaflet, it was not there in my pens, curious to know what is written there.

 

Best,

Hari

 

Hari,

 

The box can be locked. The zip envelope had a set of two keys. It was really a very fancy package!

 

Somnath.

[somnath1077]

First, congratulations Dr. somnath1977. Thanks for a thorough review of a classic looking pen at a good price point.

 

Hi WendyNC,

 

Thanks a lot!

 

This pen is probably the best at this price point. Too bad it's not widely available.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Somnath.

[akrishna59]

elegant looking pen and dont worry, dear somnath, it will certainly last long. congrats. on your doctorate also.

 

rgds.

 

krishna.

[Abhik]

Hi Somnath,

You have written a very nice review. Your photos are superb! I have been using same pen but with a very nice steel nib for last one month or so regularly. I got my pen from Hari. Hari had to buy three pens together, so I got the opportunity to get one from him.

Pen surface has the same lusture! Nothing changed so far. My opinion about ebonite feed and piston are opposite. My pen started immediately I filled up ink into it and writing superbly, withou washing etc. M nib of my pen writes with a sweet wetness of M-F nib. I rate it 7/10 in wetness!

As for piston, IMHO, plastic piston has contributed for its light weight to some extent. This might be one contributor to superb balance of this pen.

You packaging is extrordinary. Hari's superb photos can tell about the gift box we have.

Enhoy your pen. Use regularly without hesitation.

Thanks for sharing!

Abhik

[somnath1077]

Hi Somnath,

You have written a very nice review. Your photos are superb! I have been using same pen but with a very nice steel nib for last one month or so regularly. I got my pen from Hari. Hari had to buy three pens together, so I got the opportunity to get one from him.

Pen surface has the same lusture! Nothing changed so far. My opinion about ebonite feed and piston are opposite. My pen started immediately I filled up ink into it and writing superbly, withou washing etc. M nib of my pen writes with a sweet wetness of M-F nib. I rate it 7/10 in wetness!

As for piston, IMHO, plastic piston has contributed for its light weight to some extent. This might be one contributor to superb balance of this pen.

You packaging is extrordinary. Hari's superb photos can tell about the gift box we have.

Enhoy your pen. Use regularly without hesitation.

Thanks for sharing!

Abhik

 

Thanks Abhik!

 

Best,

 

Somnath.

[drifting]

Nice review. That's some pretty impressive presentation!

 

Ryan.

[777]

Nice review for a nice pen! that is some packaging

[hari317]

The nib/feed assembly is friction-fitted and can be easily pulled out.

 

The nib and feed are assembled in to a sleeve and this sleeve is screwed in into the section with RH threads.

 

There are two slots in this sleeve that will allow the use of a tool to remove the nib unit for servicing.

 

The sleeve, feed and nib:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Senator%20PRESIDENT/IMG_4257.jpg

 

The sleeve has a suitably contoured depression to accomodate the nib:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Senator%20PRESIDENT/IMG_4258.jpg

 

There is a key at the bottom of the sleeve, this key engages with the corresponding mating slot cut into the feed:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Senator%20PRESIDENT/IMG_4259.jpg

 

The slot at the feed bottom:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Senator%20PRESIDENT/IMG_4260.jpg

 

I was curious about the construction of this pen and took the chance to take some pictures, I hope these are useful.

 

Best,

Hari

[somnath1077]

Thanks for the clarification Hari. I confess I didn't try to unscrew the sleeve.

 

And nice photos too.

 

Somnath.

[watch_art]

that's awesome and great price! where'd you get it?

[somnath1077]

that's awesome and great price! where'd you get it?

 

Hi All

 

I've been getting some requests about information as to where I got the pen. I ordered the pen from this online store (here's the link to the pen itself). However note that prices have changed in the last three months. For some reason or the other, these guys have more than doubled the price of the Senator to about 212 Euros. I guess they were getting too many orders for this pen! The good news is that there are other online stores where you can them cheaper: at about 51 Euros per pen. The bad news: you have to buy at least 5 of them. So if 5 FPNers get together, they can get this pen at a much cheaper rate.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Best,

 

Somnath.

[watch_art]

I'm in for 1 if we can get 4 others. Who wants to be in charge of ordering?

[somnath1077]

Hi All,

 

A further clarification. After talking to Hari (who'd ordered one of these pens from http://www.rundumsbuero.de/), I found out that there was a clerical error on the part of the company and they'd advertised their gold nib Senator pens for 100 Euros (and actually sold me one for that price). It seems that they've realized their mistake upped the price of the gold nibbed version is 212 Euros. But you can still obtain 5 steel nibbed pens for around 255 euros.

 

Somnath.

[ImolaS3]

Lovely review thanks

 

I think I'll be buying one of those!

 

Many congrats on the PhD too - viva is so streefull

[watch_art]

ugh... nevermind...

[Brian]

This brand does not appear to have a US distributor for if they had, I am sure there would be much greater interest in this MB-like offering.