Faber Castell E-Motion Pure Black Limited Edition

[pranav.bhatnagar]

My first review - Faber Castell e-motion Pure Black “Stealth” Limited Edition.

 

I was looking forward for buying a new fountain pen under the range of AED 600 ($170). After I visited the store the shopkeeper showed me this ultimate piece “Faber Castell e-motion Pure Black” Since there was no first hand review of this pen, I decided to contribute by writing a review for the FPNers. The pen is so amazing that I was compelled to write a firsthand review on paper before converting it to a digital copy. I am writing this review 10 days after I bought the pen so that I’m confident about it review.

 

 

First Impressions:

This is a purely cool special edition pure black version of the e-motion series. The fountain pen features a sophisticated black on black style. This is a classic one for one who craves a black pen from head to toe. This pen is manufactured in Germany and features an all brass body having a Matt finish.

 

 

 

Design and Appearance (10/10):

The pen features the design of a “Cigar” that is substantial in weight and looks. The pen is very well designed and engineered for a sturdy stealth look which is visible from the exterior appearance. The pen is made up of mostly brass with matt finish. The elegance comes from the subtle Guilloché diamond engraving (technically knurling) on the wide barrel covering almost major part of the body. This gives a pleasing texture and grip on the barrel. The cap also features matt black finish with Faber Castell logo engraved beautifully on the sides giving an extra elegance that completes the nature of the pen in itself. The cap and body are bonded by threading which is used capping and uncapping purposes. The cap has vertical trims throughout the circumference running at the base for added grip during holding the pen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Packaging (4/5):

The pen comes with an elegant white case made up of hard plastic that has a Faber Castell logo on the top. In comparison to the other boxes this one has a partial opening on the top and has a soft padding on the inner side of the box. The padding makes the pen fit perfectly in the inner groves that restricts movement and damages to the pen in any case. The box also features a instructional manual which includes all the Faber Castell products.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fit and Finish (9.5/10):

The pen put together gives a very luxury and sporty look and feel. The black on black is a very cool concept of this pen. The thickness and the volume of the metal used in manufacturing this pen is substantially very high than what others offer at this price range. The thickness of metal in the cap is 2.5 mm and in the barrel is 3.5 ~ 3.75 mm of solid brass. The dimensions of the pen are full body - 13.7 cm, barrel with nib – 11.5 cm, cap – 6.3 cm. The clip is very strong and well placed on the cap around 10 mm below the head of the cap. The design and shape of the clip gives a very stylish and graceful. The pen clip features a spring mechanism. The clip is very reliable in performance and rugged in durability. Also the clip can move to about 15 degrees when pressed from the base of joint.

 

 

 

 

Refilling (9/10):

The pen comes with a converter as a default one. A cartridge can also be conveniently used. The converter features a piston type screw in style mechanism. The converted is very smooth in operation and can hold about 1.5 – 2.5 ml of ink.

 

Ergonomics (8.5/10):

Despite of the weight and the shape the pen is very well balanced during writing. Yes, it is slightly heavier but if you prefer a heavy ones then is a good choice. It is very easy to write despite of all the weight and heaviness. The pen features outstanding writing comfort matched with style you would crave for.

 

 

 

Nib (10/10):

The pen features a steel nib coated with PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition Technique) giving it a stealth black look. The PVD coating provides resistance to wear and corrosion and adds a functionality to the pen giving it a glossy shine which attributes to the structure and quality of the pen. The nib is engraved with Faber Castell logo. The black nibs are only available in Medium (M) size. The feeder system is made up of plastic and very decently fits in the body of the pen.

 

 

 

 

Writing performance (10/10):

The writing is very smooth and flows on the paper. The pen instills a clear writing and does not provide any signs of smearing. The pressure and ink flow is constant throughout whether writing is fast or slow. The thickness of the nib point is thinner as compared to other medium nibs that draws a 0.7 mm line. This adds an own unique taste to it. The nib is very well tunes to write smooth since its beginning. The pen has quite a good ink efficiency. At present, I am using a pelican black cartridge with 0.8 ml capacity which gave me 20 – 25 pages in writing.

 

 

 

The Verdict

“Heavy Armory” another name that suits this stealth writer due to the substantial amount of metal used providing strong rigidity to the pen and the nib and protecting the pen from accidental damages. With the market price of $175, I feel it is justified to the value that is it placed providing so much features as compared to the others at this price. This is once of the best pen that features my collection. My personal recommendation would be to have this lovely piece of “stealth armor” with you especially if you are keen on black or heavy pens.

 

 

 

 

 

If you need any help from my side kindly do not hesitate. I shall be happy to provide you the information you require.

 

 

Thank you for reading!

 

Have a great day !!

 

 

Pranav

 

 

 

 

[bernardo]

Great review, thanks for posting!

[leeowens337]

A nice review indeed! Thanks for your work on that and all the great photos. Now I really want one even more!

 

-Lee

[pranav.bhatnagar]

Great review, thanks for posting!

 

 

A nice review indeed! Thanks for your work on that and all the great photos. Now I really want one even more!

 

-Lee

 

Thank you very much for the compliment !!

[Safari_Camo]

Nice review!

[inotrym]

It seems to be a nice finish. I have and love the (sadly discontinued) ivory parquet in EF.

 

Beautiful pen. Just beautiful.

I was really surprised the other day, when I unintentionally left it uncapped for about 20mins and it started writing with no problems at all!! Wow!

[a_m]

Thanks for a nice review.

 

Initially i thought this was another of those carbon fibre pens until you wrote its metal.

[The Blue Knight]

It's a good review definitely. However the only question I'd have is with your scoring it would be informative to read how you would break down the 1-10 scale, you've given the pen some very high scores but it's unclear in relation to which pens? What would constitute a 9 an 8 etc.

Edited August 8, 2014 by The Blue Knight

[perth]

Great review! The step from the grip to the barrel looks steep! Or since it's a larger pen, would it be less of an issue? It's a little expensive for a steel nib pen though, isn't it?

[pranav.bhatnagar]

Thanks for a nice review.

 

Initially i thought this was another of those carbon fibre pens until you wrote its metal.

 

Thank you very much for the compliment.

 

 

 

It's a good review definitely. However the only question I'd have is with your scoring it would be informative to read how you would break down the 1-10 scale, you've given the pen some very high scores but it's unclear in relation to which pens? What would constitute a 9 an 8 etc.

 

Hello Blue Knight,

The scores are more or less comparitive to the average of all pens that I have been using throughtout my life/ seen out in the market. To name a few - Sheaffer Prelude, Parker Premier Monochrome Edition, Lamy Safari etc. Also before buying I compared this with a Lamy Studio (gold nib) and Waterman Carene and it outperformed way better than those. To what I have been seeing I found this to stand apart from the crowd. I feel if you get a chance one, just try a hands on run for this and then see the results. The pen with steel nib can be compared to a gold ones.

 

Great review! The step from the grip to the barrel looks steep! Or since it's a larger pen, would it be less of an issue? It's a little expensive for a steel nib pen though, isn't it?

 

Hey perth,

 

It isn't that big pen. I hope you must have read the dimensions. The best part is the weight. Since its heavy and reduces in dimension the weight is perfectly balanced giving the best of the handwriting. Also taking about the steel nib, I must agree, this can be compared to gold nib. The writing is very smooth and clear because of the special coating called PVD coating. You can see from the writeup attached.

 

Also before buying I compared this with a Lamy Studio (gold nib) and Waterman Carene and it outperformed way better than those. I would personally recommend you also to give it a test run.

[perth]

I'm no stranger to excellent steel nibs. The ones on my Sheaffer 100 and Intensity are way smoother than the gold Parker nibs on the Sonnets that I own.

[akafridi3]

Tried this pen out recently and I was suprised how much i liked it. Would like to get one in the future.

 

I was also surprised to find out about how much it weights. When I was writing with it, it did not feel so heavy and i found it comfortable to use either way.

[bone215]

That pen looks very nice. Good Luck with it. I kind of like the stealth look, on some pens it doesn't look too good but your pen looks very nice in stealth.

I agree with you about nibs, seems like a good steel nib is better than a not so good gold nib.

Nice choice.

 

Regards,

[High_Noon]

That pen looks very nice. Good Luck with it. I kind of like the stealth look, on some pens it doesn't look too good but your pen looks very nice in stealth.

Agreed. I normally do not favor the "modern" or "stealth" look, but in this particular pen it does indeed look good and I think I prefer this color scheme to the Emotion in more traditional livery.

[Broxi]

Very Stealthy looking pen - Congrats on a great pick up

[RyanM]

Very nice. I'll have to get one of these now!

[John UK]

I have recently bought an e-motion pure.

The good: It is beautifully made and finished, with one of the smoothest (M) nibs I have ever used (and I have used fountain pens for over 50 years now). It was also well priced (via Amazon) at well under 100 GBP inc tax etc.

 

The less good: With my usual Parker Royal Blue Washable, its a little 'wet' on my usual office paper - and the wetness does seem very paper sensitive. I appreciate this is mainly a paper/ink issue, but the Faber Castell seems more fussy than recent pens used (Parker 51 (M), Lamy 2000 (generous F)). The converter (the one supplied) is a basic one with a (neatly added) Faber Castell name - and is not very large - meaning fairly frequent refills in a wet writer. A shame as there is no shortage of room!

 

Overall, I'm very pleased.

[Dr. Saleem Ali]

Nice review and pictures ! Congrats !

[OrangeSport]

I'm a big fan of FC's E-Motion range and although I don't have a fountain pen I do have ballpoints and a lovely pencil. Mine are various wood models, which feel and smell fantastic.nyheh are tough, and are good fallbacks for situations when some of my MB's may be seen as "extravagant". Some of my clients are sensitive to things like that...

[FPscribe]

I have the dark brown wood version of the E-Motion which I love: deep brown and chrome always look good I think. Although the stealth version isn't to my taste, I'm glad you love it as these are very good pens.

 

I have always wondered about those who buy this version though... are you an international assassin? Do you need to journal without casting reflections when out on a mission?

Edited July 12, 2015 by FPscribe