Edison Beaumont In Persimmon Swirl

[cyranodb]

Edison Pens have always remained in the periphery as far as my pen addiction is concerned. To me, the idea of a "custom pen" (and the associated price point) always raised questions such as "Why don't I buy an expensive German/Italian/Urushi/vintage pen instead?".

There's a whole lot more that goes into buying a custom Edison pen than just walking into a shop (or browsing an online store) and using your credit card. And that's what makes this different, and special.

Many of you have already gone through this with Brian at Edison Pens (and enjoyed it) - with a custom pen, you first choose the model. Then you choose from different materials (Acrylic, Ebonite mostly) and within the material, literally hundreds of colours and patterns, and you can also further customise the pen until you end up with something truly unique (and truly personal).

This review is of the Edison Beaumont in Persimmon Swirl acrylic (which is my second Edison; I'll do the review of the first one another day).

Appearance, Material & Design
The Beaumont was an obvious choice of model. After having been bitten by the "vintage pens" bug of late, choosing the beaumont was like getting a vintage sheaffer, but with modern guts. It also posts quite deep, which was a big plus for me.

After poring over Brian's smugmug site for all the possible materials & patterns, I settled on the persimmon swirl material. It was always in my short list of materials to try. It shows up in many other reviews, always positive (the few videos also indicate it's a "shiny and mesmerising" material). Incidentally, you can get this material in a Production line model currently, the Collier.

I opted for black finial & end cap, plus rhodium trim, all of which I thought makes the rest of the pen stand out. I also requested the section be made matte/satin finish, to improve grip (considering the hot & humid weather here).

You can keep looking at the pen for a long long time, especially how it shimmers in the light, truly mesmerising! Here are some photos that paint a better picture...

 

Nib
I chose a 0.6mm cursive italic steel nib, which Brian himself customises. It writes with good line variation, with enough feedback, and on the dry side as I requested. I wouldn't put it at par with the work of nibmeisters like Masuyama, but Brian sure knows what he's doing!

 

 

Filling system
Standard cartridge/converter, which also has an added advantage (over upgrading to a bulb-filler) that you can be more adventurous with your ink choices. With (latex) bulb fillers, you will need to be more careful with reactive inks.

Value
In terms of the dollar amount you spend (starts at $250 as a custom order, with extra for the nib customisation; or at $150 if bought from the production line from other retailers), one might not immediately consider this a "value" purchase. But when you consider all the models/materials/patterns/textures you can choose from, to end up with a pen that was made for just one person - you - and then when you actually hold the (absolutely gorgeously) finished pen in your hand, you'll understand why this purchase was different from the umpteen others you made in the past.

Shipping, on the other hand, was a whole different story. If you live in the US, you wouldn't have to pay the exorbitant prices USPS charges for International shipping. For me, shipping charges hurt!

Conclusion
In conclusion, all I can say is - if you ever considered buying a custom pen, drop Brian a mail, and give this whole buying experience a try. What I have is a great daily writer, solidly built, "my very own pen".

[ravantra]

Beautiful swirl. I really like the nib.

[cyranodb]

Yes, the material is really cool. Photos don't capture the sheen, i.e. "pearlisation", properly.

 

The nib is a big one - #6, which for a relatively small pen like this is a big plus. I'm hooked on cursive italics.

 

Beautiful swirl. I really like the nib.

[ravantra]

I have a green Hudson and the 'sheen' is hard to capture, but in person it really is captivating.

[sshailessh]

The pen looks fantastic!!

 

I have folks coming down from the states at the end of the year, this finish goes straight into the not so short shortlist of things to buy!!

[Drone]

I feel your pain when it comes to international shipping costs via USPS, it has become outrageous. I'm in Indonesia, so on top of the high shipping cost I need to add around half of the pen's price just for local duty, taxes, and handling fees. In the end the purchase price is so inflated by all these added costs, no transaction takes place - and everyone loses. Sigh,,, These are the effects of bloated Big Governments that have gone out of control.

 

Lovely Beaumont though. It looks almost edible! At least I can still come here and look at the pictures - that is until the Government figures out how to make that unaffordable and/or illegal too.

[breaker]

nice review and pics!

thanks!

[cyranodb]

Thank you all for the comments.

 

@Drone, for me, thankfully, it's only US shipping that's a pain. From most other places (UK, Japan etc), you can get things shipped reasonably fast and for the equivalent of $15 or so. From the US (where you do have better shopping options though), that fee goes up threefold...

 

I feel your pain when it comes to international shipping costs via USPS, it has become outrageous. I'm in Indonesia, so on top of the high shipping cost I need to add around half of the pen's price just for local duty, taxes, and handling fees. In the end the purchase price is so inflated by all these added costs, no transaction takes place - and everyone loses. Sigh,,, These are the effects of bloated Big Governments that have gone out of control.

 

Lovely Beaumont though. It looks almost edible! At least I can still come here and look at the pictures - that is until the Government figures out how to make that unaffordable and/or illegal too.