Garant Nilor

[ilijagosp]

Hello everyone, my first review here.

Recently, I was looking through some local listings for fountain pens. I found one listing with ~40 fountain pens available from one owner/seller. As I understood later, this was an old collection of a passed relative.

As I got to see the collection of pens, to my dissapointment, I found out that most are in a very bad condition. Underneath the pile of neglected pens and a lot of sticky dried ink, I found this hidden gem.

 

http://imgur.com/a/xp74o#0

 

I was not aware of the brand, but it immediately cought my eye. As I took it home, I researched it and found out that it is a Garant Nilor fountain pen made in DDR (East Germany), most probably in the 1970s. I found a few listings on Ebay, but not exactly like this one.

It is a piston filler, but the kind where you have to open the back end and use a smaller handle inside of it.

After I cleaned it thoroughly, I filled it with ink and hoped for the best. The first word, ahhh, amazing. Smooth, wet, with character. You can feel the paper, but it still provides an amazing writing experience. I am now using it as my daily working pen, as I am waiting for a new cap for my Pelikan M200.

Appearance & Design (1-10) 7 - A bit damaged at the end, but you can see this had been a very attractive pen before being used.
Construction & Quality (1-10) 7 - Very sturdy, and the metal rings on the cap still look very good.
Weight & Dimensions (1-10) 8 - Fits great in my hand, I like thicker pens the most.
Nib & Performance (1-10) 8 - Writes amazingly well for a roughly used and old pen.
Filling System & Maintenance (1-10) 8 - The piston filler worked great immediately after cleaning, even after 5+ years of non-usage.
Cost & Value (1-10) 10 - I got it for 150 MKD (2.5 EUR) through a local listing.
Conclusion (Final score, xx/60) 48/60

Thank you for reading and stay well.

[Vips.fp]

cool

Edited December 1, 2014 by Vips.fp

[Jerome Tarshis]

This is, if 2.5 euros is correctly calculated, a remarkably good price. Felicitations.

 

As for the brand, it seems to have been one of the better brands of the DDR. There may yet be a Garant pen in my future.

 

On another subject, the family name Gospodinov seems less loaded with possibly frightening meaning than some others. I once asked the chess player Baburin whether I should consider him a descendant of the well-known conqueror. He said that although he asked himself the same question for years, more recent researches had informed him that the etymology of his name is completely different. (But if I were playing a game against Alexander Baburin I would be justly frightened.)

[Scribblesoften]

Excellent find. I hope you enjoy your new pen for many years to come.