Conid Minimalistica

[stephanos]

This is a review of CONID’s Minimalistica, which I haven’t seen reviewed on FPN yet.

 

This is a two-part review.

The first part is a traditional FP review, following the criteria commonly used on FPN.

The second is a bit of an experiment; to try to use some intellectual tools to express aesthetically why I really, really like CONID’s Minimalistica. The idea behind this comes from Jonathon Deans. I’ll put more details about his very interesting contribution to the FP community in a comment (or see his post directly).

The result is a longer-than-usual review. I hope you find it useful anyway. Please leave feedback on the aesthetic review.

 

 

--- TRADITIONAL (technical) REVIEW ---

 

Design: 9/10

This is an extremely well-designed pen. One might even call it a pen that has been designed with an obsessive eye for detail. There are plenty of entries elsewhere on FPN that talk about the technical details, so I won’t try to repeat them here; suffice it to say that there has been great care taken with every aspect of this pen; from the filling system, to the rubber-ring-secured snap-cap (which you have to twist slightly when capping and uncapping), to the excellently-designed clip.

 

I docked a point because there is a slight wobble in the cap when the pen is capped. To be clear, it sits very securely, but if you press the side of the bottom of the cap, the rubber ring securing the cap to the body of the pen ensures that there is a small gap between the cap and barrel that is a tiny bit wider than a sheet of paper, and which allows a bit of play.

 

Photo: capped pen

 

Photo: posted pen

 

Appearance: 8/10

Rather bland in online photos, this is a lovely pen in ‘person’ (more in the aesthetic review part, below). I went for the demonstrator barrel, which I found more interesting. Note that even when it is full of ink, the Minimalistica will have a big transparenct chunk just below the feed. The demo version isn’t for everyone, but there is also an opaque version. For some reason, the solid (dark, opaque) body reminded me of a Lamy 2000 in looks/shape.

 

The one thing I don’t like is a little discoloured ring inside the barrel close to where the seal engages. It looks to have been caused by a circular rough spot in the barrel that attracts ink. I have used the same ink each time I’ve filled the pen – Akkerman’s Royal Blue, which came with the pen – so I don’t know what it would look like after several colours had cycled through. I have rather strictly docked two points for this; the pen is otherwise perfect in my eyes.

 

Special mention to the packaging. I don’t usually care for packaging, and I only saw the box after I had bought the pen, but it’s an unusually well-designed box, with all aspects well thought-out.

And honourable mention to user-serviceability. I got a tool-set in the box. With the instructions, I should be able to take the pen apart entirely to clean and/or otherwise service it.

 

Photo: Finial

 

Photo: Turning knob

 

Photo: End, unscrewed

 

Filling System: 10/10

If you’ve read this far, you’re almost certainly aware that CONID’s filling system is new and innovative, and allows for a barrel full of ink. It is an excellent design and very easy to use. Full marks here.

 

Photo: Mid-section, seal open

 

Photo: Mid-section, seal closed

 

Nib performance: 10/10

I bought this pen at the London pen show in early October 2015 and it has been in daily use since then. It is a joy to use. The Medium titanium nib was modified to a stub while I waited and it was set to write as I specified. So it is inevitable, really, that I give the nib a 10/10 performance. However, the CONID stand had loads of inked (not dipped) pens to try out, and they all wrote beautifully. In fact, my inspiration for the stub on my pen came from the stub on one of the demo pens, which was love at first touch to the paper. Based on my sample of pens tested, giving a 10/10 for my specific nib’s performance isn’t unfairly positive. If you were feeling sceptical, you could mentally adjust this score down to a 9.

 

Photo: Nib

 

Writing experience: 9/10

This pen writes beautifully – smooth and about a 7/10 wetness. The feed easily keeps up, even with fast writing, and the dimensions are perfect for me. I had expected to prefer one of the other pens, but after at least 15 minutes of trying out different models, I kept coming back to the Minimalistica. I liked its looks very much, but I liked other models also: the deciding factor was that this model fitted my hand perfectly and posts securely (I’m an habitual poster, though it’s large enough to use unposted).

 

My only niggle is that – like a power-filler – you have to unscrew the back after a while as the closed reserve starts to run dry. Once you’ve opened up the seal, the wetness goes up to about 8/10 for a short while. I dock a point for this.

 

Writes out of the box: not applicable

Many modern fountain pens bought new have problems right out of the box. I therefore think it generally appropriate to give a mark of 5/5 if it is trouble-free from the start, to reflect the fact that a pen is principally a writing instrument (0/5 if this criterion isn’t met; rendering an overall mark of 55). My Minimalistica did write beautifully, trouble-free from the start, and has continued to do so. But, as I bought it at a show and it was modified for me on the spot, I don’t think it is fair to rate this aspect. If you think that’s unfair, mentally add 5 to both the overall score and the theoretical maximum.

 

Overall view: 46/50

Technically close to perfect, this pen is an enormous pleasure to write with and interesting to look at. It is easily my favourite acquisition of the year, and has set a new benchmark for writing pleasure. This pen is not cheap, but to me it nonetheless represents excellent value.

 

 

--- AESTHETIC REVIEW ---

 

Jonathon Deans suggests one set of (normative) criteria for evaluating aesthetic experience and another set of factors to address sources of aesthetic appreciation. Rather than trying anything fancy here, I’ll just go through them.

 

Evaluating the aesthetic experience

 

Intensity (the wow! factor): The Minimalistica has a pretty good ability to grab and hold my attention in the way it looks (visual) and feels (physical). Combine that with a whizz-bang experience in writing (performative intensity) that really grabs my emotional attention, and the overall experience is definitely intense. Others might prefer the solid, opaque version, but I find the demonstrator body much more interesting. This is not least because I like seeing the guts of this new filling system.

 

Complexity of the experience: did I experience this pen as imaginative, surprising, interesting? Yes. I was surprised by how pleasing it was to hold and look at – wasn’t expecting that. Nor was I expecting it to feel as pleasant as it did in the hand: beautifully smooth, not slippery, not cold. And I experience it as imaginative and interesting – both in the way it was put together and in the particular filling mechanism. This is a deceptively simple pen – looks pretty basic at first glance, but repays greater attention. Maybe this is why I can see parallels with the Lamy 2000: both have a kind of radical simplicity.

 

Unity: did I experience the Minimalistica as coherent and complete? Most certainly. Well thought-through, a harmonious, well-balanced blend of its parts, and with nothing missing. The pen is perfect as is. I think it is also possible to get this model without a clip, but to my taste, not having a clip would make me feel the pen were incomplete.

 

Sources of aesthetic appreciation

 

Materials: colours, shapes, physical material. Not much here to get too excited about. The shape is aesthetically pleasing, suits me very well. But it’s designed in sober colours and in a decent plastic. I really like the smoothness of the materials, and the colour of the nib compared with the body of the pen. The bands at the pen’s extremities have nice detail, but I think the materials are more of a hygiene factor.

 

Form: The relationship of each element to the whole. Wonderful. I can sit and look at this pen for minutes at a time, admiring the perfection of the ratio of the parts, with the form extremely well-suited to the particular function and filling system.

 

Expression: what if anything is it that I associate with this particular pen, and what sort of emotions does it evoke? There is little in the colours to trigger associations for me. The sleek design makes me think of something low-key and highly efficient. There is plenty of space for more extravagant, exuberant designs too, but the idea of being able to get maximum effect for the minimum fuss makes me happy.

 

Finally, I’m not sure whether the circumstances of acquisition should count under expression or whether this should be a separate category. Either way, a pen’s provenance surely conjures associations. Just think of an heirloom pen. In this case, my particular pen has an association with my positive experience of the London pen show, which I enjoyed.

 

So, that was a long review of the CONID Minimalistica, a very interesting pen. It was also a first attempt to exlpicitly discuss the aesthetics and start developing aesthetic literacy. I hope you found it useful. Please see my comment, below, which provides more detail on the impetus for this initiative.

[stephanos]

Here is further detail on fountain pen aesthetics, as promised in the review.

 

I have recently read Jonathon Deans’s excellent entry on fountain pen aesthetics. It's fairly long, but well worth reading.

 

Faced with the puzzle of why he didn't really love his new Pelikan M805 demonstrator, he realised that he lacked the language to really understand his relative indifference to a technically-excellent pen. This realisation triggered the process that culminated in his post.

 

The basic premise is that although the FP world is highly technically literate, we are much less aesthetically literate. That is, “we are not ignorant of aesthetics but we are not able to comprehend or communicate our feelings about aesthetics in a meaningful, intelligible way.” This means that we lack the collective language to describe the subjective aesthetic experience of a particular pen in a manner that is usefully meaningful to ourselves and others – we are reduced to “I really like it”. The comparison with the world of wine and its aesthetic terminology is quite illustrative.

 

Dr Deans then introduces two complementary frameworks that may be useful in collectively moving us towards greater aesthetic literacy.

 

I buy his argument and have tried in my review of the CONID Minimalistica to start to implement his suggestions.

[visvamitra]

Hi - thank you for the review. I was waiting for someone to review this pen. It's been on my list for quite a while but because of the price I still haven't find enough resolve to get it I didn't know it was available in demonstrator version. It lloks really cool this way. There's also Alain Vanderauvera limited run that I find stunning.

 

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h89/fountainbel/Fountainbel%20Bulk%20filler/P1000819.jpg\

I'm peneconomics avid reader and I think his article about aesthetics was excellent

[captain1796]

Hi,

You have this as a Minimilistica. I was unaware and it's not listed on the site one of these is made. What's the story of your pen?

Thanks

[stephanos]

Hello, Captain1796

 

Conid's website does offer the Minimalistica model, so I suppose you're referring specifically to the fact that I got a demonstrator version.

 

As I said in my review, I bought it at the London pen show a few weeks ago. I couldn't tell you whether the demonstrator version is a special or limited production, but I didn't get the impression that it was anything other than a standard production line. Certainly, nobody said to me when I bought it that I was acquiring anything beyond the standard Conid line-up, and I don't believe I paid a different price compared with the solid version.

[da vinci]

Stephanos, your review is aligned to your Minimalistica - a review par excellence! I enjoyed reading both aspects.

[perfaddict]

Great review! I didn't know there was a demostrator edition. In my hand, and to my eye, the Minimalistica reminds me so much of the Lamy 2000. The titanium nib is a joy to write with.

[stephanos]

Thank you for your kind words, da vinci.

 

perfaddict, yes, even though it is clearly not a Lamy2000, the resemblance is uncanny (perhaps both models resonate with the same platonic ideal of a sleek and simple fountain pen).

[rudyhou]

Hi - thank you for the review. I was waiting for someone to review this pen. It's been on my list for quite a while but because of the price I still haven't find enough resolve to get it I didn't know it was available in demonstrator version. It lloks really cool this way. There's also Alain Vanderauvera limited run that I find stunning.

 

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h89/fountainbel/Fountainbel%20Bulk%20filler/P1000819.jpg\

I'm peneconomics avid reader and I think his article about aesthetics was excellent

 

this pen looks sleek. i really like the matte black finish

Edited November 3, 2015 by rudyhou

[fountainbel]

Thanks for the thorough review of your Minimalistica Stephanos

I've really enjoyed reading it, and I'm glad to know you are happy with your new pen !

Enjoy !

Francis

[Pencilcaseblog]

 

The one thing I don’t like is a little discoloured ring inside the barrel close to where the seal engages. It looks to have been caused by a circular rough spot in the barrel that attracts ink. I have used the same ink each time I’ve filled the pen – Akkerman’s Royal Blue, which came with the pen – so I don’t know what it would look like after several colours had cycled through. I have rather strictly docked two points for this; the pen is otherwise perfect in my eyes.

 

Hi Stephanos, great review!

 

The rough spot is actually just a bit of silicon grease that is left behind when operating the piston. I got rid of the marks by simply dissasembling the piston mechanism, and cleaning the inside of the barrel with a wet cloth (it does take some effort to get rid of the grease). After cleaning the piston seal as well, I re-lubricated it with a bit of silicon grease from a TWSBI, and reassembled it.

[stephanos]

The rough spot is actually just a bit of silicon grease that is left behind when operating the piston. ...

 

That is very good to know; thanks a lot for that.

[Hollow]

That was an excellent review of an excellent pen. One day, Conid, you'll get my money, too.

 

I particularly enjoyed the second part of the review. It was very appealing and thought-provoking to read a review that went the distance and tried to explain the widely unexplainable but still perceptible feelings of aesthetic stimulation. I am going to read the post on penecomics for sure.

[Pencilcaseblog]

 

That is very good to know; thanks a lot for that.

No problem, glad I could help!

[steelblue]

One of the most enjoyable reviews I've ever read and especially the aesthetic review in which you successfully convey much that an unusually satisfying pen can evoke. I'd love to see it on the Conid site for the Miniamlistica as it wonderfully captures and appreciates the tremendous attention to detail that sets Conid pens well apart from most. Thanks for your review.

[stephanos]

I'm glad you liked the review. I hope others will take up the aesthetic review part in their reviews.

 

Actually, it should be on the CONID blog somewhere, as I gave Francis permission to copy it there.