Why Is (Graf Von) Faber Castell Not More Popular In The Fp World?

[mtcn77]

1 hour ago, como said:

@mtcn77 It's a beautiful pen no doubt. I went to a stationery shop to try it and found the section too thin and slippery for writing comfort. Each to his/her own.

My emotion came out splayed. So, that did not turn out so well.

[MuddyWaters]

On 9/21/2021 at 4:19 PM, maclink said:

On impulse (I could have posted this in the Impulse Acquisition thread but thought it more topical here), I found a pre-owned GvFC Intuition for sale and got it.

 

I much prefer it to the Guilloche.  I prefer the thicker barrel that is one piece with the section. The end of the barrel/section flares out a bit which is a subtle, but important touch to improve ergonomics. The cap also posts deeply, with a reassuring click, allowing for great balance for use when posted.  I suspect the extra engineering involved in making the barrel and section a single piece, created a special and separate production line that wasn't cost effective.  This is a great pity since I think this pen special and I'm happy that I managed to find one.

 

Here are a few photos comparing the Intuition with the Guilloche:

 

 

 

 

Both nibs perform well by the way.  The picture quality isn't stellar since they were taken with my iPhone in compromised lighting.

 

 

 

 

How have you been liking your intuition maclink? Do you have a 3-month review for us?

[como]

4 hours ago, mtcn77 said:

My emotion came out splayed. So, that did not turn out so well.

🙂 @mtcn77 Well this is an online forum, so there are plenty people who dislike all sorts of things 😀 The combination of slippery and skinny section really isn’t my preference. I wish they made the same design but with girthier barrel (kind of like their POTY) and just regular sterling silver section. But of course this will probably be too expensive. Ruthenium and Macassar wood is a beautiful combination, at least to me. 

[maclink]

3 hours ago, MuddyWaters said:

How have you been liking your intuition maclink? Do you have a 3-month review for us?

I inked it a couple times and enjoyed it a lot.  I've since moved on to other pens in my collection, <cough>, accumulation. 😛

I wasn't enthusiastic at reviewing a difficult to find, discontinued pen.

 

I really love the ergonomics of the Intuition.  Unfortunately, the construction is completely different from the others and I think this is why they discontinued it.  This is a pity since the balance and overall feel is stellar.  The nib performs well, though not other-worldly. 🙃

[PAKMAN]

My one GVFC pen is a black Tamitio bought in Mainz Germany while on vacation there. I like it but probably won't buy another.

[mtcn77]

On 1/4/2022 at 7:07 PM, como said:

🙂 @mtcn77 Well this is an online forum, so there are plenty people who dislike all sorts of things 😀 The combination of slippery and skinny section really isn’t my preference. I wish they made the same design but with girthier barrel (kind of like their POTY) and just regular sterling silver section. But of course this will probably be too expensive. Ruthenium and Macassar wood is a beautiful combination, at least to me. 

@como phew! I improved it a lot from where it were. Now the nib is aligned, butter smooth, a touch too wide but perfectly capable of drawing round letters. Now the only remaining issue is occasional skip which I attribute to placing the nib a amillimeter away from the feed base.

[mtcn77]

On 1/5/2022 at 12:24 AM, PAKMAN said:

My one GVFC pen is a black Tamitio bought in Mainz Germany while on vacation there. I like it but probably won't buy another.

They have good nibs and good design. Not every pen manufacturer designs in the bauhaus artdeco fashion movement. I do respect the heritage behind their pens and I do find them very attractive. They are just like some artefacts we would find in an alternate timeline.

Ironically, plastics are also a German invention pens are perfectly suited to discontinue using them.

[mtcn77]

Update: I fixed my E-motion. It already came with an exceptionally smooth, albeit skipping nib. I took it out, transplanted it to my Loom, posted the nib unit into the section with the nib sticking out as much as the cap allows and it became a wonderful dream writer. I gifted it to my cousin. I kept the Loom's nib on the E-motion body. It writes really scratchy, but a consistent F.

Currently, I'm in the process of deciding on a black Intuition. I really wish to finalize the deal, but the price is really steep. I cannot justify it being a Bock nib since I am a hardcore Jowo fan.

[myinkrunsblack]

I owned two Guilloche model fountain pens both with Broad nibs. One I gave away as a gift, the other received a customized sharp italic nib grind that I have used on and off as an underliner/higherlighter.

I think these Graf von Faber Castell pens can fulfill the role of a 'jewelry' type of accessory item quite well, although I have no interest in that personally. From ones I have handled and the one I own, I also think the quality of finish & tolerance of parts is quite good, I would say on par with modern production Montblanc perhaps slightly better. If you are looking for a pen primarily to admire the quality of its build or its finish (I certainly own pens bought for this purpose) I don't think you would be disappointed.

However, for the price point, I think potential customers, especially ones focused primarily on the writing experience a pen has to offer, have a lot of alternatives to choose from. On looking up the prices just now I can see the core models with 18c nibs have gotten much more expensive than they used to be (an increase of $125.00 US). For the price of one Classic model for example I could pick up perhaps 2 or 3, perhaps even 4 vintage Montblancs(Not Meisterstuck), Watermans or Sheaffers that write excellently and offer characteristics either difficult to find or costly in modern production pens. Or perhaps 2-3 modern production fountain pens of comparable quality with excellent nibs from Pilot or Sailor. 

I know that it is a slippery slope to mention "For the price, one could instead get..." however I would say it's warranted in this case as the nibs on these pens seem to be somewhat of an afterthought. In fact my opinion of these pens diminshed somewhat when I discovered that the nib & feed unit from the Guilloche can simply be unscrewed from the section and immediately replaced by a steel nib & feed unit from the E-Motion or other various Faber-Castell fountain pens, without any adjustment necessary. What that tells me (and someone may correct me if I'm mistaken) is that the nibs in these Graf von Faber Castell pens are simply Bock size 5 nibs with custom engraving and a default feed & housing. For reference, the nibs from the E-Motion and other inexpensive Faber Castell pens are also interchangable with the TWSBI nibs. 

I doubt that I'm the only one to come to these conclusions especially considering that the prices of these items have increased meanwhile the quality of fountain pens in general has gone up so much in the past decade. This might be one possible reason why the products aren't as popular when it comes to enthusiasts whose primary concern is the writing experience of fountain pens.

[nibtip]

Everything you say is absolutely correct.

Precision: bock nibs on Graf v.F.C. and Jowo on F.C. not quite the same.

Out of the box the gold bock n° 5 18k nibs (M in my case) of the Classic and guilloché are among the smoothest and subtle I have ever encountered (any ink any paper!). At least up to Japanese standards.

The steel jowo n° 5 nibs of the Faber Castell and the GvFC Tamitio are slightly stiffer and not as smooth and so well tuned either, as their gold counterparts. Still much better than most other brands, except maybe Waldmann whose nibs are switchable with the Castell and the Otto Hutt nibs.

Also the Tamitio steel nib is better than the regular F.C. nib. Without a question.

One other unloved German brand that makes flawless, beautifully made stiff nibbled pens is Cleo Skribent. True that they are as ugly as can get a Cold War bureaucratic writing instrument. It has its charm.

I gave away or got rid of all my FCs. I still own about half a dozen GvFC. 

One shortcoming of some of these pens is the section may become slippery. Depends much on how you hold them. The price as always, yup.

[Waltz For Zizi]

On 2/27/2019 at 2:50 AM, max dog said:

Haven't had s chance to wade through all the pages here. Top of mind why FC is not more popular is because of their design and aesthetics isn't for everyone. Maybe if the offered some more traditional pen designs they would gain more traction. Perhaps they should look at Cross, Waterman, and Montblanc.

Good god, not Cross. don't get me wrong, I really love the Century II, but that's all. The rest of the Cross lineup looks weird, with bulbous caps and thin bodies (townsend, peerless), like male reproductive cells.

[Waltz For Zizi]

On 9/16/2021 at 9:30 PM, sansenri said:

 

I'm just guessing, but very lubrified inks usually contain a higher quantity of surfactant, which is essentially soap (wetting agent, reduces surface tension), and that is likely to wash away the silicon grease faster than less lubricated ink... which might be the reason why your pistons tend to cling to the piston wall after a while, especially after a period of rest.

But how come my Pilot Custom 92 since I got it almost 5 years ago, didin't need a single greasing? and I use the same inks in all my pens (Iroshizuku), and that pen's piston is the smoothest I have ever used, and still is after all this time, and I have used 3000$ MB that new were not even close to the Custom 92.

[TitoThePencilPimp]

5 minutes ago, Waltz For Zizi said:

But how come my Pilot Custom 92 since I got it almost 5 years ago, didin't need a single greasing? and I use the same inks in all my pens (Iroshizuku), and that pen's piston is the smoothest I have ever used, and still is after all this time, and I have used 3000$ MB that new were not even close to the Custom 92.

Maybe you used the same ink over and over again? Or constantly kept the pen in use? I can also do this with Pelikan... 

[Waltz For Zizi]

2 minutes ago, TitoThePencilPimp said:

Maybe you used the same ink over and over again? Or constantly kept the pen in use? I can also do this with Pelikan... 

No, I use all my pens the same. Fill once, clean and refill in a few months or half a year, since I have almost 200.

[Waltz For Zizi]

I guess I'm in the minority here. 🤣

[Kate10]

In my opinion they make the most beautiful pens... they are the pen brand that I return to again and again. Some of GVFC's pens are so beautiful they are like writing with pieces of jewellery. I would love to see a GFVC forum on here

[lamarax]

O hi ☺️

 

[Lam1]

I have only one GvFC, the Elemento, which is the form factor of the Intuition Platino (after reading a bit of this thread today, I inked it with GvFC Cognac Brown).

My wife has two Classics (Snakewood and another I cannot remember).

 

The reason I don't have more: the Classics are too thin for me. The other models are also too thin/small. The one model I love, the Intuition Platino, has been discontinued. Should they bring those back, I would certainly have more.

[Tashi_Tsering]

1 hour ago, Lam1 said:

The reason I don't have more: the Classics are too thin for me. The other models are also too thin/small.

Not all other models are thin/small  For example, the "pen of the year" series is very large, look at the photo next to Montblanc 146. But the pens of this series are prohibitively expensive.

 

Also, the "Magnum" model was recently released. I haven't seen it myself yet, but judging by the description on the Internet, it is very large.