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

[A Smug Dill]

  On 2/1/2019 at 3:54 AM, Brianm_14 said:

"The Ambition, Loom and Emotion models aren't bad at all and represent good value for money" . . .

 

This exactly refects my experience! Well said, clearly based on experience, nothing more or less.

Faber-Castell Ambition fountain pen – cheap enough to be good value if you don't mind the EF nib writing too broadly to fit the grade. Mine's been sitting in the drawer for years; and, no, it does not do nearly as good a job as my Rotring 400 or Rotring Initials pens in not drying out in the weeks between uses.

[ItsMeDave]

They're not popular in my home because I'm not fond of pens with metal sections, and it seems that every one of the FC pens that I think are attractive have metal sections.

Edited February 1, 2019 by ItsMeDave

[TheRealMikeDr]

  On 2/1/2019 at 12:31 AM, PAKMAN said:

Has anyone tried the e-motion?

 

 

I've had mine for a couple years - sadly it doesn't get used much as I bought it with an ef nib which is a bit too fine for me now.

 

It's a fun pen, heavy, maybe not perfectly balanced for long writing. The quality is top notch - it is superbly machined and makes me feel like James Bond (I assume he would find use for a pen like this) when I do use it.

 

I dug mine out and now remember my biggest nit against it is that the nib is far tooo small for a pen this size. The symmetry is all wrong.

Edited February 1, 2019 by TheRealMikeDr

[ygv]

They make great pens i have my eye on a few.

[mirosc]

I like the materials, the body, the section. But I never get along with the caps of GvFC. Ways too huge and flashy for my personal taste.

[como]

  On 11/24/2018 at 1:18 PM, Astron said:

I think they are too ugly.

😂😂😂

To me, they are too robotic, cold, machine-like. Almost the opposite of artisan feel. I feel the same way towards Caran dAche. Just personal preference. I am sure that they are nice pens.

Edited February 2, 2019 by como

[MuddyWaters]

  On 2/2/2019 at 8:51 PM, mirosc said:

I like the materials, the body, the section. But I never get along with the caps of GvFC. Ways too huge and flashy for my personal taste.

Gvfc certainly aren't pens to lug around

[sansenri]

Took a picture of the Classic Ebony at last

I find it has classic elegance

[ArchiMark]

  On 2/20/2019 at 2:01 PM, sansenri said:

Took a picture of the Classic Ebony at last

I find it has classic elegance

 

 

+1 !

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

Mark

[beboy]

  On 2/20/2019 at 2:07 PM, ArchiMark said:

 

+1 !

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

Mark

 

+1

 

If it wasn't for the shinny grip, I would get one.

[Pfhorrest]

I have been using Graf von Faber Castell fountain pens & pencils, nearly exclusively, for around 11 years now and while I am not an expert on anything to do with writing or writing instruments I think that gives me enough experience to comment in detail on this topic.

 

The first reason I believe Graf von Faber Castell products are uncommon is that their design language seems to target an extremely narrow demographic. Their designs (and also marketing) seem to appeal to people who 1. have a taste for 'heirloom' quality products with an Old World sensibility of handmade quality and precious materials, 2. prefer 'understated luxury' in their personal effects, with a design language that emphasizes simple, unornamented forms that are regardless immediately recognizable as belonging to a high end product, 3. are interested in things which could be described as 'practical, technical, modern, form-follows-function' but at the same time 'classic, recognizable, artisan', and 4. have the economic wherewithal and collector's attitude necessary to accumulate matching sets of accessories all unified through visual and material themes.

 

With specifications that narrow it is incredible that products satisfying them even exist in the first place let alone that anyone purchases them for MSRP. In my personal opinion, if the Graf von Faber Castell products were not backed up by the history and reputation of Faber Castell they might not even be able to exist in the world of bespoke/custom pens and accessories. The high MSRP are certainly justified by the materials, construction quality, labor and customer service that goes into these writing instruments but in my view this is actually a downside.

 

Because the production costs for these products is not particularly low, and because the company aims to unify their products in terms of design language, there is very little room for expanding the Graf von Faber Castell products either in scope or in target audience. The fact that the target audience is so narrow to begin with does not help matters at all. Designs such as those by Montblanc and Pelikan (I only choose to mention these two manufacturers because I assume that they occupy the same market sector that Graf von Faber Castell would like to sell to) can be scaled upward or downward to certain extents to provide a wide range of products at a wide range of price points, but this is not the case for Graf von Faber Castell due to their commitment to producing products that more or less complement each other in a sort of perverse backwards compatibility.

 

Outside of that narrow target audience, (full disclosure, I am unfortunately a part of this narrow target audience myself) when considering Graf von Faber Castell products, at every angle there seems to be a competitor that would be extremely likely to attract more potential customers. This has already been covered at length by multiple people in this thread with regards to price, writing quality, craftsmanship, materials, etc. so there is not much further to say.

 

However I do want to comment further on some of the positive points of the Graf von Faber Castell line in case anyone is reading this topic with a purchase or non-purchase in mind. If you happen to be a part of that narrow target audience that appreciates the design language of the Graf von Faber Castell writing instruments then there really is no one else, whether production, custom, limited or bespoke, who even comes close. Up until the introduction of the Intuition line, I think there may not have been a single series of writing products, present or past, that were as unified in design as the Graf von Faber Castell collection. That in itself is pretty remarkable.

 

Moreover, these writing instruments are extremely durable. By that I mean they can take some serious abuse. My very first Graf von Faber Castell pen, a Pernambuco Classic, has been subjected to a huge range of temperature conditions, physical impacts, altitude changes, being caked in dried ink in a garage toolbox for several months, etc over the course of more than a decade and it is still running perfectly. No it does not look pretty but after 11 years of that treatment I doubt you can find, or think of, a pen that will.

 

The last reason to own these products that I will mention is the customer service. The term "above and beyond" is often used for customer service that stands out as above average, but Faber-Castell's customer service for this line, at least from my many years of experiences with the United States office, really does go above and beyond. One example I can think of was a Platinum Classic that turned out to have mismatched vintage parts, that I purchased second hand and used for nearly 5 years on top of this. They replaced the nib, section and cap all for under $100 USD. They have also sent me replacement parts for expensive components (such as end caps for mechanical pencils) that I have outright lost, multiple times, for free.

 

Finally, great deals can be had on our favorite auction site for Graf von Faber Castell products all the time. If you're not squeamish about used products, the finish on these pens and pencils really is quite durable compared to some of the competitors' products and will look good for a really long time. You can regularly find fountain pens in the Classic line for under $250 USD and ballpoint/mechanical pencils for under $120. At those price points I think the products stand up even to brand-new products offered by competitors.

Edited February 24, 2019 by Pfhorrest

[como]

  On 2/24/2019 at 8:18 PM, Pfhorrest said:

I have been using Graf von Faber Castell fountain pens & pencils, nearly exclusively, for around 11 years now and while I am not an expert on anything to do with writing or writing instruments I think that gives me enough experience to comment in detail on this topic.

 

The first reason I believe Graf von Faber Castell products are uncommon is that their design language seems to target an extremely narrow demographic. Their designs (and also marketing) seem to appeal to people who 1. have a taste for 'heirloom' quality products with an Old World sensibility of handmade quality and precious materials, 2. prefer 'understated luxury' in their personal effects, with a design language that emphasizes simple, unornamented forms that are regardless immediately recognizable as belonging to a high end product, 3. are interested in things which could be described as 'practical, technical, modern, form-follows-function' but at the same time 'classic, recognizable, artisan', and 4. have the economic wherewithal and collector's attitude necessary to accumulate matching sets of accessories all unified through visual and material themes.

 

With specifications that narrow it is incredible that products satisfying them even exist in the first place let alone that anyone purchases them for MSRP. In my personal opinion, if the Graf von Faber Castell products were not backed up by the history and reputation of Faber Castell they might not even be able to exist in the world of bespoke/custom pens and accessories. The high MSRP are certainly justified by the materials, construction quality, labor and customer service that goes into these writing instruments but in my view this is actually a downside.

 

Because the production costs for these products is not particularly low, and because the company aims to unify their products in terms of design language, there is very little room for expanding the Graf von Faber Castell products either in scope or in target audience. The fact that the target audience is so narrow to begin with does not help matters at all. Designs such as those by Montblanc and Pelikan (I only choose to mention these two manufacturers because I assume that they occupy the same market sector that Graf von Faber Castell would like to sell to) can be scaled upward or downward to certain extents to provide a wide range of products at a wide range of price points, but this is not the case for Graf von Faber Castell due to their commitment to producing products that more or less complement each other in a sort of perverse backwards compatibility.

 

Outside of that narrow target audience, (full disclosure, I am unfortunately a part of this narrow target audience myself) when considering Graf von Faber Castell products, at every angle there seems to be a competitor that would be extremely likely to attract more potential customers. This has already been covered at length by multiple people in this thread with regards to price, writing quality, craftsmanship, materials, etc. so there is not much further to say.

 

However I do want to comment further on some of the positive points of the Graf von Faber Castell line in case anyone is reading this topic with a purchase or non-purchase in mind. If you happen to be a part of that narrow target audience that appreciates the design language of the Graf von Faber Castell writing instruments then there really is no one else, whether production, custom, limited or bespoke, who even comes close. Up until the introduction of the Intuition line, I think there may not have been a single series of writing products, present or past, that were as unified in design as the Graf von Faber Castell collection. That in itself is pretty remarkable.

 

Moreover, these writing instruments are extremely durable. By that I mean they can take some serious abuse. My very first Graf von Faber Castell pen, a Pernambuco Classic, has been subjected to a huge range of temperature conditions, physical impacts, altitude changes, being caked in dried ink in a garage toolbox for several months, etc over the course of more than a decade and it is still running perfectly. No it does not look pretty but after 11 years of that treatment I doubt you can find, or think of, a pen that will.

 

The last reason to own these products that I will mention is the customer service. The term "above and beyond" is often used for customer service that stands out as above average, but Faber-Castell's customer service for this line, at least from my many years of experiences with the United States office, really does go above and beyond. One example I can think of was a Platinum Classic that turned out to have mismatched vintage parts, that I purchased second hand and used for nearly 5 years on top of this. They replaced the nib, section and cap all for under $100 USD. They have also sent me replacement parts for expensive components (such as end caps for mechanical pencils) that I have outright lost, multiple times, for free.

 

Finally, great deals can be had on our favorite auction site for Graf von Faber Castell products all the time. If you're not squeamish about used products, the finish on these pens and pencils really is quite durable compared to some of the competitors' products and will look good for a really long time. You can regularly find fountain pens in the Classic line for under $250 USD and ballpoint/mechanical pencils for under $120. At those price points I think the products stand up even to brand-new products offered by competitors.

 

These are very insightful observations. Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts.

[Antenociticus]

  On 2/24/2019 at 8:18 PM, Pfhorrest said:

I have been using Graf von Faber Castell fountain pens & pencils, nearly exclusively, for around 11 years now and while I am not an expert on anything to do with writing or writing instruments I think that gives me enough experience to comment in detail on this topic ...

 

Great post. Thank you.

[BaronWulfraed]

Just a reactionary comment...

 

"simple, unadorned" is not what I'd call the line... to me, that is the Parker Duofold (flat-ended cylindrical) and Sheaffer Balance (ogive-ended cylinders) [as examples].

 

An over-grown golf tee with cross-pinned clip (as the GvFC "Classic") is not "simple".

[ArchiMark]

  On 2/25/2019 at 7:44 PM, BaronWulfraed said:

Just a reactionary comment...

 

"simple, unadorned" is not what I'd call the line... to me, that is the Parker Duofold (flat-ended cylindrical) and Sheaffer Balance (ogive-ended cylinders) [as examples].

 

An over-grown golf tee with cross-pinned clip (as the GvFC "Classic") is not "simple".

 

Understand your point about the Duofold and Balance pens being 'simple, unadorned'. However, I don't think this means the GvFC pens are not 'simple, unadorned' as Pfhorrest says either. It might more of a relative thing.

 

The Duofold and Balance pens may be at one end of the spectrum while more decoratively adorned pens are at the other end.

 

If the Duofold and Balance are a 1 on the simplicity scale, the GvFC's might be 1.5 or 2. They are certainly not at the other end of the design spectrum like the pens shown below, which I'd rate a 5 out of 5 for highly decorative designs.

 

Just my 2¢.....

[Houston]

  On 2/24/2019 at 8:18 PM, Pfhorrest said:

I have been using Graf von Faber Castell fountain pens & pencils, nearly exclusively, for around 11 years now and while I am not an expert on anything to do with writing or writing instruments I think that gives me enough experience to comment in detail on this topic.

 

...

 

Pfhorrest: I just wanted to echo others in complimenting you on a great post. Thoughtful, well observed and well written. A great contribution to the community. Thank you.

 

I particularly appreciated your addressing the idea of a coherent "design language". The one thing I'd add to your observations, in that regard, is the uniqueness of the FC and GvFC designs. They may or may not be to a given person's taste, but there is no denying that they are immediately recognisable. Once seen, they will not be mistaken for another brand's products. Within the narrow design constraints of functional fountain pens, that's pretty remarkable, especially across the breadth of their product line. Few other manufacturers can claim similar distinctiveness. Pelikan, perhaps, but done extremely conservatively.

 

I have a lot of pens. So, few pens come up in rotation very frequently. It's often a long time between sessions with a given pen. Some pens come up in rotation and deliver exactly what I expect of them. Some pens get their turn and are never quite what one has always hoped they'd be. The FC and GvFC pens in my collection move from the drawer to the hand and almost always over-deliver against quite high expectations. The experience is one of "Gosh, I forgot how lovely this is!"

 

Distinctiveness without dazzle. And exceptional performance. I like 'em.

 

--h

[adim]

  On 2/24/2019 at 8:18 PM, Pfhorrest said:

I have been using Graf von Faber Castell fountain pens & pencils, nearly exclusively, for around 11 years now and while I am not an expert on anything to do with writing or writing instruments I think that gives me enough experience to comment in detail on this topic.

[...]

 

I would also like to thank you for the detailed post, very insightful and full of great remarks and experiences. I agree with the unified design language and also agree that they are most likely targeting the Montblanc-Pelikan area, but doing it in a way of their own.

 

As for the customer service, I can only add that I've read the POTY come with a lifetime full service once every year, either if you experience problems or would just like a "refresh" of the pen. That's unparalleled, considering that it's offered for pens around 2-3000 euros (which are not cheap, but not the most expensive either --- I wouldn't want to think about the cost of replacing a part of a Montblanc or Pelikan pen that costs that much and is outside of the 2 year warranty period).

 

Two downsides that I've heard of and would like to point out, though.

 

First, the most common problem of the non-POTY editions of GvFC seems to be drying out. I've read many reviews and heard many opinions that the cap doesn't seal well and causes the nib to dry out in a couple of days of not being used.

 

Secondly, if my eyes don't deceive me, most (all?) the POTY use the big Intuition Platino-style nib, which is this one: https://www.lacouronneducomte.nl/webstore/main/graf-faber-castell-fountain-intuition-plati-p-7805.html

 

I'm not implying it is user-replaceable (or maybe it is?), but I found it a bit disappointing that this is their highest level of nibbage. I'm sure it's great and there's a lot to love at a POTY and the cost is not in the nib, but, say, if I had an Intuition Platino then saved for and bought a 3000 POTY, I would be underwhelmed to find the same nib in it.

[ingolf]

What I like on GvFC pens is the perfection and the nibs. A little impression on the Anello pen ...

 

[sciumbasci]

I like to think that Faber Castell is a brand that pays attention to critiques - a notable example is the recently replaced Basic in favour of the Essentio, which supposedly fixed the problems with the previous model - so, I have high hopes they will fix the cap dryout too

[Noihvo]