Collier Grande

[jchch1950]

Edison Pens has a new pen called Collier Grande with a number 8 nib. The pen looks nice and there  are many materials to chose from.If any one had already try one,how soft are the nibs? Is the pen a good long writing? Thanks for your comments.

[hairlame]

Figboot on pens recently posted his review on this model: 

 

[XYZZY]

I managed to catch Brian Gray's YouTube video announcing this pen on the same day he released it, and ordered one immediately.  Mostly as an exercise in voting with my wallet:  Established vendor using an unestablished nib supplier (at least unestablished in the west).  And it was a #8.  And I like large pens.  

 

I ordered one in brown ebonite, with both F and M nibs.  The pen is excellent.  I prefer large nibs (most of my writing is with a Namiki No. 50), and I think this is very comfortable.  If I were to pick nits with the design, I think the section is a bit narrow for my taste, and the strong hourglass shape of the section pretty much means you're going to grip it at the narrowest part.  But to be clear, that's an aspect of the design, not in manufacturing.

 

The nibs are not soft.  I am not a flex writer, but I like bounce in my nibs.  While I think gold might be a better match for the brown ebonite material I selected, I did not want a plated nib, so went with plain steel.  Brian kindly swapped out the clip to be stainless in order to match the nib.  This has almost no bounce at all.  The nib is undecorated: no logo, not even an "F" or "M" to tell you the size (although that's indicated on the feed). 

 

There's a slight smell of pen flush on the nib when you receive it, and it's a little wet.  I assume this is from Brian's tuning of the nib before it leaves the shop.  Frankly I'm grateful that there's a little left, as it encouraged me to flush the nib unit with detergent and then rinse.  Often I just ink up a pen immediately and then wish I had cleaned it first.