Schon Dsgn Monoc Nib Fountain Pen

[Nhartist40]

I just got the new Schon Design Monoc nib fountain pen. This is their first in-house designed and made nib and it writes like no other pen that I have experienced. It is smooth with a graphite like feedback that is very pleasant.  The pen itself is really elegant--all black and very simple and sleek.  My one criticism is that I find that the section is a bit too short for my fat hands, and the threads are a bit sharp, but I probably will get used to it.  The nib itself is really unusual.  It looks wonderful, and writes with a wet line that is more like a broad than a medium. 

 

It is so unusual for a small pen maker to actually create their own nib.  What is even more courageous is to invent an entirely new kind of nib out of one piece of titanium.  The advantage is that there is not all the complexity of having to weld a tip to the pen, but it also must be challenging to get it both smooth, but also make sure that it doesn't wear out quickly or bend.  The nib itself does not flex, but because of its peculiar shape, you can get some different weights of lines and it actually writes very well in reverse.  I have had no problems with flow--if anything it might be a bit too wet.  I am a bit dubious by pen lovers who feel that the user should adjust their writing habits to the pen, but in this case I feel like it is like a handmade violin that will change my drawings as I learn what it can do and its unique characteristics.  Also, I know that the design will evolve and it is exciting to the first edition of what I hope will be a series of nibs.

 

I discuss the pen at length on my YouTube channel.

 

 

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks for the video.  I loved the cat sketch!  
 

The nib looks Wavery-ish in profile.  Interesting.

[amberleadavis]

Please be sure to also post some photos.  Not all members can see the videos.. 

 

This nib was the rage at the CA pen show. I look forward to hearing (and seeing) how you enjoy it.

[jchch1950]

Nice nib.

[Doug C]

I have a friend that has one. I like it a lot but I'm not sure about the price of entry.

[Nhartist40]

It is expensive. You are really paying to support an experimental project because each nib is literally hand made.

 

When I get home I will post some photographs of the pen, but there are lots of pictures of it on the Schon Dsgn website.

 

 

[Nhartist40]

I think it is right to compare it to a Waverly nib.  I actually only own one Waverly nib, though so I am no expert.

[Doug C]

It is undoubtedly the coolest looking nib on the market IMHO. 

[Nhartist40]

It does look nice!  I wish the section was more comfortable.  Does anyone have experience with the other Schon pens?  Does the step on the section of the full size black pen bother other people?  I was considering buying a different model to put the nib in, but the metal full size pens they sell look like they have the same general design and their resin pens are really expensive.

 

By the way, I just tried the pen after having it capped for a week and it wrote perfectly.  Very impressive.

[Dt123]

On 4/24/2023 at 10:39 AM, Nhartist40 said:

It does look nice!  I wish the section was more comfortable.  Does anyone have experience with the other Schon pens?  Does the step on the section of the full size black pen bother other people?  I was considering buying a different model to put the nib in, but the metal full size pens they sell look like they have the same general design and their resin pens are really expensive.

 

By the way, I just tried the pen after having it capped for a week and it wrote perfectly.  Very impressive.

 

How are you enjoying the nib? Any updates?

[Merrick]

I know Schon pens usually use Jowo nibs, and the Monocs are now sold to fit most of the regular Schon pens (they stopped producing the Monoc specific pen body). Would other pens that accept  #6 Jowo nibs potentially accept the Monoc as well? That would open up a lot of options if so. 

[Paul-in-SF]

I think it's a very safe bet that the Monoc nib will fit pretty much any pen that is engineered to accept a Jowo #6 nib. 

 

I'm still waiting for something not so broad. "Future sizes will include broad and fine" he says, and I'm waiting for a fine. Even then, I'm not sure about the value proposition for this nib. As the only nib to take to a desert island, maybe. I'm not entirely convinced about the quantity of improvement a monocoque design imparts. 

 

However, I am looking forward to trying one out at the pen show in a couple of weeks.  

[Doug C]

I have a friend that bought one and sadly, thinks he left it at one of our meetings. 

He has no idea where it is.

😥

[Surlyprof]

On 8/12/2023 at 8:48 AM, Merrick said:

Would other pens that accept  #6 Jowo nibs potentially accept the Monoc as well? That would open up a lot of options if so. 

I was talking to Ian Schon at the SF Show when someone came up to show him that he installed a monoc on a Desiderata Daedalus.  I checked Desiderata’s site and they use Jowo #6.

[Surlyprof]

I also tried it out at the SF Show and it may have been the nicest feeling nib that I tried.  So much so that I was seriously considering a $595 Pocket 6!  Fotunately, it was early in the show and I had time to come to my budgetary senses.  

(An all copper Pocket 6 would still be pretty awesome!)

[Paul-in-SF]

On 8/12/2023 at 11:21 AM, Paul-in-SF said:

However, I am looking forward to trying one out at the pen show in a couple of weeks.  

 

Which I stupidly forgot to do, and I understand he had one ground to a cursive italic. :: Kicks self in rear end ::

 

So now it's wait wait wait for another year to go by. 

[Nhartist40]

That is a tragic story about losing the pen, since they are very pricey.  As someone who uses fountain pens for drawing the nib has a very expressive quality--its not that it is flexible, but it somehow feels more like drawing with a pencil than with a piece of metal.  However, it is not a nib I would use for writing all the time--so I would not bring it on a desert island.  I admire the effort that Schon Dsgn is doing to make their own nibs.  It is the weakness of so many wonderful pen designs that so many use the same Jowo nibs, although Jowo makes good nibs for writing--not so much for drawing.

[Barry Scott]

On 8/12/2023 at 8:48 AM, Merrick said:

I know Schon pens usually use Jowo nibs, and the Monocs are now sold to fit most of the regular Schon pens (they stopped producing the Monoc specific pen body). Would other pens that accept  #6 Jowo nibs potentially accept the Monoc as well? That would open up a lot of options if so. 

I bought a Monoc nib in a Pocket 6 and desperately want to fit it to a larger body, piston filled, so am looking for pens that are threaded the same to accept this nib, presumably the same as the #6 Jowo nib-feed unit.    I don't know what models are candidates except for the pricey Montegrappa Mio.

 

[dftr]

On 9/5/2023 at 8:29 PM, Paul-in-SF said:

 

Which I stupidly forgot to do, and I understand he had one ground to a cursive italic. :: Kicks self in rear end ::

 

So now it's wait wait wait for another year to go by. 

I was fortunate to try a monoc nib at a pen club and it was smooth but nothing special.  A stiff nib.  However, a Schon Italic or Oblique nib may be fun to play with.  

[Paul-in-SF]

On 8/12/2023 at 11:21 AM, Paul-in-SF said:

"Future sizes will include broad and fine" he says, and I'm waiting for a fine.

 

I got an email from them today saying that they now have a Fine version of this nib, and apparently the reverse writing on this nib is intended to be Bold (or what he calls Mega). All made to order within 5-10 days of the order being received, according to the email. Unfortunately I am somewhat constrained budget-wise this month, so I'll have to wait and see. Also I'm still considering the price, and whether I want to try one out somehow before buying. I have two or three regular open titanium nibs, and I like them, but they cost well under 1/3 of this price ($385). If you also buy a pen from him you get 12% off the nib cost. I'm tempted...