Oh My God, I am in awe!

[JFT]

My wife called me this afternoon to tell me it had arrived. This has been one of the longest afternoon I've ever had. When I finally arrived home I picked the black box, after carefully washing my hands. I somehow expected a bigger box...

 

I slowly lift the lid all the while helding my breath... only to reveal a pen case. From the tip of my finger I gently grabbed the pen to allow the light to kiss it for a first time in my presence. Wow, the pen is so stunning I started shaking as a ray from the setting sun reflected in my eyes.

 

I got VERY stressed all of sudden, almost panicked I cannot explain it but I no longer knew what do do. I have smiled in the past when people mentionned they hesitated to ink a pen. Tonight I understand. I admired the pen, its balance and the warmth of its touch and put it back into its box to have dinner, a very light dinner as I had knot in my stomach. After the main course I went back to my dessert, my pen.

 

Shaking like crazy I freed him once again from its box and started to nervously turn the piston, with so many stories lately about failing piston I'm afraid to work it. The piston is different from my Pelikan and Stipula, it turns slack then engage. It is not exactly smooth and it come to a stop very suddenly. I repeated the operation once or twice and gain confidence that the piston was well in place and proceed to flush the pen. Its second drink is all decided: it will be J. Herbin Lie de Thé. But a first drink is always Waterman for my pen... Again I hesitate between Florida Blue and Blue-Black and I finally decided on Florida-Blue.

 

I picked a note that was written with my pen from the box and install myself to testdrive the pen. Only then did I looked at the note, the amount of variation displayed on the note is way over what I expected . I had the nib customized to have some flex so I asked for a sample to know how wide should be a safe max to reach, the sample show way more variation than I expected! I finally put the nib to the paper... It is smooth with some feedback, less feedback than my Bologna but it is not glassy smooth like my Patrician. The line is... thin and light. I was expecting a wider and wetter. I write again and this time it is both wider and wetter, that nib IS impressive I gently put some pressure but come nowhere close to the width of the sample, mind you I am getting quite a bit of variation just not as much! So I try to write on the note and i realize the line is larger on it. Still I am not ready to brutalise that nib. It is the first semi-flexible nib I own and it is mounted on a holy pen...

 

I briefly tried the nib on three papers: Rhodia, Whitelines and Apica. On Rhodia the nib is very smooth and glides effortly with minimal feedback. I love Whitelines paper even though it is less smooth than Rhodia so I started to do some soft loop while applying light pressure and the nib felt very rough. On the Apica, no surprise it was glassy smooth. It is smoother than my Bologna on both the Rhodia and the Apica while rougher on the Whitelines... I guess the smaller nib is responsible here combined with the coarser grain of the Whitelines...

 

That nib is a wonder of character and responsiveness but it has a smaller sweet spot than what I am used to so I'll need some practice

 

Here's some pictures of my new Arco Milord

 

 

 

 

Let's just say I am happy tonight

 

[bugmd]

Congratulations on a truly wonderful fountain pen. I have had the old 557F versions and the new Arco with the metal nib section. The celluloid is amazing.

[bookgirl]

What a beautiful pen! Congratulations.

[omasfan]

Although I prefer the old-style Arcos, the celluloid thankfully has remained the same. A truly beautiful material and a signature pattern to boot!

[penpimperLV]

I am in awe as well! What a wonderful, descriptive account on how excited and nervous you were in anticipation of inking your magnificent pen. It is gorgeous. Enjoy!

Edited July 26, 2008 by penpimperLV

[Bill]

Congratulations. And thank you for the writing sample. The semi-flex shows nicely. I only have the standard fine nib in my Paragon Arco but it has become one of my favorites. In fact, I carried and used it all today (filled with its usual Private Reserve Chocolat). I'm sure you will get much enjoyment from it.

 

Bill

Edited July 26, 2008 by Bill

[Doug C]

Congratulations. I know how you've been waiting for this one.

 

I love mine as well.

[Michael R.]

Nice pen!

 

Many thanks for the update and review.

 

The writing sample looks very nice. What kind of nib was this ("F" or "M" maybe?) before customizing?

 

 

Although I prefer the old-style Arcos, the celluloid thankfully has remained the same. A truly beautiful material and a signature pattern to boot!

 

 

I've been wondering about this. On the new pens the Arco material looks much more transparent compared to the older models (especially on the cap-lip).

 

 

Michael

[FredRydr]

...I had the nib customized to have some flex....

Who did you have do it? I have an Arco with F nib waiting for attention.

 

Fred

 

[JFT]

Thank you all, I am very happy

 

Nice pen!

 

Many thanks for the update and review.

 

The writing sample looks very nice. What kind of nib was this ("F" or "M" maybe?) before customizing?

 

 

Although I prefer the old-style Arcos, the celluloid thankfully has remained the same. A truly beautiful material and a signature pattern to boot!

 

 

I've been wondering about this. On the new pens the Arco material looks much more transparent compared to the older models (especially on the cap-lip).

 

 

Michael

 

The nib before customisation was an M, I agree the sample was nice but it wasn't mine, I don't use enough pressure when writing to get that kind of variation nor do I write so well either The nib is semi-flex so with my light touch flexing only happen consciously. If I lighten my pressure I almost get an XF line whereas with my usual pressure the line is more MF.

 

I have never seen older Arco so I cannot comment on transparency. (actually it is the first arco I see in the flesh )

 

...I had the nib customized to have some flex....

Who did you have do it? I have an Arco with F nib waiting for attention.

 

Fred

 

The nib was customized by John Mottishaw, (nibs.com) which is where I bought the pen. They won't do the flex modification to the regular 18k nib so they swapped it for a Portico nib (the 14k nib used by the Bologna). I wanted some line variation but mostly a softer and springier nib. I do not intend to abuse it that much in term of flex.

 

I intend to get a full flex nib from Richard Binder for my M620 and this one will get abused. Somehow the easy nib swap will make it easier on my heart :roflmho:

 

[DrPJM1]

Congratulations, it is a beautiful pen. I have the older Arco and love that celluloid. May it give you years of pleasure and enjoyment.

[FredRydr]

I have one as well, an Arco old-style in...bronze (sounds more elegant than "brown").

 

Have you discovered the threads allow for the cap to be screwed on with the celluloid layers either lined up, or not?

 

Fred

 

 

[Nikolaos]

Congratulations! It is a beautiful pen. I also have the older paragon "bronze" and love it. The celluloid material is stunning indeed.

 

Nikolaos

[ethernautrix]

Yay!

 

Your excitement is contagious! What a great feeling to receive your grail pen!

 

Also, nice handwriting!

[Opus104]

I bet that Portico nib looks great in there - any pics.

[omasfan]

Mmmhhh... Interesting observation... I don't know. I've seen the new style and I didn't think that there was a difference. Maybe it looks a bit more translucent because the width/diameter of the pen is wider/bigger. I wouldn't call it transparent, though. I'll take another look at a new Arco when I have the chance.

 

Although I prefer the old-style Arcos, the celluloid thankfully has remained the same. A truly beautiful material and a signature pattern to boot!

 

 

I've been wondering about this. On the new pens the Arco material looks much more transparent compared to the older models (especially on the cap-lip).

 

 

Michael

[wpblaw]

Congrats JFT! I love the looks of this beauty! I don't an Omas but I hear such wonderful things about them, and this one looks incredible. And your handwriting is distinctive and nice, unless the Omas is possessed and it just started writing on its own?

 

Take care and enjoy your grail...

[PAKMAN]

Congrats on a very nice pen! Now you will have to start the hunt for the next grail pen!! Enjoy!

[JFT]

Again thank you all

 

Alas this is not my handwriting, this is a quick note that was written to display what the nib was capable of in term of line variation. I am working on my penmanship but I'm afraid I still have a lot of progress to do before I'll get compliment from my handwriting

Edited July 29, 2008 by JFT