Franklin-Christoph 02 Intrinsic in Maya Blue with a Masuyama Medium Cursive Italic: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

I own several Franklin-Christoph fountain pens and have reviewed many of them on Pen Addict. I purchased a special edition Intrinsic back in May and realized I had not yet written a review of this model.

The pen is packaged in a simple white cardboard box and Franklin-Christoph's signature zippered pen case. Although these cases used to be made of leather, now they are made of "suit grey" fabric.

The 02 Intrinsic model is unique in its shape, with a barrel that tapers sharply from the center. This is so that the cap can post deeply onto the pen and maintain good balance--something that often fails on other pens when you post caps. This is the first fountain pen I use posted because of the ingenious design.

I was lucky enough to get a special edition Intrinsic in Maya Blue. I love the colors of this model. There are darker translucent blue sections at the finial, top of the grip, and at the barrel bottom. The remainder of the pen is lighter blue and frosted.

The pen is medium sized, measuring 146.1mm/5.75 inches capped, 149mm/5.85 inches posted, and 131mm/5.15 inches unposted. Without ink the pen weighs 20.71 grams. It's incredibly well balanced wither you use it unposted or posted, but I like the balance better with it posted (it gives the pen more heft).

The cap has a relatively small clip engraved with diamonds. The Franklin-Christoph name is also engraved lightly near the bottom of the cap.

The pen comes with two blue ink cartridges and is supplied with a Franklin-Christoph-branded converter. You can also eyedropper the pen if you wish.

The grip is comfortable even though there are threads near the top where the nib is inserted. The threads are raised and serve as a lip to keep your fingers in position. Once again, thoughtful design is evident in the details of the pen.

I opted for a steel medium cursive italic ground by Mike Masuyama. This is one of the best nibs I've received without additional tuning. It is absolutely stellar--smooth with crisp lines that offer good variation.

You can see that the down strokes are wide and the side strokes are thin as you would expect with a cursive italic.

I love how my handwriting looks with this nib.

The nib offers excellent flow and there's no skipping or hard starts. Writing with it is pure joy.

I created a pattern with the pen, primarily using the thin side strokes it produces. Not only is it great for writing, but it's also wonderful for drawing.

Although you can't get the Intrinsic in Maya Blue anymore (unless FC decides to do another run), you can currently get the model in Black and Cinnamaroon, Ghost, and Smoke & Ice. It starts at $175 with stock steel nibs. You can opt for other variations, such as FC's "SIG nib" for an additional cost. Masuyama no longer does special grinds for Franklin-Christoph, but you can now get nibs ground by Nagahara for an up-charge of $25.00.

The 02 Intrinsic might just be my favorite Franklin-Christoph model so far. I love its unique shape and that I can post the cap without disrupting the balance of the pen. Maya Blue is a fantastic color with lovely contrasts between translucent dark blue and frosted light blue. If you are interested in getting Franklin-Christoph pens in special color combinations, you should sign up for their newsletter so you get advance notice of special releases.

(I purchased the FC 02 Intrinsic in Maya Blue with my own funds.)

Esterbrook JR Pocket Fountain Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

If you've ever been to a pen show, you've certainly seen a few Esterbrooks on the tables of various vendors. Back in the 40s, these pens were as ubiquitous as the Bic ballpoint or Pilot G2 gel pen today. They were affordable, dependable, and offered enough variety to match your personal sense of style. Even today, decades later, they still work and offer a fantastic writing experience as long as they've been cared for and/or restored properly.

Esterbrook has made a comeback in the past couple of years. Under the ownership and direction of Kenro Industries, this classic brand has been reborn into the 21st century. This idea of rebirth runs deep in the company's new vision, and is baked into the name of their JR Pocket Pen. Modeled after the classic Esterbrook J, this petite pen bears a striking resemblance to the J while also offering the amenities that modern manufacturing and materials provide.

If you've ever handled an Esterbrook J, you'll know just how petite and slim those pens are. The JR doesn't fall far from the tree in this case. The body of the pen is just as slim as the classic J, and it's similarly lightweight and comfortable to hold while writing. One small deviation from the original that I'm still not sure about is the cap. It's quite a bit larger in diameter than the body of the pen. While this doesn't change anything functionally, it does make it look a bit different than the original J. That being said, there's no reason that the JR has to be a complete replica of the original J. This pen is quite attractive as an individual piece of art, and I completely adore how it looks on my desk. Any decision to deviate from the classic form — either aesthetic or functionally — is completely acceptable because this pen is just what Esterbrook says in their marketing materials: a rebirth of the J.

Writing with the JR is quite a pleasant experience. The lightweight acrylic is comfortable to hold and quickly warms up to your touch. The grooved section has a convenient place to rest your fingers while writing and is small enough to stay out of your way if you use a different grip. I've used this pen for some fairly long writing sessions, and it's been extremely comfortable.

The nib is what really stands out to me on this pen. It's a medium point, but it's just so smooth and crisp. Writing with it is such a pleasure because of how smoothly it glides across the surface of the paper. Straight out of the box, it was a fantastic writer and I'm always really appreciative to this level of quality control and attention to detail.

Along with everything else that makes this pen so great, the colors and materials are so pretty. I have the Capri Blue version with gold trim, and the depth and variety of blues in this material is gorgeous. I still think it would look amazing with paladium trim and wish that was an option, but the blue and gold combo is also quite nice. I've found myself staring at this pen and discovering new pockets of color under the surface of the body that just fascinates me.

Along with Capri Blue, you can also choose from Carmine Red and Tuxedo Black. Each color has a similar depth of color and shading that adds a lot of visual interest to the pen.

The MSRP for this beauty is $175, but you can normally find it for about 30 bucks cheaper. I think this is a fair price considering the buttery smoothness of the nib, the quality of the body/cap materials, and the amount of finish and attention to detail that went into this product. Oh, they also include a nice box and a full size cartridge converter as well so that you're ready to ink it up and go as soon as you get it out of the box.

The Esterbrook JR Pocket Pen is an adorable and highly useful reincarnation of the classic Esterbrook J. It doesn't matter if you're new to Esterbrook or just trying out the reborn offerings, this is a fantastic representation of what I think the traditional brand offered. It's a well-made pen that look sharp and writes beautifully.

(Kenro Industries provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Pineider Avatar UR Demo Fountain Pen in Amber: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

The Pineider Avatar Fountain Pen is made of a new material called "UltraResin" (thus the UR in the title). According to the pamphlet included with the pen, UltraResin is a mother of pearl compound resin that is resistant to breaks, oil, ink, variations in temperature, and UV rays. The company compares it to celluloid, stating that it has all the features of celluloid without the problems, such as crystallization and susceptibility to heat.

The pen comes in a classic-looking cardboard box, which contains the pen, the pamphlet, and instructions.

The Avatar is 3D engineered so that it can be assembled without any glue. Trims are palladium plated, including the bottom tip.

The clip is designed to resemble a quill and is spring loaded.

The cap band is engraved with the Pineider name and the skyline of Florence, Italy.

Using a sealed magnet, the cap locks securely merely by placing it onto the barrel--no twisting or fiddling necessary.

A converter is included with the pen. It has the Pineider logo on it and an ink level gauge as well.

Measuring 5.79 in/147mm (capped), 5.24 in/133mm (uncapped), and 6.46 in/164mm posted, the Avatar is a medium-sized pen. It is rather heavy at 30 grams (capped/posted) and 17.8 grams uncapped/unposted. The cap posts securely but makes the pen unbalanced in the hand. I liked the weight and balance of the pen unposted.

For comfort, the grip is covered in rubber, which does make it easy to hold while writing. However, ink somehow seeped beneath the rubber grip and stained it. Pineider's website states that the grip can be replaced easily, but I have no idea how to remove it.

I'm quite confused about the nib. The pamphlet included with the pen states that the nib is a "large N6 Demi Flex." However, both the Pineider website and Goldspot identify it only as a steel nib. It has a futuristic look to it with the Pineider name engraved decoratively on both sides of the nib.

If this is supposed to be a "Demi Flex" or "Semi Flex" nib, it certainly does not live up to the name. There's absolutely no give to it at all. I tried applying some pressure to produce line variation and this is what resulted:

Otherwise, the fine nib writes smoothly, even though the tines are a bit misaligned.

I used Bungubox Sweet Potato Yellow to create my writing samples. The ink flowed well, and the writing experience was pleasant. However, the cap apparently doesn't seal completely, because after leaving the pen unused, I experienced hard starts--actually no starts. I had to force ink down into the nib unit in order to begin writing again. Other than that problem, I experienced no skipping, scratchiness, or other issues.

The Pineider Avatar is a beautifully designed pen. You can really appreciate the engineering that went into it when you examine it closely. The palladium plated accents complement the pen, and I particularly like the easy on and off cap.

Although the rubber grip offers a soft and stable surface for your fingers, the fact that ink can get underneath and stain it is disappointing. I'm not particularly fond of the ink level measurement on the converter and don't see why it's necessary at all, especially with a demonstrator pen.

I haven't tried dropping the pen to see if it lives up to its "almost unbreakable" description, but the UltraResin material does seem substantial in the hand. That said, the company's claim that UltraResin is comparable to celluloid isn't convincing, at least for the demo models. The opaque models (in various colors) look a bit more like celluloid.

You can purchase the Pineider Avatar UR in Amber for $157.95 from Goldspot.

(Goldspot provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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