The Otto Hutt Design 06 is my latest dalliance with the century-old German brand. A century old, and you haven’t heard of them before? Don’t worry, you are not alone. In the US market, for example, they have only been widely available since Kenro Industries inked a distribution deal with them a few years ago.
My introduction to the brand was the all-black Design 03, followed by the Blue Wave of the Design 04. I got along extremely well with both of those pens, so I decided to keep carrying on up the charts and test out the Arctic Blue Design 06.
Being the third Otto Hutt fountain pen to land on my desk, you wouldn’t be surprised to know how consistent the 06 experience has been with the previous two. Right from the first inking, I knew it was going to be good, and that thought has remained the same over the last two months of use.
Let’s start with the build quality of the pen first. With 100 years of manufacturing in their back pocket, Otto Hutt knows what the end user experience should be like. Not only do they manufacture their own lineup of pens, they make pens for other brands you have heard of as well. If you think their pens favor other popular German brands, that’s no coincidence.
The Design 06 features an all-metal barrel that tapers on each end, with a noticeable concave metal grip section. I always wonder if this deep of concave will be too much for me, and it never is. It fits my hand perfectly. The balance is nice, too. For a metal pen, it’s not overly heavy, or off-kilter in any way.
Included in the build quality is the nib. I have a steel Extra Fine nib in my Design 06, and it is glorious. It is firm, which is my preference for any type of nib, and the line right out of the box was perfect. It continues to perform flawlessly with the Wearingul Cheshire Cat ink I’m using with it. The only question I have on the nib is who makes it-Jowo? Bock? Schmidt? I don’t think it matters, because it is flawless. I will say it feels more like a Jowo/Schmidt nib due to the firmness, so I’ll try to get some clarification this week.
Everything related to the build and performance the Otto Hutt Design 06 is unimpeachable. The same goes for the 03 and 04 from my previous reviews. And, as with those previous reviews, that leaves price as the only part of the equation to sort out. It’s an important part, and I believe Otto Hutt’s biggest challenge.
At $236 for the pen as set up in this review, I think it is fairly priced. The challenge is the competition, and where it stacks up to lower priced steel nibbed pens, and equivalently priced gold nib pens. Otto Hutt loses both of those battles.
I’m raving about how this steel nib performs, but you know what other steel nib performs similarly, if not better? The one in the $20 Pilot Metropolitan. Or in the $35 TWSBI ECO. Or any maker pen with a Jowo nib. Steel nibs are fantastic, and it’s costs very little for a great one. On the gold nib side of the ledger, the 06 resides in the same neighborhood as the Platinum 3776 and Pilot Custom 912, two of my most recommended pens. That’s a tough sell from a value perspective.
Then you have to consider the style of the Design 06. Is it $150 better than the very similar Lamy Studio? I’d argue not.
Otto Hutt is not here for your arguments, though. It is a good enough pen to stand on its own, with a price that places it squarely in the premium steel nib fountain pen bracket. Being near the top of that bracket isn’t a negative, but you better bring your A-game when that is what you are shooting for. Otto Hutt does that with the Design 06.
(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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