The Edison Beaumont was my final purchase at the 2014 Atlanta Pen Show, and it was completely unplanned. I thought I had finished my shopping for the day, but I kept coming back to the Anderson Pens booth and getting caught by the blue flakes that make up this pen. When I finally decided to pick it up, that's when my decision was made. Unscrewing and posting the cap and then holding the pen in the writing position was all it took. After a brief test, it was mine – my very first Edison pen.
Let's just say it won't be my last, either.
Aesthetics
The Beaumont is a bit unassuming. It's not flashy or ornamental. It's pretty, but in a subdued sense. I think that's even more true for the model I bought – the Sapphire Flake. The dark blues tend to go unnoticed unless under bright light. When it has the appropriate light, it's gorgeous. That being said, I think the other three colors might get more attention due to their lighter palette.
The reason I bring that up is that this pen is a true workhorse. It's built to write, but I'll talk about that a bit later.
There's a combination of medium to dark blues on a background of black. The saturation of the blue is fantastic, and there's a sparkly quality to the resin that's hard to describe. Let's just say, it's nice to look at. Apart from the body and cap, the Beaumont has silver accents and a nice #6 nib with the Edison logo on it. The black grip has a great convex shape that makes writing very comfortable for me.
The pen is made of resin, so there's a slight smell sometimes, although it's somewhat faded since I first bought it. Now I only smell the resin when I unscrew the section to refill the converter with ink.
The build quality of the pen is outstanding. The tolerances are tight and it feels like a very high-quality instrument. On top of all that, it remains light, making it a great pen for long writing sessions.
It's pretty, it's comfortable, and it writes like a dream. I can't really think of any other way to put it.
Size-wise, I'd say it's a medium size. It's not full size, but it also isn't a pocket pen. The clip is just the way I like it – springy, but not so tight that it's difficult to clip onto things. That's been a real problem for a few of the recent pens I've acquired – they almost require two hands to clip them to a pen case pocket or a shirt pocket. The Beaumont is just right. Easy to clip, but also secure.
Writing
From day one, I haven't had a single complaint about how this pen writes. It's smooth, has great ink flow, and never has any starting, stopping, or skipping issues. Perfect. From what I understand, Brian Gray inspects and tunes each pen before it leaves his shop, so that's probably why it writes so beautifully.
If left sitting for a while, the feed tends to become overly saturated, which means there's more ink being put down on the page for a few sentences. It's a minor complaint, but if anyone knows how to adjust it, I'd like to know.
Being a steel nib, there isn't much flex to be had, but it's also very consistent in the line it does put down. I opted for a medium nib, which is great, but I think I'll go for an italic next time to get more character out of the ink. That's another great thing about this pen – the nib is swappable.
Like I said earlier, this pen is so enjoyable to write with. It's light, perfectly balanced for my hand, and the nib never causes any issues. The pen completely gets out of my way and I'm left to focus on the words and the page. Until using this pen, I never realized how much I crave that quality in a pen. In many cases, a pen has quirks that are forgivable but cause distractions while writing. I hope the pen has the same perfect balance for most hands, because it's absolutely fantastic.
It makes writing pleasant and effortless.
Conclusion
The Edison Beaumont is a great pen that I can't recommend enough. If you're like me, it might not look like much until you pick one up and try it out. It gets out of the way while writing, and looks great when not in use. That's pretty much exactly what I want in a pen.
I've always been fascinated by the process of creating the Edison pen barrels and caps, and I can't wait to add more Edisons to my collection. Part of the reason the process is so fascinating is that no two pens are the same. They are all unique.
If you're in the market for a great pen, you can find them at Anderson and Goulet with steel and 18k gold nibs. The steel versions run around $150, while the gold versions run around $275.
I can't recommend these pens enough. The Beaumont is definitely in my top 3!
(You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution, Twitter, and App.net.)
