The Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Calligraphy Gift Set: 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 Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Calligraphy Gift Set comes in a silver metal tin.

Inside you'll find a pen with one nib installed, two other nib units, two plastic nib covers, and three boxes of ink cartridges in blue, black, and pink. No instructions are included with this set.

The pen is made of light silver-colored plastic with a metal clip and raised dots along the barrel (thus the "Grip" name).

The finial is concave with the Faber-Castell logo, and the cap sports the Faber-Castell name on the side. It is a snap-on cap.

The pen is medium-sized, measuring 5.4 inches/137mm capped, 5.1 inches/130mm uncapped, and 6.9 inches/175mm posted. It weighs only 15.19 grams capped/posted and 9.42 grams uncapped. It is comfortable in the hand, and the grip (made of textured black plastic) curves inward slightly, measuring 10.42mm.

Three interchangeable steel calligraphy nib units are included: 1.1mm, 1.4mm, and 1.8mm.

Three boxes of ink cartridges are also included. The ink is "erasable," but you have to purchase an ink eraser correction pen in order to correct mistakes. "Erasable" is bit misleading since the correction pen applies fluid over the ink rather than removing the ink.

I practiced my calligraphy alphabet with each of the nib units in my Endless Recorder Notebook. The 1.1mm nib (inked with black) wrote beautifully without any skips or hard starts.

I was impressed with the 1.4mm nib (inked with blue). It's wide enough to offer noticeable line variation, but not so wide to make writing awkward.

Unfortunately, the 1.8 nib (inked with pink) was horrible. I had to work hard to write two or three letters before the ink stopped flowing. It was scratchy, ink-stingy, and most unpleasant to use. A close up of the nib explains why: the tines are misaligned.

The writing samples below do not show the difficulties I had with the nib. To get one page of writing was an exercise in frustration.

Here's a comparison of the nibs writing normally:

The Faber-Castell pen is comfortable to write with, and the nib units are easy to switch. The nib caps insure that the nibs won't dry out. The three ink colors are vibrant and flow well, plus the cartridge system is simple to use. This set could make a good starter kit for a beginner.

However, the 1.8 nib in my set is unusable. In addition, there are no instructions--not even a basic alphabet exemplar. This makes the set less suitable for someone just starting out. The $40.00 price tag makes me question whether this set is a good choice for a beginner or anyone, for that matter. If it were around $20.00 I would be more comfortable recommending it. You can buy a Pilot Parallel set with four calligraphy pens for $25.00, for example.

The Faber-Castell Grip 2011 Calligraphy Gift Set is available at Goldspot Pens for $40.00.

(Goldspot Pens provided the Faber-Castell set at no charge to Pen Addict for review purposes.)

---

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Faber-Castell Grip Fountain Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her first novel, The Bone Weaver’s Orchard, now available where books are sold!)

There can never be too many entry-level fountain pens. The more variety there is, the more likely new hobbyists will find a pen they love and join us at the Pen Addict table. Faber-Castell's Grip fountain pen has flown under my radar, but it's an excellent contender for a beginner fountain pen--and it's a decent pen even for us wizened collectors.

If this pen hadn't arrived in a fancy presentation box, I'd have assumed it was a generic rollerball from a big box store. I think the grip dots create this impression for me. They remind me of school pens. And this would actually make an excellent school pen! But it certainly isn't putting on any airs when it comes to appearance. The only ornament is the raised logo on the top of the cap and the lovely engraved nib. Otherwise, this is a very plain pen. Or maybe a better word would be 'inconspicuous.'

The body is molded plastic; this one is a pretty dark blue with black raised dots along the body. These are supposed to aid in gripping the pen, though they are conspicuously absent on the grip section itself. The grip section is textured soft plastic. The whole body is very subtly triangular shaped, so the pen doesn't roll too easily, and the grip is comfortable. The shaping guides your grip without forcing you into a specific pen hold.

The cap has the Faber-Castell name on it in white. It snaps to close and posts securely. It's very light even when posted, which makes it great for long writing sessions. The clip is folded stainless steel and works very well. It's springy but still secure, and the shaped tip doesn't damage paper or fabric.

The pen takes standard cartridges (long or short will work) or a standard converter. It comes with one cartridge.

The nib is steel and nicely decorated. This one is an extra fine and it is actually very fine. Other Faber-Castell nibs I've used have felt on the broader side to me, so I was surprised to get such hairline writing with this one. It does have a lot of feedback and feels a bit dry, but it isn't unpleasant at all. In fact, I think that makes it perfect for writing in pocket notebooks, or on office or school paper.

This is an excellent student pen, or work pen--or a pen that you want to carry around without worrying about it too much. It's reliable, writes well, and it's inexpensive. At $20, I think it's the perfect price for gifting to kids or office friends who might be fountain pen curious. It's been my work companion for a few weeks, now, and its plain appearance means I can leave it sitting on the desk while I wander away to work without worrying about it growing legs and walking away. No one looks twice at it, until I explain what makes it special.

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

Faber-Castell NEO Slim 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.)

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a sleek all-black ballpoint pen that featured a pretty solid refill — the Faber-Castell NEO Slim ballpoint pen. This week, I'm looking at the sibling pen — the NEO Slim fountain pen with a medium steel nib.

Like the ballpoint sibling, the fountain pen is a sleek and modern fountain pen with an understated design. While the pen is slim, it's still fairly comfortable to write with. If you're a fan of blacked-out accessories, this pen will definitely catch your eye. The matte black body, cap, and section look great together, and then shiny black nib is a great accent to the overall aesthetic. The only branding you'll find on the pen is a small Faber-Castell logo on the cap next to the clip.

Speaking of the clip, it's very similar to the ballpoint version, which isn't a great thing. The same problem ails this pen as well. The clip lacks the strength and teeth to really hold on to anything without the assistance from gravity. If this is in your bag being tossed around, it will likely fall out. It does fine for tucking into a shirt or pants pocket, and even a bag pocket as long as it's staying upright.

When it comes to writing, this pen does a great job. It may be slim, but that doesn't detract from the overall comfort. If you look closely, you'll see that the grip section is incredibly small, which normally translates to a cramped holding position. With the NEO Slim, this isn't true because the grip section is (mostly) the same diameter as the rest of the body. The pen body is long and slender and feels great in the hand. I've some fairly long writing sessions with this pen, and I've never had any cramping or discomfort.

The tiny nib on this pen has been a point of contention for me. On one hand, it looks great and provides an excellent contrast to the matte black finish of the pen body. But on the other hand, it wasn't tuned correctly from the factory. It turned out to be a mild case of baby's bottom, but it still diminished the experience. This is bound to happen here and there with fountain pens, and it's (luckily) fairly easy to fix on your own. Still — at $50, it seems like a quality problem that shouldn't exist.

Once I smoothed out the nib on my trusty fingernail buffer, the nib started to sing. The ink flow was more normal and the stuttering and skipping problem was completely gone. I've loved writing with this pen ever since I took a few minutes to smooth the nib. It was a problem that shouldn't have existed in the first place, but it sure feels satisfying to improve something on your own.

The NEO Slim takes international cartridges or any international converter. You can purchase the Faber-Castell converter, but any converter with the same port will work. The pen is also long enough to store an extra cartridge if you're using international short cartridges.

At $50, this isn't an instantly easy recommendation, but it does feel and perform well for the price range. I've really enjoyed using this pen and can think of several people that would appreciate this pen as a gift. The blacked-out aesthetic and slender design make this a desirable pen to carry with you. But, if all black isn't your thing, there are several other color options. The pens range from $40 to $60, and you can choose from black, polished steel, black and rose gold, or matte steel finishes along with a range of EF to B nib sizes.

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

---

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!