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Franklin-Christoph makes me happy on a Friday

On Wednesday evening Franklin-Christoph sent me an email announcing the beta test of its new Shopify-based website.

I quickly take a look on my phone and see a short run of the Pocket 66 model in solid ice. Since I’d been mulling ordering another F-C pen anyway, and the Pocket 66 is no longer a standard production model, I order one in moments. I choose a medium italic Masuyama-ground steel nib. It cost me $180, with the special nib accounting for $25 of that.

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I ping an email over asking if I could please have the nib very wet and smooth, and get an almost immediate response from a human saying ‘no problem’.

The pen dispatches within a couple of hours, and today, Friday morning, it’s winged its way across the Atlantic with Mr FedEx (my preferred courier, because you get the goods then get the customs fee).

I unwrap the beautifully secure package and the pen is in my hand. The nib is still wet from testing after adjustment.

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I load it up with Montblanc Petrol and oh my gosh, Mr Masuyama knows how to grind a nib, and F-C know how to adjust one. True to their word, it’s wet, it’s smooth, and yet still incredibly crisp.

I regretted selling my Pocket 66 in Antique Glass back in the day, and today the Model 02 with fine italic Masuyama nib is one of my best writers. Now I have a beautiful complement to it.

It boggles my mind that I can go from browsing a shop to writing with the ordered pen in 40 hours, particularly one that was tuned to me AND shipped internationally. That’s great service, and it’s not all down to FedEx.

What’s more, this good service is consistent: every time I’ve ordered from Franklin-Christoph (maybe five times?) they’ve communicated perfectly: quick, friendly, and with genuinely knowledgeable answers, and then they’ve followed through. It helps that the products are great.

Franklin-Christoph haven’t paid me to write this post — I’m just a satisfied customer wanting to share some good vibes on a Friday!

12 Comments

  1. Martin

    I’ve been curious about a Franklin-Christoff too, glad to hear they are so easy to deal with.

    • Anthony

      Perhaps most importantly, since this is a UK blog, shipping on goods over 100 dollars is free internationally. Customs etc cost me £18, which makes this about £175 all in. I am happy with that!

  2. James Goodstadt

    That’s a good price! It looks like you have a converter in it. Which one is it? One of theirs or a standard one?

    • Anthony

      It’s the mini Kaweco converter. The P66 is too small for a standard converter, and this one won’t fit fully either!

  3. James Goodstadt

    Oh. Ok. Thanks.

    I have one of those in my kaweco sport. My normal pocket pen.

    Does this fit in your pocket like the sport does?

    • Anthony

      Oh I wouldn’t consider it a true pocket pen, not like the Sport.

  4. James Goodstadt

    Shame. I’ll have to give it more thought then. Thanks for answering my questions though.

  5. rupertarzeian

    Thank you for the heads up on how to get one of these lovely F-C pens. Very tempting, particularly with the hand ground nib options and excellent service. And going from browsing online to posting to the blog in 2 days is good going!

    • Anthony

      A new record! Rest assured that when I’m reviewing a new pen, rather than the buying experience, that I’m a lot more thorough 😁

  6. Kamil Klapka

    My small issue with these pens in antique glass or Ice is that they do not look that great with converter. They look 1000% better when eyedropped. However than they are not that much practical.

    I made my own experience when I bought my Stabilis P65 in solid ice, converted it to eyedropper and tried to bring it to office. It was burping like hell – probably due to changes in temperature. But the thing is beauty that way.

    I can second that FC does have fabulous customer service. I was not happy with my Mike Matsuyama needlepoint – it was still too sharp and not gliding well on paper, so they quickly sent different nib. I love their service and like look of their pens, however when taking into account custom fees, stabilis is my most expensive pen and I am not sure that to import it to Europe was worth the money 🙂

  7. Geoff

    Hi,
    Just managed to order an FC pocket 66 in antique glass (medium black steel nib). I was lucky really as this pen has just become available in a short batch (25 I think). Can’t wait to use this as an eyedropper!

    • Anthony

      Ah, the antique glass is beautiful. Hope you enjoy it!

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