This is a great pen. I chose the soft fine nib (SF). Compared to Pilot’s #10 FA nib, which I had in a Custom 742, the SF is a semi-flex nib. It requires quite a bit of pressure to fully flex the nib. It makes my hand tired pretty quickly if I’m trying to flex the nib a lot as I write. I have read that these nibs soften up a bit as they break in and become a little easier to flex. During normal writing, however, the nib bounces along and adds a little character to my writing. It’s a joy to use, and it provides some tactile feedback and a fair bit of noise, which I don’t mind.
The pen barrel and cap are molded plastic, but I knew that going into the purchase. It would be a nicer pen if the nib/feed were set in a Franklin-Christoph or Edison, imo. Most of the money went into the nib and feed with this pen, but for just shy of $130 shipped, I feel I got a good amount of pen for my money. The gold trim on the clip and cap band are lovely. The clip is a slightly concave, modern design, which I really like.
A Pilot CON-50 converter was included with the pen, which I’m fine with. The small-ish ink capacity doesn’t bother me, as I don’t view filling a fountain pen as a chore. The Falcon won’t accommodate the larger CON-70 converter, but the metal Falcon (aka Elabo) will. The latter is substantially more expensive, however.
The nib is pretty unusual. It’s sort of beak shaped and reminds me of a Concorde airplane for some reason. I like it, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of others found it unattractive. Functionally, it’s great. The SF nib has a sweet spot, and I only get railroading if I have the pen rotated a little too much or, as expected, try to push the pen’s ability to flex near its maximum. Otherwise, the feed generally keeps up with the nib’s demand, even with Pelikan 4001 Blue-black, which I think is a little on the dry side. I can’t say the same of the FA nib/feed I had.
The SF is a fun nib to play with, and it’s apparently popular with artists. If you use the nib upside down, it writes a firm, dry, very fine line. Because the nib angles down along the nib’s slit, you can lay down broad swathes of ink by rubbing the nib across the page along the slit.
All that said, it’s a perfectly capable everyday writer. It’s not too wild and unruly to use at work. It does require a little getting used to, but I’ll be keeping this pen for sure. It’s one of the most unique, fun nibs I own. I could totally see having a nibmeister add flex to this one or maybe even buying a second one for the purpose and having it ground down to an extra fine, as well. It will be a while before my handwriting is able to do this nib justice, and it will keep me more than happy for a long time in its current state.
-Andy
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