Pen people love them some Franklin Christophs and I am no exception. Not only are their pens well made and great writers, their leather products are good quality, well priced and highly functional.

They also keep very well throughout the years. I have been using the Franklin Christoph Penvelope Six every work day for the last 4 years and it still looks as good as new.

Left to right: Franklin Christoph 66 Stabilis Antique Glass, Franklin Christoph 66 Stabilis Italian Ice, Pilot Vanishing Point, Pelikan M600, Platinum 3776 Shoji, Bexley Americana

The Penvelope Six, as the name would suggest, holds 6 pens. I have been able to fit some Kawecos on either side of the pen slots, clipped into the front leather bit, but I stopped doing this and wouldn’t recommend it as it dents the leather and it takes some time for it to un-dent. There is also a small section in front of the pens where you would be able to fit some notecards or notes, which comes in handy.

Left to right: Nakaya Dorsal Fin 2, Omas Paragon

The pen slots fit “normal” sized pens. The only pens that it doesn’t fit (in my collection anyway) are the fat Nakaya Dorsal Fin 2 and the Omas Paragon – which according to the Nibs.com website is 1.72 cm and 1.55 cm wide respectively.

Franklin Christoph 45

On the other end of the scale, ironically, the only pens I own that are too small to fit into the slots are Franklin Christophs – the Marietta 20 and the 45. The full style Marietta is not as much of a problem as I can normally push the pen from the bottom to get it out, but I have had problems with the pocket version falling into the slot. It was very difficult getting it out again, I think I resorted to tweezers. I have also had the Marietta fling out of the case when flicking the top of the pen case open, because the diameter of the pen was too small to stay in the pen slot.

Surprisingly, from a length point of view, it comfortably fits the Franklin Christoph 66 Stabilis, which is 6.3 inches long and easily the longest pen I own. It could potentially fit an even longer pen, as there is still room in the case with the Stabilis 66 in place.

I purchased the Penvelope for US $69, which is the Nappa leather version. Franklin Christoph has gone through 2 different types of leather since I purchased my version, with the current version being the FxCel leather, for $76.50. I really very highly recommend this pen case – its worth every penny!

 

The Tactile Turn Gist is a kickstarted pen from Will Hodges that was launched in October (ish) 2015 and recently been fulfilled. I received delivery of the two pens I backed – a full titanium and a polycarbonate and bronze version – a few weeks ago and will give you a quick review of my initial impressions of the Titanium pen.

First – the really cool thing about the Gist is the million finish combinations that it is available in. It can have parts or be fully made in Polycarbonate, Brass, Copper, Stainless Steel, Zirconium Oxide, Damascus Steel and Titanium. I believe post Kickstarter you can now buy separate parts so you can also mix up your combinations as well.

From left to right: Kaweco Classic Sport, Franklin Christoph Pocket 66, Tactile Turn Gist Titanium, Edison Pearlette, Pilot Prera

The Gist is a shortish pen, about 13 cm long (capped) and 12 cm long uncapped, making it a little on the small side. On the Titanium version of the pen, however, I don’t really notice its smallness, as it still has some heft to it due to the metal. Its really well balanced (unposted) and feels reasonably substantial in hand, despite the apparent small stature. I don’t think I could use it for long writing sessions requiring quick writing, but under normal circumstances, it feels comfortable for me. Being all metal, it is too heavy for me to post and it feels very top heavy when I do it.

All metal pens usually feel very slippery and require a death grip regardless of weight and form, however, the Gist is cleverly ribbed for your comfort. I’ve not found any machining errors either (not that I expected any) so it will suit the OCD in you as well. For those of you who get annoyed by excessive unscrewing of pen caps, the Gist takes 2.5 turns to completely uncap. All of the other pens I have on hand (Platinum, Pelikan, Sailor, Pilot, TWSBI, Bexley) take around 1 turn.

Being a shorter pen, the Gist uses a smaller converter which looks suspiciously like it might be the same as the MonteVerde Clear ink cartridge converter that is used in the MonteVerde Artista Crystal Fountain pen. If so, that’s great as the converter doesn’t feel overly sturdy and it will be useful having spares on hand.

The nibs available on the Gist are the standard Bock nibs and can be ordered in steel, gold and titanium. Bock is one of the big German nib manufacturers and also makes nibs for Kaweco, Faber Castell, Eboya and Visconti, to name a few. The ones I have on my Gists are the steel mediums and performance between the two nibs that I have are a little inconsistent. One is wet and a little scratchy (this one) and the other is a little bit drier and smoother. However, both nibs are very usable and comfortable and would perform well with minor adjustments.

Overall, the Gist is a pretty good choice for a full Titanium pen, which can be expensive. I backed the Titanium version for the Kickstarter price of US$149 (+US$7 for shipping to Australia!) which is a very good price for a Titanium pen. The others that I can think of off the top of my head are the Lamy Scala which is about $100 more or the Nakaya Piccolo in Titanium, which is about US$1000. But then….Nakayas’ are in a class of their own. The thing that stands out about the Gist is the ribbed finish which really does make a big difference in grip and writing comfort.

The Gist is now available (post Kickstarter) directly from Tactile Turn or other retailers like Vanness.