I was at the CA pen show and spent some time (and money) at the Shondsgn table, I fell in love w Ian’s designs, and this offering.. all due to YOU. Thank you for your enthusiasm and fandom of this company. I see why you love Ian, and his pen genius. Scott is very cool too💜 I’m also a huge fan of Franklin Christoph pens and your wife’s SIG nib grinds. 😍
Thanks so much for this thorough video. I got my Monoc nib with the standard issue matte black aluminum body, and it’s my first of his full size aluminum pens. What a fantastic writing experience. I love all of the features that make it a superb writer, but I definitely picked this up as a way to support Ian and his design sense and engineering genius. I am a machinist by trade, and I love seeing all of the very cool things he gets up to in his workshop, along with getting to know him as a great guy who wants all his customers to have an fun and functional pen. 🤘🏼😸
Thanks for this, Mike-most helpful…aside from performance, I dig the sweeping geometry of this nib. I’m in the February delivery cohort and eager to get seriously monocular soon. Shipping shouldn’t take too long since I live only about 15 minutes from Ian's studio. 👍🏼
I've been running shimmers in my monoc since I got it early this month and it's cleaned out pretty well between fills. Some shimmer hangs out for sure but the vast majority comes out.
@@inkdependence Absolutely understandable. I'm constantly changing out inks testing things for work (I work at Vanness) and just got to the point where I've stopped being super fussy because of the time it would take lol. But ultem cleans so quickly that I haven't had issues with cleaning them enough to not screw up the tests.
Hi! I’m new to the fountain pen world. Came across my mom’s old Parker Vacumatic and have been writing with that! She’s 96, and she used the pen while working in the 40s to 70s Anyway, all that being said, you mentioned a dry ink for use in the Monoc nib. Could you recommend a few good dry inks? I definitely want to buy the nib w the Ultem pen body. I’m hoping that Ian will be at the New York Metropolitan Pen Show on April 22/23 so I can check it out! Thanks!
Welcome to Fountain Pens! The driest inks that are easiest to find are the Pelikan 4001 inks. Pelikan's pens are really wet, so they make dry inks to compensate. The new inks from Nahvalur are also pretty dry.
I was at the Philly pen show. I saw the nib. It looks fascinating. I heard the price. I just didn't have the money for this nib. It is a shame. I understand the nib may be out in different widths. Hopefully I will have the cash to get one.
Ian intends to make this a project that he'll be doing for a long time, so there shouldn't be a need to have FOMO about this nib. Wait for the one you want and the right financial time.
Hey Mike, thanks for this video. Yeah, I've been wondering about this product from Ian. It's interesting, but very $$$. I've been wondering if it's worth it, or for the same $, buy a nice Pilot or high-end Lamy for the same price. Were you guys aware that at one time, Ian was actually making high-end watches? The man is a genius.
I think it's a different sort of thing than a high-end Pilot or something like that. This is the price range (north of an 823) where pens turn into art, really. This is a whole new thing, and you're buying that novelty along with a really cool and functional pen. Ian did make some really beautiful watches. And lots of other things. Ian has been in design for a long time.
1. Interesting, thanks. 2. I have no doubt it is expensive to make this nib. What I don't understand is what extra value it provides to me, such that I should buy it. The lines you show do not look better than or even different from the comparison lines from other nibs. Is it more comfortable, expressive, precise, durable, or good-looking? What traits does it have justifying its premium price? I don't get it. I actually asked Mr. S., and he couldn't explain it in words. 3. Is the Orange/Blue/Yellow pen a F-C Model 40?
I think it's comfortable, expressive, precise, durable, ANd good looking. It also brings me joy to use. If it doesn't do those things for you, then it won't have value for you. That's totally okay. It's not going to be for everyone. For those of us whom it IS for, there's a whole lot of value. Yep. That was an FC Panther 40.
Thanks for sharing. Very nice design. However, as a pen collector this is a bit pricey. I believe these are going over $200. I'll take a raincheck on this.
They are pricey, and they're not going to be for everyone. It's just a fact that there's a lot of work in these, and they aren't mass-produced so there's going to be a premium for them. It's just cool that they exist.
@@inkdependence I agree. Definitely not for me. Thanks for sharing and making these types of videos. I am always looking forward to your next video(s).
Mike.. what is the sheening ink that you have in the pen that appears about 7 min in? It's greenish.. The pen is multicolored with red and blue in the cap.
Not for me, it isn't. I don't really have the budget for that sort of thing. Perhaps one of the sites like Anderson Pens or Goulet will have the writing samples you're looking for? Many of them will have comparisons like this.
I bet he has. The Ti he's using is hard and, really, it's only being ground against paper. It'll be fine. Lots of nibs out there don't have tipping at all, and they're good decades later. Plus, Ian has a machine that just writes and writes with it. Check out the video here on IG: instagram.com/reel/CguNN3VFsP2/
They're $385 currently, and you get a discount on it if you buy it with a pen. They're expensive for sure, but they are each a whole lot of hand work and time.
It's really only $200 on top of the price of the pen, and that's not all that different in price from a common gold nib upgrade, and it's well less than some other brands charge for their nibs. So: it was to me, yes. Everyone's value perceptions are going to be different, though.
It is actually pretty incredibly reasonably priced when you consider the unit economics and scale of the operation. I doubt they have any actual margin on these at the moment. They will likely get to the point where there will be a margin, but not at batch 1.
It's a solid piece of machined titanium, not just stamped steel like so many other nibs. That's an extremely expensive process and material.If this is overpriced in your opinion, I'd like to know what isn't.
