At long long last I've received the samples from the manufacturer, and I am as excited as a schoolboy at Christmas. I'm really pleased with them, and although one or two minor tweaks are necessary, they are everything I have hoped for.
They have been designed from scratch from the bottom up, and the design process has had four guiding principles.
1. The very best quality
2 As slender as possible
3. No bling
4 Value for money
This photo (not the greatest shot in the world, sorry) shows all the components for the fountain pen kit and the rollerball pen kit, in titanium gold. A handful of people will have samples landing on their doormats over the next few days.
The kits will shortly be joined by a matching ballpoint and a matching pencil, so that in time a suite of four kits will be available, all of which match each other. They will be available initially in titanium gold, and over time in rhodium. To make them all as good writing instruments as possible, they will all have Beaufort ink refills and I have commissioned our own high quality nibs which are being made in Germany (yes, they really are made in Germany - they don't just lie about it on the engraving!!)
The mistral kits are not intended to compete in any way with others which have become the staples over the last couple of years. I'm thinking of Taylors Mirfield Omegas and Alphas in particular. Dan and I speak to each other frequently, and the very last thing we wish to do is compete with each other. Having listened to the many discussions on price and quality, and being a pen turner myself, the Mistral kits are intended to sit in the category of "special occasion" or "push the boat out" for the times when you need a pen kit for a special gift of to compliment that unique special blank, and from what I can see in the samples, and from the effort that has been put in to their design, I like to think they will fulfill that role very nicely.
There are a number of niceties that have been designed in to the components, and once I've had some feedback from the sample testers and had a chance to turn one myself, I'll provide all the details, when we are a bit nearer to full production. In the meantime, all comments. good or bad are very welcome.
Phil
They have been designed from scratch from the bottom up, and the design process has had four guiding principles.
1. The very best quality
2 As slender as possible
3. No bling
4 Value for money
This photo (not the greatest shot in the world, sorry) shows all the components for the fountain pen kit and the rollerball pen kit, in titanium gold. A handful of people will have samples landing on their doormats over the next few days.
The kits will shortly be joined by a matching ballpoint and a matching pencil, so that in time a suite of four kits will be available, all of which match each other. They will be available initially in titanium gold, and over time in rhodium. To make them all as good writing instruments as possible, they will all have Beaufort ink refills and I have commissioned our own high quality nibs which are being made in Germany (yes, they really are made in Germany - they don't just lie about it on the engraving!!)
The mistral kits are not intended to compete in any way with others which have become the staples over the last couple of years. I'm thinking of Taylors Mirfield Omegas and Alphas in particular. Dan and I speak to each other frequently, and the very last thing we wish to do is compete with each other. Having listened to the many discussions on price and quality, and being a pen turner myself, the Mistral kits are intended to sit in the category of "special occasion" or "push the boat out" for the times when you need a pen kit for a special gift of to compliment that unique special blank, and from what I can see in the samples, and from the effort that has been put in to their design, I like to think they will fulfill that role very nicely.
There are a number of niceties that have been designed in to the components, and once I've had some feedback from the sample testers and had a chance to turn one myself, I'll provide all the details, when we are a bit nearer to full production. In the meantime, all comments. good or bad are very welcome.
Phil
