Semantics? I'm inclined to agree.
By Brians definition, the crappiest chinese slimline with a cheap crystal added to the clip becomes high end. He may be right.
By another definition, if the quality of manufacture is better than its competitor it becomes high end.
One thing is for certain, and almost all here (but not quite everyone here) seem to agree - a high end pen has to be high quality in the first place otherwise it cannot be high end, but by yet another definition, just because its high quality, it is not necessarily high end.
But I put this to you. Everyone here knows what I do and how I earn a living. In the course of earning my living, it pays me to know a bit about the pen world at large. I KNOW who makes Mont Blanc's nibs for them, I KNOW how and and where the components of their pens are made. I KNOW that the principles behind the manufacturer of a Mont Blanc pen are PRECISELY the same as the principles that every one of us on this forum applies to making his of her pens. Take a tube, decorate the outside of the tube in some way, press in the fittings etc, etc etc. They are all made the same way whether they are Joe Blogs Garage Pens or Mont Blanc Pay Through The Nose Pens.
I also know that Mont Blanc are currently hawking a limited edition pen made from the only tree to remain standing after the Boxing Day pacific tsunami a couple of years back (which presumably, and ironically, they felled to the ground to make their pens) They are selling them for the wrong side of £1400 each. Now Mont Blanc are undoubtedly PERCEIVED as high end pens, but if you put a decent nib (mentioning no names) in the front of the highest quality FP kit you can think of (you decide on the kit), assuming your design and turning ability is top notch, is it then no more than a perception that Mont Blanc are higher end than the upgraded FP kit you've just made?
So.... I'm inclined to agree with Walter in that it's no more than semantics, but I introduce perception to the equation too, which is brought about by market position, which is brought about by marketing.
If you are one who sells your pens at craft fairs, and have a stall full of slimlines, is it not unreasonable to then say that the couple of Omegas and Barons you also have displayed are high end? It's all relative in my view, and is down to the perception of the purchaser. We are the purchasers of the kits, so its down to us as individuals to decide for ourselves, which of those kits is high end, which as Brian bravely pointed out is largely by comparison to the rank and file kits that are your normal staple. Our own customers are the purchasers of the pens we make, and its down to them to decide which of those is high end.
So, I introduce a third and final aspect to the equation....semantics, perception........ and a vast amount of subjectivity
