Excellent Pen! Excellent Service! Excellent Source for Pens!
Emy & Team, I am so pleased with my new Pilot Custom Urushi! I have been shopping around for awhile and thought for the longest time that this pen was out of my reach. Emy, your pricing was so competitive that the pen was now a possibility for me. I bought it and was delighted that it arrived at my door, all the way from Romania in just 6 days. That fulfillment time was quicker than many US-based stores. I appreciated the personal note as well. The pen is a writing dream and I would like to express a sincere "Thank You" to Emy and his Team and encourage anyone looking for a fine writing instrument to look no further than Pen Venture!
I absolutely love this design, but item I received left a lot to be desired in terms of quality and attention to detail. First, the nib suffered from hard starts. Furthermore, in the pen I received, the microengraving on the finial band is so far off centre that the taller letters are clipped at the top (please see attached photo). For me, neither of these is acceptable at this price point. After exchanging a number of e-mails with Gravitas customer support, they agreed to send me replacement parts for the filling mechanism (including the finial band) and the nib unit.
When the parts finally arrived, I was shocked and disappointed to see that the new filling mechanism did not work at all (the two parts at the tip of the plunger are stuck together, even a generous application silicone grease did not get them to move freely). Furthermore, the colour and texture of the anodising on the end finial of the new filling mechanism did not match the original pen, and the finial band has a serial number that was never present in the original pen (see attached photo). I can’t help thinking that someone out there has a “unique limited edition” pen with the exact same serial number on their pen as I do on my spare filing mechanism, which feels wrong. I contacted Gravitas customer support again, and they informed me that the anodising colour cannot be matched perfectly between batches (strange, considering that the anodising on all the parts of the original item I received was well matched), and that the serial number is not a warranty issue, so they will take no further action to try to remedy the situation. After inquiring about the faulty filling mechanism that didn't work even after generous application of silicone grease, I have not received any reply at all from Gravitas, which is disappointing to say the least.
After nearly 2 months, I am now left with a selection of mismatched and dysfunctional parts and disappointment. I find this to be a huge shame since the design itself is so lovely. Some of the issues I raised above are certainly nit-picky, but in my opinion reasonable expectations to have at this price point. Anyway, I hope that my review will at least allow others to have more realistic expectations of the quality of this product.
For a better understanding by on-lookers, I switch into Romanian.
La sugestia inteligenței artificiale, pentru stiloul Parker VP din folosință în momentul discuției, am comandat cerneala Aurora 100th Anniversary Blue, de pe site-ul Pen House. Ei bine, atât de mult îmi place cum scrie această cerneală, fără asemănare cu Parker Blue-Black / Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue, încât am vrut să mai comand încă o călimară ca rezervă ( deși pe moment nu este cazul având în vedere volumul generos al călimării ). Nu mai aveau...căutând pe net alți furnizori de această cerneală de lux rarissimă, am găsit că era în stoc la Dumneavoastră. Așa că, am comandat-o ! Apreciez enorm această cerneală, pentru ambalajul exterior inedit ( inclusiv pungulița ! ), pentru călimara elegantă, cu aspect vintage deopotrivă, pentru eticheta elegantă de siguranțare a dopului, scrisă în italiană și în engleză ( de altfel ca tot ceea ce este scris în exteriorul călimării ! ) pentru dopul intern fixat în gâtul călimării ( ceea ce nu am întâlnit la alte călimări !! ) pentru a preveni scurgerea ccidentală a cernelii. Și în fine, cerneala...are o culoare albastră fără asemănare cu nuanța de la Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue, Parker Washable Blue, Parker Blue-Black. Este o culoare albastră care cere să fie scrisă, care devine plăcută și după uscarea pe hârtie ! Nu își modifică aspectul față de momentul scrierii. Este o cerneală umedă, care încântă și stiloul ! prin calitatea și proprietățile sale. Îmi face o plăcere deosebită / enormă să o folosesc cu stiloul Parker 45 Classic, Made in USA, cu peniță de aur 14 K. Pentru că acest stilou merită ce-i mai bun !
Absolutely gorgeous little pen. Perfect for quick notes. Nice weight and texture makes it feel lovely in hand. Too short unposted for long writing sessions. And has a pretty smooth nib with little feedback. Everything from buying to delivery was smooth with no issues.
Only problem with the pen was a small ding on the top ridge of the cap. Didn't bother me. It lives in my pocket, will add more dings and scratches because this pen seems built to last a lifetime. This will be the pen my soon to be new born daughter will see me use daily. Will buy Gravitas again in future. PEN VENTURE made it a pleasant purchase experience.
Picked up a fine black pvd nib so that I can swap it on occasion for the medium that's in my Gravitas Pocket Zirconium. This along with everything else in my order shipped quickly and was securely packaged. The nibs are in their own individual plastic cases which is nice to store them when not in use.
