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.
