High End Pens

[mvande21]

I am looking around to get some high end fountain pens for some craft shows. I am wondering why some of the "high end" kits are more money. Is the plating better? Is it real gold? I would like to know because I am sure some of my customers will ask also. I also was told to replace the nib that comes with the kit and get a bock nib? I would like to make a pen that is worth 2-300 dollar range. Any suggestions out there for materials to make with this too would be appreciated. I was thinking either a tru stone or an alligator jaw bone blank.
Comments Welcome Everyone

 

[76winger]

I am looking around to get some high end fountain pens for some craft shows. I am wondering why some of the "high end" kits are more money. Is the plating better? Is it real gold? I would like to know because I am sure some of my customers will ask also. I also was told to replace the nib that comes with the kit and get a bock nib? I would like to make a pen that is worth 2-300 dollar range. Any suggestions out there for materials to make with this too would be appreciated. I was thinking either a tru stone or an alligator jaw bone blank.
Comments Welcome Everyone

This is my take on them, others may have a slightly different one:

Most high end kit are made with more solid machined brass parts and less plastic and aluminum than those just under this class of pen. Most are also have a plating combination of Rhodium/Gold, Rhodium/Black Ti, Sterling Silver/Gold or Black Ti. Some of the solid Stainless ones could be considered in the high end line as well.

When you break into the price range you mentioned, has as much to do with the quality of work you do and the venue you sell in as it does materials used, although you'll usually be putting some of those made with 3rd party blanks of feathers, abalone, laser cut art work, etc. at a higher price point than those made from most woods or acrylics.

I hope that helps.

 

[maverickgal]

My first suggestion would be a high end nib. We always used an 18K German nib made by Mutschler that was manufactured to exacting standards. We first went to a fountain pen show as a vendor many years ago with the original "kit nibs". We were first laughed at, then taught the differences in nibs. Needless to say, we immediately went to a reputable high end pen store to get some really good nibs. $50 for a high end nib and convertor is chump change if you're shooting for such a pen, but the difference in how it writes is NOT chump change. PM me if you need a link for a good nib. We used them on pens we sold for $170-$270.

Next - the hardware. I don't think you can make a pen that would sell for that much if you use a kit, but I could be wrong. You might talk to some in manufacturing, and see if they could take the kit you like best, and make the parts in 18K gold or some other very high end material. The very cheapest you could go for a high end pen would be titanium... Definitely NOT gold plated - that would be a disaster!

I wish you the very best in this noble and lofty goal - think big! Oh, one last thing - craft shows generally will not give you the customer you need for this - you need at the very least, a nice ART show instead. The difference in clientele between the two types of shows is huge!
Sharon

 

[jmbaker79]

Much more detail work goes into designing and producing "high end kits." They are also usually available in higher end platings such as rhodium vs. chrome. You can see and feel the difference in a $10 set and a $30 $50 $70 etc... set. These details and options demand a higher sales point on your end as well. Many kit pens have been sold for $300+ using standard Bock nibs. If you are going to get into making/selling fountains make sure you make one for yourself to familiarize yourself with such...and read read read up on fountain pens bcd there is an incredible amount of info about them, from nib tuning to filling systems, and the last thing you want is to meet a customer who knows more about you product than you do...

Materials are completely up to you, very nice burl wood, to import plastics, to alligator etc.... whatever floats your boat...At that price range your material should be unique and finished flawlessly to exact measurements regardless of what it's made from.

If you are putting a high end kit plus a bock nib plus a nice material together it ads up quickly and you need to sell it what its worth. Also someone has to pay for the knowledge you gain by learning your craft.

Also I cant believe that this has 788 views with only 3 responses, doesnt seem welcoming!

Best of luck!

 

[76winger]

Sure seems like there would more responses. There's plenty of folks I'm these forums that make these higher end pens.

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

As has been said, many, many times here if you want to sell higher end pens you need to tie both the pen and the venue together. You can make a very high end solid sterling silver pen with a $30 blank but you won't be able to get it's value at your local craft show. There are a number of higher end Component sets , like the solid stainless ones from Marksman, Lazerlinzes, and Classic's, the Emperor, Lotus, Imperial from Exotics, the not so very high end but what some would consider high end the Jr.Series from CSUSA. But remember you still need to find the proper place to sell them.

 

[Smitty37]

There are a number of things that go into a "high end" pen. The most important are the venue and the reputation of the maker. To sell a pen, no matter how nice for $300 you have to sell at a venue where people are willing and able to spend that much money for a pen. Once there, you need enough reputation and have good enough product to make them want to spend that amount for your pen.

I think the kit you use is secondary and there are dozens of blanks available that will fill the bill including polyclay, feather, tru-quarter, worthless wood, clock parts and many others depending on whether you want to aim at men, women, younger, older or whatever people. Their tastes will make a difference.

In my collection I have a number of high end pens - they are high end for several reasons - generally speaking they are unique, even though made with a kit. Some of the high end fountain pen kits might benifit from replacing the nib but some come with a pretty good nib included and you might not gain as much as an expensive nib would add to the cost.