Franklin Christoph model 03 iterum: Pen Review

Price and Availability:


The Pen is available anytime from the franklin Christoph site with prices ranging from $165.00 for the factory steel nib, to $255.00 for the factory gold.

Available Options:


the pen comes in three body types, the smoke with maroon disk on cap I have pictured here, a solid black body with maroon disk on cap, or a black body with a textured orange disk on the cap.

The nib options on FC pens is where things really heat up, on top of the regular factory sizes in the gold and steel options, which are
Steel: EF, F, M, B, 1.1 CURSIVE, 1.5 CURSIVE
GOLD: EF. F. M. B

franklin Christoph also has custom nib options done by Michael Masuyama for an additional $15.00 on either nib which will expand both nib options to include: Needlepoint, Medium Italic, Medium Stub, Broad Italic, Broad Stub.

Making for 11 options for steel and 9 options for gold to suit most any taste out there.

My thoughts on the pen:


the pen is light and well balanced, easy to hold for long sessions. One of the great touches you can see in this design is the cap threads on the barrel are not back where the grip meets the body as you would find on most screw thread caps, but at the front of the grip just before it meets the nib, this means im not grabbing a lot of threads that dig into my fingers and is very comfortable in hand.


the usual FC touches are here as well, the four diamonds are engraved on the clip as always, but there is also a very (Hard to photograph) "Franklin-Christoph" engraving under the clip along the cap. the smoke version above is a reflective body that shimmers depending on the angle you look at it, which adds a lot of depth and character to the look of the pen while still being very classy timeless and elegant as well. the pen has some great classic lines and overall I think is just a beautiful pen for all occasions.

I opted for the Mike Mayusama Medium Italic on this pen, as I had once owned this nib on the FC Essential. the nib is in my opinion, perfectly suited to add just a touch of flair to everyday writing, that some larger nibs may not be capable of doing. It is perfectly smooth when you keep your pressure in check, and flow is perfect as well, when you keep your nib properly aligned to the paper. I mention those things as with a cursive italic it does not have the large forgiveness that a standard medium nib would have, or even a stub version, the cursive nibs are cut very straight and need to be kept flat or you may find some skipping that you will be causing yourself.

Nice. Thank you James.

Thank you, James, for saving me the trouble of reviewing my pen! Mine is identical to his except I opted for the Medium Stub nib option (ground by nibmeister extraordinaire, Mike Masuyama). I am tickled to death with the nib and pen combination. It took me a couple of days to get totally comfortable with the stub (my first), but now I can't put the darn thing down. It adds just the right flair and line variation to my writing without requiring a lot of special care or hand gyrations to keep the nib in the correct position. Getting the excellent "group discount" didn't hurt much, either!

Excellent review of a really fine pen!

Nice review, James.

It's pretty but I'm not sure if that step-up where the grip meets the barrel would work for me (high gripper).

Wondering about the filling system ... assuming a cart/converter.

nemo said:

Wondering about the filling system ... assuming a cart/converter.

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A correct assumption. Seems to be a standard screw-type converter. I'm still using the cartridge that Scott installed at the show...Franklin-Christoph Blue 72. A nice, general-purpose medium blue. I'm actually tempted to order a bottle.

dangit i knew I forgot something... a cart converter system indeed, thanks Larry

Snargle said:

A correct assumption. Seems to be a standard screw-type converter. I'm still using the cartridge that Scott installed at the show...Franklin-Christoph Blue 72. A nice, general-purpose medium blue. I'm actually tempted to order a bottle.

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Larry, pretty sure that the carts are Piper branded while the bottles are F-C and they are different inks. That said, Piper blue carts are decent and reasonably priced.

Great review and beautiful pen James. Thank you

Nice pen and great review, James! I have the med italic on one of my B&B Essential pens as well. It also took me a bit to get used to writing with it.
Congrats on the beautiful pen james and Larry, enjoy it!

SmoovD said:

Larry, pretty sure that the carts are Piper branded while the bottles are F-C and they are different inks. That said, Piper blue carts are decent and reasonably priced.

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Daniel, I sent an email to F-C asking them about the ink and they responded that the Blue 72 in bottles and the Piper Blue cartridges are the same ink.

Snargle said:

Daniel, I sent an email to F-C asking them about the ink and they responded that the Blue 72 in bottles and the Piper Blue cartridges are the same ink.

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Thanks for the correction. Good to know.

Actually, I should correct that previous statement. The Piper cartridges are the same formula as the bottled ink, but they are imported. The F-C bottled ink is made in the USA. Same ink, just different manufacturing locations.

Great review (as usual), James! Thanks.

Jealous!
I've always liked the No. 3

James, well done review!

Great review, James. It really is a great looking pen, great lines and much character to the colors and materials for the body and the cap. It felt lighter in weight to me than it looked. The nib options really bring this pen above much of the competition, too.

The Knize said:

Great review, James. It really is a great looking pen, great lines and much character to the colors and materials for the body and the cap. It felt lighter in weight to me than it looked. The nib options really bring this pen above much of the competition, too.

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Im surprised you so narrowly escaped a spontaneous enable, it really is a great pen though

syngent said:

Im surprised you so narrowly escaped a spontaneous enable, it really is a great pen though

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Narrowly is right. I pretty much decided I would have been buying the pen for the nib modification. That I had a pen already that I liked as much and was emotionally attached to, and buying the FC would discourage me from taking the time and spending the bucks to have it modified. The FC is gorgeous, though.

Thanks for a great review. That's a really nice pen.

I opted for Mike Mayusama's broadest stub on a different FC pen. It is a great writer. But, as you said, it lays down a line that is a bit too dense for some of the forms I have to fill in at work.

Enjoy that fine piece of writing technology/art!