Italix Captain's Commission
P.J. Ford & Associates Ltd was founded in 1989 originally as a marketing consultancy for the international office products industry. Since their founding, they have evolved into a mail order business selling rubber stamps, batteries, wristwatches and pocket watches, as well as a variety of pen brands and inks. Their Mr. Pen division is the exclusive proprietor of the Italix pen line. This pen line, made exclusively for them, provides a wide variety of pen styles and is very well known for the 27 different nib options offered depending on the model, such as standard options, italic nibs, left and right oblique nibs, stub nibs, italic oblique nibs, cursive nibs, and even gold options. Peter Ford from Mr. Pen very generously sent me a Captain’s Commission in black with a medium nib for review.
Mr. Pen offers a huge variety of nib options to choose from and all of their nibs are adjusted before being shipped to you. I received a medium nib on this model for review, which appears to be a #6 and is branded with the word “ITALIX” and “M” for medium and simple scroll work. I am not normally a fan of medium nibs, but this nib… this nib changed my opinions completely. This is one of the most amazing nibs I have ever experienced and has quickly moved into my daily rotation. So much so, that I recently used this nib to complete all of the hospital paperwork for my daughter’s birth. I filled the pen with one of my most temperamental inks and it performed like a dream. It is extremely smooth, but not so much that it has baby bottom. If every nib they adjust and sell is this perfect, they will make many customers very, very happy.
The pen fills via a standard international converter, which is included. However, you can also use the included cartridges if you prefer.Based on the conversion rate at the time of writing, the pen retails at $55.29 USD and an additional $16.79 USD for shipping. That said I feel that $72.09 is a phenomenal price for this pen and could easily see it selling for well over double that amount based on its build and performance.Overall, I can sum up my feelings for this pen very simply – I love this pen! I have shared this pen with a number of friends, both fountain pen users and non-fountain pen users, and they have all been enamored with it. In fact, they are requesting we do a group buy later this year so we can get a variety of models to sample. I think you get a great value with this pen, it is amazingly built, a wonderful writer, and it will surely outlast you.
The pen fills via a standard international converter, which is included. However, you can also use the included cartridges if you prefer.Based on the conversion rate at the time of writing, the pen retails at $55.29 USD and an additional $16.79 USD for shipping. That said I feel that $72.09 is a phenomenal price for this pen and could easily see it selling for well over double that amount based on its build and performance.Overall, I can sum up my feelings for this pen very simply – I love this pen! I have shared this pen with a number of friends, both fountain pen users and non-fountain pen users, and they have all been enamored with it. In fact, they are requesting we do a group buy later this year so we can get a variety of models to sample. I think you get a great value with this pen, it is amazingly built, a wonderful writer, and it will surely outlast you.
