The Bijou Fountain Pen - Sandcastle Clay

At this point I could leave a similar review on a number of FWP items, but this one is a simple example - I've been a buyer and fan of this brand since the first Kickstarter launch (Original Trio Inks and Brush Pens), and have often recommended it to friends and continued to save up to make a few big purchases from FWP a year, largely to my own chagrin and not because this is an affordable hobby by any means, but because the first Kickstarter pens were one of the first (and only) 'luxury' feeling items I ever spent money on in my young life and however silly it was it felt really good to own something that felt like it was genuinely beautiful and brought magic to the everyday and would last a lifetime.

Having fallen hard for that 'magic' early on, I've also stuck with FWP despite increasingly valid criticisms from the fountain pen/fancy stationery 'space' online (can't say I'm an expert, but a cursory google search pulls up a lot that I wish I'd known before) - criticisms that accurately describe many things I've experienced from the brand in recent years, including poor manufacturing quality, high shipping costs, overly-manipulative marketing schemes, poor functionality of the website, lack of responsiveness to customers, and of course, outrageous pricing relative to product quality and comparable brands on the market (Carousel Pens crack apart within a week of use, higher-end pens often come with screw threads that stick shut or dysfunctional converters; ink bottles leak; notebook covers bent or scratched - often little things you wouldn't mind if you'd paid less for the product, but at these prices, feels unreasonable). Unfortunately, after holding out for a long time, resisting the urge to leave a negative review, and investing a lot of hope in the idea that the newer pen lines might represent a return to form in terms of customer care, or at least allow for prior models like the Brush to be accessible at a more affordable price (instead, they're effectively scrubbed from the site) I'm still coming away disappointed.

On the one hand, the good stuff: thankfully, this particular pen did not have the issue of screw threads between barrel and cap being poorly machined in a way that makes it difficult to open, which was the case with limited edition Brush pens I've gotten in the past. Additionally, I was glad to see the Bijou (at least in its current iteration, not sure what it was like when it was first released) seems to be designed with better seals between parts, more ability to flush/clean parts, and more precautions against ink leakage and flow issues in mind (what this does for my handful of leaky and stained Brush Pen parts, nothing, unfortunately, but at least it's an improvement).

However, when I went to ink it the converter immediately fell apart in my hands (like, silver band detached, various plastic parts uncoupled) - did my best to reconnect the knob to the internal rod and proceed, fine. Really wish there was lifetime replacement for the converters as this isn't the first one that's fallen apart on contact, and they seem to constantly change in design over the years. If FWP has finally arrived at a model that works consistently, I'd love to replace some of the ones in my older pens as well, but the converter models offered for sale on the website seem to exclusively be old ones.

Finally, the gold flourish on the two-tone nib that I assume is meant to account for the luxury element of the pricing, or some of the $50 price differential from the old Brush pens, is literally just...half missing. Just stops partway down the side, obvious manufacturing error. Now, do I actually care about the gold flourish? Not a bit. I like FWP pens for the unique feel and look of the barrel, and I enjoy the detailing on the brass grips, but I wasn't clamoring for the grips or the nibs to be plated over with gold; I just want them to work.

That said, FWP has clearly thrown all their energy into the smoke & mirrors of newer and more showy design elements, and in the process moved away from and discontinued many of their more function-focused options instead of correcting errors and increasing their quality along with expansion of the product line. So, if smoke & mirrors is what we're supposed to be paying for with this brand, it's unfortunate that even that isn't being maintained, and that very little quality control is taking place to ensure that the reality lives up to the image that seems to be the only thing carrying the whole company forward at this point.

All of this critique comes from the place of a disappointed admirer - I've loved FWP so much for such a long time, and I would be delighted to see the brand bring their focus back to producing a smaller range of high quality, lovingly designed, carefully manufactured items that buyers can cherish for a lifetime. Unfortunately, more and more seems to go into gimmicky branding of new limited edition runs of products that don't live u...

Looks good