Pentrace Article # 457:- Pentrace 2004 LE

For those of you who don't know, Pentrace is a website. Located at www.newpentrace.com and perhaps best known for it's very active online community of pen collectors and enthusiasts. When the discussion was first raised there on the bulletin board about the creation of their very own limited edition Pentrace pen, the discussion (as it tends to on internet bulletin boards) moved from one aspect of the project to another, with seemingly no stone unturned in terms of exploring the idea of such a pen.

It seemed that the idea of a special limited edition as a method of supporting the website was very popular. Which makes sense... I mean, if you're going to support a pen related website, how better than to sell a great pen? All that remained was to distill the input from everyone into a practical design and then execute it in "real life".

The Pentrace limited edition that grew out of these first online discussions came to light just a while ago, in an edition of only 100 pieces, manufactured by the Italian company FILCAO. It's green, in keeping with the Pentrace theme, actually a very nice marbled acrylic material that incorporates pearl highlights that range from a medium green to a light (almost white), shade of very green. It's not an emerald green shade, being more yellowish. It reminds me of the shade of green found on Wahl Eversharp Cathay Green Dorics. It's a great color!

The trim is silver, with a cap band, nicely engraved with "Pentrace" on one side, and "LE 2004" on the other, complimented by a thin trim ring at the barrel end, and a simple curved clip engraved with the FILCAO name. The Pentrace LE is a button filler, so the barrel end is a blind cap which unscrews to allow access to the button for filling. The size is what most would consider to be "mid-sized", about that of the Pelikan M800 or Montblanc 146. The slight taper to the cap and barrel leave it very well balanced, and the acrylic material means it's light weight in the hand. In terms of ergonomics, it's an eminently usable pen, quite appropriate considering it's origins.

In business since 1964, FILCAO began as a producer of pen parts for other companies. By 1967, they began producing their own designs, and have continued in business through today making a range of pens in many different styles.

The FILCAO line of pens have proven to be very popular among those who value dependability and simple good looks over the cachet of having a "big name" fountain pen perched in their pocket. The Pentrace LE is no exception to the trend that FILCAO has established of late.

Of course, to be a "true" limited edition, a pen should be somehow set apart from regular production in some way other than by an arbitrary number being produced. The Pentrace LE achieves this through an interesting twist: Each pen is sold with one nib mounted, and an additional pair that can be interchanged. You get one pen, but with fine, medium, and broad nibs!

Going one step further, the Pentrace LE could be ordered with "custom" nib tips. If the customer so requested, upon the pen's delivery to the US they were sent to Richard Binder who worked his magic on the tips, giving you the choice of almost anything from an extra fine tip through a range of specialized italic tips. Richard has developed quite a reputation as a creator of custom nibs, and many of the purchasers chose to avail themselves of this option.

Richard donated a significant portion of the fee for nib tipping to Pentrace, making the custom nib not only appealing from the standpoint of getting a pen that wrote with more flair, but also allowing the buyer to make even more of a contribution to the site. Given that each pen came with three nibs, the possible combinations were extensive. About forty percent of these pens ended up with at least one of the three nibs customized by Richard.

The basic nibs as supplied are no slouch, mind you, being manufactured for FILCAO by Schmidt of Germany. The tipping seems to be of high quality and is properly fused to the metal of the nibs. The Fine nib is clearly a fine, with the medium being maybe a bit on the broad side of medium, and the broad nib just a bit on the fine side. More importantly, all three nibs, even the fine nib, were very smooth.

These nibs are likely chosen for their price point and durability. All three were very rigid, and so if you're looking for flex, look elsewhere. These nibs are designed for day in day out writing in the "real world", where flexible might be less than ideal.

The nibs simply screw in and out of the section, and it's very easy to change from one to another. It's a simple method of giving a pen more utility, especially if the buyer chose to have a nib or two customized. You could have an extra fine nib for filling out fussy paperwork forms at the office, and a broad cursive italic for your personal correspondence. Leave the third as a regular old medium for use the rest of the time and you're covered for almost any eventuality.

I have found the ink flow to be just about perfect, even with the broad nib. It's a bit on the dry side, but a perfect starter every time I've gone to use it, even after it's sat unused for a day. The ink capacity, with this being a button filler with an ink sac, is probably a bit more than an equivalent sized cartridge converter pen might be. Frankly, I haven't bothered to check, since this pen holds enough ink for "regular" use, by which I mean I've never run out! Even if it's capacity were slightly less than a cartridge converter pen might hold, I'd still choose a button filler. It's a matter of the "personality" of the pen, I just find self fillers to be more fun to own.

The Pentrace LE was priced at $145, not counting the customization of nibs if the customer choose. Combined with a very limited production, only 100 pens, the result proved to be an edition that sold out within in a few hours of it's being announced on the Pentrace message board.

The Pentrace LE has proven to be a great example of what can be accomplished when people get together and put their minds to it. Donal Higgins, the owner of Pentrace, Len Provisor, and Giovanni Abrate are all to be commended for their hard work on this project. 100 lucky Pentrace LE owners will doubtless agree with me on that!