More of a prototype than a mature concept
1. At the end of summer, Sándor Pethő, the owner of the fountain pen manufacturing company, reached out to me with the request to test one of his own manufactured fountain pens for 12 days. Sándor's request was for me to conduct a thorough examination of the pen, covering every detail, and I promised to fulfill his request. A few days later, the GLS courier delivered the package containing the fountain pen. Pendors 2. The packaging.
3. The envelope contained a flat cardboard box and two branded lanyards – as a marketer, I appreciate such small attentions, which we call "glass beads" in the industry. These small branded gifts help a brand effectively overcome consumer resistance.
4. The natural-colored (decorated with just one logo) cardboard box is also the pen's presentation box, not just an outer dust cover, as I initially thought. I am not a fan of the overly fashionable over-packaging these days, but in the case of a fountain pen, I believe there is a justification for a box of appropriate quality and design. Without a box, the accessories and of course the Cyklon fountain pen would go into the elongated cardboard box. The cardboard box is not particularly high quality, giving the impression of a standard pizza box. Moreover, during transport, the cardboard became slightly deformed, which is not good news, as the pen could easily get damaged in this packaging during shipping.
5. Inside the cardboard box, a branded silk cloth hides the fountain pen and the accessories. The box contains two thank-you cards, a leather pen case, a converter, a fountain pen cartridge, and the Cyklon fountain pen itself.
6. For this reason alone, it is worth placing a pen in this price category in a box of appropriate quality, as it is unnecessary for the many accessories to overshadow the first impression: It is sufficient if the attention is solely directed at the fountain pen, while the other accessories can fit, for example, under the pen cushion.
7. The pen case is clearly a hit: black lacquered leather, featuring the Pendors logo and a stylized leaf-shaped emblem at the bottom. The design of the pen case is particularly clever, as it leaves the clip area free, allowing the surface of the pen case to remain intact for a long time.
8. The two thank-you cards placed in the cardboard box are made of high-quality creative cardboard. One is a business card, while the other is the quality certificate, which includes the maker's name and contact information, as well as the details of the fountain pen – stylishly filled out in handwriting.
9. The package also includes a standard converter, which bears the Beaufort brand marking.
The package also includes a standard converter on which the Beaufort brand marking can be read.
The Pendors Cyklon Ebonite fountain pen
My first impression is that the Cyklon is a masculine and robust pen that seems almost indestructible. It is heavy, yet thanks to the beautiful ebonite coating, it feels particularly warm to the touch: this is the type of writing instrument that one enjoys rolling and fiddling with in their palm.
Even before picking it up, one can experience the characteristic…ahem…let's say: smell of ebonite. I was particularly excited about this project because of the material used – to understand my enthusiasm, it's worth saying a few words about ebonite.
A brief history of ebonite
Ebonite is a material made from natural rubber that was used to make eyedropper fountain pens in the early 20th century. The production of this material, commonly referred to as hard rubber, was complicated, which is why most manufacturers eventually experimented with new materials that were easier to work with.
The use of ebonite in fountain pen manufacturing declined by the 1930s, but it was still used for a long time to make various components (caps, end caps, and ink dispensers). The fact that ebonite is still found as a base material in fountain pens from various manufacturers today may stem from its traditional nature and particularly warm feel. Although its characteristic smell (which most resembles burnt or friction rubber) is moderately pleasant, there are still brands today that offer fountain pens made from ebonite.
Regarding the use of materials, for some reason, I assumed that the Cyklon would lean towards the retro line (as the Noodlers Neponset does, for example) – but the Pendors Cyklon Ebonite is anything but an antique-looking fountain pen. To be fair, in the case of the Cyklon, ebonite appears only as a decorative element, as a coating on the metal pen body.
As I mentioned, the robust pen body is a blend of several materials: in addition to the ebonite that covers the outside of the pen, it features a plastic end cap, chrome decorative rings, a steel clip, and a solid end cap (which somewhat resembles the Pelikan in its design). The interesting thing about the latter is that it is two-toned: the side is black, while the top has a shiny polished chrome surface – this is excellent for placing a logo, for example.
The slightly rough, drop-shaped black clip harmonizes well with the black elements of the pen.
Its material usage is of high quality. However, the clip arm, which is secured with rivets inside, is not spring-loaded and is quite rigid. Perhaps because of its design, I assumed that the clip was spring-loaded: for some reason, this was the first feature I looked for.
The design
I must admit, the design of the Cyklon will never be my favorite: I don't find the shape of the pen particularly original; it feels too robust for me. Unfortunately, the cap cannot be pulled or screwed onto the pen body – this is an annoying flaw because I appreciate it when manufacturers pay attention to such details. In fact, the weight and size of the pen do not justify this feature, as it would likely change the proportions while writing, so I quickly get over it.
It becomes obvious how indestructible the Pendors Cyklon pen is after unscrewing the cap: the pen cap weighs about as much as the pen body itself.
The Pendors Cyklon fountain pen has surprisingly received a thin section, into which an oversized, two-tone steel nib has been placed. An interesting solution that reminds me of early 20th-century eyedroppers. However, a solution that is now considered charming for a 120-year-old eyedropper does not really work in the case of the Cyklon. The thin section on the robust pen body looks like a one-time bodybuilder who does not include „leg days” in their workout plan.
The two-tone steel nib is indeed huge, its size is approximately that of a Montblanc 149 nib.
Inserting the converter is not straightforward: while it slides nicely into the neck, the section and the pen body barely meet with the converter, only catching the beginning of the thread. It feels as if the converter is longer than the pen body...
I try to carefully and slowly screw the two parts together so that it doesn't break; on the third attempt (with some force applied), I finally succeed, but I feel the tension in the pen. I would like to understand what the issue might be. It seems to me that there is a tiny spring hidden at the bottom of the pen body that presses against the converter. I don't really understand its role. In the end, I screw the two parts of the pen together, but I'm not thrilled that I had to force it. An annoying flaw that could have easily been discovered during a simple test of the fountain pen – it is definitely worth dedicating more time to this in the future.
The classic Pelikan 4001 ink used for the test is finally absorbed by the Cyklon without any issues. This is a well-proven ink for everyday use, and I think it is unbeatable in terms of price-performance ratio. Its downside is that it is available in only 4-5 colors. I carefully screw the pen body back on; fortunately, the converter does not jam this time, but I still feel that it is tight in the pen body.
I am curious about the writing quality of the Pendors Cyklon. As I pick up the pen, my nose fills with the characteristic smell of ebonite, and I draw the first line...
The writing test of the Pendors Cyklon fountain pen
There's no point in sugarcoating it, the pen practically pours ink out. Its writing style is distinctly thick, and the ink saturates the paper immediately upon contact. I draw a few more lines, then I prefer to draw a square and shade it with a few lines. I will continue tomorrow; I haven't had any luck with it today.
…The next day…
I happily and curiously take the Cyklon out of the beautiful pen case. Today is the day to „break it in.” Unfortunately, its writing style hasn't changed: an unchanged amount of ink goes onto the paper. No matter how much I want to write cursively with this fountain pen, I still can't succeed. It's astonishing how much ink this pen wastes, it practically soaks the paper, to the extent of a brush marker. Driven by a sudden idea, I unscrew the pen body, hoping to adjust the converter, but fat ink drops appear on my fingers.
When I turn the pen nib upside down, the pen inexplicably starts to drip, getting on my hand and also on the keyboard on my desk. I try to figure out what could be the cause of the problem, but it takes at least half an hour before I realize: the converter's suction arm twists during the unscrewing and screwing of the pen body and section, which is why it pours ink out! It is undoubtedly the little spring that is to blame, which the moving part of the converter touches! The fountain pen is thus soaking from the inside and dripping from the outside. I'm having bad luck with this pen.
Conclusion
It is clearly evident that the Pendors Cyklon fountain pen is not made for me. From the very first moment, I was averse to it; I simply don't like its design and weight. This is, of course, a subjective judgment; there are surely those for whom this pen's size and weight are ideal.
The error experienced at the beginning of the testing dampened my enthusiasm to experiment further. At the same time, it is a fact that This error can almost exclusively be linked to the lack of in-house testing. It's frustrating that a simple, wet test would have revealed that the converter comes to life when the pen is twisted and freely pours out the liquid. I'm sure this error could be avoided by removing the unnecessary spring (possibly with a smaller-sized converter).
I think this pen is much more of a prototype, which has lovable details (like the clip or the specifically high-quality material use) but I would not call it a mature model in any way.
I consider it an extremely great value that after many decades we have our own fountain pen makers again. Dedicated, enthusiastic professionals like Sándor, who work wholeheartedly on realizing their dreams. However, there are times when a project runs aground – and not even due to the product's fault. I do not see the problem in the material use (Pendors uses specifically high-quality materials), but rather in the fact that this project focuses much more on the material use, which is not preceded by careful planning and, even more importantly: regular testing.
It is important to know that Pendors uses so-called stock pens when creating individual models (in other words, the base of the pen body is given) and this receives various coatings from special materials. I am sure that if every phase of the design can be realized in-house, much more special, higher-quality fountain pens will be born in this promising manufactory. Dedication and enthusiasm are present, but much greater emphasis should be placed on the work phases before and especially after production in the future.
Epilogue
a few days later…
when returning the fountain pen, I had the opportunity to meet Sándor in person. During the conversation, I naturally mentioned my experiences with the fountain pen. When I mentioned the spring, Sándor slapped his forehead and immediately figured out the cause of the problem. It turned out that the Cyklon pen body assembled for testing was originally a cartridge-based pen in which the spring indeed has an important function: it secures the cartridge in the ballpoint pen. Sándor accidentally mixed up the two (spring and springless) pen bodies, which is how a part originally made for a ballpoint pen ended up in my Cyklon fountain pen. This explains the fat ink drops resulting from the converter's faulty operation and also explains why it was so difficult to screw the two elements (the pen body and the section) together.
This month we also tested another fountain pen from Pendors' offer. Jeromos' test here.
