Franklin-Christoph Bellus, Model "29"

Franklin-Christoph Bellus model 29 - Black/Maroon
Image from Franklin-Christoph.com

Less than a month ago, I saw a tweet  by FPGeeks about the F-C Bellus, and the pen immediately caught my eye. Some days later, the package containing the fountain pen arrived from the U.S.

I wanted to write a review on that particular pen because of two reasons: First, because of its finely tuned nib, and second because of its very well thought out, intelligent design. You'll see what I mean later in this post.


GENERAL
Diameter: 0.51" (13mm)
Length: Capped = 5.53" (14cm). Posted= 6.30" (16cm) Barrel to nib tip = 4.70" (12cm)
Weight: 56gr capped, not inked.
Filling System: Cartridge/Converter
Price: 74.98€ at the F-C official site www.franklin-christoph.com

MATERIALS
The pen is made almost entirely of metal. Its weight though, is what I'd call perfect. Not too light to give an impression of a cheap pen, but on the other hand, not as heavy as to forbid long writing sessions. That is valid for the uncapped pen of course, since the cap itself holds a lot of weight resulting in a 56gr pen when capped, which is quite heavy.

F-C nib/feed unit. 1.5mm Cursive Calligraphy

Nib / Feed: (This particular pen) Stainless steel #5 nib, with a tiny bit of springiness, although I wouldn't push too hard on this nib, it's steel after all.
The great thing about this nib though is how well it is tuned. It has a beautiful F-C logo on it, and it writes very smoothly out of the box. I've tested the nib on different papers and with three inks, and it wrote very well at every test. From the cheap A4 printer paper to the luxurious Clairfontaine Triumph, the pen performed flawlessly every time. On the Clairfontaine paper, sometimes it presented starting issues, never skipped though, but this was only when inked with Akkerman black, an ink that has performed well only in my Lamys for some reason. The Quink, and Sheaffer black inks had no issues whatsoever.
The other cool thing about this fountain pen is that you can choose more than one nib/feed units, because they can easily be unscrewed and replaced. In fact, at the F-C site you can find a variety of steel or gold nibs suited for this particular model.
Finally, the F-C brand offers a variety of Masuyama customized nibs, from needlepoints to stubs or italics, that can fit to their models, including the Bellus. Sweet huh? :)

F-C nib/feed unit, 1.5mm calligraphy bottom side

The feed keeps up very well, even when writing fast. The one thing I've noticed though, is that when the ink level gets low, it might get stuck on top of the converter (if that's what you're using). That's easily fixed if you add a little metallic ball in the converter that agitates the ink and does not let it rest on top.
Of course, alternatively, you could just tap it and get the ink flowing again. But that's not a problem of the pen, many converters have this issue and that's why many come already with these little balls incorporated, and you can easily find them online at a very low cost.

Barrel
The barrel is made of black shinny metal and it is designed so that the top of the barrel and the section can be unscrewed, leaving a black tube that can be reassembled in any direction. There is  no top or bottom of the barrel, so you can screw the section where the top was and you'll always have the same looking functioning pen.

F-C Bellus Section and nib
Image from my personal collection

Section and barrel-top (where the magic happens)
Both these parts of the fountain pen are similar, and that's why I'm talking about them in the same paragraph.
The design of these two parts is very intelligent. At first glance, you see the beautiful shiny pattern, with the wavy metallic design on top of it. At a closer look though, you'll see that this wavy part has a specific function, and here's where the magic happens.
The closure is magnetic. That means that when you cap the pen, or when you post it, the cap is held magnetically in place. Nothing great about it so far, that's how my Visconti Rembrandt caps as well, although not when posted.
But here's where the design traduces into function. If you try to separate the cap from the pen when closed, you'll see that you have to exert a fair amount of force because of the magnets, and if you pull too hard you might damage the nib if it suddenly uncaps. If you twist the barrel though, while holding firmly the cap, the wavy part of the section, the same that there is also on the top of the barrel, causes the cap to rotate on this wavy metal, moving a couple of  mm away from the barrel, causing the magnets to separate. When that happens, you can easily pull away the cap, exerting almost no force at all. Just great! It's these little details that make a great fountain pen design.

Clip
The clip is another beautifully designed part of the pen. It is made of two parts. A band that goes around the cap and holds the clip, and the clip which is held on the band in place by two little screws.
The first thing you'll notice is that it isn't springy at all. So how does it work? The end of the clip has a very smooth curvature that when put on a pouch or pocket, lets the fabric slide underneath without any problem. It doesn't even need to move much to accommodate a secure grip where you choose to let your pen rest.





Conclusion

I love it when Americans make stuff. That's right, we aren't seeing much coming from the U.S. lately, especially in this era of "made in China" and that includes fountain pens.
That's why I'm very pleased with this particular pen. This is a very well thought out fountain pen, with all details designed beautifully and having function in mind.
I recommend it without any fear to anyone who wants a well constructed pen with a very well tuned nib on it, ready for heavy duty right out of the box.

My compliments to the Franklin-Christoph team.

P.S. Hint: My next pen is going to be a "20th century" F-C ;) if  you know what I mean...