F.P. Journe

Hello guys,

As you might have remembered i said that before the Tokyo boutique went into the New Year's holiday they contacted me saying that the F.P.Journe Pens have arrived, and so today, which is the 1st day of business in the new year, i went to check them out. (Apologies 1st, no photos)

Apparently there are 2 different models available, the photos of which we have been seeing on the internet belongs to the Titanium and rose gold combi model, the one that came in to Japan is the Titanium and Platinum model. I don't know about you guys, but initially when i read about it i thought that the ENTIRE pen was crafted out of platinum ( and many of you might know that i'm know as the "Platinum boy"), so it was to my disappointed that only the nib and certain parts of the pen such as the nock were crafted out of platinum. For the body itself, it's crafted out of titanium, and in the platinum version, it is further coated in a kind of resin which is blue coloured ( not even midnight blue, but for me quite a light blue)

It retails for about US$15,800, and comes in a set of one fountain pen, one ball pen, and a set of ink cartridges for each pen.

The fountain pen isn't the manual sucking kind, it uses ink cartridge.

So for my personally, i have to say i'm very disappointed in the project this time, and probably wont find myself buying it.

But for all you guys out there, you might think differently, and if you want a set, especially one with good serial numbers, please hurry! There are only 500 sets of each combination, making a total of 1000 sets. And the staff was saying that whether Monsieur Journe can actually produce the full 500 sets is another question....

Cheers

Stephen

Hum: The buzz in the watch world two years ago was 'vertical integration.' Now, it seems diversification. DB is making an auto? Journe a set of pens. I remain very skeptical that all of this is little more than a.) the madness of the inventor, b.) pure marketing, or c.) a grab at the luxury market that is very quickly slipping everyone's hands (aka, 'financial' manipulation).

Thanks for the write-up. I shall visit Paris and look, but even the pictures seem confusing to me. I also have begun to think that FP Journe, as much as I really love his work, is becoming more of a 'brand' (think Patek with its cuff links and rings) and far less of an independent.

Douglas

For me, it's a major disappointment this time.

Btw which brand is DB? DornBluth? Wow, if they make an auto that really ruins them, IMHO.

Do take a look and feel the pens, you might end up liking them. But for me, its a big nO NO this time for this.

Cheers

Stephen

Totally with Douglas's camp. Patek cufflinks...what a joke. They trying to become like Cartier? Just like LV and their shoes, slippers, trousers, shirts...montblac and their watches, belts, wallets, money clips etc...large corporations lose their souls in their relentless pursuit of profits alone. I buy good products, not brands.

I guess it's a case of "to each their own," but I personally really like the pens. From what I gather, FPJ just liked the idea of doing his own pens, something different, hence the opening mechanism for the fountain pen and the platinum nib. It's a project that took a couple of years, and it's not just re-branding an existing pen or mechanism. So, to poach Douglas' term, I'd put it down to "the madness of the inventor."

Here's a quick preview photo, I'll post additional ones when I have more time.

great shots as usual Sean. The objects in the pic are mighty nice too

Glad that you like yours, and very nice photo!

Cheers

Stephen

Are they yours? they look good  - if they are enjoy them. great photo

 

best regards

 

COD

Beautiful photo of a beautiful pen and watches. Thank you for sharing. Cheers.

I hope you will find the time to give us your opinion on the Centigraph sometime, together with your excellent photos, of course.

Cheers

Fernando

Admittedly I have not seen the pen, but from what I pictures I've seen so far, it appears to be a well finished writing instrument - that's it. There is nothing unique or innovative about the retracting nib, Namiki, Montblanc, Stipula have all done it in various ways, though it appears the Stipulas come closest to the Journe in terms of the mechanism design. Perhaps seeing it in the metal will change my mind but I doubt so. And the price tag is well, quite extraordinary.

- SJX

some other FPJ lifestyle ideas to fill out the line and appeal to every demographic -- which would be marketed, ala Porsche Design, as "The Journe Identity":

> Precision music boxes

> Shotguns

> Sapphire crystal glassware

> Wine - e.g. Cru Souverain 

> the "Francois Paul" signature line of urban clothing

Ultimately, you could get a Journe-edition Maybach, complete with an FPJ Sonnerie Souverain dash clock, crocodile seat surfaces, deployant seatbelt connectors and V-16 engine assembly that rotates once every minute to eliminate the effect of gravity on fuel consumption.

 

The asking price is a bit rich, given that a Namiki emperor maki-e series or custom fountain pens are mostly below these prices and they have been doing this for a long time.... $15k is hard to justify for something with a platinum nib ( not new either) only and also the fact that platinum prices have crashed.

The extra heavy price tag deters even the most hard core collectors.

I 'll rather stick to my hand made Namikis and Danitrios as they are better value for money.

For USD $15000 I can get the Emperor sized Kawanakajima from Danitrio.

The golden pavilion from Danitrio is an equally good catch.

 

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