A Shocking Discovery--never-before-seen French brand?

[fountainpenkid]

(Sorry for the headline title--I couldn't help it!)
Has anyone heard of this brand before? Seen their pens? I can only find one mention of them on any forum-a review (http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/299576-venvstas-first-review-my-first-review/). Very, very odd. Any thoughts?

Here's the site: http://www.venvstas.com/

Thanks!

[penwash]

Fascinating, and not overpriced at all considering the fancy design.

[fountainpenkid]

Fascinating, and not overpriced at all considering the fancy design.

I know--the prices seem quite reasonable considering they're made in France. And the piston 'pump' filler seems very interesting as well. The nib end designs confuse me though--it seems like cleaning the pens fully would be hard.

[jar]

Well, the website looks like a Wix do it yourself design and all the servers and registration addresses point back to the US. In addition the domain was only registered in June and domain ownership is marked as private which is most unusual for any real company.

Lots of questions.

[carlos.q]

They have an interesting pen over at Kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1082267836/carbon-v-fountain-pen?ref=discovery

[fountainpenkid]

Well, the website looks like a Wix do it yourself design and all the servers and registration addresses point back to the US. In addition the domain was only registered in June and domain ownership is marked as private which is most unusual for any real company.

Lots of questions.
While I agree that the whole thing seems odd, I think they are real--look at the review on FPN and the successful kickstarter campaign...

[tandaina]

Yeah there are many small companies without real tech savy that hire someone else to build and run their website, often cheaply. It's entirely possible some two man operation in the US is running the site for them. Heck I've worked places that did that, didn't even know where their domain was registered, were screwed if their middle man ever went out of business, that sort of thing. Doesn't make them not a real company just one that needs a tech person. ;)

The pen designs are really interesting and at least one talked about the steel nib being "flexible." If someone tries one I'd love to see more!

[VENVSTAS]

Not so shocking. I'll explain who we're, and meanwhile I'll read what I see. I've got to this site by looking on the traffic in analytics. Nevertheless I shall present myself in a post and explain who we're and what we do.

[VENVSTAS]

We don't have any middle man, nor offices in EEUU, we're 100% european, and everything is very much centralized. That's the Parisian way. The steel nib is flexible, the one in the Carbon V/T. I'll present myself in a post. Servers are anywhere, but I'm writing to you from Paris right now. :)

Thank you for the comment on the design, that's the most important for us!

[VENVSTAS]

Hello, I saw a couple of reviews on the FPN, we are not big sellers, thats all))) Everything at the beginning is rather odd......thanks!

[penwash]

Yeah there are many small companies without real tech savy that hire someone else to build and run their website, often cheaply. It's entirely possible some two man operation in the US is running the site for them. Heck I've worked places that did that, didn't even know where their domain was registered, were screwed if their middle man ever went out of business, that sort of thing. Doesn't make them not a real company just one that needs a tech person. ;)

The pen designs are really interesting and at least one talked about the steel nib being "flexible." If someone tries one I'd love to see more!

Absolutely.
I run such a tech company.
We provide the tools and hosting for a business to focus on what they are about. Tutoring Kids, Renting houses, Running a Gymn, even Selling Pens, whatever.
And no, our clients are not screwed if we went out of business.

Our servers are all over the world using the virtual-hosting technology.
I can go through the nitty-gritty detail on how that works for businesses, but that has nothing to do with fountain pens, so I won't.

[VENVSTAS]

I would like to introduce myself, and our brand, and let's say our official corner in this community. We are not a group of scamers, we do pens) We will post here news and information regarding our products, even before the website. My name is Lucio Rossi, and the main “guy” behind ATELIER VENVSTAS PARIS.
I'm basically the designer of all the pens and things you see in our website. Not only the designer but the person who has also engineered them. If there's something to engineer, as fountain pens are very simple machines, but very good ones. They are not perfect, and that's the beauty of them. They are a bridge through time.

I'm a designer, or more precisely an architect (that's why it's Venvstas, it's because of the Vitrubian triad, Vtilitas, Firmitas, Venvstas), I live in Paris and I've used fountain pens since always.
I'm not a collector of pens, but in opposition to writing, I draw a lot with them.
You can check some of my work as an architect and designer here, in the office web site:
www.utopos75.com

My work is very much computer driven, but I still draw by hand, and I do it a lot.
Fountain pens for me are the best for this, I always had one, none in particular, but I had many over the years.

I started Venvstas first in Germany, while living in Paris, that's why some models have German names. Eventually I moved back the idea to France. I've been between Germany, France and Italy for many years now. We kept some of the German names though.
Venvstas is about design in general, but mainly in this small expression, the fountain pen.

We expect to make not only a bunch of nice pens, we're committed to make very good designs, fountain pens that are coming from today but projecting to tomorrow, I personally think that there are many new pen makers out there, I know them all, from the smallest to the biggest, and I still think that there's not so many new things to see from most of them, well, I'm designing for that gap, where few are walking, or if they are, is or with fear or with prices that frankly to me are making no sense, they're just like stealing money. That's why our pens won't break your wallet.
The nib is the most important part of the pen, but for most makers, is paradoxically, the cheapest.

Fountain pens are booming again, but in a sort of repetitive way, I think repetition and imitation is boring. This I think for everything I do.
We have different models, all made in France, in Paris, now up to 12, most models have different variants so they're something like 17 different pens and growing, as soon we'll be introducing more, specially the upper ones that are mostly pull fillers, a system I personally love. We really dont want to make a pen that costs 800 euro and comes with a 5 euro schmidt converter.....again, we think that pens going up, a filling mechanism is mandatory. It's a must....we also have plans to introduce in the near future a cape-less pen but with a built in piston filling mechanism with an ink capacity of no less than 1.6ml and at a price that's not 800 euro!
Closer into the future we'll be introducing more pens in the upper segment that are mostly pull fillers, ranging from 1.6ml to 4ml. I think it's enough capacity, even the small one, not available yet, is an all super slim carbon fiber bodied monster, that is about the size of a Lamy cp1.... but with a nice 1.6m and a flex nib.......stay tuned on that one. It's called the Carbon J Aero (J is for Jowo)
When thinking on a filling system, I was surprised to see that pull fillers have been totally overlooked for years. We also have variations on them; The system is almost immortal, easy to clean, maintain, quick to fill, I look at my old Tintenkuli piston filler, and the displacement of most piston fillers it's the same as a pull filler. It took me a long time to see that it was first introduced in 1893......still I think it's the best way for filling a fountain pen. My everyday pen now is a Venvstas that's using a variation of that system; I call it Avant Garde. You'll find it on the web site.

Nevertheless I got here and I made an account. I've been reading the few posts that are in the site, I expect to see more over time, construct a solid and nice group of enthusiast, and I'm always happy to discuss about pens, ideas, filling systems, brands, nibs, materials and so on. Also design, architecture and music.
My approach is that we do not want consumers. We want customer, so to us, our relation to them is different. I don't believe in marketing, corporatism, companies in the way are today, I see things are changing, the relationship can now with technology be closer to the client, and I think I'm the only designer that ever attempted to make a pen company, so things are different. I don't believe in doing what I think people wants, I believe in doing designs, tiny machines, doing the thing I do best, that is, to be creative, to see that actually everything can be recreated, changed, updated, so fountain pens.
After thinking a lot if I should or not get into kickstarter, I decided to just jump on it. I thought that it was not a good idea as we could be locked into the “kickstarter pen” sector. I think in kickstarter there are some nice pens, but mostly is the same one. This is a turned aluminum block with a Bock or Schmidt nib. Looks that they were done just to make quick money, (really I think they except one of them the rest, they can only make sales thrugh kickstarter, but they won't make it throughout) and we don't want that. I have limited the sales in the platform, I have a roof, and that's it.
We don't want to sell a lot via kickstarter, we just want to start.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1082267836/carbon-v-fountain-pen

I shall make a post entirely on the Carbon V.

We use Bock for some models, Schmidt I personally don't like. But our nibs are mostly Jowo. I like them. I understood that kickstarter may open some doors in the new way of selling things now, as for instance in Paris, pen shops, you can count them with the fingers of one hand. The commerce is online, purchasing decisions are based on reviews or photos. There are big online retailers who have a big influence on communities like this one, so, we are still a microscopic company but we want one day to see our Carbon T to make the the Lamy CP1 to be less popular. To start to see this objects to cost what they really should. To make the discussion on design in pens, something broader than just a nib, a clip and the color of celluloid. To see a carbon fiber pen not to cost 900 euro, and so on. I also don't understand why very few have contacted our mails to just ask who we're. You'll find an answer. To certain things I saw in some posts, our servers are everywhere, what do I know, everything is in europe .......right now writing to you from Montmartre, Paris, France.

Well, I've talked enough, you can check our campaign, a thing that was a big discussion if doing it or not.......at the end is limited as I said.

and also, and more important, our site.

www.venvstas.com

and mails

info@venvstas.com
contact@venvstas.com

you van search us in facebook and twitter, all the info is in the site.
I'm looking forward to know from you in the future, while presenting something in a pen show, in Paris, when we get to open a small showroom, or here, in the net, who knows.

Merci!

[fountainpenkid]

Thank you for the introduction, Lucio! I love your vision, especially for a cappless piston filing pen (something not yet in existence, to my knowledge!). Your sentiment about cool filling systems being a must on higher end pens is one that has been shared by many here for a long time. I must admit I'm very, very excited by all this, now that I have a better idea of what the company is! However, I must say I'm confused by the filling system you've developed-is this 'pull filler' a type of piston filler or something else? If at all possible, a picture of the mechanism would be much appreciated.

I have a suggestion regarding your brand's visibility in the FP community: sending some pens to 'elite' reviewers on Youtube (most of them are also on these forums) might help a lot with people's confidence in your product. Some recommended people to contact are Dan Smith (danzeman here on FPGeeeks, Nibsmith on Youtube), Matt Armstrong (The Pen Habit on Youtube), Stephen Brown (sbrebrown on Youtube) and perhaps Brian and Rachel Goulet of Goulet Pens, to name a few. A positive review by any one of these people would immensely change how people think of your brand and pens.

[Mr. Reader]

Thank you for the introduction, Lucio! I love your vision, especially for a cappless piston filing pen (something not yet in existence, to my knowledge!). Your sentiment about cool filling systems being a must on higher end pens is one that has been shared by many here for a long time. I must admit I'm very, very excited by all this, now that I have a better idea of what the company is! However, I must say I'm confused by the filling system you've developed-is this 'pull filler' a type of piston filler or something else? If at all possible, a picture of the mechanism would be much appreciated.

I have a suggestion regarding your brand's visibility in the FP community: sending some pens to 'elite' reviewers on Youtube (most of them are also on these forums) might help a lot with people's confidence in your product. Some recommended people to contact are Dan Smith (danzeman here on FPGeeeks, Nibsmith on Youtube), Matt Armstrong (The Pen Habit on Youtube), Stephen Brown (sbrebrown on Youtube) and perhaps Brian and Rachel Goulet of Goulet Pens, to name a few. A positive review by any one of these people would immensely change how people think of your brand and pens.


Don't forget Fountain Pen Follies and Anderson Pens.

[fountainpenkid]

Thank you for the introduction, Lucio! I love your vision, especially for a cappless piston filing pen (something not yet in existence, to my knowledge!). Your sentiment about cool filling systems being a must on higher end pens is one that has been shared by many here for a long time. I must admit I'm very, very excited by all this, now that I have a better idea of what the company is! However, I must say I'm confused by the filling system you've developed-is this 'pull filler' a type of piston filler or something else? If at all possible, a picture of the mechanism would be much appreciated.

I have a suggestion regarding your brand's visibility in the FP community: sending some pens to 'elite' reviewers on Youtube (most of them are also on these forums) might help a lot with people's confidence in your product. Some recommended people to contact are Dan Smith (danzeman here on FPGeeeks, Nibsmith on Youtube), Matt Armstrong (The Pen Habit on Youtube), Stephen Brown (sbrebrown on Youtube) and perhaps Brian and Rachel Goulet of Goulet Pens, to name a few. A positive review by any one of these people would immensely change how people think of your brand and pens.


Don't forget Fountain Pen Follies and Anderson Pens.

Bloggers are also a good way to do it, but I think in terms of most effectively developing visibility and image, Youtube is nowadays preferable. It's up for debate, however.

Also--I didn't know Laura had a blog!

[VENVSTAS]

Hello Will; thank you for your words,

For the pull filling, well, we have at least three basic types, where the simplest is just a cap that is removed and lets a leaver exposed, and that's it, you pull like in a syringe; Takes one second. Inside there is a piston and voilà. That's all. The other two Im adding here some photos from the website. I'll get some diagrams maybe, that'll work.


In the pictures they're two models, the avant garde, the one that says so, and that one has a variation. You'll see that there's a cylinder that is inside another cylinder. Well, that's the piston that goes inside the body. The pen won't ever leak, only when the piston fails, or is very used.....one of those is my every day pen, I fly 2 to 3 times a month, and is even not leaking on the plane.........considering we're using silicone, I don't expect that to happen in the next 40 years, who knows. At least with this you can know when to replace the piston, which is very easy. With an Allen bench you can do it by yourself, removing only one screw. Moreover, the screw is preventing to not let the piston going out.....I'll post a diagram, so this is a variation of the pull filler.
The other main system is in the other pen in the picture, the Vltima. Both pens are our right now flagships. In the Vltima the piston is the outer part........I've been thinking in a plunger, but this system (the pull filler) is in comparison cheaper, easier to maintain, clean, I mean, when I did the first ones it took me time to understand how is that its not popular at all. I came across much later, after we finished all prototypes and some models with an article by Binder where he describes the system as the best for a fountain pen, so, I understood that it was as old as 1893, invented buy a person named Rev. Woodruff, in USA...... I've designed pens ranging from 1.5 to 3ml right now, and Im expecting to deliver soon an oversize 4.0ml model with an 8# gold nib, (still in study) carbon fiber body and mechanism, ebonite feeder all under 500 bucks. we have a policy on prices, as I think most pens out there they are very, very much overpriced.

for the bloggers, Ive tryed to contact one of them, but never got an answer. I came across to him while I was looking for a review on the Montblanc M.......a pen I saw very much promoted in design blogs (we're more oriented to design stuff, that's why we have ignored much of the fountain pen community) which I frankly don't like, its over priced, non practical, goes against to me to what good design should be, anyway I've discovered Brown's blog and u-tuve channel, but we've no answer from him yet, nor I don't know if he get's the messages, we were thinking in make a review on the Carbon T......... but I understand that everything I buy, is mostly online, even the computer Im using now, I saw a chap in u tube that was testing it.....well, I guess people like them are going to have more and more influence, even if the reviews I found them very much subjective and home made, but I guess all of them are like that. To finish, he did not liked the Montblanc M, and I have to say he was right on the things he pointed out, so, will see, I hope Im showing a little more light on what we do, and how. The capeless will be out, and yes, we are going to do it, as we see nobody has made one yet. Yhe plans for that one are ready, so I expect to present it around april....Probably for sale as soon as May. That's an advantage we have, we do not have to deal with a marketing department, and all that stuff.........I think the modern way in doing things, is, the old way.

L