Franklin Christoph Model 31 "Omnis" LE

[Empty_of_Clouds]

As mentioned in another thread - I think it was the "What are you waiting for in the mail" thread - I recently splurged on an FC fountain pen and 3-penvelope leather case. These items were offered as part of their recent online 'Pen show sale'. I don't do big detailed reviews, preferring to show some pictures and offer some general observations. With that in mind...




A very nice piece of leather with good, regular stitching. The material is quite stiff, though may soften with time and use I guess. On the interior there is a pull-out section with 3 'tubes' made from elastic cotton. Not quite sure what drives this kind of design choice, so will see how I get on with it.



The Pen, the Omnis or Model 31, sports a glossy classic black barrel that is offset by the olive swirls of the cap. On description I wouldn't have thought that would work, but seeing the pen in person leads me to completely revise that opinion. It is gorgeous to my eyes!






My hands are on the large size, so there was a little trepidation when I learned that the Omnis doesn't really lend itself to having the cap posted. It will post but makes for a very long pen (175mm including nib). Unposted the pen is 130mm including nib, and this is nicely in my comfort range (I don't know why I was worried).

Having read some reviews about the in-house Stub-Italic-Gradient (S.I.G.) nib, I plumped for one in fine width, and it's quite a revelation. Writes very smoothly and easily, more forgiving than a formal italic of course, and with sufficient sharpness to elevate my writing from the blandness I get using ball pointed nibs. This could quite possibly be my current favourite of the Jowo nibs (currently I have standard ef and f, medium CI, broad CI and medium stub by FPNibs.com, and this fine S.I.G.).

So now I have 5 'custom' pens, just looking for one more, but the sticking point is that it would have to be in a Brooks material (one can only hope), and hopefully as another FC pen (a Marietta model 20)

Group shot!