Came across this video +1 year from the day it was uploaded. I have a Caravel, but mine looks bigger and the cap is not a push one; mine is a 2-turns twist cap. This is because your model is a Caravel II. The "Caravel" is the kind of ship Columbus used (3 ships; 3 caravels) when he discovered America. It is a very good pen. Inoxcrom also did the Corinthian and the Sirocco, some of them with gold nibs. Great pens and phenomenal writers with steel and gold nibs manfactured in our country. I am lucky to own 2 Siroccos, 1 Caravel and a real tresaure: a faceted blue Corinthian. All these pens can fit a #6 nib. In your pen, 1920 is the model, not the year Inoxcrom was founded; this is 1942. Greetings from Spain.
Thank you for all this! I've learned more since filming this first impression, and I've inked up the pen several times. It's a very high quality pen, and it sounds like you have some great models. I was pleased to read that Inoxcrom has been brought back to life.
@@WaskiSquirrel It has been brought back to life and they still manufacture 3-4 fountain pens, but very basic, very far from the excelence of their great Caravel, Sirocco and Corinthian models from the 90s.
I blame you! I have just gone onto eBay and made an offer on an Inoxcrom fountain pen. The seller has accepted the offer. So, a matter of minutes after watching your video I have bought one. You are a dangerous man!!!
Very nice video. It is funny because I had two Inoxcrom pens very very recently in my hands and one was that one; the other was an Inoxcrom 77. I bought only the 77 and not this one because I found it to be too slim. Then I regreted but it was gone, meanwhile. The first pen I bought with my own money was an Inoxcrom! They are nice inexpensive pens. The brand is still out there but just the name; not the same pens or management and I am not even sure that the current Inoxcrom is made in Spain now. By the way, the boat on the nib is a Caravel, that names the pen. The caravel was a type of ship from the 15th century invented by the Portuguese (sorry, Spanish viewers) - named "caravela" - that was for its time very light, easy to manoever and had a sail that alowed it to sail against the wind. It was the kind of boat that allowed Portuguese to take the lead in the discoveries of 15th century, followed immediately by the Spanish. You menttioned the "encounter" with the British Armada...Unfortunately the biggest part of the Portuguese Armada was lost in that event. There was a 60 yer period when Portugal lost its independence to Spain and the Portuguese ships were sent with the Spanish to attack the English (the Armada Invencible) and all was lost. When Portugal re-gained the independence in 1640 the naval power we once had was lost... Sorry for the long History approach from a Portuguese view (a Spanish may have a different view of the same historical events), so far from the world of pens. Very nice video. I really enjoyed it. Thanks!
Another viewer sent me to Inoxcrom's new website. I'm glad to hear they are back in business. Interesting about the Armada. I had known the Portuguese were involved, but I had no idea what the scale of that involvement actually was. Thank you for filling in the blanks for me!
Thank you for the nice review. The official name was Caravel, and the 1920 was added on the nib. There are two Inoxcrom Caravels: the bigger one, known as Caravel I, which uses a #6 nib, and screw cap. And the Caravel II, this one here reviewed. This second nib seems to be exclusive of Inoxcrom, which used it in other models (Nautilus, Andreas...), but I have not seen it in other brands.
Thank you for all the detail! I remember that, at the time, I couldn't find much information about this pen. And now you have reminded me that I need to ink it up again!
Quoting from the Inoxcrom booklet. "The new model is named INOXCROM Caravel II 1920. The nib bears the engraving of the year 1920 and a sailing ship. This is because it suggests (the discovery) and because 1920 was the first year of the decade in which the fountain pen reached the height of perfection." An interesting fact is that this pen was discontinued after Montblanc threatened legal action.
I have an Inoxcrom that was given to me as a gift about 24 years ago. It’s a great pen, looks like a Loom but has a semi flexible nib. It’s a great pen, still writes great. I was surprised to hear the name mentioned in this video. I have not heard or seen them mentioned until now. Thanks for the video. It’s amazing how much the Faber Castell Loom looks like a larger version of my Inoxcrom. But the Inox writes even better.
Thank you Jason . Nice pen , obviously someone has looked after that very well. You made a comment about Vintage and it got me thinking , i've got pens from the early seventies and eighties and Nineties (i have other from earlier but for the purposes of my point these are not relevant) but these are generally sold as vintage i believe , i'm thinking what they would be if not vintage premodern perhaps. Obviously a pen made two years ago is not vintage or even premodern , what i'm getting at is how should pens be categorized? I'll have to do some research now into this. My own opinion is if a pen 90-100 year old its Antique , if it's 40-50 years old its vintage , if it over 20 years old its premodern & under 20 years old its the 2007 model or whatever , that seem sensible to me. Update : i have done some looking and i don't think my dates are that far off although it does seem that there is , as far as i could find in a 30 min search , no real system officially. If anyone knows i'd be interested to know?
I like your system, but I think a lot of people play fast and loose with these terms. My main rule is that nothing from my lifetime is allowed to be called vintage...except that would conflict with your lower limit on vintage. Let's stick with 50 and up for vintage...at least until I get to be 50.
Nice pen! Could you recommend a vintage French and Dutch pen maker? Have an affinity with those two countries! John (Ireland)! Thanks for your videos, always enjoyable.
I'm not too familiar with French vintage yet: I'm only slowly learning that country. But two that stick out in my mind are Waterman (which could also be considered a US company) and Bayard. There are a surprising number of Dutch makers. I love my Cora. Selector was also a brand there. Some others include Ero, Akkerman, Marshal, and Boston. I have not used an Akkerman pen, but the store is still in business and has a famous line of inks in really cool bottles.
For French brands... I have a vintage Edacoto, but it is without nib and feed. There is also another one - extinct now and relatively modern: the Stypen. Actually, I need to make a review of the interesting Stypen Up...
I recently bought a Recife FP from an Etsy seller in Israel. Couldn't get my head round it at first - definitely not modern but new unused stock and looks v retro - beautiful brown marble resin. Unsure if it should have a converter, since it came without one. If anyone knows what fits I would be interested. I'm using it eye droppered at the moment - works v well and nib v smooth. Medium I think. Parisian maker - now does posh men's goods, belts, leather accessories, watches, hip flasks etc. Can't recall seeing any pens on the site, but if they were expensive (everything else is, a bit ... posh) then I've blocked them out!
Good morning, Jason. It's an interesting looking scribe you have there - decidedly a Montblanc 144/45 copy - both being cartridge-converters - but then, the Meisterstuck 147 is (also) a cartridge filler - it's the younger (tho' not the youngest) brother of the 149. The sincerest form of flattery, of course, is plagiarism - & Parker - as well as M-B set definite precedents, here. I might suggest (& as you diplomatically put it) the sail ship on the nib is reminiscent of the great Spanish explorers/ Armada sailing craft....& certainly, we all know the outcome to the latter. I did notice the line that your "M" nib laid down was very broad, & the quality of gold plating on steel, is very impressive. Unsure as to how much you'd (now) pay for such a writing instrument, but I'd say it was a worthwhile investment - I cannot fault the build quality, the classic look, or function, & I wish you many happy hours of use with same :)
I was surprised how quickly I wrote that pen empty. It's a pleasant, high quality pen. A viewer suggested that the name "Caravel" is a type of sailing ship, originally from Portugal. Many hours of writing will come from this pen!
With that amount of ink laid down upon each stroke of the pen, I am not surprised, Jason; the name, "Caravel" sounds about right, altho' I am not conversant in Spanish, merely the Conquistadors of the Sixteenth century - & even that is not extensive - enjoy your week, Sir !! :D
Nice looking pen. You'll often comment that a pen has a steel nib so don't expect any flex. I have a Pelikan from the 50's with a steel nib and it has amazing flex. Therefore, particularly with vintage (although this Caravel is not vintage) pens, I don't think it's a given that steel equals non-flex. I wonder if your notebook paper is best for writing samples? Magnified as you do, it often shows what I think is "micro-feathering". I know, I'm probably being picky and/or too observant. Or it's my imagination? Anyway, enjoyable first impression, as always.
I should be kinder about steel nibs. I have a Reform, a Geha, and two different Garants with very nice flexy steel nibs. But I think you would agree that flex is less common with steel nibs. I agree: the paper is good, but not amazing. A viewer picked up the notebook at a discount grocery chain in the UK and sent it to me. It does feather a bit. I continue to use it because I started with it. But I think the best notebook I've seen with fountain pens is the Apica notebook I use for regular pen reviews.
@@WaskiSquirrel Yes, I of course agree that most steel nibs are not flex. BTW, I just remembered that the Los Angeles Pen Show is this Sunday, and I'm going :-) I'm hoping I can pick up a couple vintage pens. Should be fun as it's my first pen show. I'll have an eye open for any East European pens that may be there.
I don't know about 1920. On the Spanish wikipedia page for Inoxcrom, it says the company was founded in 1955, declared bankruptcy in 2009, and ex-employees bought and restarted the brand in 2014. www.wikiwand.com/es/Inoxcrom inoxcrom.es/es/content/11-top
"[...] It also accompanied the name 1920 , which refers as the booklet (see photograph) that accompanied the box of the pen, to the decade of maximum splendor of fountain pens, which also wanted to pay homage to this fountain pens.[...]" www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/318358-the-inoxcrom-caravel-the-fountainpen-of-the-controversy/
1920 is actually part of the name of the pen: it refers "to the decade of maximum splendor of fountain pens" according to my research. I knew about the bankruptcy. I did not realize the company had been brought back to life!
@@WaskiSquirrel Hi, yes -it was Morrisons - mid range rather than discount (unfortunately), one of the 'big 4' supermarkets in Britain, which is why the price was so gob-smacking since it was so low. For the price the paper is pretty good for the most part but no, it won't take berserker ink - that'll bleed ;-).
It is a Flaro Vegas. It appeared in my February 1 Pens in Use, right around the 23 minute mark. I hope to clean it and do a first impression, but it looks like it might need some nib work. ua-cam.com/video/zaWBVfBh3NA/v-deo.html
Mr Squirrel: as far as I know, they are still around, at least they are available in better stationery stores in Spain. From what I know they went bankrupt and now workers (try to) run it as a co-op. Not everything available all the time, but I believe they are still keeping it going. inoxcrom.es/es/
It is, anyway, a brand that is in Spanish schoolboy´s memory (er, well, of a certain age nowadays) not so much for their fountain pens (little tradition of that in Spain) but for their ballpoints that successfully competed with Parkers.
Mont Blanc has a very generic cigar shape, I see alot of pens having that similar cigar shape. Mont Blanc fans all over consider most of the modern pens "Mont Blanc" copies without knowing Mont Blanc was inspired by a sailor 1911 L itself 😂
When I do the full review on this pen, I'll have to get into the story of the battle with Montblanc over this shape. Yes, lots of pens share this classic shape.
Came across this video +1 year from the day it was uploaded. I have a Caravel, but mine looks bigger and the cap is not a push one; mine is a 2-turns twist cap. This is because your model is a Caravel II. The "Caravel" is the kind of ship Columbus used (3 ships; 3 caravels) when he discovered America. It is a very good pen. Inoxcrom also did the Corinthian and the Sirocco, some of them with gold nibs. Great pens and phenomenal writers with steel and gold nibs manfactured in our country. I am lucky to own 2 Siroccos, 1 Caravel and a real tresaure: a faceted blue Corinthian. All these pens can fit a #6 nib.
In your pen, 1920 is the model, not the year Inoxcrom was founded; this is 1942. Greetings from Spain.
Thank you for all this! I've learned more since filming this first impression, and I've inked up the pen several times. It's a very high quality pen, and it sounds like you have some great models. I was pleased to read that Inoxcrom has been brought back to life.
@@WaskiSquirrel It has been brought back to life and they still manufacture 3-4 fountain pens, but very basic, very far from the excelence of their great Caravel, Sirocco and Corinthian models from the 90s.
I blame you! I have just gone onto eBay and made an offer on an Inoxcrom fountain pen. The seller has accepted the offer. So, a matter of minutes after watching your video I have bought one. You are a dangerous man!!!
Watching videos like this really can lead to temptation. I hope you enjoy!
Very nice video. It is funny because I had two Inoxcrom pens very very recently in my hands and one was that one; the other was an Inoxcrom 77. I bought only the 77 and not this one because I found it to be too slim. Then I regreted but it was gone, meanwhile. The first pen I bought with my own money was an Inoxcrom! They are nice inexpensive pens. The brand is still out there but just the name; not the same pens or management and I am not even sure that the current Inoxcrom is made in Spain now.
By the way, the boat on the nib is a Caravel, that names the pen. The caravel was a type of ship from the 15th century invented by the Portuguese (sorry, Spanish viewers) - named "caravela" - that was for its time very light, easy to manoever and had a sail that alowed it to sail against the wind. It was the kind of boat that allowed Portuguese to take the lead in the discoveries of 15th century, followed immediately by the Spanish.
You menttioned the "encounter" with the British Armada...Unfortunately the biggest part of the Portuguese Armada was lost in that event. There was a 60 yer period when Portugal lost its independence to Spain and the Portuguese ships were sent with the Spanish to attack the English (the Armada Invencible) and all was lost. When Portugal re-gained the independence in 1640 the naval power we once had was lost...
Sorry for the long History approach from a Portuguese view (a Spanish may have a different view of the same historical events), so far from the world of pens. Very nice video. I really enjoyed it. Thanks!
Another viewer sent me to Inoxcrom's new website. I'm glad to hear they are back in business.
Interesting about the Armada. I had known the Portuguese were involved, but I had no idea what the scale of that involvement actually was. Thank you for filling in the blanks for me!
@@WaskiSquirrel Back in business but I heard from a Spanish viewer that is not the same company anymore, although it has the same name.
Thank you for the nice review. The official name was Caravel, and the 1920 was added on the nib. There are two Inoxcrom Caravels: the bigger one, known as Caravel I, which uses a #6 nib, and screw cap. And the Caravel II, this one here reviewed. This second nib seems to be exclusive of Inoxcrom, which used it in other models (Nautilus, Andreas...), but I have not seen it in other brands.
Thank you for all the detail! I remember that, at the time, I couldn't find much information about this pen. And now you have reminded me that I need to ink it up again!
Quoting from the Inoxcrom booklet. "The new model is named INOXCROM Caravel II 1920. The nib bears the engraving of the year 1920 and a sailing ship. This is because it suggests (the discovery) and because 1920 was the first year of the decade in which the fountain pen reached the height of perfection." An interesting fact is that this pen was discontinued after Montblanc threatened legal action.
I didn't get a booklet with mine, but that is interesting. I had heard about the ugly relationship with Montblanc!
That thing seems brand new, and appears to be a very nice writer. Looks like you made a great find.
I'm pleased with it. And it's not very old: it probably dates from the 1990s when I graduated from high school.
I have an Inoxcrom that was given to me as a gift about 24 years ago. It’s a great pen, looks like a Loom but has a semi flexible nib. It’s a great pen, still writes great. I was surprised to hear the name mentioned in this video. I have not heard or seen them mentioned until now. Thanks for the video. It’s amazing how much the Faber Castell Loom looks like a larger version of my Inoxcrom. But the Inox writes even better.
They were a pretty good brand. This one is a high quality pen, and I'm surprised they're not more widely known.
Thank you Jason . Nice pen , obviously someone has looked after that very well. You made a comment about Vintage and it got me thinking , i've got pens from the early seventies and eighties and Nineties (i have other from earlier but for the purposes of my point these are not relevant) but these are generally sold as vintage i believe , i'm thinking what they would be if not vintage premodern perhaps. Obviously a pen made two years ago is not vintage or even premodern , what i'm getting at is how should pens be categorized? I'll have to do some research now into this. My own opinion is if a pen 90-100 year old its Antique , if it's 40-50 years old its vintage , if it over 20 years old its premodern & under 20 years old its the 2007 model or whatever , that seem sensible to me.
Update : i have done some looking and i don't think my dates are that far off although it does seem that there is , as far as i could find in a 30 min search , no real system officially.
If anyone knows i'd be interested to know?
I like your system, but I think a lot of people play fast and loose with these terms. My main rule is that nothing from my lifetime is allowed to be called vintage...except that would conflict with your lower limit on vintage. Let's stick with 50 and up for vintage...at least until I get to be 50.
Nice pen! Could you recommend a vintage French and Dutch pen maker? Have an affinity with those two countries! John (Ireland)! Thanks for your videos, always enjoyable.
I'm not too familiar with French vintage yet: I'm only slowly learning that country. But two that stick out in my mind are Waterman (which could also be considered a US company) and Bayard.
There are a surprising number of Dutch makers. I love my Cora. Selector was also a brand there. Some others include Ero, Akkerman, Marshal, and Boston. I have not used an Akkerman pen, but the store is still in business and has a famous line of inks in really cool bottles.
For French brands... I have a vintage Edacoto, but it is without nib and feed. There is also another one - extinct now and relatively modern: the Stypen. Actually, I need to make a review of the interesting Stypen Up...
I recently bought a Recife FP from an Etsy seller in Israel. Couldn't get my head round it at first - definitely not modern but new unused stock and looks v retro - beautiful brown marble resin. Unsure if it should have a converter, since it came without one. If anyone knows what fits I would be interested. I'm using it eye droppered at the moment - works v well and nib v smooth. Medium I think.
Parisian maker - now does posh men's goods, belts, leather accessories, watches, hip flasks etc. Can't recall seeing any pens on the site, but if they were expensive (everything else is, a bit ... posh) then I've blocked them out!
I used a red Inoxcrom in 1967 until 1970. Never used a better writing artifact. My first step into Fountain Pens.
Inoxcrom made some great pens!
Good morning, Jason. It's an interesting looking scribe you have there - decidedly a Montblanc 144/45 copy - both being cartridge-converters - but then, the Meisterstuck 147 is (also) a cartridge filler - it's the younger (tho' not the youngest) brother of the 149. The sincerest form of flattery, of course, is plagiarism - & Parker - as well as M-B set definite precedents, here.
I might suggest (& as you diplomatically put it) the sail ship on the nib is reminiscent of the great Spanish explorers/ Armada sailing craft....& certainly, we all know the outcome to the latter.
I did notice the line that your "M" nib laid down was very broad, & the quality of gold plating on steel, is very impressive. Unsure as to how much you'd (now) pay for such a writing instrument, but I'd say it was a worthwhile investment - I cannot fault the build quality, the classic look, or function, & I wish you many happy hours of use with same :)
I was surprised how quickly I wrote that pen empty. It's a pleasant, high quality pen.
A viewer suggested that the name "Caravel" is a type of sailing ship, originally from Portugal.
Many hours of writing will come from this pen!
With that amount of ink laid down upon each stroke of the pen, I am not surprised, Jason; the name, "Caravel" sounds about right, altho' I am not conversant in Spanish, merely the Conquistadors of the Sixteenth century - & even that is not extensive - enjoy your week, Sir !! :D
Nice looking pen. You'll often comment that a pen has a steel nib so don't expect any flex. I have a Pelikan from the 50's with a steel nib and it has amazing flex. Therefore, particularly with vintage (although this Caravel is not vintage) pens, I don't think it's a given that steel equals non-flex.
I wonder if your notebook paper is best for writing samples? Magnified as you do, it often shows what I think is "micro-feathering". I know, I'm probably being picky and/or too observant. Or it's my imagination?
Anyway, enjoyable first impression, as always.
I should be kinder about steel nibs. I have a Reform, a Geha, and two different Garants with very nice flexy steel nibs. But I think you would agree that flex is less common with steel nibs.
I agree: the paper is good, but not amazing. A viewer picked up the notebook at a discount grocery chain in the UK and sent it to me. It does feather a bit. I continue to use it because I started with it. But I think the best notebook I've seen with fountain pens is the Apica notebook I use for regular pen reviews.
@@WaskiSquirrel Yes, I of course agree that most steel nibs are not flex. BTW, I just remembered that the Los Angeles Pen Show is this Sunday, and I'm going :-) I'm hoping I can pick up a couple vintage pens. Should be fun as it's my first pen show. I'll have an eye open for any East European pens that may be there.
Did you say you have a Romanian fountain pen ? What producer and model ?
It's a Flaro Vegas.
I just noticed in my notes that you're the one who told me about the Flaro brand! Thank you!
I don't know about 1920. On the Spanish wikipedia page for Inoxcrom, it says the company was founded in 1955, declared bankruptcy in 2009, and ex-employees bought and restarted the brand in 2014.
www.wikiwand.com/es/Inoxcrom
inoxcrom.es/es/content/11-top
"[...] It also accompanied the name 1920 , which refers as the booklet (see photograph) that accompanied the box of the pen, to the decade of maximum splendor of fountain pens, which also wanted to pay homage to this fountain pens.[...]"
www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/318358-the-inoxcrom-caravel-the-fountainpen-of-the-controversy/
1920 is actually part of the name of the pen: it refers "to the decade of maximum splendor of fountain pens" according to my research.
I knew about the bankruptcy. I did not realize the company had been brought back to life!
You found the same link I have in my research! I just wish the link had included a photograph of the booklet in question.
The Krishna inks are really nice! Try Moonview!
I like Orchids, a nice lavender blue.
I've barely scratched the surface, but they do have some interesting colors. I'll check out that one.
Moonview is Unicorn coloured!
Where did you get the journal?
This was given to me by a viewer who apparently purchased it at a local discount grocery store in the UK.
@@WaskiSquirrel Hi, yes -it was Morrisons - mid range rather than discount (unfortunately), one of the 'big 4' supermarkets in Britain, which is why the price was so gob-smacking since it was so low. For the price the paper is pretty good for the most part but no, it won't take berserker ink - that'll bleed ;-).
Can you show us your Romanian pen? Or maybe just tell the name of the manufacturer?
It is a Flaro Vegas. It appeared in my February 1 Pens in Use, right around the 23 minute mark. I hope to clean it and do a first impression, but it looks like it might need some nib work.
ua-cam.com/video/zaWBVfBh3NA/v-deo.html
Uh oh, another ink i must have!
Oops!
Maybe the universe is telling me i dont need it.. seems to be 'out of stock'. Looks like their cool colors are all out of stock.. :-(
Smiling here, Rinae :D
Mr Squirrel: as far as I know, they are still around, at least they are available in better stationery stores in Spain. From what I know they went bankrupt and now workers (try to) run it as a co-op. Not everything available all the time, but I believe they are still keeping it going. inoxcrom.es/es/
That's good to hear! Hopefully the workers can keep the brand going!
It is, anyway, a brand that is in Spanish schoolboy´s memory (er, well, of a certain age nowadays) not so much for their fountain pens (little tradition of that in Spain) but for their ballpoints that successfully competed with Parkers.
Sharp looking pen.
Thank you!
I entered you for a bottle of ink give away from Ferris Wheel Press on Instagram! Good Luck!
Very generous. Thank you!
But INOXCROM still exists. They still make good pens.
My understanding is that they ran into trouble, closed their doors, and were bought by their employees.
Mont Blanc has a very generic cigar shape, I see alot of pens having that similar cigar shape. Mont Blanc fans all over consider most of the modern pens "Mont Blanc" copies without knowing Mont Blanc was inspired by a sailor 1911 L itself 😂
When I do the full review on this pen, I'll have to get into the story of the battle with Montblanc over this shape. Yes, lots of pens share this classic shape.