Fred Faggionato is a French pen artisan who makes a wide variety of handmade fountain pens. I admired his creations for some time but every time I was just about to get one of them, other expenses appeared. Out of nowhere. Probably some malevolent forces were at work.
In 2017 Polish fountain pen board users chose Faggionato Petrarque as their pen board pen. After short negotiations with Fred Faggionato thirteen pens in blue cellulose acetate were made and offered for a discounted price (bulk-order) to Polish users. It seems this material is no longer available so we can assume that this thirteen pens will remain unique. On the other hand, Petrarque is available in plenty of stunning materials so if you enjoy the design you’ll find one that suits your taste.
The pen comes in nice cardboard box.
Petrarque is available in two sizes – we’ve chosen smaller one and it’s a perfect fit. It’s light, slick and comfortable. The material is gorgeous. It’s shiny and rich, especially in the direct sunlight. Plenty of colors can be seen – blue, grey, greem, yellowish, silver. It’s definitely an eye-catcher that will stand out in the middle of the flock of funeral black pens.
Apart form the box and the pen, there’s also a warranty card that was written with ballpoint pen. A small faux-pas, I would say.
My Petrarque is marked as 6/13.
Cap
The pen has a flat top and bottom, and it is adorned only with a steel concave clip engraved with FF logo. The cap screws on to the barrel tightly, maybe even too tightly. At times I have to fiddle with it to get the threads to line up and work smoothly. I realise that crafting threads is a difficult art but I expected that Fred Faggionato had mastered it. I’m not so sure now.
The clip looks well. It may be my favorite clip on the market.
Section
The section is slightly curved. It’s not as wide as the barrel but I wouldn’t call it thin. It’s long and very feels very comfortable in my hand.
Body
It’s done well. The material is stunning and the shape of rhe body looks nice to me.
Nib
Munken Pure Rough 100 g (Aonibi Kyonooto)
The medium nib is smooth and quite wet. It won’t allow you to get a lot of line variation, but it does have a slight amount of give, so I wouldn’t call it a “nail.” One thing that’s slightly irritating is the fact that the feed can go slightly dry at times and in order to improve the flow you have to turn converter.
Filling system
International standard – you can use converter or cartridges.
Summary
Overall, I’m rather satisfied with this purchase. I love the design and the material. My enthusiasm is a bit subdued because of the issues with threads and drying feed. They’re not overwhelming, though. I use the pen and enjoy it. Having said that, I think it should be improved. I would expect a flawless pen from such a well known and cherished artisan.
Wondernaut in the world of stationery wonders 