I already knew that Faber-Castell could make a pretty decent pen. Especially their steel nibs are amongst the best in the business. But before today, the Faber-Castell pens I looked at were usually in the 100-150 Euro range. Only very recently I decided to take a look at some of their more affordable offerings, and I'll say in advance that I was pleasantly surprised! It's quite simple really: what if I told you you can get that same quality nib from the 100 dollar pen in a pen less than half that price, that would be pretty great right?
Enter the Faber-Castell Loom, a budget pen -relatively speaking- that could easily play along in a much higher price class!
Of course what you would expect is a high-quality nib in a really crappy body, they have to save costs somewhere. But even that isn't entirely right.
Notice that I say 'entirely', obviously it's not as rock-solid or luxurious as the Emotion or Ondoro, but it's still a solid pen. The barrel and grip section are entirely metal (in this case the barrel has a shiny chrome finish, and the section has a matte finish (and a slight texture because of the five raised rings). Other color options are entirely matte). That part of the pen is solid, and has a healty amount of weight to it. The cap on the other hand, is entirely made out of plastic, including the clip. It's obviously a whole lot lighter, and the clip doesn't feel as solid as a metal one would. But as I said you have to cut costs at some point, and in this case the cap was the victim.
Notice that I say 'entirely', obviously it's not as rock-solid or luxurious as the Emotion or Ondoro, but it's still a solid pen. The barrel and grip section are entirely metal (in this case the barrel has a shiny chrome finish, and the section has a matte finish (and a slight texture because of the five raised rings). Other color options are entirely matte). That part of the pen is solid, and has a healty amount of weight to it. The cap on the other hand, is entirely made out of plastic, including the clip. It's obviously a whole lot lighter, and the clip doesn't feel as solid as a metal one would. But as I said you have to cut costs at some point, and in this case the cap was the victim.
All in all that's still speaking in relative terms though. The cap feels solid, it's just noticeably lighter than the rest of the pen. For durability, I would've preferred a metal clip and cap, but when you post the cap it actually helps balancing the pen because it's relatively light. The clip is attached internally and spring-loaded. But it's still plastic so I can only guess what it'll do in terms of durability. So far it feels like it can take a hit, but I wouldn't overdo it.
Faber-Castell follows a very distinct design. Their pens are modern, but with very pronounced shapes and contrasts. In this case, the loom consists of a straight cillindrical body, and a barrel-like bulbuous cap. Their pens are aimed slightly towards a younger, 'hip' audience I think, which makes sense because they also have their Graf von Faber-Castell pens for the more mature audience that wants a classy pen.
The Loom comes in a variety of finishes, most of them with a matte finish across the entire pen. I chose this Chrome and black colorway because it's a bit more stylish and classy. Be warned though: it is a fingerprint magnet top to bottom!
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| The jousting knights logo on the finial and the trademark dimple at the bottom of the barrel of the pen. |
The Loom measures in at 13cm closed (5.1In) and 12cm open (4.7In), which is definitely on the shorter side. It still fits in the hand quite comfortably, but if you have larger hands it might prove a little short. In that case, the cap can be posted quite securely, and you won't be bothered much by the change in balance because the plastic cap is so light (7 grams, compared to 25 grams of the body, 32g total).
In line with other Faber-Castell pens, it might not be very long, but it is quite wide. At about 1cm at the narrowest part (the section), the Loom is a more beefy pen.
But what we're really here for is the nib. A steel #5 sized nib with the familiar dotted imprint and again the jousting knights logo. I went for a broad this time around (The Ondoro I reviewed a while back also had a B nib), and once again Faber-Castell proves that they are good at making nibs.
One of the aspects that I personally really like about the writing experience is a good, wet flow. I often tune my pens by carving out the channels in the feed so that the flow gets wetter, but apparently FC already does that for you! Upon inspecting the feed when I was cleaning it, I noticed that the channels are much wider than on other pens, and they also add some channels across at the tip, which increases the flow even more. Together with the very well-tuned nib, this makes for a smooth, consistent writing experience. I think FC's broad nibs run a little wider than the steel nibs from most other manufacturers, but that could also be a side-effect of the rather generous flow.
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| The rather special feed, with wider channels and a hatched pattern to increase the ink flow |
The Loom might not be the most beautiful pen design you've ever seen, but the nib should be enough to win you over! Here in Europe, the Loom retails for around 30-33 EUR, which is cheaper than a TWSBI Eco. For that price I don't think you should need much persuading. The retail price in the US is a bit higher, at 40-45 USD, which is still quite good value for money, but it might be worth checking out some overseas shops to maybe get a better deal (And of course the 10% discounts that the sposnors of this blog provide could help with that!)
Note: La Couronne Du Comte is a sponsor of this blog. I received a discount on the purchase of this product. I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared in this review are completely my own! This post does not contain affilate links.
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