Review: Hublot Fountain Pen and Inkwell

This is a look at the limited edition Hublot fountain pen and inkwell.

Remember this post from earlier in the year? Well, I finally got my hands on one, thanks to the good people at Hublot of America. It's a loaner and needs to go back. But I did get permission to ink it. ;-)

Hublot is the Swiss watch manufacture brought to a great deal of recent success under marketing whiz Jean-Claude Biver, formerly of Blancpain, Omega, and Swatch.

A few items about the pen and inkwell to begin with:

1. The fountain pen and inkwell come as a set, a limited edition of 999 (this pen is #394)
   
2. The combo has an MSRP of 2’200 CHF (Swiss Francs)
3. Available now for delivery from Hublot
   

Hublot has reportedly been somewhat tight-lipped about who made the pen for them. It's probably safe to assume that they contracted with a high-end European pen manufacturer to make the pen to their specification, but I don't know that for a fact. Maybe Visconti? Montegrappa? I'm not familiar enough with the characteristics of those brands to say with any confidence. The best clue might be the filling system. It definitely requires bottled ink as opposed to cartridges. The mechanism uses a spring-loaded plunger under a blind cap. I can't recall what the proper term is. Maybe a "button-filler?" Doesn't Conway-Stewart use a similar mechanism in some models? For what it's worth I don't think there's any shame in having a complementary product made by an expert.

I'm not sure what material the pen is made of. It looks like the gray of titanium, but is too heavy for that, so perhaps some kind of treated stainless steel? Update: Hublot confirmed that the pen's materials are black ceramic and black titanium. "The pen extends the fusion theme of the modern materials in our watches. The H on the cap top, and the complete design of the inkwell are all design elements of our watches."

There's no mistaking this for a cheap jewelry gadget. This thing is heavy and everything involved screams "well-made" and luxury once you see it and hold it. All of the machining is perfect. The work on the exterior of the barrel and case is excellent. The machined threads for the cap and blind cap are perfect, solid and smooth. Even the little details ... for example, the clip is spring-loaded.

On branding, the Hublot logo is everywhere: on the box, the clip, the plunger filler's top, even the blind cap.

The nib is a matte gray color, different from the brightly polished silver and gold we're used to with for example Pelikan nibs. But the matte gray color, imho, works well visually with the rest of the pen's design. The nib has the Hublot logo as well as an "M" presumably to describe the nib as Medium, and also says "18k 750" which I assume means 18k gold.

As I was getting ready to fill and use the pen I again noticed its heft. I almost always post a pen's cap when using it, though I realize many users do not, especially if using an expensive or limited edition pen that could be damaged or marked-up by posting the cap. Some people who might otherwise post the cap also don't if it would make the pen too heavy for their taste or upset the pen's balance. Then I realized, the cap on this pen can not be posted, it simply wasn't designed to fit. No problem though, it would likely be too top-heavy anyway.

I tinkered with some J. Herbin ink as well as my most used standby, Lamy Blue. I always go back to Lamy Blue as it has worked well in every pen I've ever used it in, rinses clean from pens, and flows well. In the writing sample below I used a large orange Rhodia Webnotebook, my current daily journal.

Note that all pics can be seen full-size by clicking on them (or right-click and choose 'open in new tab').

The pen's case is well-made. The latch and hinges and are solid and smooth. Nothing cheap about them at all. Enjoy the pics!






Even the inkwell is built like a tank.












This pen is #394 of 999.



Note the Hublot logo on the slick spring-loaded clip.


The pen's filling mechanism ... button filler of some kind?



A couple looks at the 18k nib.




A sample of the Hublot pen's medium 18k nib in action, with Lamy Blue ink, on Rhodia Webnotebook paper. It lays down a rather wet line, at least compared to the F and XF nibs I'm used to.


Bottom Line? This is certainly an expensive fountain pen. But if you're a fan of Hublot or similar luxury brands I expect you won't be disappointed. Everything about the pen, packaging, and ink well are well-designed and implemented. Hublot definitely did not phone this one in.

Additional links:
TimeZone: Hublot: Hublot Fountain Pen
Amateur Economist: Hublot Fountain Pen and Ink Bottle
Lamy - Germany
Rhodia Drive