Highest Quality Current Kit

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Charlie_W said:
As for the Aero, I had one with the Rose Gold accents in which the finish on the finial has gone bad just from my wife's fingerprints. I would rather go with the black Ti/ chrome. I still like the size and feel of the pen.
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If you think gold is too soft, you'll probably find rose gold the same since it is about 18K gold (75% Gold, 22.5% copper and 2.5% silver is a typical alloy) and will wear almost like 24K since copper doesn't wear much better.
 
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They are not the most expensive hardware sets (fortunately) nor the most "flashy" but when someone wants my highest quality pen they get the Desire rollerball/fountain or Liberty ballpoint both from Lazerlinez... simple and elegant lines, solid stainless so there is no finish to wear off, machined here in the USA and great feeling pens in your hand.

Mike
 
How about the Artisan Venus? Any thoughts there?
It's on my short list of kits...err...components...to try. Looks great and the CSUSA commercial on YouTube has sexy jazz music playing that has helped influence me.
 
MikeinSC said:
How about the Artisan Venus? Any thoughts there?
It's on my short list of kits...err...components...to try. Looks great and the CSUSA commercial on YouTube has sexy jazz music playing that has helped influence me.
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The Venus is not a bad kit overall and one of the 'better' kits. However ... They, along with the rest of the line suffers greatly from plating faults, the center band and embeds in the ends have alignment problems, the center band is poor construction quality, the top cap still uses a low quality plastic sleeve. The entire lower tube is poorly designed (even with the recent changes)

One of the big redeeming qualities on this kit was transparency with the Gent Jr, that to has gone away with the recent bastardizing and bad business practices.

However, visually it is a very nice looking but has a lot of bling to it.
 
MikeinSC said:
Is the Venus worth the $45? I've done a few of tue Zen's without issue.
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Considering the Nouveau Sceptre is $32, carries the same design problems, minus the center band and of equal or slightly better construction quality then Yes I would have to say it's over priced. However Dayacom feels they are Montblanc and loves to charge more $ due to their logo. As in marketing, jewelry and others they love to push products with a label and equate the label to something of high value so you feel better about over paying.
 
MikeinSC said:
Is the Venus worth the $45? I've done a few of tue Zen's without issue.
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That is something you have to decide. Not if it is worth $45.00. but if it is worth $45.00 to you. Frankly it would not be worth that much to me....but I am not you.

The Artisian Venus is sold by CSUSA and they determine their selling price...if it is too high they won't sell enough to continue the line. That's true regardless of who the manufacturer is. I think in this case it is Dayacom but you can rest assured that Dayacom does not care what CSUSA sells the kit for.
 
Charlie_W said:
As for the Aero, I had one with the Rose Gold accents in which the finish on the finial has gone bad just from my wife's fingerprints. I would rather go with the black Ti/ chrome. I still like the size and feel of the pen.
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+1 on your comments. I have several Aeros with Rose Gold that I have put away for the same problem. All other Aero finishes have worked out well.
gordon
 
Coming in late here, interesting conversation. Methinks though that the bickering between the two curmudgeons :wink: distracted from the main question, or more importantly, from accurately framing the question.

I would put it this way: The OP's customer wants the highest quality. How is the CUSTOMER most likely to assess that? There have been hints of it in the discussion here, but nobody has seized up the answer.

If you were asking your average high school kid who has just gotten his license about the "highest quality car", his answer isn't likely to be very helpful because he doesn't have much experience with cars HIMSELF. Ask your average "Company CEO's, Executives, Doctors, Attorneys, etc..." about high quality cars, and they will have a frame of reference.

So with regards to pens, what is the frame of reference that our "Company CEO's, Executives, Doctors, Attorneys, etc..." are likely to have?

THAT'S your quality standard. The world of premium (not necessarily ultra-premium/jewelry quality) "over the counter" pens. Properly made, will the kit pen provide as reliable and "enjoyable" a writing experience as a $100 - $500+ Parker/Cross/Mont Blanc/Aurora/Namiki/Waterman/Sheaffer/etc? If it doesn't meet THAT bar, then the plating is inconsequential. Sure, the ink cartridge can be replaced/upgraded, but you're still faced with the quality of the mechanism. Along with that is the ergonomics. A kit may be loaded with bling and top notch plating, but if it's actually miserable to write with the pen, then it falls into the category of "low quality" in my book, although others may disagree when the purpose of the pen is actually to be pen-like art/status marker. (This is one facet of the ancient art vs craft arguments). Then one can worry about the plating, the balance of the finished pen, the ergonomics (actually, ergos come into the enjoyment).

This points to something I've not seen a lot of here, although in fairness I've not looked for it.

How do the kits we're using realistically compare to the "industry standards"?
 
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...This thread is over 18 months old, and quite frankly... My question/issues are resolved. Have fun folks! :)
 
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