The Schneider company makes all sorts of writing instruments and has a range of inexpensive fountain pens. This one is the Base, probably indicating that it’s the cheapest one, but none of them cost very much. Its full description is the Schneider Glam Boy Cog Wheel, M, Anthracite-Metallic with Motif. This pen is sometimes compared with the Lamy Safari, but that doesn’t work for me. I can’t use the Safari – it doesn’t suit my hand, whereas I find the Schneider very comfortable. That being the case, we’ll ignore the comparison and just deal with the pen as it is.
It’s quite a big pen at 14.8 cm capped. The girth is quite good as well – take note, arthritis sufferers – and, of course, it has the ergonomic grip. It has a large and splendid chrome plated clip which ends in a curl of metal. When new it has a strip of plastic on the clip which also bears the website address. Top and bottom are finished with sloping plugs.
These pens come in a variety of colours and patterns. This one is rather splendidly decorated with a pattern of cogs and male heads. The barrel even has additional sparkles. Doubtless aimed at the school student market, I expect it’s rather successful. It might not be to all adult tastes but I quite like it. The cap presses into place with a satisfying click. The nib is quite broad – I don’t mean the tip, which in this case is fine/medium – but the nib itself. It is engraved with a pattern of curving lines and it’s a good writer. After being closed for quite a while the pen starts immediately and delivers a consistent line. It’s very reliable.
This falls into the category of cheap pens; the very cheapest Base is around £12 and this rather more decorative one is a few pounds more. In terms of performance, however, it’s up there with the best of them. Comparably priced Chinese pens often need a little nib work before they work well but this pen delivered right out of the box (not that it had a box!). Time will tell how robust it is but handling it there’s every reason to believe it will last well. If you want an economy pen for general use, this would be a very good choice.
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Nice looking pen Deb. How many everyday pens do I need to walk around with – I occasionally buy a cheapy if it looks as though it will write with just a little more character than those common and boring firm nibs. Anyway getting my suit altered now to accommodate this extra pen, and hope I won’t end up walking with too much of a stoop:)
At a first glance it reminded me just slightly of the glittery surface decor on those pricey Japanese Platinums – not that I have one.
German engineering was always tops, so guess you’d expect their pens to possibly reflect that – trouble being that even once great makers now make their kit to ‘a price’, rather than to a standard.
Whatever else though, I doubt that you could ‘wear out’ a modern pen – they may not have the charisma of a ’30s or ’40’s piece, but unless you were using it to play darts I suspect they’d go on for ages – just get bored with it in the end.
Apparently Schneider is a common family name in that country, and depending on which Wiki bit you look at it can mean either a cobler or tailor, and the name also has quite some historic baggage – Schneider Trophy and Schneider Enfield to name but several – so good advertising ploy. Not seen this one yet, but will give it a go if I see it in a charity shop. Sometimes charity shops are awash with cheap Chinese pens, rather than the ones I really want:)
thanks for the interesting post.