Franklin-Christoph Model 66 Stabilis

The Model 66 Stabilis is a production-version of the pens that Franklin-Christoph brings to shows to allow folks to test out their (extensive) array of nib options. As the first Franklin-Christoph pen that many people use, the 66 (and the 65, a smaller version) was requested often enough to put into production. The normal mode is an opaque black plastic, but other materials show up from time to time, and they are great as eyedropper pens.

This particular pen is in the "Antique Glass" material. This one and the "Italian Ice" are limited run pens that have rather long waiting lists. According to the site, the wait is around 10 weeks for the last run of these pens. Some people have called the Antique Glass pens "Coke Bottle" pens because they have the green tint of a classic Coke bottle. It's a cool effect.

This is actually Audrey's pen, and she's loaned it to me so that I can play with it a bit to write the review. It's a pretty great pen, and she's impatient to get it back. 

Check out the pictures below!

Specs 

Length:
Capped: 16 cm
Uncapped: 15.2 cm
Posted: 17.5 cm

Weight:
21.6g capped
18.36g un-capped

Price Points:  You can get these between $169.50 with a HPS nib and $279.50 for a gold nib with a Masuyama nib.  This isn't an inexpensive pen, but it's not a cheap one either.

Appearance

You can't get a clip on this style of pen, but there's a flat side. It keeps the pen from rolling off of your desk too easily, and it provides a nice place to engrave the company name and model number. While I was using this pen I noticed that the nib wasn't lined up with the flat side. That might not annoy you, but it did annoy me. The fix was to futz with the section a few times to get it lined up. I probably could have done it my moving the nib unit instead, but the section was just easier and I didn't get my fingers all inky.

EDIT:  It turns out that the nib unit is threaded to go into the section the same way every time, so that wouldn't have worked. The section-barrel junction is triple-threaded, though, so it shouldn't take too many tries (hopefully not more than 3) to get it in the right position. (Thanks to Scott Franklin for the info.)

This pen is really nice as an eyedropper. You can use a converter or a cartridge in it, but if you do that you'll lose out on seeing the ink sloshing around inside.

I don't generally eyedropper my pens. My hands seem to be a little hot, and that causes the air to expand in the barrel and push ink out of the nib. This pen, though, hasn't had that problem at all. I don't know if the plastic of this pen is just thicker than other eyedroppers I've tried, or if it just doesn't transmit heat as well, but it works great. You should totally try it.

The only other branding on the pen is the FC logo and the 4 diamonds It's actually pretty hard to notice this little marking. I didn't see it until I was taking close-up shots of the cap.

Nib Performance

You can use any of the #6 nibs in this pen, and Audrey went for the Masuyama needlepoint on this one. It's a super-smooth nib for one of this size. I'm not a needlepoint user, but Audrey loves it. It's not the finest of needles, but it writes really well.

Here are a couple of other nibs next to the one on the 66. Left to right: fine Lamy, Masuyama Needlepoint, and Masuyama medium italic.

Here are some writing samples done by Audrey.

How's it Feel?

In a couple of words? Really good. It's longer and it has a greater diameter than I thought it would be. The pen just feels solid in your hand. Light, for sure, but also very solid. Not fragile at all.

Below is a close-up of the front of the pen. The threads are wide and smooth, and they won't bother you if you have a grip close to the nib. The only issue that I have with the grip is that the section is a little bit short and the step from the section to the barrel is a little bit sharp. If you hold the pen like I do (above) then it might bother you just a little. I feel like this is a thing that could be rounded down just a little bit for a major improvement.

Comparison

Here's the Model 66 next to several pens that people might have in their collections. From left to right:  Sailor 1911s, Lamy Al-Star, Franklin-Christoph Model 66, Franklin-Christoph Model 3, Pilot Custom 74, Franklin-Christoph Model 27, and a Lamy 2000.

The pen fits in the Franklin-Christoph Penvelope, though it's taller than the pens with clips would be. 

Here's a shot through the closed Penvelope, and you can see that there's plenty of headroom in there. 

My penvelope, by the way, is one of the new fabric ones. They don't appear to be on the site yet, but you can find them at pen shows. They sell for a bit less than the leather version, but I can't recall what I paid for it.


Video Review!

BTW, if you weren't aware, you can go straight to the YouTube channel to watch this in a bigger format!

Wrap-Up

It's a pretty great pen, and I can see why this model is so popular. The fit and finish of the pen is (as usual for an F-C pen) impeccable. The nib options are through the roof, and there are (sometimes) plenty of different materials to choose from. It's not the cheapest pen on the block, but you can trust Franklin-Christoph's manufacturing and their customer service (if you ever have a problem).

This is my wife's pen, and wasn't provided for review by the mfgr. I know the F-C folks pretty well, but that doesn't influence my reviews in any way that I'm aware of.