Franklin-Christoph 03. When you work at a pen show, geography is destiny. Just like a college dorm, you are going to hang out with the people nearby. And my little corner of 2017 Chicago Pen Show was charmed, with Papier Plume behind and Franklin-Christoph to the right. Between Renso, Audrey, Mike and Jim, I had the nicest neighbors.
And as Chicago Pen Show Instagram, I loved documenting the action at both tables. Tracking Papier Plume as they sold out their Chicago Pen Show special inks, and watching the tsunami of customers at Franklin-Christoph. Most fun was when Audrey put out the trays of Franklin-Christoph pens in prototype materials each morning.
So it was probably inevitable that I ended up buying a Franklin-Christoph myself. I chose my 03 because it’s a nice, larger size, it has a comfortable section, and it has a clip. Mine is a prototype, but an understated one, in dark blue with a glassy color medallion in the cap top.
Prototype colors aren’t named, but Jim Rouse dubbed mine “Royal Navy Blue with a Porthole.”
I am all over that name, as fellow Aubrey and Maturin fans would understand.
I chose a Masuyama stub nib in medium. I did test their SIG nibs (recommended by my friend). In fact, I tested all their nibs. And I retested. That’s a big advantage to picking out your pen at the show. You can mull.
I inked my pen with Robert Oster Tranquility, another pen show purchase. Tranquility is one of the many Oster blue-green inks. This one is on the greener side. The second and third photos are the best for accurate depiction of the ink color.
Tranquility has nice shading. It also has Oster’s trademark red sheen, slight with this pen, but more noticeable from a wetter pen.
Fountain Pen Follies 
I do like this ink, and am wondering if it’s very similar to Pilot Iroshuziku Syo-Ro a while ago. The pictures make it out to be, but interwebs swatches can be deceiving.
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I can’t say for sure — I sold my Ku-jaku and Syo-ro many years ago, and didn’t keep a sample of either. I would say both inks do appear similar to Robert Oster Tranquility, in terms of being blue-greens with similar value, but how similar the hue is, I don’t know. Sorry! I can say that Tranquility didn’t have the dramatic color change of Syo-ro, and I don’t see as much shading from Tranquility, but I’m going off my memory of Syo-ro.
There are so many inks in this blue-green space it’s almost dizzying.
To be totally honest, the ink that appears most similar to Robert Oster Tranquility that I currently have is actually Robert Oster Deep Sea. 🙂 Tranquility is clearly brighter than Deep Sea and it has a slightly different hue. But they look close in many ways, too.
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This ink reminds me a little of Diamine Eau de Nil, but deeper and sort of more substantial, I guess 🙂
The pen is beautiful! The wide, flat clip really suits it. It reminds me a little of homes from the 1950s that were sort of ultra-modernist. Have you seen the Jacques Tati film, Playtime? Like the homes in that movie.
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Great comparison!
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Yeah I don’t know where that came from because I haven’t seen that movie in years and years! But I thought I’d roll with it and see if you see it too 🙂
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Who wouldn’t love an ink called tranquility?? Gorgeous!
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I have the 03 in green, but now I am totally envious for a navy blue one! Mine has the medium italic nib. 🙂
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Lovely looking pen 🙂 Robert Oster sheen rocks on Tomoe River, but doesn’t show on Rhodia/Clairefontaine paper…
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Thank you for not buying a neon pen.
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You don’t know how close I came. I adored a neon pink one that looked like a glowing crystal of awesome. But the pen was a little short for me. That’s all that stopped me. It was fantastic. 😁
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I would totally buy a neon pink pen.
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Both the pen and the ink look quite nice. I agree about the wetter pen, it does make a difference. (especially if you want sheen)
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I have RO tranquility and just love it. and what a pen!
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Oh yes.:-) Nice pen: Nice ink. I like. 🙂
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