My Thoughts on the Ferris Wheel Press Bijou

As part of a recent customer outreach exercise, the CEO of Canadian pen and ink brand Ferris Wheel Press offered to send out pens to people who didn’t have first-hand experience with their range, in an effort to address what they felt were misconceptions about their products.

I’d never tried a Ferris Wheel Press pen before – and, to be honest, most of what I’d heard was pretty negative. So I sent in a request, and got a quick response with a request to choose my preferred pens, colourways and nib sizes from the Bijou, Aluminium Carousel and (plastic) Carousel ranges. I chose a Bijou pen in the Huffin Puff Pink, and a week later it landed on my doorstep.

So, full disclosure: I received this pen for free. Although the FWP team is asking recipients to post reviews of their experience on Google and social media, it wasn’t a condition of receiving the pen, and the review is entirely my own opinion.

Unboxing the Bijou

The pen arrived in a sturdy cardboard tray inside an equally sturdy cardboard sleeve, and was packaged securely. Inside the pen box, the pen’s in a black velour pen sleeve, and the production values are all pretty high – it’s a pleasing object to handle. The sleeve is pretty tight and fits the pen snugly; I think it’s likely to wear bare where the cap band stretches it out.

The Bijou Pen – First Encounters and Vital Statistics

The Bijou is a fairly slim pen, with rounded ends and a metal grip section. It’s made wholly of metal, with a paint finish on the cap and barrel. The finish on the Huffin Puff Pink model is a pearlescent dusty pink, and the finish quality seems high. The grip section is gold-plated brass with engraved/embossed detailing, fitted with a two-tone #5 steel nib. The cap is finished with a matching trim ring styled to look like a hexagonal nut – conveniently, this also acts as a roll stop.

Stats

• Length, capped: 144mm
• Length, uncapped: 129mm
• Weight, capped: 26.4g
• Weight, uncapped: 17.8g
• Filling system: converter, 2.6mm bore
• Nib: steel #5 in Fine or Medium
• Uncapping: 2.75 full turns

I compared the Bijou to a number of other pens in my collection for a visual guide to their relative sizes. (Click on the images for bigger versions.) Comparison pens here are the Esterbrook Estie in Seaglass, the Just Turnings Deluxe in Pastel Primary Manipulation, the TWSBI Eco in Pastel Pink and the Esterbrook Model J in Antique Rose. The two Esterbrooks and the Just Turnings pen all have #6 Jowo nibs, while the TWSBI Eco has a #5 nib.

Uncapped, it’s most similar to the Estie, but the nib-grip-barrel proportions are very different between the two. Posted, it’s shorter than everything, and its posting is much more precarious than all of the others. I have heard that FWP recommend against posting it; the threads of the cap may cause damage to the finish of the pen.

The Bijou’s body width is way slimmer than all of the comparison pens I’m showing here. I don’t have many slim pens, and I’m not sure I have anything this slim for comparison.

The Bijou’s #5 nib looks to be slightly shorter than the #5 on the Eco, though it’s possibly a little wider. It’s most similar to a Schmidt #5 nib, but the shape is slightly different – as is the feel when writing.

It comes packaged with a 2.6mm converter – FWP describe this as “standard international size”, but the traditional “standard international” converters have a smaller bore and won’t fit this pen. 2.6mm is, however, the standard size for many Chinese brands, so converters from various Chinese pens should fit the Bijou. The converter does feel a little stiff on the feed, and the spring in the converter rattles when the pen is agitated, which can be alarming and does sound a little cheap.

Writing with the Bijou

The Bijou is relatively small and slim, but quite heavy; this is a combination that may not be especially comfortable for many people.

I’ve been writing with it on and off for a month now, and I’ve found it a mixed experience. Initially I struggled with ink flow; it felt like it was gradually choking over time, with my writing becoming drier and drier. However, with some use this issue seems to have eased, and it now writes smoothly.

I had heard that FWP pens tended to have very stiff nibs, which I don’t enjoy, but I didn’t find the Bijou’s nib much stiffer than most of my pens. It wasn’t overwhelmingly appealing compared with my favourite nibs, but I did find myself reaching for the pen more than I expected during December. I’ve been using it paired with Robert Oster’s Pink Squirrel, which is quite a wet ink; I suspect it might struggle with inks on the dry side.

I chose a Medium nib – FWP only offers Fine and Medium nibs on most of their pens – and it wrote with the kind of line width I’d expect of a Medium.

Of note, the detailing on the grip section of the pen has the side benefit of providing texture to reduce the slipperiness of the metal grip. This detailing varies depending on the pen; a friend sent me a picture of their Bijou, and the grip detailing is different, although the nibs are the same.

Unfortunately, as I expected when I unboxed it, this isn’t a comfortable pen for me to write with; it’s much too slim, and writing more than about a paragraph causes my hand to start cramping. This is very much a matter of personal comfort, so I don’t count it against the pen objectively, but it does limit its appeal for me.

The Brand

It wouldn’t be a fair review without addressing the elephant in the room: Ferris Wheel Press doesn’t have the greatest reputation in the online community. While it’s fair to say that every company has its share of critics and controversies, Ferris Wheel Press has more than most. I haven’t been following the brand closely over the years so it wouldn’t be fair to recount a litany of accusations without doing research that’s frankly outside the scope of this review, but I’d encourage any shopper to research their options when making expensive, optional purchases.

However, there’s one controversy which does impact my willingness to purchase from Ferris Wheel Press: they offer Harry Potter-branded pens and inks. JK Rowling has been clear that she sees support for and engagement with Harry Potter as support for her bigotry and transphobia; the money she spends on funding anti-transgender activism comes from Harry Potter profits. I’m not prepared to give money to companies which collaborate with someone like that. (To be honest, I debated whether I should post this review at all, but in the end I felt addressing the issue clearly was more transparent than trying to ignore it.)

In Summary

Pros:

• It’s solid, and it seems to be fairly solidly made.
• After some initial hiccups it wrote acceptably.
• If you like this style, FWP doubles down on the aesthetic with detailing and packaging.

Cons:

• The combination of small, slim and heavy may make the Bijou uncomfortable for many users.
• Metal grips are offputting for many users.
• Only available in Fine and Medium nib widths.

Overall, the pen was better than I expected given FWP’s general reputation, but there were aspects of it (such as the rattly converter) which felt cheap, and the form factor is unusual enough that I think many people may find it uncomfortable – I certainly did.

I also want to mention the price point here: the RRP for this pen is 169 CAD, which equates to about 182 AUD. However, Ferris Wheel Press are selling the pen here in Australia for 248 AUD, which feels like an extortionate markup. Ultimately, it’s better than expected… but it just doesn’t feel like a $250 pen.

I enjoyed the opportunity to try the Bijou for myself, after so many strong opinions online about Ferris Wheel Press pens. Would I buy one, after this? …No. But your mileage may vary.