Review: Faber Castell Pearwood Ambition Fountain Pen

This review is written by Judy Rong with additional comments and drawings by Parka.

Hi there! I would like to share with you my pleasant experience with the delectable Faber Castell Pearwood Ambition fountain pen which I finally managed to lay my hands on.

The Ambition’s body is made of warm, brown pearwood, and it comes in an elegant white box with felted bed within, and an international 2-year warranty.

For its classic elegance, beauty and superior writing performance, the Pearwood Ambition is reasonably priced and not beyond affordability for avid collectors and users of exquisite, high-quality fountain-pens.

Design

The Ambition’s body is cylindrical from top to bottom and has a shiny, silver finish to its chrome-plated pen cap as well as bottom cap. The bottom cap is of smaller diameter than the rest of the body.

The Faber Castell logo and the words ‘Faber Castell since 1761’ can be found engraved on the pen-cap.

The spring-loaded clip of the pen-cap is presented in an elegant, subtle arch.

The classy body of the Pearwood Ambition is actually made of brass within but layered with a exterior coat of pearwood (hence its name). It has a warm, woody brown appearance which also makes an attractive contrast against the silver-body of its pen cap and bottom.

Feel

I love the woody texture to this pen since the barrel is coated with real wood, and not just some wood-resembling resin. Its constituent wood-material had not rendered it heavy to hold though only marginally heavier to hold than many other pens of its size.

Nib

This particular nib is the Graf von Faber-Castell Guilloche nib. However, the standard Ambition comes with another nib as shown below:

The nib can be swapped out easily. Just unscrew it from the section in an anti-clockwise manner.

The nib I have is a Fine that has a polished, silver finish to it which blends well with the rest of its body. I like the look.

The nib glides over paper smoothly, allowing for a smooth, pleasant writing experience. Ink flow is consistently good with uniform strokes.

Exquisite linear engravings as well as a gothic, medieval-looking emblem is carved onto the nib. Below this classy emblem are the words ‘F’, ‘750’, and ‘18ct’ carved separately unto the nib as well.

Maintenance

The Ambition uses a twist-type piston converter for refills. It can be cleaned through the same mechanisms/procedure as refilling it with ink.

First disassemble the converter from the section holding the feed and nib. Clean the section either with running water or inside a bottle of water until you see no more ink coming out.

Then install the converter and use it to suck the clean water up, and then force the water through the section expel the ink inside the section. These simple steps can be repeated a couple of times until you are satisfied that your pen is indeed clean.

I would recommend this simple procedure to clean your Pearwood Ambition as opposed to attempting to disassemble it.

Conclusion

What’s there not to like about this pen?

With its classic, elegant beauty and superior writing performance, it is just the perfect pen for me, which I could use for any occasions (formal meetings with clients, as well as writing for leisure).

Surely it does not hurt to also enjoy seeing how many people around you gawk with envy when you flash out this universal beauty? Lol

Furthermore, its rare to find a fountain pen made of wood. And good, fine wood at that.

I would certainly recommend the Pear-wood Ambition to anyone who is willing to invest a little more on an exquisite, elegant looking fountain pen with good-quality writing performance.

Parka's notes

I've quite a few fountain pens and the Faber Castell Pearwood Ambition is one of my favourites. I really like the look and feel of it. The wooden surface is much nicer to hold than the cold plastic or metal of other fountain pens. Ink flow is good and the nib is smooth on paper. The standard nib produces uniform strokes so it's not terribly exciting but it's good for those who want something predictable.

I've used the Iroshizuku Shin-Kai ink (deep sea, blue black) the two sketches above.

The nib produces predictable uniform strokes.

This was drawn on the train on 12 by 9 inch Strathmore 400 Series Mixed Media Paper. While drawing, I tried posting the cap behind the pen but that made the pen too heavy for me because the cap is quite heavy.

This is watercolour over ink.

Availability
The Faber Castell Ambition is also available as a roller pen, so be careful not to pick the wrong one.

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