Thanks to all that entered the giveaway for the Ti Ultra by BIGiDESIGN!
Nearly 200 entries was an awesome turnout. And, special thanks to BIGiDESIGN for sending an extra pen my way to use in the giveaway.
And the winner of the Stonewashed Ti Ultra is… SEAN!
Congrats on winning! And, very nice of you to let your sister have a new pen. : ) Don’t let her steal this one!
To claim your prize, connect with me through the Contact page and I’ll get your pen shipped out.
When I think of the early days of when machined pens started hitting the market, one of the first groups to delve into the titanium instruments was definitely Chadwick and Joe from BIGiDESIGN. One thing to me that distinguishes these guys from the pack is their drive for innovation. With each new design they’ve put out things have gotten better, more advanced, more functional.
Their biggest innovation and contribution to the pen community was when they introduced an adjustable collet system into the tip of their Ti Arto which allowed for literally 200+ refills… write to your hearts content and swap when you need. Up until then pen enthusiasts would always find ways to “hack” their own refill preferences into a pen, but the Arto was really the first to take this to a new level.
Since then, the collet system has graced two (technically three) more models in their lineup, but the one up for review today is called the Ti Ultra.
The guys at BIGiDESIGN were kind enough to send me over two sets of the Ti Ultra: one for me to review and then one for me to giveaway to a reader. (SWEET!) Special thanks to them for sending them my way, and even though they have been provided to me at no cost I’ll be sure to give them a thorough review and my honest feedback.
Like pretty much all of the pens made by BIGiDESIGN, the Ultra series is also produced from grade 5 titanium. While this level of structure isn’t totally necessary in a pen, it does add some “cool” factor and that they are seeking to use really nice material for their stuff.
In addition to pens they’ve also branched out into small titanium hand tools as well for the ultimate in EDC (gotta get my hands on some of those too…), but we’ll save that for another time…
As a basic description, the Ultra is a full-sized, modular pen that supports both fountain pen and “normal” writing tips (gel, rollerball, ballpoint, fineliner…) all from one body.
The pen comes in either a stonewashed or machined raw finish, both of which look great in my opinion. Very uniform, well delivered and distinctive depending upon your preference. In previous models they’ve also done a Midnight Black coating which was a nice option, but understandably with this one they might want to limit to just a couple of versions. More parts equals more inventory….
When one goes shopping for the Ti Ultra the first thing that might stand out is the price. At $240 per set, these aren’t cheap, but are they worth it? I’m never one to try and justify expensive pens for folks since they can be a big investment, but I will definitely do my best to describe all of the elements in hopes to let readers come to those conclusions.
If you’ve ever gotten a BIGiDESIGN pen before, you’d recognize their signature black and white packaging. The pen comes in a nicely made cardboard box with custom foam inserts inside to hold all the parts. “Parts” as there will be a few to discuss…
The packaging is highly functional and I’m sure economical for the guys but, in my heart of hearts, if there could’ve been a way to create a bit more of an heirloom type box that could have served as both packaging and long term storage it would’ve been awesome. While I do consider the pricepoint reasonable for what you get (spoiler), if the box could’ve been metal or even wood with the same inserts it would be something you’d be happy to put on your desk forever. My mind wanders to something like a smaller Best Made Co Strongbox type of vibe.
My main thing is that anytime you buy a pen that is modular in nature it comes with extra stuff. Grip sections, nibs, tools…. all of those need to go somewhere for the long haul and a nice place to put them makes it better.
Again, the above about packaging is a hope and dream type of deal, but not a dealbreaker in the least.
When it comes to the overall package with the Ultra you actually get quite a lot. The cap and barrel, a grip section with collet system to swap in and out your refills of choice, a Signo DX refill to get you started, a metal fountain pen grip section in the same finish, a converter, and TWO Bock nibs… one of which is made from titanium.
That, my friends, is a lot of stuff.
From an economic standpoint, the titanium nib alone would fetch you at least $60 in the open market so as part of the package begins to provide some context as to the overall “value” associated with the pen.
If there were a downside to the package approach it is that it doesn’t allow folks to pick and choose what they may not want to make it more economical. Kind of all or nothing, but likely the best and easiest way to make it work for the masses at this price.
I’ve used nearly every BIGiDESIGN pen they’ve produced…correction, I HAVE used them all… and the Ultra is probably their most refined and elegant design yet. It is definitely a machined pen at heart, but has curves and details that their others have not. Most of its predecessors have a more cylindrical “tube” shape, but the Ultra seems to be the guys step into something a bit more “refined”. Personally I like the other designs as well, but it is nice to see them branch out into something new.
I would consider this pen to be a bit on the larger size. Not a bad thing, but it is a bit bigger than their other models and many machined pens on the market. At its waist (where the cap meets the barrel) the pen is over 1/2” in diameter which makes it a good size.
But, at a total weight of just shy of 1.5 oz it isn’t overly heavy, especially when uncapped or unposted. It is surprisingly nimble for what one would suspect to be a big hefty pen. I think they get away with this by machining the walls down thinner in spots to shed some of the bulk, but to me it doesn’t feel TOO thin.
The way they incorporated the collet adjustment system is pretty clever. In the “normal” section (not sure what to call it since it takes everything!), there are machined lines for grip, but concealed is a break that allows you to loosen/tighten the collet to set your refill. On the machined raw version the break is nearly invisible, but on the stonewashed the two separate pieces are a bit more apparent, although not distracting.
I found the collet to be pretty intuitive to use since I’ve had experience with their other pens, but might take a few tries for a newbie to get it right. With this pen you have to manually set how far the tip sticks out (on their retractable pen this was a bit easier), but allows you a lot of flexibility to get the tip just right.
The only part I found with the collet that might be a challenge is getting it tight enough. To make sure the tip didn’t slide back into the barrel you need to get it pretty snug which takes some gripping.
Swapping in the fountain pen was super easy. Just thread in the nib you want to use, attach the converter, ink it up, and thread into the barrel.
Depending on where you hold your section, I did find that if it was really close to the nib or tip that the threads were a little sharp. Less so on the stonewashed since it went through a tumbling process. The rest of the section grooves were very comfortable.
Speaking of those same threads, this was another clever design choice that I really enjoyed. They placed the threads near the tip of the pen which incorporated nicely with the grooves of the section, and they thread into some hidden threads up inside the cap which makes them almost invisible. What this does is moves them away from the center of the barrel or section giving the pen a cleaner look.
Between the cap and barrel sits an o-ring on a flat surface which provides some slight tension when closed to keep the parts together while in your pocket.
The cap does post nicely and, as mentioned above, the overall lightness of the pen makes it comfortable to use posted or unposted in my opinion. They did a nice job aesthetically with the the overall shape when the cap is posted as well. It just looks good posted too versus being just a place to put a cap.
Clips are one of those things that are important, but not really…sort of, at least to me. The clip on the Ultra carries the same design scheme as their previous model which works pretty well from the looks department. Doesn’t blow me away but feels at home. It functions really well, is sturdy, but with a good strong pull I wager it could bend a little.
I’ll just say flat out, in my honest opinion I feel that what you get with this package more than justifies the price. Not sure I could say for me personally, but for the right person the Ti Ultra could literally be the last pen they ever buy. Like, ever… since it can accommodate nearly every possible writing scenario.
I mentioned the packaging as a possible “gripe”, and I think it is due to that fact above. Someone could own this pen and ONLY this pen, but not have a really good long term solution to store it that matches its overall aesthetic. I think that is why I would’ve hoped for a bit more of a lasting appeal of the presentation.
Aside from the slight sharpness of the threading, as with all BIGiDESIGN pens I’ve used in the past, the Ti Ultra is top notch in fit and finish. Chadwick and Joe have now made close to a dozen pens for our community and have a good reputation for quality. There isn’t anything about the pen that feels amiss or looked over.
I wanted to give this one a lot of attention and hope I’ve given it a solid enough overview to provide consumers the confidence to determine if the Ti Ultra might be for them. And, special thanks again to BIGiDESIGN for sending these along!
As promised above, Chadwick and Joe sent two pens so that I could share one with a lucky reader!
CONTEST RULES (the "fine print"):
- Contest will run through Friday, November 22nd and will end at 11:59pm Arizona Time, USA
- To enter, leave a comment below (limited to one entry per person; no cheating!): What is the last pen you purchased? Do you like it?
- I will arrange the entries in numerical order and randomly select a winner. The winner will be announced on the blog on Saturday, November 23rd and will need to connect with me within a week to claim their prize.
- This giveaway is open to both US and International readers.
I’ve been trying, buying, and reviewing pens for quite some time which means over time I accumulate a good amount of stuff.
From time to time I do pen sales where I’ll part with some here and there, but this time I challenged myself to go BIG and pull 100 pens and pencils from my collection to part with… had to dig deep, but there is some great stuff in here that I’m excited to have go to new homes! Visit the Pen Sale page to see what is available….
