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25 FEB '10
Andi Newton Model 40 Short Story:
Today we've published a haunting, interesting,
and very special short story by one of our clients Andi Newton. It
includes a Model 40 Panther as one of the key players in the story.
Andi is a freelance writer, editor, and 3D graphic artist from
Greensboro, NC. Take a chance to read here when you can:
"Intellectual Property"
23 FEB '10
Model 40s arrive:
Yesterday we received the Model 40 Panther
pens, with clips. The clip design and function held us up quite a
while on this one, so we are very happy to have them. Since moving
this production from Germany to the USA, we've had some bumps along
the way, but I think now we've achieved our best functioning spring
loaded clip ever. It seems simple, but it's harder than you might
think, getting the shape of the clip, spring tension, interior cap
specs, clip stability, etc just right. I think it'll be worth the
wait. I promptly took a black FP and threw a simple steel nib in it,
and at home did a couple of Sudoku puzzles without error. Then
feeling cocky, I hammed up the third one, and went back to using
pencil.... We'll be photographing the 40 more over the next couple
of days and getting it up online here:
Model 40 Panther
16 FEB '10
LA Show:
Just back from Los Angeles. The show
was busy as usual, but our sales really spiked up this year.
Hopefully a sign that the market for fine writing is improving. The
performance yellow M-14 sold more units than any other, further
showing the intelligence of Mrs. Franklin in selecting the color.
While working the table, I settled a custom pen project for an
international distributor. Gotta love the iPhone, and modern
communication. Now back to work here in the office - SCF
3 FEB '10
New Piper:
We've just added a .7mm Mechanical
Pencil option to the Piper Trillium, all rhodium writing instrument.
Piper Page Link
26 JAN '10
Philly Show:
I've just returned (Scott) from the
Philadelphia Pen Show this past weekend, where we displayed
Franklin-Christoph once again. The new colors on the M-14 were quite
well received, and I think we may have set a record for selling our
Piper liquidation pens (same as you can find here on our site for
$29). The show was well attended and it was good to see many of our
clients there to visit with face to face. We are now contemplating
our next color for the M-14. Hmmm....
New Design:
While at the show, I designed our next Select Series (in my
imagination at least) fountain pen. [It will get in line behind the
Model 10 mega pen, and should be available for sale at some point
this year.] I'll be putting the wheels in motion to start the new
project in just a few days. Speaking of the Model 10 FP, we are
hoping to have a prototype available for viewing at the upcoming LA
Pen Show on Feb. 11th-14th. Final production should follow soon
after. Perhaps by the first of April. If you are interested in
attending the LA Pen Show, check here for more information:
http://www.lapenshow.com/
Model 05 Marches On:
Also in the works as of this month, is a new version of the Model 05
Sketcher. This will likely start with a clip-less version, in
colorful acrylics, and a lower price point that the one available
now. Stay tuned for more on that. Back soon with more info as we go
- SCF
Poetry Contest News:
For those of you waiting to hear the results of our poetry contest,
it appears we have once again overwhelmed our outside judges, and
they've asked for an extension. We are still receiving "first cuts"
and the announcement for our Grand Prize winner, and 10 Merit Award
winners has been pushed one month to March 15, The Ides of March.
One day we'll get this down to a science, but hey the contest is
free, and we're a small staff and the university judges are doing
this on their own time ! We almost hit 3,000 entries this year.
7
JAN '10
Select Series:
We've just added the Model 40 "Panther" in the
clipless (is that a word?) version to our online sales lineup. The
Model 40 is part of what we are now classifying as the
Select Series. These are special writing instruments that will only
be found here at Franklin-Christoph.com. LJ
5 JAN '10
Hello! We closed out the year
of 2009 with a good December. Thank you all for your continued
patronage. We are expecting many exciting and new Franklin-Christoph
products and events this year.
Most of our pens are
this way of course, but we do wholesale some of the models to
distributors internationally, and an occasional retailer or catalog
company within the US. The Select Series are to be reserved strictly
for direct sale, which is the main way we can keep prices low. Look
for the 40 Panther to have a clip option, and a ballpoint option
soon. Hopefully.
Shipping gifts to others for you:
This holiday season we experienced a lot more business for sending
out multiple gifts, with holiday notes from you, our clients, to
your clients, friends and loved ones. We are going to build this
aspect of our business this year, with available note cards, and
simplify the process so that we can keep your billing information on
file, and make gift giving as simple as sending us an email with a
name and address of the recipient. Send us an email if you are
interested in setting up this program for you.
An effort to be green:
In the last couple of months, we've begun going around our office
building and the neighboring businesses and retrieving their
newspapers for packing material. This helps cut down on the number
of peanuts and bubble wrap we use to fill in the open spaces of
packages. We are always committed to securely packed shipments,
protecting our precious items while in transit to you, but the
supplemental newspapers are cost efficient and green, and besides
you have the additional benefit of enjoying the Wall Street Journal,
New York Times, or the local News and Observer.
New designs in the Select Series:
We are close to perfecting the clip for the Model 40, so the long
delayed new addition to what we will call the Select Series will be
available very soon. We'd hoped to have this one ready long ago, but
"we will serve no pen, before it's time." ;-) The next edition
of the Select Series is what we'll call the Model 10 or "Ten". The
pen has been designed, and production will begin soon. Think
large....
Saying goodbye:
We figured one decade was long enough for our fabled first edition -
the Model 01 "IPO," fountain pen. The final production run was
completed early last year, and our IPO was retired on the last day
of 2009. For those of you who have one - keep it, as a rare first
edition writing instrument for Franklin-Christoph.
New site design:
We view our website as a fluid process of growth and improvement
that never ends. We strive for ways to maintain simplicity and ease
of use, while offering you content and at the same time
communicating to you what Franklin-Christoph is and stands for. This
first quarter we will be re-making much of our site which will
implement some of the feedback we received from our request
recently. Something we've already done, is we have changed our
primary font from Nyala, to Georgia, in an effort to be compatible
with the most browsers and computers. Georgia ranked very high on
the compatibility list, and has a touch of elegance to it.
Poetry Contest:
We are awaiting "first cut" information from our 2009 Poetry
Contest. We should have that from our judges within a couple of
weeks, so stay tuned. Again, we experienced a new record, and pushed
the boundaries of our capabilities for handling entries. Stay tuned
!
Check in here often, this blog is another new
feature we've added, so you can always come here for news of what
we're up to. SCF
31 DEC '09
Sniff, sniff, retired the
Model 01 IPO
today....
20
OCT '09
Thank you so much
gang for your contest participation, saying hello, and the feedback.
We've learned a few things about how we can improve and re-enforced
others.
Economic challenges:
We hear a lot about how many people are dealing with the challenges
of this economic situation, as we are, and we are working to get
some interesting offers to you this gift giving season. Lot's to
come, but for
starters, we are giving away two Piper Trillium ballpoints for
free with a purchase of any
Franklin-Christoph Model 29 Colorband ballpoint or pencil. (limit 2
per F-C pen purchased)
See that here.
We also have more offerings in attractive price points coming in
a few weeks, and more in 2010. Wish we could get them sooner, but the pipeline for production
takes time. We will have more special sales like the Piper Trillium
sale coming in the next few weeks.
(now expired)
Contest Selection Methods:
Nobody mentioned this, but I thought I'd
explain how we manage the contests. Once we close the contest and
all the entries are in, we look at the email box they are forwarded
to, and get a total number of entries. We cross check for multiple
email or name entries and remove those. Then we use a random number
generator and get a number within the total amount. Each number then
has an equal chance. If say, #741 is selected, we look at entry 741,
and there is our winner.
Web design:
We will be doing a new version of our
website, published early next year, so while we will continue a
similar look, many things should be new and improved. Your feedback
has been valuable to us, so thank you!
New products very close:
We will be having a new yellow color on the
Model 14 rare earth magnet pens coming in November, so keep a
lookout for that. In about two weeks we will have a new Lucky 13
Penvelope in a really cool "rugged" brown leather (that match my
boots, ha). The black version has been really well received, and the
original production is nearly sold out. We'll receive a new batch of
those too in two weeks, with a couple of tweaks to the design.
Creative Arts:
Many of you mentioned you liked our
photography section, and that too will be high on our list to
expand. We enjoy supporting the creative arts here, and will
continue this trend. We hope it creates a more interesting
environment here, and it a big reason why I enjoy working here so
much. Well, that and I love the pens so much! Our becoming famous Poetry
Contest is still open for 2009 entries until Nov. 30th, so you poets
remember to enter up to two poems before then.
Poetry Contest Page.
Twitter and Facebook:
Don't forget to sign up for our tweets! We are
enjoying tweeting several times a week, and will have free pen
drawings there as well. Also remember to become a fan on Facebook,
and interact with us, post on our wall, and enter special contests.
See below for Twitter and Facebook. We all take turns doing these
and it is really fun to reach out and interact with all of you.
The Model 40 Panther...
Haven't released it yet outside of a few
pieces at pen shows, hopefully that will be coming very soon. Our
striving for perfection is holding us up, but the 40 will continue
our IPO style tradition of elegant simplicity in fine writing. There
will be a long and short version and a capped ballpoint version. The
40 is almost completely US made, which is a first from our usual
German and Italian parts production.
Well, that's all I can think
of for now. We need your business and we are ready to provide top
service to you.
Love and happiness -
Laila
Go to our
Stock Room to find
special pens for sale, including calligraphy supplies, Piper Pens,
Settelaghi, Sailor and more.
Visit
Franklin-Christoph Page One to see
our featured line of writing instruments and accessories.
Remember the
Lucky 13 Penvelope
for your favorite collector (including yourself) this gift buying
season.
Enjoy our other offerings such as our
Photography
section and our
Poetry Book.
Join us on Twitter and Facebook for
interaction and special additional fine pen giveaways.
Twitter.com/PiperFC
Franklin-Christoph Writing Instruments
If you accessed us through Facebook or Twitter, you can also join up
for our Special Client List for insider sales, giveaways, etc:
Join Special Client List here
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