Rob Smith over at Dot Cross Dot has posted an interesting review of the Fosfor Bangalore - a custom handcrafted pen with a super value proposition. Rob says:

The value proposition of a Fosfor pen is quite frankly amazing. The level of craftsmanship involved in making this pen is amazing, the finish looking as good as an Edison even if the design is not as well refined. The pens available direct from Fosfor come in at between $75 and $95USD plus P&P including a rather interesting triangular shaped barrel pen, considering how long it will take to craft these pens and how well they write this is phenomenal.

As I wrote the other day, I've been thinking about a custom pen for some time now. With the type of features and materials I'm interested in, I always thought that any custom pen I made would be easily in excess of $350. Of course, that's a far cry from Thomas Hall's custom-made grail pen which is NSFW (Not Safe For Wallet).

So, Rob's post was intriguing for me because the Fosfor Bangalore pen is handmade by the penmaker on a lathe out of cast resin that is also made by the penmaker. To me, that's taking artisal craftsmanship to the max. To top it off, the pens are priced at under $100. Having been thinking about grail pens, custom pens and the like, a custom handcrafted pen for under $100 is unreal. It's also liberating in a way because of the choices that are available in this Pendora's Box of custom pens.

I'm going to explore custom pen options some more. Check out Rob's blog over at Dot Cross Dot. His posts have all been engaging reads.