Edison Pen Company Collier Grande Review: A Large Fountain Pen with a Standout Number 8 Nib

Introduction

The Edison Pen Company has been quietly building a reputation for well-made, comfortable fountain pens out of Milan, Ohio, the boyhood home of Thomas Edison and the inspiration behind the company’s name. The Collier Grande is one of their more interesting recent offerings: a larger take on one of Edison’s earliest designs, fitted with a big number 8 Magna Carta nib that sets it apart from most pens at this size.

What makes this pen worth a closer look is the combination of scale, material, and nib. It is a thick, chunky pen that still feels balanced in the hand, and the number 8 stainless steel nib delivers a writing experience that stands out from the crowd. After spending extended time with it, this is a pen that earns a permanent spot on the desk rather than rotating back into storage.

Design and Materials

The standard-size Collier was one of Edison’s very first designs, originally created as a custom commission for a customer who requested a specific shape. Brian Gray liked the result so much that, with the customer’s permission, it joined the permanent lineup, and the customer named it Collier. The Collier Grande keeps the same proportions but scales everything up.

The review unit is made from Jonathan Brooks’ Primary Manipulation 4 material, known as PM4. Compared to earlier PM iterations, PM4 is more opaque with far more pearlescence, and the colors are blended rather than sharply defined. The cap top is slightly rounded, the clip has a low profile with a rounded end that fits well on materials of varying thicknesses, and the cap angles up before tapering down slightly. There is a medium step down to the barrel, which angles up gently before tapering to a rounded point at the finial.

One nice design touch is that the cap and the end of the barrel have different shapes rather than mirroring each other. The curves throughout are extremely subtle: at first glance the pen looks straight, but there is less than a millimeter of width variation along the barrel that you notice in the hand. The barrel is engraved with Edison Pen Company and Collier Grande, and the engraving placement is thoughtful: while writing right-handed, it faces you. The only small gripe is that with the cap posted in one orientation, the engraving sits slightly out of line with the clip.

The Number 8 Magna Carta Nib

The real highlight here is the stainless steel number 8 Magna Carta nib. The number refers to the diameter of the feed in millimeters, and this is a genuinely large nib. These nibs are available in fine, medium, and broad, in standard steel or gold-plated steel, and they come from the same company that manufactures Magna Carta pens, based in India.

Indian-made nibs have an inconsistent reputation, but this one is significantly different. Brian Gray and his team put their hands on every single nib before it ships, and the pen arrived with a personal letter noting that any condensation inside the cap or barrel comes only from flushing the pen after nib adjustment and causes no harm. That detail tells you two things: the brand communicates clearly with customers, and someone physically inked and tested this nib to make sure it performs before it ever reaches you. The ebonite feed and ebonite nib housing round out a well-thought-out nib section.

Filling System and Everyday Use

The Collier Grande is a cartridge-converter pen taking standard international cartridges, and a converter is included. It can also be eyedroppered if you prefer maximum capacity, or ordered at additional cost with Edison’s draw filler, which uses a blind cap and a small push-piston system. With a material as opaque as PM4, the draw filler seems less appealing, since that system is best appreciated through translucent or transparent resin where you can watch the pen fill.

The section is concave and not overly long, with a medium step up to the threads and another to the barrel. Given how thick this pen is overall, the transitions do a good job of bringing the section down to a manageable thickness. The grip does spill slightly onto the threads, but the resin threads are not sharp or uncomfortable. The cap does not post by design, and that feels like the right call: posting would have required either a more dramatic taper at the barrel end or an oversized cap, neither of which would suit this shape.

Writing Performance

The number 8 medium stainless steel nib is genuinely pleasant to write with. You can get a bit of line variation out of it, though this is not a flex nib. It is fairly smooth with just a touch of nice feedback, nothing like writing on an unsharpened pencil. Ink flow is consistent and generous, the feed keeps up comfortably with fast writing, and reverse writing is a little sharp but gets the job done.

Paired with a saturated blue ink, the broad canvas of the number 8 nib lays down a satisfying, expressive line. This is the kind of nib that makes everyday notes feel a little more deliberate, and it backs up the impression that Edison would not put a nib on their pens unless they trusted it completely.

Sizing and Comparisons

Compared to the Edison Herald and Glenmont, the Collier Grande is clearly the larger pen, and the number 8 nib is significantly bigger than the nibs on most mainstream pens. Against a Lamy Al-Star or a Visconti Homo Sapiens, it reads as a substantial, oversized writer, though it is a large pen without being unwieldy. The one practical note: the thickness means it will not fit slimmer pen slots or cases designed for standard pens, so check your storage if that matters to you.

Buying Advice

The Collier Grande is sold directly through the Edison Pen Company website for $325, and it feels well worth that price given the handmade quality, the testing behind each nib, and the standout material work. Beyond the inventory listed on the site, this pen is part of Edison’s signature line, so you can have one made from a wide variety of materials of your choice. Turnaround typically runs 8 to 16 weeks, around 12 weeks at the moment, which is a real wait but justified for a made-to-order pen.

If you have larger hands, enjoy oversized pens, or simply want a large nib that writes beautifully out of the box, this is an easy recommendation. The minor trade-offs, a non-posting cap and a grip that touches the threads, are small against the overall experience.

Conclusion

The Edison Pen Company Collier Grande succeeds because everything comes together: a striking pearlescent material, subtle but thoughtful shaping, a section that keeps a chunky pen manageable, and a number 8 Magna Carta nib that punches well above expectations. It is the kind of pen you keep reaching for long after the review period ends, and that may be the highest praise a fountain pen can get.