’I complained about the e-motion being a fairly weird design and also uncomfortable to use. The Ambition, in the same price range, fixes those problems:

The pearwood on my Ambition looks and feels the same as that on the e-motion. This is also a cartridge/converter model, as with all of Faber-Castell’s low-end offerings, and features their incredible steel nib.

The barrel is long enough to keep a spare cartridge, which I appreciate, but what I like even more about this is the fact that the fit of the cartridge into the section is secure enough to not need the spare cartridge to keep it in place. (Pelikan Stola III, I’m looking at you…)

I ended up grinding this nib, which I got as a stock medium, into a pretty cool cursive italic. The medium is wonderfully smooth, and you can find a writing sample in the review for the e-motion. The most unusual thing about Faber-Castell’s steel nib is the lack of a breather hole, and the curious polka-dotted imprint on the nib.

The section, seen above, is very short, and most people I know who own one just hold the pen by the wooden barrel. The thickness there feels proportionate to a pen of this weight (17g) which is largely due to the amount of metal used. The cap weighs almost the same as the rest of the pen!

The end of this pen is designed in such a way that the cap posts onto it in the same way as it caps the pen: with a really satisfying click. It does tend to make the pen rather back-heavy when posted, but either way it’s good to know that the cap fits well, especially since the e-motion suffers from being very awkward in this respect. The clip is separately hinged in the cap, and offers a really good grip on a shirt pocket.

As for the nib, I decided to make a writing sample with my cursive italic, showing the possibilities of customisation! The tipping is generous although the medium line is true to size (not too fine, like some TWSBI ones, or too broad, like Pelikan). It would definitely suffice for an architect grind if so desired, although I’ve recently become very enamoured with small italics…

I do think this is a pen worth more than what it costs. And it looks good to boot!