AIBU to think I will never get a refill for my (£620) pen?

[MelanieD29]

I have a few pens that I use, one of my favourite being my Chopard Brescia. The pen still sells on Chopard's website, but I am finding it hard to source refills for it.

www.chopard.com/en-gb/rollerball-pen/95013-0439.html

I'm in a bit of a panic now as I installed my last cartridge for it today. It writes lovely, but worried as have ran out of refills for it now. I normally use a Parker Duofold or Cross Townsend for day-to-day use, and my Brescia normally only comes out when signing important things (quite sentimental!).

Does anyone have ideas as to where I can source refills for the Brescia? I can't seem to see them for sale on Chopard's own website, and Selfridges didn't have any in stock when I visited recently.

Ha ha £620? They saw you coming...

I used to write books with an ink pen when I was a teen and in early 20’s and it felt so much nicer than writing with a biro. I understand the appeal of a good pen!

I write mostly on my laptop now - and I write with my phone on mumsnet hence my really bad spelling at times as this phone auto corrects my correct words without me noticing until I’ve posted!

Yeah, I hate biros. I end up getting OCD where the ink doesn't print on the paper properly

It doesn't matter whether you've spent £1 or £1,000 on a pen; find it bewildering that you'd rather start a MN pen with the price in the title and samples of handwriting rather than simply googling "chopard pen refills" and get at least two or three hits on the first page.

Feels a bit performative. And no I am not being judgeful - is there even such a word? But I am being judgemental.

Spending that much money on a PEN, is beyond absurd. Unbelievable.

Then there's the tone deafness of it posting about it on a forum where a good chunk of people are struggling financially.

@ncforcatquestion I'm not sure that's how OCD works ........I think it might annoy you a little.

Who can presumably choose not to click on the thread. It’s not like what it’s about isn’t clear from the title.

She bought what she likes and can afford. Not unbelievable at all.

I would go over everything again that wasn't perfect to the extent it interfered with my writing. I think it was compulsive, anyway

The bragging is pathetic.
(even if I was a billionaire I wouldn't spend £620 on a pen that will have cost them a fraction of that to produce)

And we can call it out for the tone deafness that it is.

Then there's the tone deafness of it posting about it on a forum where a good chunk of people are struggling financially.

There are also plenty of threads implying affluence, about inheritance, boarding school, house-buying and so on. There are people from all sorts of backgrounds here, which is a good thing.

I think even if I was a millionaire, things can only be worth so much. I would draw the line at £300 for a pen

Ohh I love the look of that Cross Townsend pen! I feel like I can feel it just by looking at it.

Could I please see a handwriting sample with that pen? 😍

It makes a difference if you buy a pen from the pound shop, you won't get refills for that and they stop working after a few uses.
People could Google anything and not "ask MN", but this is what MN AIBU is for.

Here's hoping your 15 year old has better manners than you too.

it would be tone deaf if AIBU or indeed Mumsnet as a whole is aimed only at those financially struggling. It isn’t.

How do you know that the OP paid for it?

Could well have been a gift. My sister gave my BIL a similarly priced pen for their 25th anniversary because she knew he would love it, and he did.

Like most luxury items, the money will have gone in elegant design, high quality, expensive materials, a high level of craftsmanship in the construction (or at least a high quality of manufacture) and of course lots of money spent on advertising and sponsorship to ‘build the brand’.

But at the end of the day it’s worth £600 because that’s what enough people are prepared to pay for it. Same as anything.

Or, to quote from the Chopard website: “The sensual feel of a smooth carbon fiber barrel with sleek palladium-plated trims, combined with its reassuring weight, make writing with this rollerball pen an unadulterated pleasure.”

I mean, who wouldn’t pay £600 for a sensual feel?😉

Well obviously you haven't but some people do otherwise they wouldn't sell them? Indeed there are many luxury pen manufacturers that would just cease to exist if they didn't. Each to their own - don't be so narrow-minded.

Thanks to those who have pointed out the value of MN in having members from all walks of life to this poster, many of whom I have seen really help and advise each other, without judgement, on this forum.

https://www.dealdoodle.co.uk/shop/chopard-writing-supplies

This any help @MelanieD29

I mean this in a less snarky way than I think it will sound, but if it takes the same refills as a £10 Parker pen, what is it about the Chopard that makes it £600 better to write with? Is it to do with the ergonomics of the pen body?

My point was, she could have said "bloody hell I can't find a refill for my chopard pen". Did the price really need to go in the title?

But it did. The ops made conscious choices. To name the price. To list other high end pens to establish herself as a true collector. To pop in a fancy flourish pic or two.

But one person's "panic" (op's words) is another's first world problem, eh?

No, its to do with owning a Chopard pen and being able to tell people how much it costs

Does the parker pen write like the OPs picture? It writes beautifully. A pound shop pen doesn't write like that.
The idea on this thread that poor people can't see the beauty in something made well or we shouldn't see it at all because of being poor and it might offend us is ridiculous.
Enjoy your pen OP, I certainly have enjoyed your posts, and I hope you find your refill.

No matter what you choose to spend your money on, you can pretty much guarantee that someone in mumsnet is going to be butthurt about it. Let ‘em get on with it.