Marlen La Vita Collection - Vermeil/Pearl & Blue Resin

[Ghost Plane]

I took advantage of Fountain Pen Hospital's latest special to order this pen. The collection currently resides at their website sporting the 18k nib for $189, list price supposedly $475 if anyone ever pays that. It's a beautiful pen, I liked the look of the key filler mechanism and I'm a sucker for a broad Marlen nib, being addicted to my Marlen Aderl.

 

Alas, I will be calling tomorrow to make arrangements to return the pen. I'm a newbie here and at reviews, so bear with me as I jot down my thoughts.

 

First, the nib was the luscious Marlen nib my Aderl has trained me to expect. Smooth, floating on the page as I dipped a little Blue Suede to try my new baby. The key filler mechanism is actually kind of cool. Unscrew the top, take off the ring with the key, push it in the side as far as it will go and release. For anyone who gets and keeps one of these, I quickly learned to put the cap back on the pen before returning the key to the top, just so it would line up aesthetically.

 

This is a medium pen, a little broader than my Carenes and nowhere near as fat as the Aderl, which latter pen oddly suits my small hands. And there, dear readers, is where the problem lies. Here is this beautiful thing, glowing like a pearl with its white and blues and vermeil.

 

So what, you ask, is the problem? The flipping decorative band is UNCOMFORTABLE! Even with my hands, this pen needs to be posted. No problem, I prefer to write with them that way and it's a light pen. Yet no matter where I held it, fingers high on the barrel, fingers low near the nib, the edge of the metal band cuts into my middle finger if not other fingers too! This thing has an edge that was just not meant for my grip.

 

I'm surprised. I would've thought the Krone Archetecus [my last impulse buy from FPH] with more metal and a wider band would be the uncomfortable one. It wasn't. This pen is.

 

I ran into a similar problem with the Waterman Charleston, so if any of you enjoy writing with those and find them comfortable, this gorgeous darling is probably right for you. It's so beautiful, I hate to let it go. But if it's driving me nuts this early, it's worth the shipping to put it back in circulation for someone with different hands than mine.

 

I adore my other Marlen and the nib on this one was beautiful. I just can't hold it for 5 minutes in comfort. I'm sorry my first review is a rejection. If anyone is interested in the Aderl pens, I can rave suitably at length. It's turning into one of my favorites. But not the La Vita. Sob!