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  1. rickygene

    Ink Review: Blackstone Blue

    Hi fellow inkophiles. I was excited to see that Blackstone inks are now available from justwrite.com.au, just black and blue so far. I ordered a sample of the blue a couple of days ago and it's just arrived. I am a bit tight for time tonight so without any further delay here's a quick review. In summary it's a pretty blue with some nice properties - no feathering, good flow and shading. More to follow later. Yours Rick PS: The Rhodia sample I hit with about 20 seconds of water on the cross hatching at the bottom of the sheet. I'd call the ink a little water resistant.
  2. SaskNapolean

    Private Reserve Ebony Blue

    Sorry if this is missing some of the nuts and bolts of other reviews, but I thought I would share my experience with Ebony Blue. It is just copy and pasted from my blog so please check it out as I am just getting started! My first review, so It should be my favourite ink naturally. Browsing around on reddit and other pen blogs (hi fellow bloggers!) I don’t see this ink being recommended too often and I definitely haven’t seen anyone say that this their favourite. If I am alone on this one, so be it. If you are also a proud Ebony Blue fanatic please let me know! The reason why I love this ink breaks down easily into 2 things: colour and sheen. This tells you almost nothing, so let me explain. http://i2.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/PR-Ebony-Blue-in-Vanishing-Point.jpg?resize=300%2C300 In my stealth black Vanishing Point The Colour First I want to talk about why I own the ink. Well when I first got into fountain pens and began browsing pen stuff for hours online, I finally stumbled upon GouletPens.com. After looking at what it seems like every single ink on the website, I came across Ebony Blue, the perfect shade of dark blue/teal that was just screaming my name. I immediately put it in my cart and let it sit there for weeks, taunting me every time I would visit the gorgeous Ebony Blue, which ended up being almost daily. I finally decided to pull the trigger, but to make up for expensive shipping to Canada, I ordered 5 bottles of ink. For the curious, they were Diamine Ancient Copper, Eclipse, and Green/Black, along with Private Reserve Avacado. Just imagine how the wait felt like waiting for this pen haul. Also keep in mind that I didn’t really understand the benefit of ink samples at the time. If I like the colour online, that means I will love the ink right? Well I’ve gotten over that now (check out My Collection for all of the samples I own now). Funny story to go with this. I also had a fairly large wish list piling up on WonderPens.ca that I also decided to pull the trigger on at the exact same time (I had a few Visa gift cards). Guess which sample I forgot to remove from my order. Yup, Ebony Blue. Needless to say I didn’t use the sample before diving right into the bottle. http://i0.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Swab1.jpg?resize=225%2C300 Swab of Ebony Blue http://i1.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Writing.jpg?resize=225%2C300 Writing Sample The Bottle When I purchase a bottle of ink, I always consider what the bottle looks like and how it will look sitting on my desk. The 66ml bottles are what all of my Private Reserve Inks came in. They are a fairly simple cylinder shaped bottle (yes, a little geometry) with a fairly simple label on in. Nothing to fall in love with right? Well when my girlfriend first saw these bottles sitting on my desk, you would have thought they were made of diamonds and were made for The Louvre. This made me appreciate them more than I did at first, but also gave me some leverage to buy more Private Reserve Ink. This next part did not make her happy and may or may not make you cringe, but my lovely bottle of Private Reserve Ebony Blue that was fit for a museum has some battle scars. Here is what a pristine bottles looks like: http://i2.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/39-be-2.jpg?resize=300%2C225 Picture Courtesy of Wonderpens (50ml bottle) And here is what my bottle looks like: http://i2.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Ebony-Blue-Bottle.jpg?resize=225%2C300 Battle Scars If you are curious to how this can happen, I suppose I can indulge. I was refilling my pen before leaving for school one day and everything was going according to plan. When I went to put the lid back on, it did not line up correctly the first time, so instead of doing what a logical person would do and lift up the lid and try again, I decided to twist the cap backwards to let the threads line themselves up. DON’T DO THIS!!! Apparently that created a vacuum that was pulling ink up and eventually exploded the ink outwards all over the bottle and my desk. Not the best way to start a day I’ll tell you. The Sheen For those of you who don’t know, sheen is when you can see a different colour, usually where the ink goes on wet or pools, than what it is actually supposed to be. There is probably a more detailed/scientific definition out there, but this is how I like to put it. Ebony Blue is special not only because of it’s gorgeous deep blue/black/teal colour, but also it’s amazing red sheen. I had no idea there was sheen when I purchased the ink and didn’t even notice it until a month into using it. I was using it in a fine nib, so it wasn’t as apparent. I was sitting in class with the afternoon sun shining through the window behind me when I seen it. A beautiful red coming from my accounting notes. I was so excited when I seen this that I went online to tell everyone what I discovered, only to find out that this was a well known fact with a simple google search. That was fine. After knowing this, I put it in a wetter pen and was mesmerized every time I could see this amazing red sheen. Just take a look at how amazing the red sheen goes with Ebony Blue, how can this not be your favourite! http://i2.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Photo-2015-03-23-10-21-34-AM-1.jpg?resize=300%2C300 Just look at that sheen The Bad As much as I love this ink, it is not perfect. Thankfully the negatives are limited to just one. What can this nearly perfect ink have wrong with it you may ask? Well it smears quite easily, sometimes days after it has dried. I am not going to blame the ink 100% since I have fairly sweaty hands, but it happens more with Ebony Blue than other inks that I own. http://i0.wp.com/www.thepenhaul.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Smear.jpg?resize=225%2C300 Some smearing after a day Final Thoughts I think it is obvious that I love this ink, even with the annoying smearing. This is just my opinion of course, but I definitely recommend that you try a sample for yourself! A few similar inks that I have tried are Noodler’s Air Corp Blue Black, which is a bit darker, and Sailor Yama Dori which is lighter than Ebony Blue, but shares that amazing red sheen.
  3. Hi all, Some time last week I caught myself switching back and forth between 3 or 4 different fountain pens and I became curious about why I did it. I love variety, of course, but I also wondered whether I could get a clearer view of the relative virtues of my pens if I focused on them one at a time. That was all the inspiration I needed to start the "working week pen challenge". The premise is simple: pick a pen and try to use it exclusively for five days, keeping a record of what you like and don't like about it. My first pick was the humble Skilcraft fountain pen. Costing about $5 after shipping, this little pen is easy to overlook. It's also, it turns out, a sturdy and reliable workhorse. In what follows I'll give you a brief account of what it's like to use this pen as an EDC. This is my first pen review so please let me know what you'd like to see in any future reviews. Appearance and Construction First thing's first, here's the pen in question: It's not a particularly attractive pen, I don't think. The clip, for instance, is very cheap looking and the fit and finish are what you'd expect for a pen in its price range. I'm not a very big fan of the three rings on the barrel. They're very signature looking, but I actually think the whole thing would be more classy in appearance without them. What I like most about it is it's very solid metal construction. I dropped this pen once to twice during the week and not a thing happened to it. I'd be fairly confident chucking this across a room. The section is the only plastic part of the construction and so far it has proven very durable. The cap, as you can see, snaps on. It's a very secure fit in my experience. One little quibble is that twice as I carried the pen in my pocket I noted that the barrel was coming unscrewed from the section. This doesn't normally occur, but once or twice in a week is enough of an issue to raise it in a review. Ergonomics and Performance The most delightful surprise this pen has in store for its users is the super smooth nib and impeccably reliable ink delivery. I really cannot stress enough what a reliable writing instrument this has proven to be over the last week and really with every ink I've tried over the last several months I've owned it. Another praiseworthy element is the diameter of the section. I have an ebonite Konrad and I've had a Shaeffer No Nonsense in the past. Both of those are pens I'd say had a thick section -- definitely a little too thick of maximum comfort, in my opinion. On the other hand, I find the sections of pens like the Lamy Safari and Pilot Metro to be too thin. This Skilcraft hits the golden spot in the middle. I wrote extensively over the week (hand drafting essays), and I never felt that the grip section was anything but accommodative. One major quibble, however, is with the balance of the pen. For reasons I cannot imagine, someone decided this pen needed a tremendously long and top heavy cap. The pen is already somewhat back heavy (see balance photo below), but when you add the cap the balance point moves quite a ways back. For my hand, when I grip the pen with the cap posted, the balance point is at the fleshy point between my thumb and index finger (anatomy, anyone?). Some writers might appreciate that, but it's all too awkward for me. I prefer the balance to be as near as possible dead center of the pen barrel. Else-wise, the pen should be a little nib heavy. All that said, I tend not to post my pens, so it is not a big issue for me. I mentioned before that this pen is a very reliable writer. I want to stress that point again. I never had a hard start, or got any ink spilling into the cap, and I found the pen to have great consistency in its wetness. On that latter point, I wouldn't call this pen a wet writer or a dry one. Less saturated inks will come out a little pale, but overall it lays down enough ink to keep things true to color without leaving puddles everywhere. I'd say this pen has a medium nib (sadly there are no options), but it tends to write a line that varies a good deal by the ink. Inks I used over this last week: Noodler's Black and Liberties Elysium, Waterman Brown and Black. With Waterman Absolute Brown or Intense black it is a nice medium or fm. With something like Noodler's Liberties Elysium it writes much broader. I have a photo below to demonstrate the difference. I found the line this pen made to be adequate for most applications, although it isn't fine or dry enough to be used for small writing on cheap paper. In one class I had to resort to a ballpoint pen when asked to fill out a form with small cells on cheap copy paper. Fortunately I was caring a ballpoint as a backup. (Another fountain pen would have been cheating). Summary thoughts Due to the comfort of the grip section and utter reliability of the pen I've found myself still going back to the Skilcraft a couple days after this first challenge ended. I am, however, still annoyed with the cap length and clip design. Those are small quibbles but they make a difference. At some point this week it occurred to me that a challenge like this really equips you to specify three possible praises about a pen. In question form, they go like this: If this was your only fountain pen would you have a good opinion of fountain pens? If you were only allowed to recommend one pen to someone would this be it? If you had to choose just one of your pens to keep would this be the one? Here are my ratings: (X) Happy User ( ) Top Recommendation ( ) Sophie's Choice Pen Big Quibble: None Little Quibble: Little aesthetic sticking points, really. Big Praises: Nib smoothness, section comfortability, reliability Little Praises: None
  4. When I saw it was a Pilot and it had a smiley face nib...I had to have it! Not bad for a pen that cost less than $15, I'd say. Knowing it was from JapanI opted for the medium nib, which is more or less somewhere between a fine and a medium nib in the USA. Yes, it's a cheap plastic pen...with a lot of character! It's a remarkably smooth writer at this low brow price point and what's not to love about a smiley face nib that uses the air hole for the nose? It puts out a fairly wet ink...I like that. I have had no negative issues with this little Kakuno (even the name is cute) to date. If you have a large hand, I would suggest you stay away...but my hands are so small I can purchase gloves in the children's department. The cap comes in an array of cheerful colors but the body is a not so cute see thru gray. I would give it an 8 on a 1-10 scale because I think it would be so much more appealing if the barrel was an opaque white. It comes in an adorable box with one black Pilot ink cartridge. I think it is a terrific gift for a child...like me. (I'm thinkin'...baby's first fountain pen...well in my case...grand baby's first fountain pen). I quickly put Kakuno right next to my shopping list in the kitchen. Where will you put yours? P.S. The plastic grid behind the pen and note in the picture was another new purchase from the amazing little/big country of Japan. Its called a shitajiki mat and I use it with my light box to keep my lines properly aligned while I write letters or practice calligraphy. It has the added advantage of creating a soft glide to the surface between you table, paper, and pen (We call it a paper towel here). It comes in two sizes and can be found at jetpens.com.
  5. Hello dear FPNers!, Today I received my much awaited Oliver F27 Fountain Pen in the post from our trustworthy Mr. Subramaniam of ASApens.in. I had requested the Blue acrylic variant of the pen because i love the colour. It was not listed on the site but dear Mr. subramaniam arranged it for me and shipped it. Now, although our fellow FPN member, Mr Mohit has excellently reviewed the pen; I am reviewing it because mine is a different colour and I just felt like sharing.Okay, so when i opened the package, i just stared at the pen in awe...for a while! And here's why... The acrylic on this pen is Just so "fluid" and with all that shimmer, i just felt like i am holding a frozen part of the sky in my hand! Hence the title. And yes that's geeky CONSTRUCTION is bold and sturdy but on the lighter side which makes writing a pleasure for long durations. And trust me, you would want to keep on writing with this pen! Look at all that acrylic (However, the pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the pen as usual.) The Cap is solid and clicks satisfactorily and securely in place.The Clip has just the right amount of tension to fit properly in a pocket. The finial. The Section has just enough girth for me to hold comfortably. P.S. The black line on the cap in this image is an editing mistake and is not present on the pen itself. The NIB is just.... I like broader nibs and the Schmidt nib unit on this pen is just perfect! It is so smooth and wet! That's Chelpark turquoise on the nib bdw in case you were wondering The pen comes with an option to add a Schmidt converter with your purchase on ASApens.in but i did not buy it because it was a little steep for me. And a standard international converter fitted just well in my pen. The writing sample. (My instagram edit.) Conclusion. I give it a 10/10! Yes, it is that good for the price! The acrylic is surreal, the writing; Superb. It is well balanced in hand, well constructed, the filling system is well, standard but also convenient. I cannot ask for more of the pen. If you are considering buying it, the only deal breaker for some might me the nib width as it is only available in Medium size. But other than that, its a steal! As per Mr. subramaniam, the pen company is going to cease producing the pen and it will not be restocked again. So grab one if you want to!
  6. This is a review of the Nemosine Fission Gunmetal with a .8mm Stub Nib. Sorry for my poor penmenship, the reason why I got into fountain pens was to work on my handwriting and learn cursive. My one gripe with the pen is that sometimes it is overly dry to the point where it isn't a smooth writing experiance. Perhaps with time the nib will adjust? The pilot metro (fine nib) and Jinhao x450 (medium) are shown to give you an example of how the nib writes. I think the pilot writes a little finer, but the Jinhao is very similar to the downstroke of the pen As far as weight, a lot of people say this is a heavy fountain pen, but I actually like the weight and don't think it's that heavy. The Jinhao is actually a little heavier to give you an example. It's roughly the same size as the Jinhao, but has a wider girth. I wish the nib was a little more wet but that's something that can be fixed with alignment. I've noticed that sometimes it's really smooth and wetter, and then a few minutes later it'll start skipping every now and then. The line variation is pretty good as you can see in the pictures, however when I first got the pen (before opening the tines a little) the side strokes railroaded a lot. Great pen, I got it for $25. Comes with a converter and six blue ink cartridges that work well. I ordered it from Goldspot.com and happened to land on a promotion where for 1 penny I got my name engraved on the cap for fun
  7. Wanted to upload my review of the De Atramentis Blackberry. I wanted to get a review posted because the ones that I have found online did not manage to capture the color of the ink quite right. The review did scan "color correct" and in looking at this on a color calibrated monitor (I do a bit of photo work, and calibration is critical) I can say that the color here is true to what is on the paper. Feel free to ask any questions. This is my first posted review, so hints/tips/suggestions/criticism would all be welcome. DeAtramentis Blackberry on Flickr EDIT : The scan being clipped at the bottom is my fault. Between not having enough coffee, and being up a late at a dinner last night, my alignment was "just a bit outside."
  8. So I've been using fountain pens for about six months. I started with a Sheaffer Viewpoint 1.1mm that I found at Staples. Since then, I've picked up a couple Metropolitans, a couple Ahabs, a Monteverde Invincia, and a Plumix (love that nib!). Recently, I went a little berzerk with eBay and picked up a (bleep)-load of Chinese pens. As they come rolling in, I'd like to share my thoughts with everyone on their performance. My first contribution in the Pen Reviews section is for the... CROCODILE NCR64 Green Marble Celluloid Fountain Pen Price: $18.50 Nib: Medium, Steel, 22KGP/two-tone Country of Origin: China Filling System: Piston / Cartridge (International Standard, I believe) http://www.gizmosauce.com/img/ncr64_01.jpg Appearance: 10 / 10 Immediately upon seeing this pen on eBay, I fell in love with it's looks. The Green Marble looked beautiful, and although somewhat tacky, I thought the crocodile styling of the clip and finial looked cool. When the pen arrived, it didn't disappoint...at least not in that regard (more on that later). The green marble of the cap and barrel is, in my opinion, stunning. It has a shimmery/iridescent quality to it that glows and sparkles in the right light. The finial, section, and end cap all have a similar marble pattern, but they're all black. It's a subtle detail, but one I really appreciate. The crocodile clip is pretty tacky in person, too, but I love it, rhinestone eyes and all. There is also a gold crocodile emblem on the top of the finial. Not as tacky as the clip, but fits the motif of the pen to a tee. I absolutely love the way this pen looks. http://www.gizmosauce.com/img/ncr64_02.jpg http://www.gizmosauce.com/img/ncr64_02b.jpg http://www.gizmosauce.com/img/ncr64_02c.jpg http://www.gizmosauce.com/img/ncr64_04.jpg http://www.gizmosauce.com/img/ncr64_05.jpg Build Quality: 4 / 10 The NCR64 seems fairly weighty at first, but all the weight is in the cap, which must be made of some sort of metal. The rest of the pen is mostly plastic. The threads inside the cap are metal, but the coupler on the barrel is plastic, so it feels cheap to screw the cap on and off. When the pen arrived, there were some tiny black plastic pieces in the converter. I fished them out, but wasn't sure where they came from until I washed the pen. The little black pieces were from the post inside the section that the converter installs on. Only a small portion of the post remained, so the converter would attach to the section, but not tightly. I had to fill the converter with a syringe, insert it, and tape it to the section to keep it in place. It's a kludge, but it's working. After I got the converter in place, I did some writing, and when I went to screw the cap back on, it didn't stop turning. The threaded coupler came unglued from the barrel, so I had to glue it back in place and let it dry overnight. For a pen that cost $18.50, I find these defects absolutely unacceptable. http://www.gizmosauce.com/img/ncr64_09.jpg http://www.gizmosauce.com/img/ncr64_07.jpg http://www.gizmosauce.com/img/ncr64_08.jpg Nib: 4 / 10 I wasn't sure what to expect from the medium nib. I know some Chinese companies fall in line with Japanese companies and their medium nibs are ground finer and compare to western fine nibs. I hoped that was the case with Crocodile. It's not. The nib is pretty fat, even for a medium. I have small handwriting, so I prefer a fine or extra fine nib. Writing with this pen is like writing with a crayon. If I force myself to write larger letters, it looks decent. There are random hard starts, but they're few and far between. The only other complaint I have is that the line is not consistent. The nib seems a little mooshy and will "mash" the line every once in a while. For example, in my writing sample below, look at the "o" in Algernon and the "ac" in Blackwood. I don't like that. I like a nice, consistent line. I will say, though, that the nib is super smooth. There is practically no feedback at all. The nib just glides along the paper. If it wasn't for the fat, inconsistent line it puts down, I'd love this nib. I always like to check out the imprints on these nibs. This one has another crocodile on it, but I'm not sure about the words engraved. Either I'm going blind, or they botched the letters. To me, it looks like it says this: 22K GP CR0Co ROMEDILE http://www.gizmosauce.com/img/ncr64_03.jpg http://www.gizmosauce.com/img/ncr64_03b.jpg http://www.gizmosauce.com/img/ncr64_10.jpg Comfort: 10 / 10 I've done quite a bit of writing with this pen, and it's very comfortable. My hand didn't cramp up once. The pen is easy to hold despite the smooth, plastic section. The pen posts securely, and it's comfortable to write with it both posted and unposted, although I have small hands, so I prefer to write with it unposted. Overall Score: 28 / 40 I think this is a really beautiful pen, but for $18.50, I expect better build quality. If I can ever find another one on eBay for cheap, I may buy it for parts (to replace my section). And once the current ink runs out, I may try to find an EF nib for it. I could probably turn this into a pretty nice writing instrument.
  9. Hey all you brilliant paper fanatics out there... Has anyone tried the notebooks by the Productive Luddite that are listed on amazon? I would like to know more about them before I drop money on them. You all seem to be the best place in the world for info on paper, inks, pens, and the like... Any help would be appreciated. Paper quality - I do love my fountain pens, but I also use gel pens and different hardnesses of pencil leads so bleed through information would be great to have Paper weight estimate - not that I am that picky, but... Line width - for the paper with lines, I admit I do tend towards 6.5 to 6 mm line widths Grid or Dot width for the notebooks with those features, these have their place Binding type - perfect, thread, etc They look interesting, and I like the set-up for some of them, particularly the index and tagging concept. Thanks Kiryan
  10. I was given this ink as a free sample from FPN when I received my order of FPN Galileo Manuscript Brown last week. Amber described it as Scribes (not Scribal) ink and it was in a sample bottle marked 12B - very mysterious. My review is in the attached images. (Note that I erroneously called it Scribal black on the Rhodia and Tomoe River images) The ink has some nice properties. It is very wet and has medium saturation and a little shading is evident. Quite good lubrication and sticks very well to a dip nib. There was only some very minor feathering in the most saturated parts of the dip lettering on the 80 gsm laser printer paper I used for the main part of the review. No problems on the Rhodia or Tomoe River paper. It is not quite as black to my eye as Noodler's or Aurora, but then few inks are. There is a faint aubergine colour as the ink is laid down which disappears when dry so it might be a very dark purplish black. The ink appears to have a faint silvery gold sheen. I took a photo on the Tomoe River paper at an angle to maximise it. I also put a couple of well known 'sheeners' next to the Scribes Ink as a comparison. It's quite subtle compared to the insanely red sheen of Iroshizuku Shin Kai and the beautiful silvery outline of Sailor Kobe Minatogawa Lime. PS: I just realised I forgot to do the water resistance test It's getting late now so I'll report later on that. PPS: I've just noticed the images are quite compressed on the website. The originals look much better on my phone. I'll try and fix that too.
  11. Uncial

    Lamy Copper Orange

    This is an informal review of Lamy Copper Orange and is my first foray into ink reviewing. I was only able to get this in cartridges as the bottled ink hasn't arrived here yet. Just in case you can't read the text in the photo: Lamy Copper Orange in a Lamy Safari with a 1.1 stub. (I'm afraid I didn't complete the water test yet - I can add that in later). The paper used in the photo was 120gsm copy paper, It was good on an index card and other cheap papers and had a 'flatness' and strange opacity I've noted with other Lamy inks on Tomoe River paper. Feathering: Nope Bleed: Nope Sheen: Nope Shading: a teeny weeny bit Show through: Nope I'm quite keen on orange inks and have a few. This has a nice brightness to it without being retina searing and it is quite easy to read n large blocks of text. It is a good vivid colour with a very slight red and brownish note to it. It takes on a more interesting appearance as it dries and exhibits some shading, but nothing massive. It's quite a wet ink, lubrication seems good and I will definitely pick up a bottle when it arrives on these shores.
  12. Hello! At least I got a little time write. A couple of weeks ago I was looking after my first P51 and thanks to farmdogfan now I am a happy owner of this magnificent pen! The pen is a MKI aerometric with beautiful black body and lustraloy cap, there are no date marks but it has the basket clutch spring, and the black plastic ended converter so it is one of the early aerometrics (please correct me if this is not true). I have to admit that I really hated this design before (bad lasting memories from childhood using P51 fakes at school) and I was a bit afraid. And I never really liked the idea of a hooded nib……BUT when I saw mine that beautifully proportioned shiny black barrel, the heavy cap that feels machined, that somebody really worked on it. And that solid clutch ring that divides the pen compositionally it is perfect, it just gives the necessary amount of detail to the pen body without being just a "decorative" element. If you divide the length of the visible barrel when capped with the golden ratio number 1,618 it gives the length of the cap (I observed this on more Parker pens) and these were just the looks. Now to get to the tactile review. It just feels perfect for my hands, it is like a highly polished gem, jewel it does not feel at all like "plastic". The thickness is also extremely comfortable for writing in comparison the P75 seems a bit too thin for me. At 20grams the pen may seem light but not that light to feel cheap. Its a wonderful piece of architecture! Behind that streamlined body hides the technology, you know from the beginning that its an old pen but feels modern. It resembles pure elegance, professionalism in this minimalist design. I started to like this idea very much, that the nib is hidden, that only I know (from my colleagues) that there is a nice gold nib, most of them don't even recognise it being a fountain pen. It is like the pen reveals her secrets only for the user. As for the writing performance its smooth, wet, holds a lot of ink. I use it as a daily user because I'm afraid that my P75 is too flashy in many situations. Also as a comparison many compare it to the P51 Mustang but for me it is much more like the Mallard Steam Locomotive, as far as I know the most elegant and fastest steam engine. Some pictures of my P51: Have a nice day!
  13. Hello Fountain Pen enthusiasts. Today I want to share a review of a recent aquisition I made from Scriptorium Pens. First of all I have to say that communicating and working with Renée, who is the wonderful person behind the lathe and who makes all these beautiful pens, was a joy. First we had to stablish what materials I wanted for the pen. This was not an easy task since there is hundreds and hundreds of different materials and colors to choose from. Well, I waited a month to think about what I wanted, and thank God I waited because in that time Renée did the first Idyll model. This was the model pen I wanted, and after all the thought I chose a beautiful German Lucite called Illuminated Amber. What sold it to me was a picture from the Scriptorium Pens website. Also, Renée told me that it was her favorite, and that sealed the deal. Then there was the choice of using another material for the section, which I decided to use an acrilic called Red Urushi. It gives the appereance of laquer, and it has a wonderful deep red color. I was sure that it was going to make a nice contrast with the translucency of the amber tortoise. The nib I chose is a 1.1 stub, and it is a German made Jowo nib with a Ruthenium coating. The detail that complements the pen and gives it an elegant look and feel is a Sterling Silver band that I decided to put between the barrel and the section. This way the different materials have a piece that separate them and gives them more character. The nice part of doing a Custom pen is the endless possibilities of shapes, sizes, nib types, materials, colors, etc. Renée leads you on what she thinks works best, but always tells you that is your pen and you should do whatever pleases your pen appetite. When Renée starts the pen she confirms you with an email, and this starts a wonderful experience looking at all the process of your pen beeing produced by hand on a lathe. All thanks to instagram and the wonderful pictures Renée puts in her feed. The pen was finnished and sent to me with insured shipping, very fast indeed. The pictures that Renée sent me to my email confirmed that what she made was what i visualized in the begining and exactly what I wanted. But still I had to get the pen on my hands to feel it and sense it in person. Well, I must say that it is a work of art. it is total perfection, and by far my favorite pen of my humble collection. The feel in the hand is incredible. The polished lucite and the texture is undiscribable, it is like wet but at the same time so smooth. The translucency of the material is gorgeous, you can see the nib through the cap. The threads are impecable, all the work is done to perfection. For size comparisons the pen is the size of a Montblanc 149. So it fits perfectly in my hands. The balance is just right. It is a light pen, but it has more weight on the front. The nib writes smoothly, they are inspected and tested before leaving, so it was no problem the first time I inked it and wrote right away. The section is just beautiful, and that band....cant give any more complements on this beauty. I hope you liked this review, and really the pictures dont do justice to the pen. You have to feel it in your hands to experience it. Fully recommend Scriptorium Pens. Thanks for looking!
  14. I've been reading this forum for about a year and felt like it would be appropriate to finally contribute. Specs: I recently bought this journal on a whim. It's 9x14cm, 70gsm, stitched binding, ecru colored, ruled with a soft pleather cover. It feels like hot press, but the paper has a bit of a tooth. The pages open flat, which I love. According to their website they are made in Hong Kong. Nice little features: Dedicated space at the top for date. Bookmark. Overall impression: I've had the journal for a week now and I'm really pleased. My other journal is a Tomo River and lovely to write in, but for whatever reason I've become partial towards the Victora's journal. I've had very little trouble with bleeding or smudging, but the ink and pen I use are on the drier end of things. My only complaint is that the paper doesn't show a ton of shading, but that may be in part the ink itself. I have the feeling this is not a great notebook for wet noodles and flex pens, but I'll check once I receive my Namiki Falcon. Cost: $6.00 in store. Pictures, sorry about the quality I took them on my iPotato4: Cover, note the rounded spine http://i.imgur.com/S3K3fuml.jpg?1 Writing sample (close up), TWISBI Italic with PR ebony purple ink. http://i.imgur.com/pFq0qZil.jpg Small ink test: (top to bottom) 1 sec. 10 sec. 30 sec. http://i.imgur.com/h3N6hYTm.jpg
  15. Gambol 5 Subjects notebook (from Kokuyo) My Subjective Rating: 2/5 My Objective Rating: -1 Pros: cheap (+2)easily available (+1)wire-bound (+3)good value (page per dollar) (+2)divider every 40 pages (+1)rounded corners (+1)Cons:feathering is quite severe (-3)bleedthrough is quite severe (-3)only good for dry fountain pens/ballpoints/pencils (-3)single-wire binding (-1)soft cover is not durable (-1)Price: RM6.90 (1.90 USD/1.60/£1.30)Binding: single-wire binding Size: A5 Number of Pages: 200 Printing: 7mm lines (24 lines/page) Gsm: (not specified) Cover: Thick paper (soft) Page colour: white (slightly greenish discolouration) Additional Information : blank yellow paged divider every 40 pages.index pageBlank lines at the top of each page for number and dateNo marginRuling does not start and end at the end of the sheetsPhotos:
  16. I haven't written a review or posted a new review in a while, so I thought I'd go a little beyond what I used to do (and enjoy my new scanner I got for digitizing old Kodachrome slides, which happens to also scan about ten times faster than my old one …) http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/MtlGRx.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/537/BJ12xk.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/537/n7rYOT.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/909/MkBNqA.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/909/LhjoI7.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/wlUIP3.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/673/sjqrfx.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/OLx2q3.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/901/xZdVPz.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/674/Q7jTQe.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/674/D6K2gp.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/DhlZpO.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/lFZXhg.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/681l3g.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/kSPDNA.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/vVifeI.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/hGpCZO.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/674/cSdJfx.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/7S4aKx.jpg And some obligatory bottle shots. http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/631/WeE0Tx.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/K69BjR.jpg Stormy Grey's metallic component is much more mobile in the bottle, and as a consequence takes much less time to fully integrate by shaking the bottle. http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/746/ofYoGc.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/xWriyB.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/631/brfiaX.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/901/NXRtia.jpg There is some buildup in pens, but after a week of testing I haven't encountered one clog. http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/673/0lyll0.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/537/N9wYoS.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/ASpqS4.jpg While I think I still like Rouge Hematite more, this ink is a must buy. Well done to J. Herbin for making up for the disapopointment that was Bleu Ocean.
  17. musicman123

    Noodler's Dragon's Napalm

    My recent short trip to Texas led me to Dromgoole's Pen Shop, which received rave reviews about the service and selection. Naturally, once I got there, I headed straight to their ink selection, which had a large assortment of Noodler's inks. This is my first Noodler's surprisingly, so I didn't know what to pick up. But I remember watching this ( ), so I decided it would be an interesting choice to play with. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the color of it! This review will be in my normal format, with a picture following a short description of it, above it. Another note, this is a VERY hard ink to photograph, so I have done my best to ensure color accuracy. We will start with a preview of the ink. It's a really interesting and bright color at first look. http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Noodlers/Dragon's%20Napalm/Ink.JPG For the pen, I used my go-to Nemosine Singularity Demonstrator with a TWSBI B nib. The B nib is a bit thinner than the western B, but nothing major. It's really smooth and awesome. http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Noodlers/Dragon's%20Napalm/Nib.JPG The review is written on what is now discontinued, HP 28lb Copy paper. It's my go-to paper as well, at least till I run out of it. HP 32lb is also nice! http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Noodlers/Dragon's%20Napalm/Paper.JPG Here is a swab of the ink, showing some color variation. The label says that it is the only "Sepia shading, carmine ink." I beg to differ. I see no sepia, nor carmine, which I expect to be a dark-ish red. Still, I like the color very much! http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Noodlers/Dragon's%20Napalm/Swab.JPG Onto the characteristics of the ink. The ink is very well behaved, and does not exhibit any noticeable feathering, or bleed through. Also, the color shifts between a bright orange, and a noticeable pink, under different types of lighting. Also, the color is highly saturated, but does not stain any converters, or barrels of demonstrators. Very minimal shading is present, contrary to what the label would have you believe. It flows well, and provides decent lubrication. http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Noodlers/Dragon's%20Napalm/Characteristics.JPG http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Noodlers/Dragon's%20Napalm/Characteristics%202.JPG The ink does not have an overly long dry time, but it is definitely not the fastest. I don't mind the current dry time, the way I write, so its not a problem. http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Noodlers/Dragon's%20Napalm/Dry%20Time.JPG Here is a small comparison to my other ink colors which I happen to have loaded. Use these as a calibration for the pictures, and your monitor. I didn't intend them to compare similar inks. http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Noodlers/Dragon's%20Napalm/Comparison.JPG Lastly, here is the water test. The top grid of the test had water drops placed on them for 10 seconds, then vigorously wiped downwards. The bottom text did not receive any drops and was only wiped, to show ink smearing. The test showed noticeable lifting of the ink, but still leaving a little on the page. The ink has a medium amount of smear. I would not consider it waterproof. http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Noodlers/Dragon's%20Napalm/Water.JPG http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Noodlers/Dragon's%20Napalm/Water%20After.jpg Almost forgot! Here is a scan of the ink. Use it to read the review, and not for color accuracy. It is very far off. The pictures are a better representation. http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Noodlers/Dragon's%20Napalm/Scan.jpg That's all folks! I would give the ink a decent 8/10, due to the lack of waterproofness. If you like this review, stay tuned for many more!
  18. a.zy.lee

    Lamy 2000 Video (Review?)

    I made a short video for the Lamy 2000 just for fun and I thought I'd share it with you guys. The video and editing style is obviously a blatant rip-off of theimmovablemovers' viral Namiki Falcon and Nakaya videos. I prefer the term 'inspired,' but yes, it's a rip-off. The dark background comes off really grainy and awful, so I apologise for that. It looked fine on my camera's display. I hope you enjoy the video.
  19. onfountainpens

    Parker Sonnet Cisele Sterling Silver

    Hey there, I recently reviewed a Parker Sonnet Cisele (Sterling Silver version with gold trims). I do quite like this handsome pen, except it looks a little manly for me (I'm a lady)! Here's the link to my review: http://onfountainpens.com/2014/10/parker-sonnet-cisele-sterling-silver-fountain-pen-gold-trims/ Is this a popular choice when getting Parker pens, I'm just wondering? What is your experience with Parker Sonnets? http://onfountainpens.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/20141005_174058.jpg
  20. Monteverde Invincia Stealth Black Review Introduction I am fairly new to fountain pens, and the invincia was my first fountain pen, which I got for Christmas last year (2012). The reason I am reviewing this fountain pen today is because I used it continuously for 2 months as my only pen, writing 3+ hours a day with it, 6 days a week. As a result, I have a pretty good understanding of its pros and cons. I recently purchased a noodlers Ahab and a Visconti homo sapiens, so I have something to compare it to in this review now, which I have wanted to write for a while. Please forgive me if my terminology is a bit off, and feel free to correct me if I say something wrong. Appearance While very subjective, I thought I might offer my thoughts on the appearance. The pen is of a tapered design, bulging in the centre and slowly decreasing in radius towards the end of the cap and the barrel. It is brass, coated in shiny black paint or lacquer. The cap screws off to reveal a black metal grip section and large, dark grey (think of graphite) nib. On the base of the cap, Monteverde invincia is printed, and the logo is also printed on the top of the cap. Personally I really like the look of the pen. It is not gaudy, and will not catch the eye of those around you like some other pens, but this is perhaps a good thing, and it will not attract thieves either. I love the look of the nib; the slightly lighter colour contrasts well with the rest of the pen. Mine is a little scratched in places, revealing the metal under the paint, but this is not a flaw of the pen, but rather a fault of mine for carrying it in my pocket for two months. The pen is 43g with the cap and 31g without. I think it is a little back heavy due to the thick barrel but overall I like the weight of the pen. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3801/9234845525_d979f39676.jpg P8140234 by arfien1, on Flickr http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3724/9237621638_67727d4a9e.jpg P8140238 by arfien1, on Flickr http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7319/9237617218_85cc7d8e18.jpg P8140241 (2) by arfien1, on Flickr Construction: 15.5/25 (combined score) Disassembly :4.5/5 The pen can be disassembled; the section, barrel, the nib unit and the converter can all be removed. The nib and feed seem to be inseparable, though you can screw them out of the pen together for cleaning. I would've liked it of the nib and feed could be separated entirely so the feed could be cleaned better. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7325/9237610682_7b8fb1dbd6.jpg P8140243 by arfien1, on Flickr Barrel:5/5 The barrel seems to be solid brass. It has metal threading for both the section and the cap, which work wonderfully and don't seem to wear at all, even when people like me repetitively screw and unscrew the section during a boring class or lecture. It is very thick and heavy, and would probably survive even the most brutal treatment. http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5480/9237619544_b3e4f29716.jpg P8140239 by arfien1, on Flickr Cap:3/5 The cap, like the barrel, is solid brass, meaning it is very durable. It has a plastic lining inside where the nib sits, and screws on snugly. The clip is stiff but still functional, and like the rest of the pen, it appears to be very durable. The biggest problem for the cap is that you cannot post it at all; it will fly off when writing, and could get lost. Personally, I find this to be very poor design. http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2846/9237612800_715ac1f5f9.jpg P8140242 by arfien1, on Flickr Section: 2/5 The section is made of metal like the rest of the pen. It is functional, but very slippery and during exams or long period of writing, it can become a pain. I find that it tapers too fast, and is far too thin just before the nib, which can become uncomfortable after a time. The rim just before the nib is a welcome touch, as it stops your fingers sliding down to the nib. The threads connecting the section to the barrel are well designed and durable; the section never becomes loose. http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2838/9234843413_2089140532.jpg P8140236 by arfien1, on Flickr Converter: 1/5 The converter that comes with the pen is just awful. It holds about 0.5mL of ink, which is not nearly sufficient for me. I was refilling it about 3 or 4 times a day when I was using the converter. The converter also comes loose of the feed really easily. Several times each day, I would have to open the pen and reconnect the converter to the feed, as the ink would stop flowing. I started using large cartridges which held much more ink and did not come loose. http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2860/9237615016_a5a1b63613.jpg P8140241 by arfien1, on Flickr Writing experience: 22/30 Medium nib The nib is very smooth when writing at a moderate pace. The amount of friction seems to increase exponentially as you write faster however, though I didn't really find this much of a problem, and didn't even really notice until I purchased my homo sapiens. This is a relatively cheap pen, so I suppose it is to be expected. This lessened by switching from pelikan Edelstein to Visconti ink. Skipping is a real issue for this pen. It often skips when quickly crossing "t" or very quick downstrokes on "L". More frustratingly, it almost always skips or railroads on the downstrokes of right brackets. For most, this wouldn't be much of an issue, but in a math exam when writing 3 pages of matrices very quickly, it became a serious issue for me. Because of this, I found myself applying a lot more pressure than should be necessary to try to eliminate the frequent skipping. A strange effect of this pen is that it seems to write with a very faded line. My black inks look very grey and somewhat "soft" around the edges rather than well defined. My blue ink seems lighter too. There is no feathering or bleed though, so this is not necessarily a bad feature, but it may not be what some people are looking for. The pen has a little bit of line variation, but certainly can't flex well. I can make it flex on the downstroke with enormous amounts of pressure, which can be useful when writing integral signs, or to add a bit of flare to a capital letter, but the amount of pressure required for the flex is beyond what would be comfortable for everyday writing. The small amount of line variation makes my writing look quite nice, and it is far more legible than when using a ballpoint pen. Writing Sample http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2892/9234841297_960a7f4bcf_o.jpg P8140238 (2) by arfien1, on Flickr http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7441/9234850009_6714c5bf6c_o.jpg P8140234 (2) by arfien1, on Flickr http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3750/9234826273_a32d6a566d_o.jpg P8140245 by arfien1, on Flickr Conclusion Final score: 37.5/55 (68%) The invincia black is not a bad pen. It looks great, most of the components are very sturdy and the pen is almost indestructible. It wears very well; only a bit of chipped paint over 2 months of solid use. There are a few problems however. The converter does not work, you cannot post the cap and the nib sometimes skips. It also writes with a very faint line and has a bit of friction when writing very fast. I'm not sure if I would recommend this pen to someone. For me, its down sides became too much to bear, and after using it for 4 exams, I went out and bought my Visconti which is almost flawless except for a small ink capacity. For others who do not write so much, it would probably be fine. I would suggest trying it out before buying it, and see if the skipping or the grip is an issue for you.
  21. phillieskjk

    Baoer 701 With Hooded Nib

    First Impressions (8)For a dollar forty, I wasn’t expecting much, but this pen proved to be a great value for the price. It is a true fine nib, and I have not had any problems with it thusfar. Appearance (9)The design of this pen is a gold gridded body with a black cap, black section, and a steel hooded nib. The pen feels less wide in person than it appears in the photos. Construction (8)This pen has seemingly very good build quality for a Chinese pen. It is made of metal and is a little heavy, I don’t have an exact weight but it feels like it is about the same weight as my Jinhao x450. Nib (5)The nib on this pen is a fine hooded steel nib. It has no flex, and is a little bit scratchy, but it is still usable, and I was able to make it a little bit smoother after a bit of tweaking. (Brown paper bag). Although this is not very descriptive, this nib did not seem very wet or very dry, and is in the middle. If I had to pick one side I would say that it is just a little bit wet. Filling System (4)This pen takes standard international cartridges or a converter. It ships with a screw converter. I am not sure whether it is my pen or my converter, but I can never fill the converter more than about 2/3 full, which makes it a lot less practical as it needs to be filled much more often. I will update this once I get a chance to see whether it is the pen or just the converter. Cost and Value (10)This pen is about as good of a deal as you can get, I got mine for 1.40 USD shipped from EBay. The buy it now price is around $7, but you can easily get it for cheaper in in auction with patience. Conclusion (7)All in all, this is a great pen for the price. The nib is a little scratchy, but it is not that bad. The design is excellent and the build quality is great for a pen of its price. For $1.40, it is all you could want and more. Pictures Below (Sorry for small size) http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/ODU1WDEwMDA=/z/DPwAAOSw0vBUc1DN/$_14.JPGhttp://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzQ0WDEwMDA=/z/aEwAAOSw2XFUc1DK/$_14.JPGhttp://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAwMFgxMDAw/z/3asAAOSwj0NUc1DT/$_14.JPGhttp://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTE3WDEwMDA=/z/xCwAAOSwAL9Uc1DQ/$_14.JPGhttp://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAwMFgxMDAw/z/3hIAAOSwj0NUc1DW/$_14.JPG
  22. Hello! Having watched sbrebrown's video "Why aren't you doing reviews?" I decided that I would try my hand at doing YouTube reviews of fountain pens! Here is my review of the Waterman Carène Black Sea Fountain Pen GT Medium Nib - if anyone has any suggestions/tips/tricks to help me improve my videos it would be really appreciated. A review of the Waterman Carène Black Sea Fountain Pen GT Medium Nib All the best, TheTechFish
  23. Diver

    Rotring Art Pen

    Hi There! Following on from my (very) recent review of the CS Belliver Bracket Brown, I thought I would have a little fun and have a go at reviewing a much cheaper and much older pen from my collection pen, one that I have had in my possession for just a touch over 25 years now. Please please please do not take this review TOO seriously, I don't intend to try and get hordes of people going out to buy the pen, but I feel that after all these years, it needed a little review. I have found doing reviews are quite fun if not taken too seriously. Introducing the.... Rotring Art-Pen with 1.1 nib. Oh, where has everyone gone? :-) Purchase Experience 7/10 Trying to remember 25 years back IS a pain, but I remember the stationary shop, not the name. It had two assistants, both indifferent, possibly bored, who knows. I have marked the experience as 7 as I was not put off and nobody stopped me or moaned when I asked to open the box to look inside. Money changed hands, a whole £5 at the time. The extravagance eh? Opening the box 7/10 Having gone from the process of going to school, using any pen one can lay their hands on, pens in blister packs, cheap ballpoint pens and the one parker 25 that was saved slavishly for, as an adult, this came as a nice surprise. A tin box lined with card. Please note that this is NOT the original box, it is from a newer example of the pen (1.5 nib) but have snapped it for show and tell. Inside was a matt black, but very long almost attractive instrument along with a couple of unmarked cartridges. Anyhow, if it is in a box that is worth keeping, 7 is a good start. The pen itself (looks) 7/10 I wasn't too fussy about looks, I did think it was a little bland, but quite attractive in a quirky way compared to fountain pens of the time, but what upped the score was the fact it was quite slender, sleek and old fashioned (I thought it looked like an old fashioned dip pen). Black with a red ring and shiny stainless cap, matt black finish, white end cap. Yep. Not bad at all. The pen in the hand 6/10 Urgh. Too thin on the section, just that bit too thin for my liking. At the time, it was sort of “ok” but not being too experienced in these matters, trying to look back, there was not a lot better at that price point. The length, its light and being so is not off balance, but it just isn't really lighting any fires. The grip section has a series of ribs the section being quite lengthy so the finger position can move up and down for a more comfy writing position. Not perfect but it does the job. It does post, but it looks all wrong, I mean just silly. It also kills the balance dead. Don't do it. Taking the cap off: 7/10 As mentioned above, the grip section has an aha! Factor, but the nib is bland looking. Stamped steel plate, no breather, but shiny and I presumed made of stainless steel. It isn't ugly, it isn't stunning it is quite functional in appearance and it did look as if it would work. A £50 Parker of the time just was not anywhere in my sights, neither was £50 available to spend on a pen! Size: 7/10 Too thin for big fingers, too long to be taken seriously, there really is no need, even for an art pen to be so long. Consider this. If the fingers are huge, then the section is too small in diameter. Which means the length will not help any way shape or form. Or one can just ignore all of that, and do like I did at the time, rushed home, inked it and started writing and didn't give the appearance another thought. I had a new pen and I wanted to write a letter. Fill the pen! 10/10 Cartridge converter, small international cartridges, one in the business end, with one reversed and stored in the body. Brilliant idea, so simple. Never used the converter with it, despite getting one to try it, it just worked perfectly so left it alone. Totally fuss free and hasn't leaked in 25 years. Current ink in use: 10/10 Rotring black cartridges. Have tried others, all are fine, as a pen should be, fuss free. It doesn't seem bothered what diet of ink it is fed, it just lays down ink reliably, never remember it either skipping or flooding. Have only ever cleaned it or flushed it when changing inks and then only with water, other than that it just gets to stay inked. Paper compatibility: 10/10 Now we are getting interesting. This old, basic and inexpensive pen will write on anything except the shiny side of brown paper (did it just to try it). Copier paper, Moleskine, Rhodia, Oxford paper, it lays a line down on all of them. Overall writing experience: 8/10 During it's lifetime, I have always considered this to be a 10/10. However, in the last few years I have been totally spoilt by the introduction of new, higher end pens with various gorgeous nibs etc, so armed with this knowledge, I have to (probably quite unfairly) knock a couple of points off. Had I never had my first ever “posh pen” which was the MB Starwalker Mystery Black, it would have to have been a 10. If we were to then consider again the price point here and lined it up against what one can get for the same money now (writing experience nothing else) then it would better than anything currently out there. Forget the quirky looks, it writes a damned good line and writes on anything. Impressions after use: 10/10 With nostalgia, with reliability, with the fact it has never let me down, despite there being pens out there worth hundreds of pounds with gold nibs etc etc etc, this for me, and has been for a large number of years my go-to pen. It is no longer matte black, it has gone shiny with use. The nib is crying out for its first ever strip down and clean, but it is still shiny! The cap still click into place, the clutch still works, although a lot lighter these days. The nib has no sharpness associated with 1.1 italics, it is literally worn smooth on the corners. It has a nice sweet spot and is forgiving. The pen gets thrown into my work bag or dropped into my top drawer, not abused just laid wherever it may be needed. It is in my regular rotation alongside my new Conway Stewarts, my Lamy Safari etc etc. Epilogue (before I get lots of comments and questions) I bought my partner a new Rotring 1.1 and tried it out. The nib seemed to be of thinner material but it isn't to the naked eye. It seems scratchy at the corners which I never remember on mine. The plastic feels cheaper, the mouldings have a little edge to them, but they are not worn down after 25 years use. Overall it does feel a little cheaper but the price is still in the £15 - £20 region. Not cheap anymore but it is aimed at artists (I think). However. Opening my journal and starting slowly so as not to scare the poor thing. It laid down a line. A black, sharp line. On all the paper I tried. No stalling, no skipping... Welcome to the family “Junior”.
  24. Dear All I purchased a pen long time back on insistence of my wife, yeah there are certain things in life you cant say no to. The pen is Golden Dragon - "Jinhao 1200". I am actually very happy with the pen that i bought for Rs. 350 ( US $6) only thing that sometimes bothers me is the color but yeah it actually wants attention from people some positive some negative. But if you talk about the pen writing experience its a killer. Following is my handwritten review along with some images. The coverter supplied with the pen hold okay amount of ink not great but acceptable. Following are the images: Capped Pen with Clear Branding of Jinhao 1200 at the bottom of cap Dragon clip on the pen had two red small fake stones in the eyes of dragon which have come out after prolong use or maybe not glued properly. top of cap has nice logo or design two tone 18kgp nib writes excellent medium The bottom line is the pen for the price is a superb writer.
  25. dezzick3

    Waterman Carene Review

    The full review with pictures can be found on my new blog https://pentheon.wordpress.com/. I would be eternally grateful if people could provide me with feedback and constructive criticism and follow my blog. I will be posting weekly reviews of pens, inks and papers, next week is a review of Diamine Presidential Blue. Many thanks. Introduction The Waterman Carene was my first proper fountain pen. I’d had Lamy Safaris in the past but this was the first one with a gold nib, first one I a got a converter for and the first one that was over £20! This pen not only introduced me to the world of the higher end pens but also the world of bottled inks, which I truly have come to appreciate. Design The Carene is a classic yet modern looking pen in the subdued “black sea” finish that I chose. There are certainly more extravagant ones available, the “Blue Obsession” model with the engraved gunmetal cap certainly springs to mind. According to Waterman, the Carene is modelled on a speedboat, presumably one that lives on the French Riviera. It’s a slim and relatively light pen, but is still heavy enough to feel solid in the hand, but then again I do prefer a heavier pen, I never really got on with the Safaris. Fit, quality and finish The cap is a pull cap, some disapprove of anything bar screw caps but I’ve never had a problem with it. The ‘click’ when the pen is capped is reassuringly solid. The rest of the pen follows this trend, there is a complete absence of rattling and it feels stable and sturdy in the hand. Filling mechanism The filling system is the standard cartridge and converter mechanism, indeed one can imagine how difficult it would have been for Waterman to fit a piston in such a slim pen. The standard long Waterman cartridges are very generous in capacity and the Waterman inks are varied and rather attractive. The Waterman converter is one of the better converters available, it has a generous capacity and is well put together. Nib The 14k inlaid nib is one of the standout features of the Carene. It is extremely smooth and the gold flows into the grip in a very attractive manner. The breather hole is on the underside of the grip, and this further contributes to the looks of the pen, the gold is smooth and uninterrupted. It’s unusual for an inlaid nib, but I’ve never got ink on my fingers. I chose the medium nib when I bought it, it is available in extra fine, fine, medium, broad and a stock stub. However I imagine finding the less ‘mainstream’ nibs might be quite difficult. The medium nib lays down a perfect line in my eyes, but do see the writing sample below. Value The black and gold version that I bought was just over £100 and at the moment (2 January 2015) that version is available for £75 on Amazon UK. The more ‘interesting’ finishes are a bit more, but the dearer ones are only about £122. I think that around £100 is a brilliant deal for a piece of this quality. Summary and conclusion The Waterman Carene is one of my favourite pens and I highly recommend it to everyone who doesn’t already own one. The nib is excellent, the whole pen is very well put together and the design is very attractive. Some people might not like the absence of a screw cap and a piston but for this price those can be glossed over.





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