Levenger Pens - Any Opinions?

[Sandy1]

Hello,

 

I've noticed that the Levenger 'True Writer' pens are conspicuous by their absence in this Forum.

 

If anyone has experience with these pens, please post your opinion of the True Writers.

• Pen quality
• Nib+Feed quality
• Value for money
• Quirks / idiosyncrasies
• Things I love / hate about these pens

Many thanks.

 

Best Regards,

Sandy1

[gross]

Sandy1, I have only one Levenger pen that I received as a gift. It is well made. It has a nice ink flow. Indeed, I like how it writes. I have no quarrel with the pen except for one. Just as when I was young (back when the earth was cooling) and had to chop cotton, I could never find a hoe that really fit my hands. So it is with my one Levenger pen. It just does not fit my hand in some indescribable way. I would not advise someone to not buy one, but I could not recommend one to someone. I hope that this helps in some odd way.

[donwinn]

I have three Levenger pens, all of which I purchased purposefully. The first is a pearl colored Metalist, which I got on the Levenger eBay site, for under $30. I like it ok, but it is a medium, and I prefer fine nibs. the second I also got on the eBay liquidation site. It was under $20 because it was monogrammed DGW, which are my initials. It is blue, which is not my favorite color, but it had MY initials on it, so I could not pass it up. I swapped out the M nib on it for an F nib I got from isellpens.com (not affiliated). It is actually a Taccia nib, made by Schmidt, and it's a screw in unit, like Esterbrook or Pelikan, but incompatible with either. The third and final is a Decathlon, in black, which came with a fine nib. It was liquidated for $27 plus $6 shipping, rather than the original price of $100 + plus $6 shipping. I like it, and it is regularly in my rotation. The pens feel good in my hand, write smoothly, and give me no problems. I only purchase them when they are real bargains, but I am that way about all pens, not just Levenger.

 

Donnie

[dstrollo]

I have several fountain pens from Levenger. They're definitely not my favorite, but I like them nonetheless. They are a really good value for the money. If you look on Levenger's outlet store on eBay, they sell brand new pens at deep discounts. Anyways, as far as the nibs go, I've always had good luck, but I've heard that there are inconsistencies among them (two nibs marked "fine" may write differently). The TrueWriters are well-balanced, and look nice. I would definitely recommend one as an everyday writer.

[dizzypen]

I've had two Levenger pens. One was an Illumniator which I lost in June . I loved that pen! I also have a Levenger Plumpster and love that one as well. Each pen is well constructed, writes well, looks nice, and feels good in hand. The only problem I have is with the Plumpster's converter. It is taking in air from some place or another, but a quick call to Levenger on Monday will clear that all up. Honestly, one of the best things about Levenger is the customer service. They are very accommodating. I purchased each of these pens for about $30 which is a fraction of their retail price. I'd definitely say to buy a True Writer from the Levenger ebay Outlet. They have great prices over there and the pens are in working order (some have aesthetic imperfections).

[mgutman]

I use a medium True Writer on a daily basis. At first it was scratchy, but it smoothed out after writing a few pages of notes. It consistantly puts out a wet fine-meduium line and writes well on all papers. The Levenger is my least expensive pen so I do not hesitate to carry it everywhere in my shirt pocket. It is a great writer.

 

I wonder if I was just lucky with it because of some negative posts on quality consistancy. I find the size and balance very good for my hand.

 

HTH & good luck.

[Deirdre]

I've had at least a dozen, and they each were so workmanlike that they inspired neither kudos nor complaints.

[bphollin]

'nuther happy Ebay liquidation purchaser here. The pen wrote very well, but it wasn't a match for my hands--felt too heavy or unbalanced as I recall.

[dashreeve]

I have about 10 Levengers, they all write well and smooth. They're really great for the money (I only buy them on clearance or at the outlet). Ironically, the F nib blue demo I got at the outlet is my favorite writer. If you don't like heavy pens, stick to the non-metal versions. They fit my hand well and they all write, no complaints on any of them.

[Scriptorium Pens]

I purchased two True Writers in August - a Golden Tortoise, F, and a Sea Glass, M. I am sending them back for a full refund. They look nice and feel nice in my hand, though the caps do not post very well. The problem is that neither one will write with any consistency. I have flushed them out with soapy water, used a wide variety of inks in them, including Waterman's Florida Blue, and nothing seems to keep them flowing. They are both dry starters, skip, and dry up as I write. Levenger is sending me a FedEx label to ship them back. Following advice here, I purchased a Pelikan M215 and love it. I have since purchased another Pelikan (the blue demonstrator). The huge difference in the feel and quality of those pens made me decide to get a pen I've had my eye on for several years -- a Visconti Van Gogh. I now have 4 Van Goghs and they are my favorites. The Tortoise Midi that came yesterday is so gorgeous and writes so well that I can't stop admiring it. Purchased it with a 14k nib from Bryant at pentime.net. While I was disappointed in the Levengers, I'm glad now that I can return them to help pay for these wonderful Van Goghs!

[Glenn-SC]

I've had several True Writers and did not like the nib feel nor the ink flow on any of them.

So I either sold them off cheap or gave them away to people to try as "Starter Pens".

They were overpriced at the original price of $40.

 

I do not own any Levenger pens anymore.

[mgutman]

Wow! What divergent opinions! This must point to inconsistant quality issues at Levengers. Too bad because a good True Writer is a viable pen.

[Skyppere]

I have about eight of them. Every single one of them wrote well right out of the box. I think they're pretty to look at and especially from their e bay store, an excellent value. I think they're great.

skyppere

[Artie]

I bought a cheap, no name duofold look alike, made in France pen from Levengers several years ago. Total junk. Last time I ever bought anything from them since previous experiences were not always good either.

[FrankB]

I actually collected True Writers for a while. I found them to be okay, but certainly not great. Cap rings came off consistently. After about ten examples, I asked myself why I was buying pens that were just okay. I guess I liked the colors, kind of like collecting hub caps. I discontinued and never looked back.

 

I have other Levenger pens that are simply the Levenger edition of known pen models with Levenger's nibs. Those pens are well made and are very good writers. Levenger has long since discontinued that practice.

[StyloBug33]

I have five or six and really like them all.

[Rabidferret]

Levenger made an early entrance into my interest in fountain pens. For almost a decade they were my nearly my sole source of ink (I only recently stated branching out into other brands). I'd ordered several pens from them over the years but never one of their own brand until recently (and can confirm their excellent customer service). A couple of months ago I "accidentally" picked up a monogrammed medium L-Tech FP off their Ebay site for around $50 off retail. (I was hunting for a Rotring 600 and the L-Tech is similar in design; I saw the L-Tech and put in a cheap bid, then found a good deal on a Rotring 600 and ended up with both pens.)

 

The L-Tech is a decent pen. Its construction is impressive; the metal is well-finished and the fit is excellent. The pen has a decent heft, and I much prefer the balance of the pen unposted. The cap is a screw-on with a substantial clip - I'd consider taking this pen with me if I were to travel somewhere rough. The nib was a little scratchy at first, but after about 10 pages of notes it's about about average. It's surprisingly wet (I'd put it at about 7-8 out of 10 on the wetness spectrum), and I think it's picky about inks. I believe they use a standard True Writer nib unit in the L-Tech; it unscrews right out of the section like the True Writer line.

 

I've put Noodler's Eel Black, Montblanc Black, and even a bit of an old Cross black bottle I had laying around somewhere. It struggled to start with all of them, and on a few of the inks the feed started to dry out (from normal writing, not from being left uncapped) and needed to be re-primed by a twist of the converter. When I filled it with Levenger's Raven Black the hard-starting issue all but disappeared, fed evenly and consistently, and the wetness was much more manageable (A major issue for me as I'm a southpaw. This has to be the first pen that I've found that can be "too wet" at times.) Looking at the thread above, I have to wonder if True Writers are also under-performers if they don't use Levenger brand inks? I really wish my pen worked well with Noodlers, as it's replaced Levengers inks as my standard.

 

To sum up - I got a great deal on the L-Tech and don't regret spending the money (despite the Rotring 600 redundancy). I'd probably balk at the idea of paying around $80 plus shipping for one though - that price range is entering the realm of Sailors, decent Pilots, Bexleys, low-end Pelikan and Auroras, and so on. If you're looking to purchase one, I'd strongly recommend going through their ebay site and using the Levenger label inks.

 

Sorry for the ramble, hope this helps.

 

- Jon

 

Edit: I really should learn to proofread my posts twice before I hit the submit button...

Edited October 25, 2009 by Rabidferret

[sexauerw]

I have a couple of True Writers. Both are good writers, fine nibs. But one dries out if left unused for more than a week and the other will go months and still write at the first touch of nib to paper. I had tried a stub nib in the first one, but it was so dry as to be completely unusable. I switched it to a fine, which is why I have duplicates. My perception is that quality is variable, sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't.

[TMac]

I have three True Writers and find them to be consistent, decent pens. I prefer heavier pens so these fit the bill. 2 of the pens have never had a problem. The Starry Night is picky about the ink I use. It does not like Levengers or Diamine ink. It loves Noodlers and Private Reserve.

[rroossinck]

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