Diplomat Traveller

[designerroots]

A have not seen much about the smart Diplomat Traveller, so i borrowed it from my girlfriend for few days.

 

Visual

Nice, black laqueaur, metal body, but its not heavy, very aesthetic and modern design. Its very slim, elegant, perfect for a lady.

Writing

It has a metal F nib. Writes very smoothly, good flow.

 

Conclusion

For this price (30 Euros) I really cant imagine a better or nicer pen.

 

Edited June 14, 2012 by watch_art

[Uncle Red]

Cute little pen. Thanks for reviewing it.

[Mike 59]

Hi, Thanks for this review, true enough it's not mentioned very much.

I have the aluminium version with medium nib. It's fairly light in weight, but has a very smooth nib, as good as any other I own.

For a medium width it seems to be more 'fine', and really the only poor thing I can find, is that the cap will not post properly.

It feels as if it's loose so I leave it off, but otherwise a sleek and value for money pen, which takes international cartridges.

Lastly, I have found it to be very economical with ink, one fill of the small cartridge lasts for many pages of writing.

'Traveller' is a good name for it, lightweight, doesn't leak, fairly small pen, a good back-up.

Edited June 11, 2012 by Mike 59

[designerroots]

I compared it with Parker Frontier and Waterman Ici et la, it writes much much better than the Parker, its in the same category as the Waterman (wich is for 2x/3x price).

[georges zaslavsky]

looks like a nice sober pen

[Saintpaulia]

I wish it were still 30 euros. Cheapest I could find was US$48 from the U.K. plus postage.

[Saintpaulia]

I did buy it from a store in the U.K. Cost me US$65.00 with postage. Had problems getting it to write out of the box. Soaked it in J.B.'s Perfect Pen Flush - first time I've had to do that to a European pen. After the overnight flush it began to write, though still with somewhat frequent hard starts. This with Diamine Steel Blue. Removed that and put in the old reliable, Waterman Florida Blue. Much better but still with irritating hard starts. I am not pleased with this pen for the price. With that $65 and a bit more I could have bought some other pens on my list that appear to be of better quality.

 

I agree with the previous reply that this pen doesn't post worth a damn! That's odd. An old established company like Diplomat and made in perfectionistic Germany and the cap won't post? The pen has an overall cheap feel to it even though it is made of metal. Even something as simple as capping the pen does not feel like there is a solid mating of cap to barrel.

 

It's a perfect size for me and I like the selection of unique pastel colors, but these attributes do not compensate for the negatives in my view. I place this pen in the (thankfully) small category of pens that disappointed me.

Edited November 14, 2012 by Saintpaulia

[Mike 59]

Hi, I bought the Aluminium Traveller a couple of years ago, and really can't find anything I don't like...aside from the way that the cap will not post.

I bought plain metal version because it was half the price of the others, at GBP 19, and the 'travelling' features appealed to me at the time. That being a lightweight pen, and very reliable, no fancy features that would fail away from home.

The instructions say that the pen is tested at the factory, (mine had some ink in), but under a loupe, I could see the tines were not totally in line. It did start and write well in spite of that.

It's a small, thin, light pen, similar to a Parker Jotter, and will be too small for some people.

Regarding the 'hard starting'. I would be looking at the nib being centered on the feeder, and the overhang of the nib from the front edge of the feeder, that being just under 4mm on mine.

But the cap not posting is hard to understand.

[Poppet]

Hello, please excuse my ignorance (I'm new here) but what do you mean by it doesn't "post"? I've sadly lost my waterman hemisphere which I loved. Looked for a replacement and thought this might do the trick. Thank you.

[Saintpaulia]

Hello, please excuse my ignorance (I'm new here) but what do you mean by it doesn't "post"? I've sadly lost my waterman hemisphere which I loved. Looked for a replacement and thought this might do the trick. Thank you.

Sorry to hear about your Hemisphere. I actually owned a Hemisphere and sold it because it was too smooth for me to write with. The Traveler by Diplomat is a completely different pen from the Hemisphere. The Hemisphere is much heavier and bigger than the Traveler. I'm convinced tho' I've never seen it characterized as such, that the Traveler is meant as a "lady's pen" due to its size and weight.

 

The Diplomat Traveler does not post in the sense that you cannot put the pen's cap on the bottom of the barrel when writing. That's called "posting". Because of its anodized matte finish, the Traveler's barrel does not hold the cap, which has a different texture on its inside. This is a design flaw in my book. Over time the wear on the section of the barrel which the cap rests upon is going to show just from the frequent usage. Maybe it was not designed to post?

 

Anyway, if you liked your Hemisphere, get another but not a Traveler.

[Montblanc owner and lover]

i've got a hemisphere too,a little damaged as it was my first pen that i get when 6 years old...it lack the little metal part at the end of the body....

 

 

there is nothing to see but in the handwritten part i saw you talk of prokofiev what do you say??

[langere]

I find the Diplomat pens underrated. I wish there was more discussion of these precise and sturdy pens.

 

Erick

[yliu]

Do they come with a converter?

[Saintpaulia]

Do they come with a converter?

Yes! and a very nice, well-made one at that!

[Tessy Moon]

What kind of nibs come in the Traveller? Are they good quality?

Can you switch the nib out with different nibs? If so, what size or type?

 

Thank you!

[Scribble Monboddo]

I didn't get a convertor with mine, but similarly I'm very impressed with how well it writes for such a low-cost pen. I've posted a written review here: http://scribbledemonboddo.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/diplomat-traveller-m-nib-2014.html

[gorjeanul]

I have bought a Traveller (M nib) few weeks ago. Here are my conclusions:

- nib is very smooth, writes fairly wet.

 

Pen itself is too small for everyday intensive use, it's good like a spare pen, keeping it with a small notebook for quick notes.

 

Another interesting thing - probably those Diplomats are made in the factory of Inoxcrom, based on the following:

- nib feed is the same as on my Inoxcrom Zeppelin / materials are looking the same

- nib is the same design, shape, size, just has a different imprint

- capping system is the same (even the sound when capping is the same...).