Jump to content

Sheaffer Prelude Review


a.lachlan

Recommended Posts

Initial Impressions:


Initial impressions were pretty good, the nib wrote very smoothly and rather wet, it felt pretty solid but overall a little on the cheap side. The grip section’s indentation similar to that found on the Lamy Safari, Al Star, etc didn’t really do it for me - they were set too far back to really be of any use for me.


That being said however it did write very well and reliably with no hard starts or anything an came well presented in the usualy Sheaffer gift box and came with a decent converter.



Design:


The finish I opted for was the stainless steel finish as it was incredibly cheap on Amazon relative to the price of the other finishes - mine was only £22.50!


The finish it pretty tough and hasn’t suffered from any scratches or anything so far. The cap seems to attach rather softly, the plastic ring seems to just be too soft to give it that satisfying click. It has indentations like that of the cheaper Lamy fountain pens but these, for me at least, are useless as they are set too far back and aren’t deep enough to be of any help. The plastic of the grip section feels rather cheap, and very smooth making grip a little slippery. The threads on the section are also very thin and there are far too many of them - it takes ages to screw it onto the barrel and when you do you feel the need to be careful not to wreck the threads. The end of the barrel is rather plain as well, being basically a round bulge at the end - you’ll see what I mean in the pictures.


The pen is however as a result of these drawbacks very lightweight and, despite the parts feeling a bit cheap, would probably take quite a beating. At the end of the day I’m glad I didn’t spend the full £40 or so this pen would normally be for the other finishes, especially when you compare it to the other Sheaffer’s in the same price-range (well, cheaper than the full price for this pen), like the Sheaffer 100 and 300 which are both very solidly built pens, have (in my opinion) nicer nibs, and just generally feel much better buit and designs. Overall I give it...


5/10



Nib and Performance:


The nib initially was a very good performer, but alas this soon deteriorated. The tines became very unalligned, and the it became very scratchy and dry. I thought this might be because of the angle I was using it at but it turned out that they were unalligned in the opposite direction you’d expect based on the angle I wrote at. After getting them alligned it was still not as smooth as before, and not quite as wet. After some smoothing and spreading the tines a little, it’s writing pretty well again, not an amazingly smooth write nor amazing wet, but good enough to be a perfectly nice pen again, albeit with a little too much feedback to be overly comfortable


In terms of line width it write quite a fine line only a little broader than that of my Kaweco Allrounder that has a fine nib. I’m a little disappointed by the problems before, especially after such a good start but it’s now not too bad so it gets...


6/10



Conclusion:


Overall not a bad pen at all, for the price I paid, if I spent anymore than what I did I would be very disappointed. It isn’t in my pen rotation very often these days, I don’t find it’s nib comfortable enough for quick writing of notes as it just has too much feedback but it’s alright for slow relaxed writing at home. The body is tough but very plain in appearence, the grip section looks and feels almost tacky for a pen of this price range.



Score: 11/20



Update: Since writing this review I've tried the pen with new inks that have bought the best out of the nib, namely Diamine/Cult Pens Deep Dark Blue and Diamine Florida Blue that have somehow made it a very smooth nib - Overall I think this change boosts the nib/performance score up a mark or two :)



Pics!


http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3823/12254090225_7d952a141e_c.jpg


http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2874/12254522644_7727222f22_c.jpg


http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5536/12254521704_c24d0a1a9b_c.jpg


http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2854/12254085755_74a7c63c99_c.jpg



Writing samples, with comparisons...



http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7066/13166733734_6932cc7790_c.jpg


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/13166733314_51ccd3a148_c.jpg


http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3810/13166733894_12567bc433_c.jpg



And a size comparison...


http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2857/12254281983_82b552b578_c.jpg


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7440/12254281053_a872506103_c.jpg


Sheaffer 300, Sheaffer 100, Sheaffer Prelude, Lamy Studio, TWSBI Diamond 580, Kaweco Allrounder, Pilot Prera



Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 2
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • sotto2

    1

  • goodpens

    1

  • a.lachlan

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

I have this pen with an F nib and it's been excellent using standard Sheaffer black ink cartridges. It seems like a pretty bulletproof pen. The only thing I've noticed is that if it sits nib up for a couple days, it takes a moment for the ink to start flowing again, and then it's fine.

http://i59.tinypic.com/ekfh5f.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...