Fp Review: Kaweco Classic Sport Red

[Chrissy]

Kaweco Classic Sport Red FP Review

 

Source Kaweco sent me this pen in return for an honest review. The Sunrise Orange ink cartridges were included in the box.

History (reproduced from the Kaweco web-site)

Kaweco - In 1883 the manufacturer of high-quality writing instruments was founded in Heidelberg Germany. Kaweco has been producing a wide range of fine writing pens and has been setting a great value on classy design and high standard manufacturing.

The first Kaweco Sport was founded in 1912 as a pocket fountain pen for ladies, officers and sportsmen. In 1930 the brands and models of Kaweco and Aurumia fused and the Ka We Co three part circle emerged. This circle is still used today on nearly all of it’s pens.

Even Sepp Herberger already appreciated these characteristics. It was with a Kaweco Sport that the former coach of the German national soccer team wrote on a piece of paper his winning tactics which brought the Germans to the world cup in 1954.

In 1993 H & M Gutberlet GmbH made it’s first prototypes for a relaunch of the Kaweco Sport under the name Trekking, but gained and registered the rights to rename as Kaweco in 1994.

The Kaweco Sport was newly produced as a cartridge holder in 1995, but the design remained the same as the 1935 model.

In 2000 the first Limited Sport edition was produced in green celluloid, and the AL Sport as well as the Art Sport were launched in 2003.

Kaweco's product range is perfectly described by the keywords "tradition" and “innovation"

Appearance and Design

The Kaweco Classic Sport starts off as a small and compact pen until you remove it’s octagonal shaped cap, and replace it on the end of the barrel to make a decent sized fountain pen in your hand. It's one of the very few fountain pens that I use with a posted cap.

The Classic Sport range differs from the Skyline range in having gold plated accents. I usually tend to prefer gold plated to platinised accents, so this suits me very well. I also like the very attractive milled edge on the end of the barrel.

Kaweco supply a standard 23kt gold plated steel nib unit, with iridium tip, with this pen, that matches it’s Kaweco gold plated metal cap emblem as well as the gold coloured ‘Kaweco Sport’ script on the barrel.

This pen is bright red. You can buy this pen with or without a matching gold plated clip. It comes in a standard sized Kaweco Sport cardboard box.

Construction and quality

Although this pen is made from plastic, it feels well made and quite substantial in your hand and performs as well as many full sized pens. It’s lightweight, but not at all flimsy, and it has a nice size, well shaped grip. The cap is intended to be posted on the barrel for all Sport pens and the pen feels nicely balanced in your hand when the cap is posted on the barrel.

As always with Kaweco Sport pens, the cap and the barrel screw together very well for a close fit, on smoothly machined screw threads.

Weight and Dimensions

Weight: 10grams. Measurements: Closed; 105mm, Posted; 135mm, Nib; 17mm.

Nib and Performance

The 23kt gold plated steel nib units for this pen come as a complete section, as opposed to the screw in nib and feed units that Kaweco make for their metal Sport pens. So you can swap any complete nib unit into this pen. You can usually buy them from Kaweco stockists. They are available in nib sizes EF/F/M/B/BB

I found this nib wrote after a couple of shakes as soon as I fitted a cartridge. I was really impressed with the smoothness of the nib, that needed no adjustment at all. It gave me a smooth writing experience that rivalled that of some gold nibs in more expensive pens.

There is no flex with these steel nibs, but I don’t really mind that.

Filling system and Maintenance

Kaweco sent me a couple of pens to review, and in with them are two packs of cartridges in two brand new colours. These are Sunrise Orange and Smokey Grey. I selected a Sunrise Orange cartridge for the Red Classic Sport. The cartridges are standard International Short cartridge size.

If you’re looking for a pen with a sophisticated piston filling system, then you might be disappointed with this pocket-sized pen. Kaweco make two different converters that would fit this pen, the Kaweco Squeeze converter "Sport" and the Kaweco mini converter. However, I only used the Sunrise Orange cartridge with it for the purposes of this review. I find that both types of Sport converters generally contain less ink than a cartridge, but either one is useful if you want to use bottled ink.

It isn’t a difficult pen to clean out. I just used an ear bulb and pushed some lukewarm water through it to clean out the ink after I had used it. The ink was non staining and it is an attractive addition to the Kaweco range of ink colours

Cost and Value

I found this pen for sale at WeLovePens for £17.99 in the UK.

I think thats a reasonable price to pay for this pen. It’s an average online price for the Kaweco Classic or Skyline Sport range.

Overall Opinion

Kaweco Sport pens have a really good screw cap that prevents their cartridges from drying out, and I have always liked that in these pens. I also like the way they are compact pocket sized pens that extend into good size pens that are easy to write with.

If you want a clip or a converter they are available separately, but I find it as easy to refill cartridges from bottled ink with a syringe, as using the converters that are made to fit this pen.

I'm quite a fan of Kaweco Sport pens and have a small collection of them. So, all in all, I really like this pen and I would recommend it especially if you like bright red pens to go with your red inks.

Writing sample: Kaweco Sunrise Orande Ink (cartridge)

[Barkingpig]

Thank you for a very complete & accurate review of one of my favorite pens. If I didn't already have multiples I would like one of these "new" colors. I AM hoping this year may be the year for the COPPER sport & I am afraid I will be without restraint.

 

I did NOT know about the new ORANGE ink & REALLY thank you for that scoop. Thanks to the nice folk @ Bureau Direct who offered an affordable rate for shipping a bottle to the US I will have another orange & if it is as pleasant as the other Kaweco inks I have, I am sure to be happy.

 

I appreciate your making new things known to us & thank you for your attention to detail in all your reviews; you make a very trust worthy reporter for news from the Mother Country!

[visvamitra]

Good review, but I'm not sure I enjoy this particular hue

[Chrissy]

Thank you for a very complete & accurate review of one of my favorite pens. If I didn't already have multiples I would like one of these "new" colors. I AM hoping this year may be the year for the COPPER sport & I am afraid I will be without restraint.

 

I did NOT know about the new ORANGE ink & REALLY thank you for that scoop. Thanks to the nice folk @ Bureau Direct who offered an affordable rate for shipping a bottle to the US I will have another orange & if it is as pleasant as the other Kaweco inks I have, I am sure to be happy.

 

I appreciate your making new things known to us & thank you for your attention to detail in all your reviews; you make a very trust worthy reporter for news from the Mother Country!

 

Thanks for your kind words. You're welcome.

 

I didn't even know Kaweco Sunrise Orange ink was available in bottles. So maybe I should have found that out.

[Chrissy]

Good review, but I'm not sure I enjoy this particular hue

You're welcome

 

I suppose bright red is a 'love it or hate it' colour. I like red ink, so I'm a bit of a fan of putting it in red pens when I can.

[Barkingpig]

 

Thanks for your kind words. You're welcome.

 

I didn't even know Kaweco Sunrise Orange ink was available in bottles. So maybe I should have found that out.

 

Well, now you have also given us the first, I presume, review of this ink. I had not heard the idea of the Kaweco inks resembling the older Caran d'Ache colors but was intrigued by a poster who mentioned this ink was the confirmation for him. I will soon be able to compare the two as Bureau Direct confirmed my bottle is "on the way," & Saffron was the first CaD ink I purchased.

 

I appreciate your adding the review of this ink, whether it is "close" to Saffron or not, it is a very nice orange & reminds me of Omas orange.