Overview: Monteverde Giant Sequoia

[sketchstack]

Overview: Monteverde Giant Sequoia

Why I bought this pen:

I prefer large or oversize pens. That doesn’t mean I have a need for premium, flagship models …it’s just that large pens are generally considered upper-tier. Some obvious examples are the Pelican M1000, Sailor King of Pen and the Montblanc 149.

Thus I immediately ordered the Monteverde Giant Sequoia as soon as I realized it’s not only a large pen, but it’s less than $100US.

Color & Finish:

Coincidentally, I not only like larger pens but I also prefer non-gold trim. So we’re off to a good start with this model.

The green is by far the favorite of the three offered colors. (There are also a brown and blue offered.) I may pick up the other colors just to complete the set —since they’re pretty affordable— but I’m also quite content with the green.

Overall the fit and finish is what you’d expect, or better, from a pen in the $50-$100 range. I have no complaints whatsoever.*

*Ok, I have one side-complaint: The box arrived in a sleeve that was very difficult to remove. The box is covered in a pseudo-leather material that made it impossible to just shake free. So essentially I had to destroy the sleeve in order to get the box free.

Long term I don’t care about the box much, but I was concerned that if I had to return the pen to the retailer for some reason they might have issue with the thrashed sleeve.

Nib Characteristics:

I found the nib rather interesting. First off, it wrote well out-of-the-box. There was a small amount of feedback but nothing I felt the need to fix or adjust.

The nib is a medium, but I feel it writes a half-step below that (when compared to various German nibs that I have). The line is plenty wet, but just a tad narrow. It’s not bad, but I might have ordered the broad with this in mind.

The nib also has a bit of line variation. I don’t mind this and actually kind of like it. You can see the difference in the horizontal and broad strokes in this image. In fact, I think this line variation may lend itself to the perception of the nib being a bit narrower than expected.

Paper: Tomoe River 68gsm

Ink: LAMY sample is LAMY blue and the Monteverde sample is Birmingham ‘Westinghouse Alternator Crimson’ aka very deep black-red.

What really surprised me is the amount of spring to the nib. It’s fairly bouncy when compared to Jowo, et al. Like the unexpected line variation, I found this to be a pleasant surprise.

The bounciness is probably because the steel seems to be a little thinner than most nibs I’m used to. At one point I removed the nib and noticed that the etching/stamping on the nib is pretty visible on the underside. I think that demonstrates that the nib is indeed on the thin side.

Size & Weight:

The pen is somewhat hefty in terms of weight, but there are heavier, smaller pens out there.

Monteverde Giant Sequoia: 35 grams

LAMY Safari: 16 grams

Nemosine Fission: 45 grams

*The Nemosine is a metal-bodied pen

I’ll let these size comparison images speak for themselves.

From left-to-right:

Monteverde Giant Sequoia

Sailor King of Pen

Conid King Size

Pelikan M1000

Value:

All things considered, I’m quite pleased with this purchase. For about $80US it’s a great value when compared to other similarly sized pens. Hopefully Monteverde will keep this model alive in the future by adding new trims or color choices.

Bonus Video:

I also made a little video of the pen on my YouTube channel

https://youtu.be/D8sWBrLieOg

 

[zaddick]

Thanks for the review. An interesting pen for the price.

[bobje]

Welcome and detailed review of a new pen that deserves more attention. Looks like a comfortable size in a beautiful material.

[mauckcg]

I bought a blue one. The coloring looked somewhat familiar and i wasn't sure from the pictures if it was. It is the same material as the FPN LE Conid Kingsize.

My Sequoia is a fine nibbed version but it's very very dry. I have some spark plug gappers i can use to fix that.

[sketchstack]

I bought a blue one. The coloring looked somewhat familiar and i wasn't sure from the pictures if it was. It is the same material as the FPN LE Conid Kingsize.

...

 

Yes, it took me a moment to realize the similarity but from the pictures I've seen the materials seem to be identical.

[akafridi3]

Seems like a cool pen, thanks for sharing

[Benpiggy]

Thank you for the review. Looks like a gorgeous pen.

 

I wonder would any body knows if it takes a standard #6 nib as the Monteverde nib tends to run a bit thinner?

[sketchstack]

Thank you for the review. Looks like a gorgeous pen.

 

I wonder would any body knows if it takes a standard #6 nib as the Monteverde nib tends to run a bit thinner?

 

I had a Bock #6 Titanium installed for a period and there were no issues. The nib was a tight fit when installing which is to be expected as the original nib seems to be a thinner material. When I say "tight fit" I just mean I had to pull it a bit harder than expected, and I recommend something to assist pulling the nib such as rubber glove or something.

[Benpiggy]

Thank you. This will be on my wish list for next purchase.

 

Good day.

[s_t_e_v_e]

Looks cool and nice review!

Your review style (the way you assess the pen) is quite similar to mine.

[sketchstack]

Thank you for the review. Looks like a gorgeous pen.

 

I wonder would any body knows if it takes a standard #6 nib as the Monteverde nib tends to run a bit thinner?

 

I must inform you that my recent tests with a Bock steel nib and a Goulet/Jowo steel nib are inconclusive.

 

The Bock nib technically fit but I would have had to modify either the nib or the feed to get a good capillary 'seal'. It did not write well.

 

Then I put the Goulet/Jowo nib in and it worked "ok". It was a little dry and while sitting capped for about 30 minutes it became starved and needed several taps to get it flowing properly.

 

So maybe I underestimated the versatility of this nib unit.

[mauckcg]

I swapped my stock nib out for a Goulet nib and i haven't had an issue so far for the three days since i set this up. The original Monteverde nib was very dry and so far the goulet is better.

[markh]

I notice in your Youtube video your writing sample is done with the pen posted.

 

One reason I like larger (longer) pens is to make them comfortable unposted, especially as the posted cap can change the balance, moving the center of gravity away from the nib/paper contact point,

 

So.. how does this post - is the cap secure? How is the balance when posted??

 

thnx,

 

 

[Mainecoon]

Thank you for reviewing. Beautiful pen and friendly priced I see. Makes my wishlist a pen longer ...

Enjoy writing with it!

[sketchstack]

I notice in your Youtube video your writing sample is done with the pen posted.

 

One reason I like larger (longer) pens is to make them comfortable unposted, especially as the posted cap can change the balance, moving the center of gravity away from the nib/paper contact point,

 

So.. how does this post - is the cap secure? How is the balance when posted??

 

thnx,

 

 

 

The cap posts fairly secure and the pen is somewhat balanced when posted.

 

I post out of habit as it is my preference. Frankly, for longer writing sessions I'm perhaps a little odd in that I sometimes alternate between posted and unposted.

 

Not sure if that's helpful at all...

[Morphling27]

A good review, thanks.

 

I always want to buy a Monteverde pen, but then other things catch my eye. This one included. I've been buying myself Japanese and specifically maki-e finished pens, so this got pushed to the wayside. Maybe I can convince someone to get it as a gift for me, I like the green or blue - brown pens unless ebonite ain't my thing.

 

Also, posted compared to those pens - HUGE! The M1000 and KOP look 'regular' compared to this beast posted, I love that.

 

Lastly, you say the medium is a bit thinner than you like or thought. Have you compared it to more than the Lamy Safari nib? Lamy's steel nibs sizing stamped on it are more of a... guideline than anything actually consistent.

[sketchstack]

...Lastly, you say the medium is a bit thinner than you like or thought. Have you compared it to more than the Lamy Safari nib? Lamy's steel nibs sizing stamped on it are more of a... guideline than anything actually consistent.

 

I've used this thing a bit and I still think it's narrower than almost any nib that I've ever considered a "medium". The slightly stubbish line might contribute to that, as mentioned in the overview. It's not really that I like or dislike it, more that it's not what I expected. Still a nice wet line though.

[Morphling27]

 

I've used this thing a bit and I still think it's narrower than almost any nib that I've ever considered a "medium". The slightly stubbish line might contribute to that, as mentioned in the overview. It's not really that I like or dislike it, more that it's not what I expected. Still a nice wet line though.

Thanks for that, interesting. I've been fond of a Monteverde pen at many points but as stated I haven't ever pulled the trigger. Maybe we'll see as time goes on if you got a 1 off or this is the norm for the line.

[MZielinski]

Can anyone comment on the grip section of the Monteverde Giant Sequoia? The reason I ask is because I bought a Conklin All-American because it is a larger pen, but was disappointed to find out that it used the same mold as the grip section to the Conklin Duragraph. Here was this nice, large pen with a grip section of a much thinner pen. This looks to be a similar case with the Sequoia, and was wondering if anyone could provide feedback in this area. Thanks!

[mauckcg]

Can anyone comment on the grip section of the Monteverde Giant Sequoia? The reason I ask is because I bought a Conklin All-American because it is a larger pen, but was disappointed to find out that it used the same mold as the grip section to the Conklin Duragraph. Here was this nice, large pen with a grip section of a much thinner pen. This looks to be a similar case with the Sequoia, and was wondering if anyone could provide feedback in this area. Thanks!

Goulet has measurements on their website you can use to compare to other pens you have.