Inoxcrom Sirocco Plata

[usk15]

I was curious about sterling silver pens, how they are and how they feel, but their prices always draws me back from purchasing them. After doing more research into sterling silver pens, I had set my mind to get a pair of Inoxcrom Sirocco Plata, fountain pen and ballpoint set. First I get a BP from Spain, then after a short time was a FP, with poor photos and description from Ukraine. After making an offer, I did purchase the FP, just before the major Lock Down in March, Covid-19 related. The Bp pen was in good order, but the FP had the section completely apart. Luckily I had another Sirocco as spare, so I had transplant the whole section into Sterling Silver body.

 

 

 

 

1. Appearance/Design 10

After cleaning the pen (Goddard’s Silver Polish Cloth), and transplanting the section from another pen, this huge pen is just impressive! The shinny sterling silver with gold electroplated trim looks amazing, which accentuate the striated lines along the body (Guilloche Pattern?). The cap’s gold ring is writing INOXCROM – SPAIN, and there is an empty space for personal engravings, along with sterling silver “925” mark and a cat face in an oval. On the cap and body tapered end, the pen has black jewels into gold rings.

If the all black Sirocco can fly easily under the radar, this one is so flashy, especially when is polished!

 

 

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2. Construction/Quality 9

Apart of the section issues, I cannot see any other problems. Yes, the sterling silver is tarnish here and there, but if is polished can be an amazing pen. I have noticed that the pen get back to tarnish side quite fast, so now I keep both FP and BP into black velvet pouches in the pen cup. It seems that stop the tarnish process, or at least is slows down very well.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Weight/Dimensions 8

When compared to all black Sirocco, it looks like is double the weight. And seems shorter, but that is just down to different jewels, the black one has domes on the end, while the Plata has flat jewels.

 

Capped 14.7 cm / 47.5 g

Uncapped 13.5 cm / 26.8 g

Cap 6.5 cm / 20.5 g

It can be posted, but it doesn’t make sense, scratches and weight being the reasons in my case.

Add another 3 grams for full ink converter.

 

 

 

4. Nib/Performance 10

It is a transplanted section with nib and feed from another Sirocco,a true medium nib. It is a nib made in house by Inoxcrom. It is smooth, with a hint of feedback, and actually it kind of finest medium line. It looks like #6 nibs, so easily can be swapped with another one on preference.

 

 

 

 

 

5. Filling system/Maintenance 9

This is a standard C/C pen, easy to take out the nib and feed, easy to maintain, I’m happy with this.

 

6. Cost/Value 9

Like I said in my intro, I bought the pen from Ukraine, from Ebay, for £50, but was damaged, tarnished, and I had to wait for it about 2 months. Recently on Ebay it was sold 2 similar pens, in better condition for about £65-70. There are some examples of pens valued at 150-300 euro, the expensive ones spotting a gold nib. In my opinion, the pen can be sold easily for about £120-150, with the steel nib.

 

7 Conclusions 9.2

This is a large, heavy and flashy pen, with a very good quality construction. Even being that large and heavy, pen has a great feel in hand, and has a very well balanced body. I am happy to be in possession of this pen set.

 

 

Comparative picture:

Lami Safari
Sailor 1911 Large
Inoxcrom Caravel 1920
Inoxcrom Sirocco Negra
Inoxcrom Sirocco Plata
Inoxcrom Corinthian Azul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick review of the Sirocco Plata Boligrafo:

 

This is a good size ballpoint pen, a bit on the heavy side, but well balanced. The top barrel ring has the same inscription: INOXCROM – SPAIN, has a blank spot for engravings, and like the FP has Sterling Silver “925” mark along with a cat face in an oval. The clip is strong and long enough for shirt pocket. The jewel on the cap is flat black resin in a gold ring. The top part looks like in made from solid silver and has brass mechanism with brass threads that stick out and attach to the bottom barrel, which is made from a solid sterling silver too. The cone is made from brass and is well machined, my Schmidt easyFlow 9000 refill doesn’t rattle when I use the pen. Like the FP, the pen has striated lines pattern along the body which accentuate the shiny silver with gold trims.

 

This pen has a smooth twist mechanism to deploy or retract the refill, and is gripping well in the one of the two positions. Personally I don’t like pens with twist mechanism, but I’m making some exceptions here and there!

 

The cartridge you can change is a standard G2 refill, AKA Parker Style refill. The list of available refill is huge, from pressurized Fisher-Space to a cheap Chinese which come into advertising pens.

 

This is an elegant and luxurious ballpoint, standing off into business club along with Montbalnc, Pelikan or Monetgrappa.

 

 

Some dimensions and weight:

 

Length – 13.5 cm

Grip diameter – 1.05 cm

Ring diameter -12.7 cm

Weight – 41.5 g

 

 

 

Edited October 14, 2020 by usk15

[txomsy]

Thanks for the interesting review. Inoxcrom was one of my sought-after brands decades ago for its build quality, it is a pity they ended suffering such hardships as they have.

[Bill P]

The Inoxcrom Caravelle , Scirroco, and Corinthian are great Fountain Pens....the Steel and the Gold nibs were/are both excellent.

[manolo]

Great pens those by Inoxcrom!!! I see you know them well. Very good value for money, specially with the steel nibs.

Really nice and comprehensive review, thank you.

Edited October 15, 2020 by manolo

[usk15]

I come in contact with Inoxcrom back in the middle 90's, with the entry level pens, very good quality for money. I didn't knew about high end models till couple of years ago, when Rizo (FPN member) posted a review for Caravel. And basically last year I start hunting them down, having a nice herd now.

 

Wall Street is a middle range fountain pen, that use the same steel nib as all those high end form Inoxcrom. It is a big pen, standard C/C, great nib for about £20-50, depending where you can find one. I recommend this one as first step into Inoxcrom World, and if you're lucky and patient you can score a Sirocco, Caravel or Corinthian.

[manolo]

As a spaniard, I am very familiar to the Inoxcrom brand since I was a kid. Yes, the Wall Street is also quite a nice pen, lower-level than Sirocco, Caravel and Corinthian, but really confortable with its rubberish grip and a nice size.