Diplomat Excellence A2 Skyline Review – A pen you can consider in sub $250 category

[punjabi]

Pros-

• Beautiful Finish
• Perfectly Balanced
• Amazing Nib (both steel & gold nibs are amazing).
• Snap Cap
• Very Solid Pen, Almost Indestructible
• Comfortable grith
• Great Packing

Cons-

• Price is very higher for steel nib variant , you will get too many gold nibs in this price segment.
• Clip is tight.
• Diplomat don’t has good Customer Service, incase your pen turns out to be faulty.

It’s a Heavy Pen, And people with small hands won’t like this pen. 

 

Some things you need to know –

• Body Material – Lacquered Metal
• Cap Type- Snap Cap
• Filling Mechanism- Cartridge, Converter
• Grip Material- Resin
• Nib Size – Extra Fine, Fine, Medium
• Postable – Yes
• Trim – Silver
• Diameter Body – 13.1mm (0.52in)
• Diameter Cap – 14.4mm (0.57in)
• Grip Diameter- 10.2mm (0.40in)
• Length (Body) -128.5mm (5.06in)
• Length (Cap) – 62.9mm (2.48in)
• Length(Nib) – 22.4mm (0.88in)
• Length Overall – 138.5mm (5.45in)
• Weight (body) – 28.0g (0.99oz)
• Weight (cap) – 18.0g (0.63oz)
• Weight Overall – 46.0g (1.62oz)
• Capacity of convertor- 1.17 ml

Other Aspects –

 

Packing- Great! you will like the presentation. It contains pen resting on Diplomat Satin Pillow, converter,cartridge & service guide.   

 

Design – The pen is perfectly balanced,with a very simple minimalistic branding. It’s aesthetically pleasing. There is a small stepdown from the body to the grip section.You won’t have any issue with grip section.It is not smooth & even people with large hands will love this.                                                        

 

Nib Performance- It has amazing steel nib, one of the best steel nibs I have ever used (my favorite still is OPUS 88 nib). It is very smooth & on par with many gold nibs. It also comes with gold nib , you have to pay extra $130 for it. I have it too, it is equally nice. It writes very well too. But price goes too high with gold nib, their are many amazing pens available in that category. For anyone looking for heavy pen with a good nib, I will recommend it.

 

Note – I have three of these, one with steel nib & other with gold nib. Two were purchased by me from Goulet Pens & third one from a local store. 

 

Full Review Link- https://inkpenlover.wordpress.com/2021/05/15/diplomat-excellence-a2-skyline-review-a-pen-you-can-consider-in-sub-250-category/

[A Smug Dill]

Since you're specifically reviewing the Skyline, could you kindly share with us your thoughts about its finish, especially compared to the other two Diplomat Excellence A2 pens — one with an equally(?) glossy finish, and the other a matt finish — that are not the Skyline (but thus its siblings that are not the subject of your pen review)?

 

p.s. The brown one shown here looks like the Marrakesh to me; but then on your Wordpress blog, the brown one appears to be the Oxyd Brass edition instead. Which one is that actually, please?

[punjabi]

9 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

Since you're specifically reviewing the Skyline, could you kindly share with us your thoughts about its finish, especially compared to the other two Diplomat Excellence A2 pens — one with an equally(?) glossy finish, and the other a matt finish — that are not the Skyline (but thus its siblings that are not the subject of your pen review)?

 

p.s. The brown one shown here looks like the Marrakesh to me; but then on your Wordpress blog, the brown one appears to be the Oxyd Brass edition instead. Which one is that actually, please?

Skyline finish is very good it's Guilloche covered with normal lacquer their is no issue in it. The lacquer used is good & finish is immaculate . The normal Diplomat Excellence Pen has glossy finish too, but the skyline is more shinier & vibrant. Normal Excellence has multi-layered effect lacquer finish. On other hand, the Matt finish is bit on dull side but the finish is consistent throughout. I will suggest you to check your local store before purchasing this, many people won't like that matt finish although it's simple as well as classy. 

The Marrakesh finish is excellent & bright but less brighter than Skyline .It is very unique & overall very pleasing. The color combination looks good & i was worried about this when I purchased the pen online. The MSRP of it is €195 .I feel this price is high for a steel nib pen &  I will suggest if you are looking to get one buy during sales. 

 

The nibs on all the pens are same & Diplomat makes one of the best steel nibs. The nibs are smooth & are better than most of regular steel nibs in the market. The nibs are very well tuned out of the box.

[lehi53]

Thank you.

[A Smug Dill]

Thank you for the additional commentary.

 

8 hours ago, punjabi said:

On other hand, the Matt finish is bit on dull side but the finish is consistent throughout. I will suggest you to check your local store before purchasing this, many people won't like that matt finish although it's simple as well as classy.

 

I usually prefer a matt or satiny textured barrel to a glossy lacquered finish on my pens, although matt finishes have a tendency to acquire shiny spots or patches with frequent use. That said, the matt silver clip on the Diplomat Excellence A² Matt Black looks a little off aesthetically to me.

 

I think the Oxyd Iron finish is the one I would like best, and the Oxyd Brass second. Alas, even though the MSRP for either of those is only €5 more than that of the Matt Black, in practice it'd cost me about €26 more; and I haven't had the opportunity to see and touch one for myself to know with certainty that I'd like the actual object. That is what has been holding me back from making a decision and buying a Diplomat Excellence A² fountain pen at all.

 

8 hours ago, punjabi said:

The nibs on all the pens are same & Diplomat makes one of the best steel nibs.

 

Yes, the steel EF nib on my Diplomat Aero is one of my favourite steel nibs, and I like everything — colour combination, finish, barrel shape, snap-cap — about my orange Diplomat Aero except that damned step-down from barrel to gripping section.