Kanwrite Legacy Review

[PuliMorgan]

I am saving up for buying a Lamy 2000. But I needed a good work horse pen till I got the Lamy. So I thought of getting a Kanwrite Heritage because I was so impressed with the smooth writing performance of Kanwrite's much cheaper $10 pen called Desire (I use Desire for the Noodler's infamous Baystate Blue ink). Then I came to know about Kanwrite's latest product Legacy, which was launched just a few weeks ago and I changed the decision. I wasn't disappointed.

 

I bought solid blue colour Legacy with a fine nib and ebonite feed. I ordered the pen directly on Kanwrite's website and it was delivered within a few days in spite of the COVID restrictions in my place.

 

The pen came in a a beautiful box. Also, there was a spare extra-fine nib with plastic feed as a 'surprise gift'!

 

 

First Impression: Legacy is a large pen. It is a moderately heavy pen weighing 26 grams capped and 18 grams uncapped. It is solidly built.

 

The screw-on cap opens with about one and three quarter turns to reveal a No #6 (international standard size) nib. I had opted for a steel finish nib (Gold plated and dual tone options were also available). 

 

The cap threads doesn't interfere with writing grip. The nib was smooth out of the box.

 

 

The barrel opens with six and a half turns. The pen comes with a piston pump filler (1 ml ink capacity). The threads are greased and has an O-ring. The pen can be converted into an eyedropper with a whopping 6.5 ml capacity. Threads of the cap, barrel and piston work smoothly with no glitch.

 

 

Size comparison with other pens can be seen in the picture below (from left to right: Parker Vector CT, Noodler's Charlie, Sheaffer Gift 100, Kanwrite Desire, Camlin Elegante and Kanwrite Legacy).

 

Legacy is 152 millimetres long (capped) and has a barrel diameter of 15.1 mm. Grip section is circular with 12.2 mm diameter. 

 

 

It doesn't post well and is too long and too top heavy to write when posted. 

 

 

Now the Pros and Cons.

 

Pros:

 

1) Legacy has the smoothest nib I have used during my limited experience with the fountain pens. The pen writes smoother than my Lamy Safari and Sheaffer Gift 100. 

2) The pen is a wet writer. The ebonite feed is never going to starve the nib.

3) The company offers seven nib options (including two flex-nib and a stub options), 3 nib finishes, two trim colours and 5 pen colours to choose from (that is 210 choices and all of those options are available!!)

4) Nibs are screw in type and nibs can be separately bought. So you don't have to buy several pens to get different nib options. I haven't tried to remove the nib, the procedure looks very simple in the 'how to' video sent by the company.

5) One free Extra-fine nib came along with the pen as a "surprise gift".

6) Jumbo 6.5 ml eye dropper option for those who write a lot.

7) Smooth piston pump filler.

 

8 ) Minimal, yet elegant design. Solid construction.

9) Excellent customer service. They respond to emails and Whatsapp messages within hours, often within minutes.

 

Cons:

 

1) Lines are a bit thicker for a fine nib. It writes closer to a medium nib. (I have a Kanwrite Desire with Extra Fine nib and it writes like a Parker Vector fine nib).

2) Cap doesn't post well (I never post, so I am okay with it). 

3) A bit top heavy even when unposted. So it took some time for me to adjust especially since I have small hands. Large grip section diameter also took some time to get adjusted to. Anyway I now use Legacy as my workhorse pen and I write 10 to 12 pages everyday with no fatigue, thanks to the wet smoothness.

 

4) Not really a con: the clip of the pen I got was defective and was catching on to the fabric while taking out from pocket. I removed the clip from the pen and corrected the issue using a small plier. It took less than two minutes. But Kanwrite sent me a new clip when I gave this feedback despite telling them that I had already corrected the issue on my own. Great gesture by the company - they really value customer satisfaction.

 

Writing Sample:

 

Final Verdict:

 

Kanwrite Legacy is worth every penny and the cons I wrote are far outweighed by the pros. I have not seen many companies that offer the high quality customer care like Kanwrite. Just be aware that it is a wet writer and that the fine nib writes more like a medium.

 

Legacy costs less than one fourth of the price of a Lamy 2000 and I am not sure if I still want to buy the Lamy for which I have been saving up. Legacy is a good pen.

 

Note: I have no affiliation with Kanwrite. I just love their products and enjoy their excellent customer service.

[Manohar Makam]

Thanks for Nice and detailed review. I am adding this pen to my wishlist.

[Roovee]

20 minutes ago, PuliMorgan said:

I have not seen many companies that offer the high quality customer care like Kanwrite.

 

I fully agree with this based on my experience. I sent my Lapis Bard pen for nib tuning, they did a wonderful job and through the process they were prompt with communication.

[Anish Kar]

It seems it will be too fat for my hand. The Desire on the other hand suits me best. 

[PuliMorgan]

27 minutes ago, Anish Kar said:

It seems it will be too fat for my hand. The Desire on the other hand suits me best. 

@Anish Kar That is what I too had initially thought because I have small hands. But it took just two days to get the grip adjusted. Now after writing almost exclusively with Legacy for a couple of weeks, I hardly feel the grip section girth.

 

That said, Desire is also a good pen (with cartridge / converter / eye dropper 3 in 1 design) for its price.

[PuliMorgan]

10 hours ago, Roovee said:

 

I fully agree with this based on my experience. I sent my Lapis Bard pen for nib tuning, they did a wonderful job and through the process they were prompt with communication.

 

@Roovee : Yup. They excel when it comes to customer care.

 

When I first bought a Desire pen from them a few months ago, I had sent them an email asking if I could use Noodler's Baystate Blue ink in that pen AFTER placing the order. The very next day they called me and told that the original plastic feed might disintegrate over time due to the acidic nature of the ink. The company tracked down my order number and customised my pen by replacing the plastic feed with an ebonite feed at no extra cost just because I asked about the pen - ink compatibility. 

 

I still use Baystate Blue ink with no trouble in that pen.

 

 

[sansenri]

You don't seem to mention. Is this pen made of resin or ebonite?

[PuliMorgan]

4 minutes ago, sansenri said:

You don't seem to mention. Is this pen made of resin or ebonite?

 

@sansenri

 

I found the following sentence in the product description on Kanwrite website: "The Legacy is an Ebonite/ Acrylic/ Celluloid machined hand-made pen featuring the signature smooth nibs from the house of Kanwrite. "

 

I don't know what that means though.

[sansenri]

If the pen body is made of ebonite you should feel it's different from plastic, ebonite is warmer in the hand.

I doubt there will be any celluloid in that pen, on the other hand what might be acrylic is the section, I've seen before Indian pens in which the barrel and cap are ebonite and the section is plastic.

The Kanwrite site shows a Legacy in red ripple which looks like ebonite. The section in that pen looks ebonite too, though.

Possibly we'll have to wait until someone else finds out for us...

[PuliMorgan]

4 hours ago, sansenri said:

If the pen body is made of ebonite you should feel it's different from plastic, ebonite is warmer in the hand.

I doubt there will be any celluloid in that pen, on the other hand what might be acrylic is the section, I've seen before Indian pens in which the barrel and cap are ebonite and the section is plastic.

The Kanwrite site shows a Legacy in red ripple which looks like ebonite. The section in that pen looks ebonite too, though.

Possibly we'll have to wait until someone else finds out for us...

 

@sansenri

 

I had sent a query to Kanwrite regarding this at 01:37 AM (Indian Standard Time) and as usual they sent a prompt reply at 06:45 AM (on a Sunday)!! Here is what they wrote:

 

 

"Ice Blue is Acrylic celluloid, Black and Red Black swirl are ebonite and orange and blue are Acrylic".

 

Mine is blue and so acrylic.

[Savit]

Nice review, and a nice pen !

 

[hari317]

Nice review thanks. Looks nice and stout. It’s unfortunate the pen is not designed for posting the cap. Poor hardware like clips and rings are the bane of some of the otherwise wonderful Indian pens. I wonder what’s “acrylic celluloid” however. 

[PuliMorgan]

5 hours ago, hari317 said:

Poor hardware like clips and rings are the bane of some of the otherwise wonderful Indian pens.

 

I wouldn't call Legacy clip poor hardware because it is sturdy and well designed. What I faced was more of a (hopefully) rare quality control issue. I guess clipping a pen in pocket and taking it out was not in their Quality Assurance test procedure. But it was a minor issue that could be corrected by anyone with a plier (or even with a nail cutter). Also, Kanwrite sent me a spare clip when I gave the feedback. See the picture below:

 

[PuliMorgan]

6 hours ago, hari317 said:

I wonder what’s “acrylic celluloid” however. 

 

I referred this question also to Kanwrite. They replied that a combination of cellulose acetate (which is strictly speaking not celluloid; celluloid is cellulose nitrate) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) monomer (=acrylic) gives the "ice blue" pattern shown below (Picture from Kanwrite website): 

 

They politely declined to divulge more details on the material formulation or manufacturing process.

[hari317]

19 minutes ago, PuliMorgan said:

 

I wouldn't call Legacy clip poor hardware because it is sturdy and well designed. What I faced was more of a (hopefully) rare quality control issue. I guess clipping a pen in pocket and taking it out was not in their Quality Assurance test procedure. But it was a minor issue that could be corrected by anyone with a plier (or even with a nail cutter). Also, Kanwrite sent me a spare clip when I gave the feedback. See the picture below:

 

My comment was not directed to the legacy in particular. I was speaking from my own experience. Of course as they say “ your mileage may vary”. Thank you so much for seeking further claririty on the material from them. 
best, 

[sansenri]

11 hours ago, PuliMorgan said:

 

@sansenri

 

I had sent a query to Kanwrite regarding this at 01:37 AM (Indian Standard Time) and as usual they sent a prompt reply at 06:45 AM (on a Sunday)!! Here is what they wrote:

 

 

"Ice Blue is Acrylic celluloid, Black and Red Black swirl are ebonite and orange and blue are Acrylic".

 

Mine is blue and so acrylic.

 

That also explains the weight, even a large pen like this one in ebonite would be unlikely to weight 26g.

[PuliMorgan]

31 minutes ago, hari317 said:

My comment was not directed to the legacy in particular. I was speaking from my own experience. Of course as they say “ your mileage may vary”. Thank you so much for seeking further claririty on the material from them. 
best, 

 

 

I got it, Hari . Yes, in a highly competitive market like this, the details such as trims and clips are also important.

[sansenri]

On 5/30/2021 at 3:09 PM, PuliMorgan said:

 

I referred this question also to Kanwrite. They replied that a combination of cellulose acetate (which is strictly speaking not celluloid; celluloid is cellulose nitrate) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) monomer (=acrylic) gives the "ice blue" pattern shown below (Picture from Kanwrite website): 

 

They politely declined to divulge more details on the material formulation or manufacturing process.

 

their explanation is good enough for me... the material does look rather good

[PuliMorgan]

12 minutes ago, sansenri said:

 

their explanation is good enough for me... the material does look rather good

They had later added that they use cellulose acetate because of the inflammability of cellulose nitrate. 

[sansenri]

Reason also that celluloid nitrate is difficult to manufacture, needs a long curing time and is expensive (besides being flammable).

Not an issue however, just curious.