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A Quick review of the Diplomat Nexus


arcfide

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You can see the full post here, with the handwritten review using the pen and the ink that comes with the pen:

 

A Quick Review of the Diplomat Nexus (sacrideo.us)

 

  • Excellent build quality of a large and heavy pen
  • The section is an excellent middle ground:
    • Diameter is right in that sweet spot
    • Not as slick as many metal sections, but not "sticky"
    • Long section means you have much grip freedom
  • The cap threads are thick, square cut with 1 turn to uncap:
    • Soft and unobtrusive
    • Feels very "industrial" under use
  • Body and cap finishing are crisp and impeccable
  • Ink capacity is excellent at approx. 3ml in my own usage
  • Styling speaks to premium but not "high luxury"
  • The 14k gold, broad nib was just okay out of the box, but even after some tuning on my part, the line is not that broad and only adequately wet
  • The nib grind is competent, but feels unrefined compared to Japanese nibs or those of Waterman, though more put together than most Lamys
  • The ink is a good standard ink with good coloring and hue, but it is not as well behaved as the best trad-black inks and not as gushingly luxurious as more premium inks
  • The filling kit is no gimmick and quite useful, very nice
  • The ergonomics are excellent, especially for such a heavy pen; I was surprised by how much it felt good for long writing sessions
  • Very quick and easy to use for quick writing
  • Seal is good on airplanes, but you can defeat it if you try hard enough
  • Ink flow from the feed could be a little more consistent
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  • arcfide

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  • CraigN

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arcfide,

 

Thank you for your review of this pen.  I apologize for my late response as I read your write-up then read some reviews online before posting anything here.

 

The pen looks nice and has features that interest me.  My only eyedropper is an Opus 88, which meets my needs regarding large ink capacity.  The added feature of this pen, the ability to seal off ink flow, solves an issue that has not presented a problem with my other pens.  I have travelled by plane at altitude with no pen issues.  Also, we travelled to just over 11,000 feet in our camper (Eisenhower pass in Colorado) with no pen issues.

 

Still, the pen's design is neat and I appreciate that the people at Diplomat have created something that is different and somewhat special.  Packaging in some pens is no big deal but Diplomat makes it special in that their packaging can hold the pen and allow it to be filled properly.  For all of the positives, the pen's price is not-so-far out of range for a steel nib.  From what I saw, the approximately $300 increase for a gold mib seems to be crazy, to say the least.  I plan to attend the Baltimore Pen Show in March and will look for this pen.  If it looks and feels nice, then a blue version may come home with us.

 

As for my experience, I do have a Diplomat Aero with a fine gold nib.  It performs well but I'm glad to have purchased it used at a decent price, meaning that I paid no premium for a gold nib.  I'm sorry to see that you have issues with your gold nib.

 

I hope you enjoy writing with your pen.

 

Regards,

Craig

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50 minutes ago, CraigN said:

I'm sorry to see that you have issues with your gold nib.

 

To be clear, I don't think there's anything actually technically wrong with the nib, all things considered. I just don't think that the nib quite has the properties that would elevate it to one of my preferred nibs. 

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