Kaweco Classic Sport Dark Brown Special Edition Fountain Pen

I was fortunate to get some cash for Christmas, which enabled me to purchase this little beauty from Cult Pens ( Link to page http://goo.gl/tbesjA ). The pen came in the usual, excellent packaging and was securely wrapped in bubble wrap. It's my first Kaweco.

On opening the package I found the pen tin inside a cardboard sleeve. The packaging is great, and the tin can be used to store pen paraphernalia such as cartridges, nibs, shims etc, etc. my initial impression was of quality and care by the manufacturer.

Appearance & Design 10/10

A design classic that closely follows the original 1935 design. The pen, to me, is iconic. You know it's a Kaweco and it can't be mistaken for something else. The dark brown colour appears black under low light conditions. The words 'Kaweco Sport' are embossed in gold script on one facet of the octagonal cap, which is topped with a gold coloured, metal button that carries the Kaweco logo. The pen is small and compact, very light and very well made.

Construction & Quality 10/10

The pen is made of tough ABS/Microlon plastic and is well constructed. The plastic has a deep lustre, and as already stated, the dark brown looks black depending on the lighting conditions. The pen is small and extremely light in weight ( I haven't weighed it but it's no more than a few ounces ). The dimensions are 104mm capped, 132mm posted & 99mm uncapped. It's designed to be a pocket pen, but is also suitable to be carried in a ladies coin purse. I don't think it will scratch easily, but if it's rattling against coins or keys in a pocket I'm sure it will scuff and mark. I feel that any marks would add to its character and story. My wife thinks it's an ugly pen, but I like it. Each to their own. Judging by this pen, I would imagine that Kaweco have excellent quality control as it is beautifully put together. The pen is not supplied with a clip, but these can be purchased as an optional extra if required.

Nib & Performance 10/10

The pen is supplied with a Stainless Steel 24k gold plated nib, manufactured by Bock of Heidelberg. Available nib sizes are medium, fine, extra fine, broad & extra broad. I opted for an extra fine nib and I am not disappointed. The nib writes beautifully, neither too wet nor too dry. The feed managed to keep up with my scrawl across the page. I used cheap copier paper and there was no bleed through or ghosting ( see pics ). The nib doesn't flex, but I didn't expect it to.

Filling System & Maintenance 8/10

The Sport uses short International Standard Cartridges. There is a converter available but I'd imagine it holds less ink than a cartridge. A single blue cartridge is supplied with the pen. Kaweco own brand cartridges are available, and are relatively inexpensive. However, I will probably just clean the cartridge when it's empty and refill it with a syringe and my choice of ink. The Kaweco cartridge supplied performs well and the ink dries quickly. I've had no reason to disassemble the pen or clean it, so am unable to give any advice on the cleaning and maintenance side of things. I believe the nib unit is friction fit and therefore should easily come apart for cleaning. Not quite 10/10 as short cartridges = low ink capacity. I've been told that it is possible to convert this pen to an eye dropper, which would give more ink capacity, but as it stands out of the box this is the only down side.

Cost & Value 10/10

The pen cost £19.99 from Cult Pens online, and I think it's excellent value for money. Even more so because this model is a limited edition and comes with a presentation tin. The tin itself sells for £4.99 on the same site. A pocket clip is an additional cost, but relatively cheap if required. I think this would make an excellent pen to introduce someone to fountain pens, as it's relatively inexpensive but high quality. Kaweco is a solid brand and I am extremely happy with this pen. Very affordable, not over priced and great value. It performs equally as well as pens costing ten times as much.

Conclusion 48/50

Almost full marks, only let down by the small ink capacity. Although this is my first Kaweco, I don't think it will be my last! Highly recommended as an everyday pen for notes and scribbles. Grab one before they sell out.

© Chris Edwards 2014. I am not affiliated in any way with Kaweco or Cult Pens. This is an impartial review and I have not received any reward or inducement from the companies mentioned.

Fountain Pen Day competition.....

Well, lucky me! Yesterday was International Fountain Pen Day. I never even knew there was such a thing until I started collecting fountain pens this year. There was a poetry competition being run on the FPD website, and my poem was chosen as one of the winners! Happy days! The results, and poems, can be seen at http://eclectidbits.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/and-winner-is.html

Happy Fountain Pen day!

Happy Fountain Pen Day to all my fellow FP addicts!

Just a quick post to let you know that the Fountain Pen Day website have loads of giveaways and offers running. Visit their page at http://www.fountainpenday.org/sponsors/ and scroll to the bottom to join in the fun. Good luck and keep writing!

Fountain Pen Day 2014

Just a reminder that this Friday, 7th November is Fountain Pen Day. Celebrated worldwide on the first Friday in November, it's a chance to celebrate everything to do with fountain pens. Share your passion with friends and family. Maybe even try and get them interested in the joys of writing and drawing with a fountain pen. Whatever you do, mark the date on your calendar and make Fountain Pen Day something to write home about!

More info can be found at www.fountainpenday.org

Montegrappa Fortuna Black

I'd like to start by saying that I am a pen enthusiast that collects pens for personal enjoyment. I am not a pen expert! The views and impressions expressed in this blog are my own and they are based purely on this basis. I am constantly learning about pen use, care and collectibility from various sources on the net, (Thanks FPN and SBRE Brown!), and from a couple of books that I own. Although I have been lucky and have found a couple of valuable pens on eBay, I buy them because I like them not as an investment.

I purchased this pen in the duty free shop at Malta International Airport in September. I love Italian pens, and am especially drawn to the Montegrappa brand. I originally wanted the Fortuna Skulls model, but it wasn't in stock so I settled for this one.
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Appearance & Design (10) - This is a beautiful classic black fountain pen with Ruthenium accents. For those that don't know (I didn't!), ruthenium is a chemical element belonging to the platinum group. It is a precious metal and is silver in appearance.

The pen tapers from a narrow end to a wide cap. It is quite heavy, weighing around 30g. The cap has a wide ruthenium band which is engraved with the Montegrappa name, a sturdy ruthenium clip with the usual Montegrappa wheel and a ruthenium end button embossed with a laurel wreath and the number 1912, which is the year the company was founded. The cap is a screw type and fits securely to the body. The cap weighs about 14g, which is about half the weight of the pen. I don't post the cap as I don't want to risk marking the deep gloss of the pen body.

Unscrewing the cap exposes the beautifully engraved steel nib.

I personally feel that the pen looks elegant and expensive and it would not look out of place in a board room.

Construction & Quality (10) - The build quality is of an extremely high standard. Everything fits together perfectly and looks incredible.

Weight & Dimensions (10) - I like big, heavy pens as I have big hands, and this one doesn't disappoint. It's comfortable to write with uncapped and fits well in my hand. I've already mentioned the weight 😊

Nib & Performance (8) - The steel nib looks stunning with the scrollwork engaging. It lays down a nice fine line with no skipping or blobbing. The nib on my pen is a fine. It's really smooth, with a hint of feedback. It's currently inked with Diamine Blue/Black and performs perfectly. The nib is stiff and does not flex, but this suits me.

Filling System & Maintenance (10) - The pen is supplied with 2 Montegrappa ink cartridges and a converter. I tend not to use carts except in a couple of pens that I have that do not take converters. The supplied converter is a standard size that holds a nice amount of ink. The converter fills in the usual way of dipping the nib into the ink bottle and screwing the converter to draw ink up into the pen. Cleaning and maintenance is as straightforward as the other pens in my collection. I have not attempted to remove the nib as I have had no reason to do so.

Cost & Value (10) -  The pen retails for around £170, but I got it for £150 at the duty free shop. It's equally as nice as pens costing 4 times as much, and for me it was worth every penny. If you want an expensive pen that doesn't break the bank this could be a good place to start.

Conclusion (Final score: 58/60) - This is one of my favourite pens in my collection, and the marks I have given are based on comparisons with others that I own. I am extremely happy with it and cannot recommend it highly enough. I am not connected to Montegrappa in any way, and have not received any reward or inducement for giving this review and score.

Lalex 1938 Animali Dragon Fountain Pen

My first pre owned fountain pen, purchased on eBay for a really low price. These pens originally sold for around £140. The pen is all original, but the nib was mis aligned which is why it was cheap. I bought it for 2 reasons. Firstly, I liked the look of it. I like dragons, and the cap appealed to me. Secondly, I wanted something to practice renovating techniques on.

When the pen arrived in the post, I was even more pleased than when I initially bought it. The pics on eBay did not do it justice. The cap is solid silver, hallmarked 925, and was slightly tarnished. The nib had one tine higher than the other. What I originally thought were damage marks on the nib turned out to be dry ink. 

I stripped the pen down and soaked the nib and feed in a mild soap and water solution for a couple of hours. Once dried, I cleaned the feed and straightened the nib using my finger nails. The cap was cleaned with a soft cloth and silver polish and came up as good as new!

Once cleaned and put back together, I fitted a cartridge and started writing. The results were great. The pen wrote smoothly with no skipping and good ink flow.

I need to get some brass shims to tweak the nib a little more, but as it stands I'm really happy with this pen.

Welcome

I've loved pens ever since I was able to use one. It's a passion that has followed me through school and into work for almost 50 years. I recently decided that this interest of mine would be more rewarding if I took it more seriously, and tried to find out more about the background of the more interesting pens that I own, as well as adding a few more to my collection. I then thought it would be even more interesting (for me at least!) to keep a blog about my hobby. So here it is!

I love to write with a nice pen, especially when it's done on decent paper. At the moment my preferred paper is my old faithful Moleskine notebook. However, reading different articles on the web, I'm interested in trying out other brands like Rhodia.

I was born in the year of the Dragon, so pens with a Dragon or Oriental theme are interesting to me. I also like Buddha themed items so will be keeping an eye out for an affordable pen in that genre.

Although I've loved pens all my life, I'm new to collecting. This blog will hopefully be a journal of my discoveries and any tips that I manage to uncover. I hope you find it interesting.