Posts filed under Ballpoint

Anterique Mach Ball Brass Edition Ballpoint Pen Review

Classic, made modern. That’s what the Anterique Mach Ball Brass Edition Ballpoint Pen pen is to me. This look incorporates some of my favorite design elements of traditional ballpoint pens, mixes in new barrel colors, and the Brass section gives it that extra oomph when using it.

It was those last two features that sold me on it. The Brass section is large, making it the standout feature of this pen. It takes up a little over half of the entire barrel length, and while it does add significant weight to the pen, the lightweight plastic back third of the barrel balances it out well for a comfortable writing experience.

My grip latches on to the metal well, there is none of that normal Brass smell, and interestingly, the patina is taking a while to come in. I haven’t been using this pen heavily since buying it, but it has been sitting out and uncovered, and it still looks like new. I’ve used it plenty, though, so I would have expected a bit more aging, but I guess that’s a good thing!

I chose Lavender for the upper barrel, which is one of the 12 colors you can choose from. There is no wrong answer, which means it wasn’t an easy choice. The Grey looks fantastic, and any of the Blues or Greens would fit me perfectly as well.

The refill uses 0.5 mm oil-based ballpoint ink, and it is merely average. The shape is the classic old-style ballpoint refill, and it wrote like that for the most part. The Black in was dark, and the tip stayed clean, but it wasn’t super smooth (that’s ok for an 0.5 mm tip,) and it did leave some blobs of ink behind on the page. What it didn’t do is leave a mess on the tip, which is where the “low-viscosity” part of the ink comes into play, which also prevents the spidering seen between letters in older ballpoints.

Are there refills that I can replace this one with? Not many. There is a similar Ohto Needle Tip that is compatible, but I’ll have to do some research to see if there are any other options. It’s worth looking, because I love the barrel, but don’t have a use for the refill outside of quick notes and lists. I’d love to write longer with it.

The Anterique Mach Ball Brass Edition Ballpoint Pen runs $29, which is fair given the sizable amout of Brass in the barrel. If you are unsure about that, or the refill, the standard Anterique ballpoint comes in many different styles and colors starting at $5.50, including a Mini which I’m definitely going to have to buy one day!

(I purchased this product from The Gentleman Stationer for regular price at the 2025 Atlanta Pen Show.)

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Posted on August 27, 2025 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Anterique, Ballpoint, Pen Reviews.

Monteverde Ritma Ballpoint Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Continuing in my personal quest to collect as many green things as I can this year, I've been using the Ritma from Monteverde as my pen for taking notes at my desk during the workday. The Ritma is a minimal design that looks great and is easy to use.

It doesn't matter how many amazing fountain pens I have in my collection — I always have room in my daily kit for a humble ballpoint pen. They don't write as well or produce anywhere near the level of beautiful and nuanced lines as my fountain pens, but they're so simple. They utilitarian in a way that fountain pens often struggle. They require little maintenance and can take a lot of punishment. What they gain in utilitarianism, they certainly lose in style and customization.

For a ballpoint to be comfortable for me to use, I'm looking for a few things: a good refill, a comfortable grip, and a balanced weight. At first glance, I didn't think the Ritma would be comfortable to use, but I let the pretty green color convince me to give it a try anyway — and I'm glad I did! It's actually a really comfortable pen to use.

The nose of the pen is shiny and looks like it would be a fingerprint magnet, but it doesn't actually attract a lot of fingerprints. And, when I see a shiny surface finish like this, I automatically assume that it will be slippery to handle and won't work well for writing more than a few words before I get annoyed with the unstable grip. This isn't the case with the Ritma. Whatever finish Monteverde used for the grip are is fantastic. It provides plenty of grip and friction even after writing for a while. This is good news because the nose/grip section is long enough that most people will only grip it by this area instead of the more textured barrel area.

The other factor that makes this pen comfortable to use is the balanced weight. It's not a super lightweight pen — it has some heft, but not so much to cause fatigue after a short period. When holding the pen, it feels like the center of gravity is close to the grip area, with just enough weight at the top of the pen to provide a nice balance when writing so that you have excellent control of the tip. I was surprised by how well it balanced in my hand once I held in my normal writing grip. According to the specifications, the pen is a combination of steel and aluminum. I'm guessing the grip is steel, and the outside of the body is aluminum. The steel materials add an appropriate amount of weight in all the right spots.

To achieve a minimal look, the Ritma uses a twist mechanism to control the refill extension. A half rotation of the grip section is all it takes to extend or retract the refill. You can do this one-handed, but it requires you to do some minor hand gymnastics to shuffle the pen orientation back and forth to operate the twist mechanism and then return to writing position. I normally use both hands to open/close the pen, but I wish it was a bit easier to operate with one hand. This is where the click mechanism wins in use, but they don't look as sleek as this one!

Writing with the Ritma is a great experience. The balance is great for my standard three-finger grip, and I don't feel fatigue after writing a couple of pages non-stop. The refill that ships with the Ritma is a black Monteverde P1, but the pen will accept any Parker-style refill. There are many, many fantastic options in this format, which is another win for the Ritma. You can easily swap in another ballpoint refill (I prefer the Schmidt EasyFlow 9000) or even a gel refill. While the Monteverde refill is good and reliable, I prefer the Schmidt refill because it's smoother and darker. Again, it's great that the pen accepts such a ubiquitous refill so that you can swap in your favorite refill if you want.

Monteverde Ritma Ballpoint Pen Comparison

The Monteverde Ritma is $36, and this feels like a good price for what you get. It feels like a high-quality product when you handle it and write with it, and it looks great too. It's subtle enough to be at home in a professional setting, but it's also sturdy enough to be used in a portable setup with no problems. If you like the design, then this is a great ballpoint pen to pick up for yourself or as a gift. And, if you don't like the green there are several other colors to choose from too!

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on May 14, 2025 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Monteverde, Ballpoint, Pen Reviews.

Lamy Al-Star Aubergine Ballpoint Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

It's that time of year again: annual edition color schemes for Lamy's Safari and Al-Star pen lines. For 2025, we have several lovely options to choose from, and I decided to give the Aubergine Al-Star a whirl since the yellow-green section was calling out to me. While some people lean more toward either the Safari or Al-Star, I just tend to follow the colors that I like. They're both great pen designs in my book!

The Aubergine edition of the Al-Star is a dusty gray-purple body paired with a yellow-green translucent section and black hardware. When looking at the images online, I couldn't decide if I really liked the body color, but the section is what really got me. I'm a sucker for bright translucent anything.

I was hoping that the body would be a more striking color in person, but I was a bit disappointed by it. It's a unique color for sure, but it doesn't match up with my idea of aubergine. Here's a color swatch and then a photo of various aubergine fruits from around the world. I'm not crazy, right? Aubergine wasn't a great name for this color.

Naming issues aside, it's still a bit of a dull color in my eyes. There's a small hint of purple, but this is mostly a dark gray body. Despite the underwhelming body color, the section easily saves the pen for me. It's a bright, fluorescent color that just begs to be picked up and used or turned around in your hand to let the light do fun things to the material.

The cone is a matte black metal, the nock plunger is a soft black material, and the clip is Lamy's standard glossy black material. Nothing crazy, and I think they could have had a little bit more fun with either the clip color or the nose color (or both??). Oh well! The other Al-Star option for this year, Denim, also seems to have missed an opportunity to really capitalize on the fun colors, but it's also quite a looker.

Writing with the Al-Star ballpoint is a mediocre experience. The Lamy M16 refill is decent, but my main gripe with every one I try is that they take a little too long to start working after they've been idle for more than a few minutes. It's normal for ballpoint to take a second to wake up, but the M16 takes longer than most. It wouldn't be so bad if there were other options available to swap out the M16, but that's not the case. Lamy's proprietary refill is just about the only player in the market, outside of Monteverde's options, which aren't much better.

Personal gripes aside, the M16 refill is totally capable and works fine 99% of the time. I'm just spoiled by some of the other ballpoint options out there. I'll be (un)patiently waiting for Lamy to release M16 refills that use the Jetstream's ink formula.

If you've ever used a Lamy Safari or Al-Start before, then you'll know how this pen feels in the hand. The grip section has a unique shape that favors the standard tripod grip — index, thumb, and middle — to hold the pen steady when writing. This doesn't work for everyone, and means that it's not a great option for people that use different grips that are incompatible with this type of grip design. For me, I can use a standard tripod grip after a little adjustment period, and the Al-Star/Safari is comfortable for me after that. I just have to keep myself from subconsciously rotating the pen a bit when I reset my grip after a few words or sentences.

Lamy Al-Star Aubergine Ballpoint Comparison

One of the things I love about the ballpoint versions of these pens has always been the covered nock mechanism. I love the squishy accordion-like design and the unique feel it produces when extending or retracting the tip.

Overall, the Aubergine is a fun color for the Al-Star. Yes, I wish they would have made better choices regarding the body color, but it's still a winner for me due to the grip section. If it speaks to you, then grab one! As always, they're available as ballpoints, fountain pens, mechanical pencils, and rollerballs.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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