Mayfair Pens Noldor Fountain Pen Review

(This is a guest post from Paul, aka The Poor Penman. Paul (he/him) is a life-long stationery fiend and former industry professional. Read about his journey with pens and paper at The Poor Penman and on Instagram.)

(Author’s note: I will endeavor to keep the Tolkien references to a minimum in this review, both because I’d hate to draw any undue attention from The Estate, and because this article’s gracious host would not understand them anyways.)

Mayfair Pens is a Virginia-based brand owned and operated by craftsman Ben Stewart. Ben makes fine fountain pens in several uniquely-styled pens inspired (at least a little) by Tolkien's Legendarium. I have admired his work for some time online, and had the chance for a hands-on look at the San Francisco Pen Show. Mayfair makes a handful of models with different characteristics, like the shimmering resins of the Arkenstone line, or the pocketable and postable Narya.

I chose the Noldor model for the simplicity of its design, as well as its position as the first design in the Mayfair family.

The Noldor is a cartridge/converter pen equipped with a steel Jowo #6 nib. The design consists of a smooth-sloping barrel with soft rounded corners and a pinched grip section. The shape of the pen is reminiscent of a glass vial or narrow flask, with seams that would be invisible were it not for the colorful resin mix. The grip section is reverse-threaded into the barrel (righty-loosy,) concealing the converter compartment. The Noldor is compatible with short and standard international cartridges and your typical Schmidt-style converter.

This particular Noldor, MY Noldor, was crafted from a sparkling dark resin mix with tones of purple, blue, red, and gold throughout. There were quite a few runners-up on the table (and online.)

The grip is pinched at the end of the section, rising slightly and dropping-off sharply to meet the cap. At its narrowest point the grip measures in at around 12 mm, swiftly widening to around 14 mm. This is on the wider end of my pen size tolerance, but still usable. Mayfair pens ship with a standard steel #6 JOWO nib unit. The nib that came with my Noldor writes well enough, but I immediately swapped it out for a laser-etched Tree of Life style design that felt very fitting for the piece.

I have mixed feelings about the cap. On the one hand, it’s simple. The cap is completely free from logos or insignia. It has a smooth shape that maintains the silhouette of the pen. On the other hand, it is quite small. And light. And fairly prone to rolling. If you tend to hold your pen cap while writing, then there’s no problem here. I tend to rest mine on the desk or tabletop, and sometimes the coordination of man fails.

Let’s talk about value. The Noldor retails for $185, which is not a small ask. In fact, this comes very close to my limit when it comes to recommending pens. There are some considerations to be made, however, such as the source and (for lack of a better term) provenance of the pen. Strictly speaking, the experience of using a Noldor is not remarkably different from less-expensive products; Jowo nibs and converter fillers are not exactly rare. What sets Mayfair apart is the design and artistry that goes into each piece. From the resins to the shapes, these things are unique. The main difference in buying a Mayfair compared to a “Big Pens” $200 offering is that your dollars go directly to the person making the pen. There is a direct relationship between the piece you buy and the person you buy it from. There’s something special about that, and it cannot be replaced by a bit of gold or precious resin.

Overall I’m enjoying the Noldor from Mayfair Pens. It has been in rotation for a few refills now, which is really saying something. The shape and style of Mayfair’s designs may not be to everyone’s taste, but that uniqueness is what drew me in. I think there is a LOT more room in the fountain pen market for interpretive and creative pen profiles. Ben Stewart, the craftsman behind the pen, uses a beautiful assortment of material blends to make unique pens that will stand out in any collection. He also does an excellent job displaying his work online, but I highly recommend checking them out live at a pen show if you ever have the opportunity. But not this one. This one is mine. My own. My… Precious.

(Note: For more on Mayfair Pens, check out Caroline’s Meet Your Maker post.)

---

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Nahvalur Eclipse Retractable Fountain Pen Review

I love modern takes on classic fountain pen design challenges. Whether it is creating a better filling mechanism, modifying nibs to meet the needs of today's user, or trying make a better retractable fountain pen, I’m here for all of it.

Nahvalur decided to take on the latter challenge with the Eclipse, their version of a retractable fountain pen. We have seen several companies attempt to match what the great Pilot Vanishing Point brought to the market decades ago, but none have been able to equal it. Given that the VP is untouchable, how does the Eclipse stand up to the rest of the retractable pen market? Pretty well.

The main design element of the Eclipse that differentiates it is the nib deployment mechanism. Instead of a button knock on the end of the pen (Vanishing Point, Platinum Curidas,) or a twist (LAMY Dialog,) this pen is what I’m calling a barrel knock. To deploy or retract the nib, you grab both ends of the pen and push it towards the middle. You can see the gaps in the middle of the barrel that allow the alternating aluminum parts to slide together and engage the mechanism. At the end of the day it’s still a knock mechanism, but handled in a unique way.

Given this design, how do you get inside the barrel to access the nib unit and fill the pen? The rear of the pen twists, and in turn, unthreads the pen in the middle interior. The pen then slides into two halves where you can access the nib unit and ink converter. The pen fills by putting the removed nib unit into an ink bottle and using the supplied converter to draw in ink. Reverse the assembly process, and start to write!

I never used the launch version of the Eclipse, but there were reports of difficulty re-assembling the barrel once undone. Whatever the issue was seems to have been resolved in the current models, because I’ve had no troubles taking the barrel apart and putting it back together repeatedly.

From a writing perspective, I like the nib a lot. This one is a Fine Steel model (also available in Medium,) and both the line width and ink flow have been great. As someone who likes fine lines, I couldn’t ask for much more.

The Ecplise has many of the standard retractable fountain pen downsides, such as a long and wide barrel, and a clip in the grip area. It’s on the limit size-wise for me (my retractable preference lies with the Vanishing Point’s partner, the skinner barrel Pilot Decimo,) but still very usable. The bigger challenge with the Eclipse is the edginess of the aluminum parts in the middle of the barrel.

Close-up of the raised edges on the barrel.

The questions here are two-fold: 1. can you pinch your fingers when engaging the mechanism, and 2. just how sharp are those aluminum parts? To answer the second part, they obviously aren’t sharp, but each strip of aluminum has a raised lip along the edges. Given the number of them, you can really feel them on the barrel. Not so much when writing, but they are there. For the first question, I haven’t pinched myself yet, and I’ve used both single-hand and two-handed deployment options. If I didn’t pay attention, I do wager that I could get caught out.

Retractable pen comparison, top to bottom: Platinum Curidas, Nahvalur Eclipse, Pilot Vanishing Point, Pilot Decimo.

At $99, I think the Nahvalur Eclipse is a great option, if you can deal with the considerations listed above. Those considerations are what makes retractable fountain pens a secondary or specialty pen for many users, as for some people they just don’t fit their hand. For others, it offers something different than the Platinum Curidas in the same price bracket, and is much cheaper to try than the Pilot Vanishing Point and Decimo, both of which use 14k nibs. Overall, Nahvalur has made something interesting with this pen, and I look forward to continuing to use it.

(Nahvalur provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Inked Up for the 2025 Pelikan Hub

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

This article is coming out on the day when folks around the world are/will be gathering as part of the 2025 Pelikan Hub! This is my fourth time as the Hubmaster for the Palo Alto Pelikan Hub and even though it’s not a requirement to own a Pelikan in order to attend a hub, what kind of Hubmaster would I be if I didn’t ink up some birds for folks to try, right?

I try to pick out at least one from each of the main models in a variety of colors and nib sizes, when possible. I don’t own any vintage Pelikans, so the ones I have are modern (1980s onward). I also don’t have any M100x because I can’t write with the nibs because they are too long (not big hands + steep writing angle = can’t use long-nibbed pens). And here’s a not-so-short primer on Pelikan fountain pens if you’re not familiar with the models and numbering.

This year’s flock in a Franklin-Chrisoph 12-pen Covered Pen Tray (left to right):

• M100 White with Black, aka Stormtrooper
• M200 2025 Pen of the Year, Apricot Achat
• M215 Lozenge
• M400 Blue Souveran
• M400 White Tortoiseshell
• M600 Red Tortoiseshell
• M600 Glauco Cambon
• M620 Grand Place
• M640 Sahara
• M805 Blue Dunes
• M800 Green Demonstrator
• M815 Metal Striped Blue

Let’s go through the picks:

M100 Stormtrooper - I hadn’t inked this up ever since I bought it second hand a couple years ago and honestly, it kinda disappeared amongst all the other birds. Time to remedy that! I’m glad it had an EF nib, even though that’s not my usual jam, because it’s nice to have some diversity for myself and for folks wanting to try the different nibs sizes. And a Stormtrooper pen demands red ink (pew pew!) and Jacques Herbin Moulin Rouge fits the bill perfectly!

M200 Apricot Achat - Assuming the pen of the year shows up in time for the hub (it doesn’t always), the current year’s pen will always be in rotation for the hub. I picked a broad nib to show off the Apricot Achat ink, which is on the lighter side.

M215 Lozenge - The “1”in the model number signifies that there’s metal on the barrel - and this one is in the form of diamonds. This also has an Extra Fine nib, and I picked a fun pink ink (Pelikan 4001 Pink) to counteract the “seriousness” of this classy black pen.

M400 Blue Souveran - Not the flashiest of Pelikans but I will always have a soft spot for this pen because it was my very first Pelikan which I bought from Peyton Street Pens at the SF Pen Show in 2017 (my first show!). I stuck with a classic for this pairing - Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue.

M400 White Tortoiseshell - There’s something about the olive greens and browns in the barrel of this pen that just gets me, so I ink up this one quite often. I decided not to use a shimmer this time (though Pelikans have handled shimmer pretty well in my experience), and went for a slightly dry ink like Colorverse Taepyeong Seongdae. The pen/ink combo works well because the drier ink tames the Pelikan’s wetter nib.

M600 Red Tortoiseshell - As someone who is generally not into red, I notice when a red pen catches my eye. I love the shades of orange, red, and black in the barrel. Picking an ink for this pen is easy and hard for the same reason - lots of colors to try and match. I picked a fairly true red, Laban Ares Red, instead of one that leans a bit more orange. The Masuyama Medium Cursive Italic makes any ink look good.

M600 Glauco Cambon - After seeing the M600 Art Collection Rudi Rother in person at the Dallas Pen Show last month, I knew I had to ink up the Glauco Cambon, which was the first release of the Art Collection series. Despite the M600 name, it is actually heavier than the usual M600 because of the brass barrel which is engraved/guilloched and lacquered. The varying shades of yellow, orange, and green really pop in good lighting. Photos just don’t do it justice. I opted to match the orange parts of the barrel, and chose Diamine Amber.

M620 Grand Place - One of my more recent acquisitions, this is a pen that I have drooled over for many years. I finally managed to get this one (pen friends are the best), so inking it up for the Hub was a no-brainer. So many shades of brown (and blue) in this pen to choose from, but I ended up picking Taccia Tsuchi which pairs quite nicely.

M640 Sahara - I picked the 640 because it is a different shape from the other pens in that it has a slightly bulbous/curvy shape to the barrel which tapes down to the grip. I got this one second hand with a CI grind on it so I’m not sure who did the grind. I used up the last of my Diamine Golden Brown sample to ink it up, so guess it’s time to get a bottle, right?

M805 Blue Dunes - I have the hardest time refusing blue pens, especially when it has something interesting going on, like these blue and black swirls. This is my only M8xx pen that has an Extra Fine nib on it, too. Thought I’d pair it with a blue that I get to see at a lot of pen shows - Franklin-Christoph Blue 72.

M800 Green Demonstrator - This is the re-release of the Green Demonstrator, and I swapped in a factory Italic Broad (nib says “IB”) to show off the bright green ink that I picked - Papier Plume Marina Green (from the 2019 SF Pen Show).

M815 Metal Striped Blue - This was probably my most anticipated pen for me. I already have this in Black, but in Blue, it was a must-have. I don’t know why I picked Fine, because I seem to only have Fine or Broads (and the lone EF in the Dunes) in this size. I picked a rich, darker blue for this pen - Stilo e Stile’s Praetorian Blu.

After inking up these Pelikans, I found a few lesser known Pelikans in the “to-be-inked” pile and thought, what the heck, let’s ink them up too!

Lesser known Pelikans:

• P40 Pura , Bordeaux
• Style, Neon Green
• Ineo, Ocean Blue
• Piña Colada, Rosé

P40 Pura, Bordeaux - I usually pick Medium nibs when I get a pen/model that I’m not familiar with, but I decided to get a Broad for a change. It is a smooth writer that lays down a nice amount of ink. I picked Diamine Red Dragon because it matches and also because I hadn’t used this classic ink in a long time. Such a great reminder that we often have great stuff in our possession already (not that it’ll stop me from getting more inks, lol).

Style - Neon Green - I liked to call this my TRON pen, even though I’ve never watched the movies. The black portions of the pen have a slightly rubbery feeling to them (I wonder if it will eventually end up feeling sticky/tacky), and the green is a slick plastic, similar to Lamy Safaris or LEGO. I unironically picked Visconti Wheatfield Under Thunderclouds because (1) it’s the closest match I have and (2) now they both have the same distributor (Coles of London).

Ineo, Ocean Blue - I was shocked at the price when I saw it earlier this year. $30-35 for a metal fountain pen is pretty good, especially when it has the Pelikan name on it! This slim, snap cap pen also fits in my PLOTTER pen sleeve (though I don’t store it in there since there is no clip - I’m a little paranoid). The slightly teardrop shape of the cap reminds me of the Lamy Ideos. Robert Oster Sydney flows well in the Ineo’s Medium nib.

Piña Colada, Rosé - This metallic pen reminds me a bit of the Lamy Al-Star (both have “interesting” clips, both have metal barrels, both have triangular grips), but this one is available for ~$15 which is quite the bargain. The Piña Colada’s grip is rubbery as opposed to plastic like the Lamy, so again, I wonder about whether that will become tacky/gummy over time. Hopefully it’ll be a long time before that happens (if ever). I picked Oblation Papers’ Rose City Rose for this Rosé’s Medium nib. ==nib size== Writing samples with similar nib sizes across different models.

I’ve got 16 Pelikans inked up - 12 piston fillers and 4 cartridge/converter pens - so I can’t wait to get to the Hub so folks can try out the pens, and so I can start writing them dry! Gonna take me a while, so wish me luck!

Happy Hub! And happy writing!

---

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!