(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)
I love demonstrator pens, and I love fine stubs, so I was pretty excited to learn about the Nemosine Singularity earlier this year. And while I'm not super thrilled with it, I do think it's a very decent pen.
The pen is made of see-through plastic--this one in a smoky grey-brown color that is really lovely. It also comes in clear, teal/blue, and pink. The plastic seems very sturdy. I may have accidentally field tested this feature while I was taking photos. I can confidently say that it withstands a four-foot drop onto hardwood floors with nary a fuss, apart from a wee spray of ink in the cap. It has a metal cap band with the brand "Nemosine" etched on it. It has a metal clip that is a bit stiff, but functional. It has a very comfortable black plastic grip section.
The pen takes cartridges or a converter, and comes with both. It actually came with six cartridges, which I thought was very generous. The converter has a small plastic bead in it to serve as an agitator to help the ink flow to the feed instead of being stuck up by the piston. The last bit of ink still seemed to get stuck, so I'm not sure it's quite helping.
The nib is steel, and one of the prettiest in the business, I think. It's etched with a lovely butterfly. The Nemosine nibs are easily interchangeable--replacement nibs can be purchased for about $10. The .6mm stub on my pen is a little bit snaggy. I think it needs some smoothing to give me a better writing experience. And for all its snagginess, it isn't as crisp a stub as I'd been hoping for. The horizontal lines are definitely thinner than the vertical lines, but the pen is such a wet writer that the definition almost completely disappears. At times it just looks like I'm writing with a broad nib. It may be one of the wettest writers I've ever used, and even occasionally burps ink. I tried making sure everything was seated and aligned correctly, but I still get the occasional blorp of ink from the base of the feed. I've only used it with the converter, so perhaps using a cartridge will help--I need to do a little more experimenting to see what might be the cause of my very inky fingers.
Because this pen is so wet, it really needs well-coated or heavy paper. It bleeds through cheap copy paper almost like a Sharpie. It even feathers a little on Rhodia. But after playing with it, I feel like this very wet stub might be good for bringing out the sheen in inks. It's a great pen for trying out inks with shimmer, since the nib can be removed for cleaning. The low price-point makes it an ideal guinea pig pen for ink experiments.
If someone had handed me this pen without telling me what it was, I'd have guessed it to be more expensive than it is. I think it's at a price point to be a great beginner fountain pen, especially with all the nib options to play with. In terms of quality and writing experience, I think it's comparable to the TWSBI Eco.
My disappointment with the .6mm stub is the only thing holding me back from really loving this pen. The ink burping I can live with--I just wouldn't use it to write wedding invites or important business letters. To my pen pals, that's just a bonus ink swab. Since the nibs are so easily replaceable, though, I think it's a good opportunity for me to practice my nib tuning skills. I'll beat up the nib a little and fill the pen with some garish, volatile ink, and I think I and the Singularity will get along just fine.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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