Posts filed under Fountain Pens

Kaweco Student Fountain Pen 70's Soul Review

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

The Kaweco Student has been around for a few years, but I've never had the chance to try one out until I received the 70's Soul edition a few weeks ago. The Student is very similar in shape and size to the Kaweco Dia2, but the Student is about 0.2 inches shorter and comes in many color options compared to the monotone Dia2 options. Compared to the much more common Sport and AL Sport, the Student is a full inch longer when capped, and much more comfortable to use uncapped. After using this pen for only a few minutes, I wished I had tried one out sooner!

The standard Student color options all feature silver trim and accents, but the 70's Soul edition has gold accents and a bright gold nib. The nib is still stainless steel (plated in something gold colored), and performs exactly as you'd expect from a well-tuned Kaweco nib. The body of the pen is a pleasant cream color, while the cap is a brighter retro orange that pairs nicely with the body.

The materials used on the pen are incredibly high-quality. The gold accents shine nicely and the large clip matches perfectly to the wide cap. The metal section is smooth but has a contoured shape that makes gripping the pen comfortable. The body and cap are made of a high-quality thick acrylic. This is nothing like the Kaweco Sport materials, as the Student feels heavier and more durable due to the thicker material. In all, it really feels great in the hand due to the premium materials.

Writing with the pen has been surprisingly pleasant. I was expecting something on par with the Kaweco Sport or AL Sport, but I've enjoyed writing with the Student even more than I anticipated. The medium length makes it comfortable and lightweight when using it uncapped, but the overall length when capped is still completely usable. The nib is smooth and required no adjustments, and the ink flow is steady and consistent. It's the gold standard by which all Kaweco nibs should perform out of the box. With the visual flair and unique colors, I'd love to try this pen with a modified nib to further increase the sophistication and personality of the pen's aesthetics.

Another positive for this Kaweco is that the additional length of the body provides room for a proper converter. That's right — you can use a standard converter with this pen. Kaweco sells one, but you can use any international converter that fits inside the pen body.

The Kaweco Student has quickly become one of my favorite pens. The 70's Soul color is a fun and unique combo, and the $60 price tag is fair considering the materials used. If the orange cream combo isn't your thing, you can also pick up the Student in Black, Vintage Blue, Red, Transparent Clear, and White. With each color, you also have the option of EF, F, M, and B nibs. If you choose one of the original colors, there's also a small price break (about $8 less than the 70's Soul version).

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

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Posted on August 21, 2019 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Kaweco, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Retro 51 Tornado Fountain Pen New Model Review

Retro 51 makes some of the best - and most popular - rollerball and ballpoint pens on the market. In fact, they have made their own market by creating pens that are of a high quality, and are as fun as they are functional.

They make fountain pens too, but those take a backseat to their other offerings. I reviewed the previous version of the Retro 51 Tornado Fountain Pen in 2014, and while it was fine, it wasn’t compelling enough to recommend in it’s price bracket.

At the time, its clear flaw was the grip section. It was slick, and had a straight taper. It was just asking your fingers to slide right off. It wrote well enough, but the balance was a bit off, even unposted. In short, Retro 51 had some work to do to make their fountain pen a product worth standing next to the rest of their product lineup.

They did it with newly updated Retro 51 Tornado Fountain Pen.

Retro 51 took the universal feedback they received on the old version of the pen and fixed all of it. First off, the grip section is enjoyable! It is concave, and has a different finish that eliminates the majority of the slippage the previous version had. Secondly, the balance of the pen unposted is right on the money. When writing, you don’t necessarily want to feel the pen in your hand when doing so. You just want it to exist, and be enjoyable. This one is.

When posted, it is still going to be top-heavy, but that is because this is a metal barrel pen, and any posted metal barrel pen will have the same issue.

With those two main issues out of the way, Retro 51 went ahead and upgraded the nib. They went from a good one in Schmidt, to a great one in Jowo. And it is stamped with their logo too, which is something I personally enjoy.

If you couldn’t tell by my handwriting on the page, this EF steel nib was perfect right out of the box. I inked it up with Rohrer & Klingner Aubergine, broke out my Yoseka notebook, and enjoyed the writing experience.

That’s what I want every time I pick up a product. To enjoy the experience. In the past, the Retro 51 Tornado Fountain Pen didn’t give me that. It does now.

At it’s price point ($52 on Goldspot for the base level Tornado) it is now a compelling product versus the competition, such as TWSBI and Faber-Castell. And I think that is a good place to be.

(Retro 51 provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on August 5, 2019 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Retro 51, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Nakaya Long Cigar in Aka-Tamenuri with Kanji and a Gold Zogan: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

I’ve come to the conclusion that my all-time favorite fountain pens are Nakayas. I simply adore them. I love their simple aesthetic, balance in the hand, incredible nibs, and the way they sing when I write with them.

I found this Nakaya on the nibs.com “pre-owned” page and snapped it up. I don’t have a long cigar in my collection, nor do I have any Nakayas with Kanji or gold zogans.

Nakayas are packaged in a softwood box (Paulownia wood) with a red velveteen insert. Included are a kimono (not pictured) and a box of Nakaya cartridges. The pen comes with a Nakaya converter as well.

The Long Cigar is just that: long. It measures 165mm capped and 145mm uncapped. Nakayas aren’t really meant to be posted. Even so, it is not a heavy pen at all, weighing only 27 grams capped and 20 grams uncapped (with converter inked). The pen is perfectly balanced in the hand.

This Nakaya has the Aka-Tamenuri finish, which is a red urushi. You can best see the subtleties of the color when you look at the cap edges and the grip section (pictured below).

In addition, this Nakaya has two extra special touches: Kanji and a gold zogan. The kanji, ikemori means something like “guardian of the pond.” A friend on Instagram explained that it refers to a person in charge of irrigation ponds in medieval Japan. Since this is a pre-owned pen, I don’t know what the Kanji symbolized to the original owner, but I decided to think of the pond as my poetry and this pen as a guardian, since I write out my poetry long hand first.

The gold zogan inlay is a diamond shape, hand painted in 24k yellow gold. It adds an extra touch of zen-like beauty to the pen.

This is my second Nakaya with an elastic nib. I reviewed my first here. An elastic nib is a soft nib that has been modified with cutouts.

This makes the nib separate from the feed in such a way that it feels like you’re writing with a paintbrush. The elastic modification does not provide flex, so you won’t see much line variation with this nib. But, the elastic nib is my favorite nib to write with. It is bouncy, soft, and forces you to maintain a consistent, flowing rhythm as you write.

*The ink used here is* *Kyo-no-oto Adzuki-iro*

I realize that Nakaya pens aren’t for everyone. They are quite expensive, especially when you add features like Kanji, a zogan inlay, and a specialty nib. But, these pens speak to me like no others. The urushi warms to your hand and the smooth lines and earthy colors evoke peace.

(I purchased this Nakaya with my own funds.)

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