Kaweco Student Fountain Pen - 30’s Blues Review

(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!.)

When I discovered this pen in a recent shipment from the Bossman, I had thoughts. One of which was “Surely, this pen has been reviewed before” and yes, yes, it has been - by Susan, Jeff and Sarah. I deliberately didn’t read their reviews so I wouldn’t be biased, but it’s not that often that several of us are reviewing the same model, so definitely check them out to get our respective thoughts on this pen.

The other thought I had was that I once owned a Kaweco Student and sold it because it was one of the very few pens that I had a tough time writing with because the grip section felt slippery and skinny. Would I want to put myself through writing with this pen just to do a review? Not really, but I did it anyway, cuz #science, I love you all and I’m a glutton for punishment so why not? Read on to see if my thoughts on it have changed.

The Kaweco Student Fountain Pen that I am reviewing is called 30’s Blues. Kaweco used musical decade/genres to name the different colorways, like 20’s Jazz, 50’s Rock, 60’s Swing, 70’s Soul and this one, 30’s Blues. To my knowledge, they have not released anything for the 40’s and I can’t wait to see what they would do for the 80’s and 90’s but I digress.

All of the pens in this series have an ivory-colored barrel with a solid color cap and gold-colored clip, trim, grip and nib. Aside from this series, the Kaweco Student could be found in solid colors like Black, Vintage Blue, Red, etc. as well as a demonstrator. It is a cartridge/converter pen but did not come with a converter. I chose to syringe fill an empty cartridge with Colorverse Project 004 Dirty Red, which is a great match to the cap and has average flow. This pen has a fine nib so I was curious to see how it performed, as the writing experience for some of the Kawecos can be hit and miss.

Kaweco Student 30’s Blues…but with a red cap.

I was pleasantly surprised that, after setting it nib down for a bit to let the ink flow from the cartridge, the pen wrote nicely. It wasn’t scratchy or dry (nor wet), and it actually had a nice almost-Japanese fine width to it with just a hint of tooth/feedback. It wrote beautifully out of the box, no cleaning or rinsing or anything. Yay!

Taken from the Kaweco Student Fountain Pen webpage which explains how it got its name.

Here’s how it compares to some other nib widths for other currently inked pens.

I wrote with the pen about half a dozen times over the course of the past month and it has worked without issues on all of them, except once when the ink was “stuck” to the bottom of the cartridge and the pen worked after a couple quick taps to the cart. I’ve done everything from quick to-do items to longer writing sessions and each time, the pen wrote flawlessly and it was a pleasurable writing experience. The grip that caused me to sell my own Student pen several years back doesn’t seem to be bothering me at all this time around. I wasn’t gripping the pen any tighter (or looser) than I usually do. I can’t explain why it worked for me this time around. I will say that the grip still feels a bit thinner to me, but it might be the slight concave shape of the grip that makes it feel so thin. The grip looks metal but feels both metallic and plasticky at the same time - hard to explain so you will either have to try one or take my word for it. And it is also a fingerprint magnet.

Left to Right: Kaweco Sport, Pilot Prera, Sailor Lecoule, Esterbrook JR, Pilot Kakuno, Kaweco Student, Sailor Compass, Kaweco Perkeo, Platinum Procyon, Faber-Castell Grip, TWSBI Eco, Lamy Safari.

I’m glad I gave this pen a second chance because I really liked the Kaweco Student this time around. It is a classy looking acrylic pen that has a slight bit of heft thanks to the metal grip section, is available in a variety of colors, and writes like any of the Kaweco Sport nibs (which means your mileage may vary, especially with the EFs). I do like that the nib units are screwed in (as opposed to glued in for many of the Sport models), so you can swap in different nib sizes. The price of the Kaweco Student typically ranges from $60-70 though you can sometimes find the solid options for ~$52. ~$50-60 feels like a good price for this pen, but I think $70 is a bit much. You can find this one at JetPens for $60 which I think is reasonable.

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

Aurora 88 Unica Nera Fountain Pen Review

(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. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

First of all, I want to thank everyone who weighed in this past fall to help decide what pen I would use for NaNoWriMo this year. May I just say that you all have excellent taste. The Aurora 88 Unica Nera was perfect in every way. I also want to thank Kenro Industries for letting me borrow this exquisite pen even after they were warned that I was going to put it through the wringer. And I want to thank Brad for helping organize this fun exercise. He doesn't even (visibly) flinch when I say, "Hey, I have this wild idea..."

I normally have at least five pens in rotation, often as many as a dozen, so switching to just one pen for a month was a challenge! But with such a nice pen, it was also a pleasure. I did miss my other pens, of course, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent with the Aurora.

The Aurora 88 Unica Nera is made from a matte finish black resin with shiny black accents and a black-coated gold nib. There is a smokey-clear acrylic ink window at the base of the grip section. It has a piston-fill system that holds a substantial amount of ink. The cap screws on, and it does post, though that might scratch the finish over time. The clip is very firm--I have to manually lift it to get it to slide over paper or a pen case. It's definitely not going to slide off easily.

The pen feels very substantial and strong. It weighs almost 20g and nothing about it feels light or cheap, though it also isn't heavy. It really feels like the luxury pen that it is. The piston and cap all thread very smoothly and all the joins are precise and seamless.

I confess, I was a little nervous about the nib. In the past, black-coated nibs that I've tried have felt too dry, or like they have a grippy texture that doesn't flow smoothly across the page. I had no such issue with this pen. The nib is smooth and perfectly tuned. This nib is an EF, though I noticed some subtle italic-ness to it. It definitely has a sweet spot where this effect is highlighted, but it writes well regardless of writing angle or speed. I did notice that the pen had some trouble keeping up with ink supply when I was writing very quickly for very long periods of time, but that's to be expected. If the pen needs a little break after speed-writing 2k words, I probably do, too.

Overall, this pen is elegant, luxurious, and a fantastic writer. It survived my NaNoWriMo adventure across 3 states, 4 airports, 3 hotels, 6 libraries, and 2 road trips. It stayed perfectly safe in my Musubi pen case and never leaked once. The only thing that makes me sad is that the adventure is over! Alas, at $585, it's outside my price range. I won't say it's not worth that price, though (as much as any pen is worth the price we Pen Addicts will pay for the right pen). An Aurora is definitely in my future, though, when the right time comes.

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

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Gravitas Pocket Fountain Pen Review

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

Gravitas Pens, maker of custom machined writing instruments, have been around for over three years at this point. I'm surprised I've still only tried a couple of their pens so far, and I'm excited to see what they're coming up with.

I recently had the opportunity to try out one of their more classic designs — the Pocket Fountain Pen with a medium nib. This all-metal pocket pen is delightfully small while still being surprisingly big when the cap is posted. Similar to a Kaweco Sport in size and functionality, this variation has its own tricks and highlights.

The exterior parts of the pen are all made of aluminum that has been anodized black, though there are several other color options if matte black isn't your style. The aluminum is hefty but still lightweight. The grip section is made of PVD-coated stainless steel, which gives it more weight where it counts. The balance of the pen is near perfect due to this lower center of gravity. With the cap posted, it feels just like a full-size pen. And, to be sure it doesn't roll away when not in use, there's a flat edge on the cap. Bonus points: the Gravitas logo is on the opposite side of the flat edge so that the logo faces up when it's laying on your desk. Excellent little detail.

The cap secures to the pen with threads, and it only takes 1.5 turns to open or close it. The section also secures to the pen body with threads, but there are many more turns involved with removing or installing the section. The number of threads — 11.5 turns by my count — make me think that you can use this pen as an eyedropper (as long as you remember to use some silicone grease on the threads) if you want to increase the ink capacity. I haven't tried this yet, but the thought hasn't left my head since I first realized how secure the section attachment is. One day...

Otherwise, the options are few in terms of ink cartridges for this pen. Compact pocket pens trade off ink capacity in favor of size, and I'm all for it. Just know what you're getting into. International short cartridges fit this pen perfectly, and that still gives you plenty of ink options.

The Pocket fountain pen also features a #6 JoWo nib, which is a wonderfully large nib for such a compact pen. Oddly enough, the large size fits it really well — especially when the cap is posted. Looking at a Kaweco Sport nib after this makes the Kaweco body/nib pairing look comical. The large #6 nib is the perfect choice for this pen. In my case, it's a medium nib and writes beautifully out of the box.

The grip section has machined grooves that provide excellent grip and tactile feedback. It feels really secure in my hand and is easy to write with. The secure grip is also due to the lower center of gravity that the stainless steel provides. Again, once you post the cap, the balance is perfect and this pen is a joy to use.

It's really easy to think that this is just a copy-cat Kaweco Sport or AL Sport. Yes, it certainly borrows some ideas from the form of the Kaweco, but this is a completely different pen in my mind. For one, it feels more substantial in the hand due to the materials. That's not to say that Kaweco AL Sports don't use good materials — the Gravitas Pocket just feels like everything is just a little thicker. Once again, the stainless steel section also makes your brain think that it's high quality due to the small weight difference.

While the Kaweco has faceted edges all around the cap, the Gravitas Pocket only has one that's intended to keep the pen from rolling away. The top and bottom of the Gravitas also has a sharp cone shape that I personally love.

The last similarity is size — the Gravitas Pocket and Kaweco Sport are both pocket pens that look roughly the same size! But I was genuinely surprised when I set them side by side and noticed a difference. The Gravitas is actually a good bit smaller than the Kaweco when closed, but longer when open and posted. This is a wonderful design feature that makes the pen more portable while also being more comfortable when writing. Beautiful.

The Gravitas Pocket Fountain Pen is currently €95. Depending on where you live and how the exchange rates work out, this is probably still an excellent deal. Kaweco AL Sports start at around $75 — not much less than the Gravitas. This is where I'm really torn. I love the design, feel, and usability of the Kaweco Sport line. They're incredible pens and easier to come by. Plus, with the price starting a little lower you can also throw in an extra nib or some ink before you hit the $100 mark. But the Gravitas Pocket is also an excellent pen. It reminds you of the Kaweco Sport design, but it feels completely unique in your hand. I fell in love with it almost instantaneously. That makes it a tough job to compare them side by side when you're trying to make a choice.

For me, it comes down to what you're looking for. Will this be your first pocket pen? Maybe start with the Kaweco Sport to try out the form factor with your writing style. Do you already love the Kaweco Sport style and know that pocket pens work well for you? Then absolutely pick up a Gravitas Pocket. It's familiar, but still unique and so good in its own rite.

The Gravitas Pocket Fountain Pen comes in a variety of colors, materials, and finishes, and you also have the option of Fine Flex, EF, F, M, B, 1.1 Stub or 1.5 Stub.

Good luck deciding!

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

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