Posts filed under Fountain Pens

Wingback Fountain Pen Review

After enjoying Wingback’s previous releases, the Mechanical Pen and the Mechanical Pencil, I was happy when they reached out to send me a review sample of their current release, the Wingback Fountain Pen.

Like their previous two releases, the Fountain Pen features various metal barrels - in this case Brass, Stainless Steel, and Titanium - plus a knurled grip section. This style is consistent through all of Wingback’s writing lineup, and, while these are simple, classic designs, I appreciate the refinement and clarity of the final product.

Being a stainless steel fan, I was happy that was the material I received for my review model. Like with previous Wingback designs, this pen is on the small side of the ledger, but it is not a small pen. At just under 10 mm in diameter, and 117 mm in length when capped, it is a perfect pocketable, portable size.

Weight-wise, the stainless model checks in at 39 grams. That’s on the heavy side, but to be expected given the material choice. Heavy is fine if it is balanced, but this one is not. When unposted, the pen is too short for anything but quick notes. That means the cap needs to be posted, and when it is, the weight shifts too far to the rear.

Having the weight towards the end of the pen means that as you lighten or adjust your grip, the pen twists in your hand. That also means you have to re-adjust your grip to get the nib back to the proper writing angle. As it turns out, I do this a lot, so the weight imbalance was very apparent to me. If your grip is on lock and stays that way, you won’t run into this as much as I have.

Designing a shorter cap is obviously a solution, but that breaks the design symmetry it looks like Wingback has gone for with this pen. Is there an easier solution if this looks like a pen you will like? Yes. Choose the Titanium option.

*#TeamStainless, from top to bottom: Wingback Pencil, Pen, and Fountain Pen.*

I’m a huge stainless steel fan, but at less than half the weight (19g for Titanium, 39g for stainless steel,) I know which pen will work better for me. Even though the design doesn’t change, there is so much less weight that I’d wager the balance issue will be negated almost completely.

As I obsess over the balance, it is easy to forget the writing aspects of the pen. In short, it’s great. I’ve become a fan of Bock’s #5 nib ever since I got one in my Hardy Penwrights Model 10-R Retro Fountain Pen. As I mentioned in that review, it is around a 5-1/2 size, which works well for this pen.

My initial inking of this pen was with the included black short international cartridge. That’s something I rarely do - use the default cartridge - but I accidentally engaged it when unboxing so I went for it. I should do that more often, because this ink is great! Maybe it’s because I haven’t used a smooth, rich, black ink in a while, but I’m sure enjoying it.

The included ink cartridges should never be part of your buying decision, but it does bring up another consideration: what filling options do I have for this pen? Short international options, mostly. If you are feeling frisky, Wingback mentions the possibility of eyedropper-filling this pen, but you go first and let me know.

*#TeamStainless, Part 2, from top to bottom: Kaweco Liliput Ballpoint, Kaweco Steel Sport, Wingback Fountain Pen.*

What should be a consideration is price, and the Wingback Fountain Pen is priced right. £95 for Brass or Stainless, £135 for Black Steel or Titanium. That’s completely fair for a pen of this quality.

The Wingback Fountain Pen is now available on Kickstarter, and is well past its funding goal. There are aways risks with Kickstarter, but so far, Wingback has run great campaigns that have gone smoothly. This one ends 17 days from the time of this post, so be sure to check it out if this fountain pen fits your needs.

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

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Posted on September 18, 2023 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Wingback, Fountain Pens, Kickstarter, Pen Reviews.

Waldmann Xetra Vienna - Waiting for the Birthday Pen

(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 this article comes out, it will be my birthday, yay! Another successful trip around the sun! And heading into the SF Pen Show, I knew exactly what birthday pen I was going to get. You see, when I found out that the President of Waldmann (Stefan Schnirch) would be coming to the SF Pen Show this year AND bringing their master engraver Stefanie Ottile, I knew that another Waldmann would be in my future. I also thought it would be a good idea to ink up one of my favorite Waldmanns to show Mr. Schnirch that I really do use their pens!

I inked up my Waldmann Xetra Vienna in White/Silver a bit before the SF Show and I am still loving it as much as I did when I got it in the summer of 2020 (ah, pandemic pen purchases, anyone else?). I won’t go into the specs of the Xetra Vienna since the Bossman did a great write up earlier this year. He reviewed the 18kt gold Fine nib, so I will talk a little about the Fine steel nib in mine. Waldmann’s nibs are made by Jowo but are custom-tuned to their specifications, so they don’t feel like a stock Jowo nib. It’s difficult to explain but it feels smoother and ever so slightly softer, though I wouldn’t call it remotely bouncy or flexy. The ink flow is consistent and the writing experience was solid. I’ve inked it up several times over the past few years and it never disappoints.

*Inked up with Kobe #80 Rokko Alpine Primrose, this Waldmann Xetra Vienna is always a delight to write with.*

*Just look at the detail on the engraving!*

I could have picked this pen in other color combinations, including Black and a White with Rose Gold trim (Blue, Pink and Green are now options too). Normally, I would be all over the rose gold but I picked this one because it reminded me of my wedding dress. Here are some gratuitous photos of my Xetra Vienna with pictures of my wedding dress, tiara and wedding cake.

Knowing that Waldmann’s master engraver would be working on Xetra Viennas, the hard part was picking the color. Blue would be the obvious answer since that’s one of my favorite colors but the pink was a really nice color too! And good timing with the Barbie movie! But since my birthday falls in September and the birthstone is sapphire (which is blue), I went for the blue.

I can’t begin to explain what all the pieces are or how they are used, but in short, there is a wooden clamp piece (a jig, I believe) which holds the piece/barrel to be engraved. That jig is then mounted onto a large engraving ball, which allows Stefanie to turn the piece as she does the engraving. The barrels are color-enameled over a metal tube, so she is removing the enamel as part of the engraving, revealing the metal beneath it.

*Stefanie is engraving a bridge onto the barrel. It was amazing to watch her control of the chisel and hammer.*

*This is the completed bridge before she works on the rest of the barrel.*

Aside from the engraving skill, Stefanie was also able to tune out all of the noise and distractions of a busy pen show, including people shoving cameras in her workspace (this is me taking a picture of Bryce from LBA taking a video.)

Stefanie usually engraves about 8-9 pens per day when she is working, but at the show, she cranked out a few more than that, all while making unique designs with the Vienna motif around them.

*Here’s another shot of Stefanie engraving the Vienna motif on a pink barrel.*

Since we don’t have video on the blog, here is a reel of Stefanie doing the engraving and this is actually my pen barrel!

As all of the pen barrels have traveled back to Germany to be lacquered, finished and assembled, I won’t have the pen in time for my birthday. But that’s just fine because this white Xetra Vienna is a great stand-in until that one arrives. Happy Birthday to me and to all the September babies out there! Best wishes to all to stay safe and stay inky!

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Posted on September 8, 2023 by Kimberly Lau and filed under Waldmann, Fountain Pens.

Platinum Prefounte 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.)

One of the easiest pens to recommend to people new to fountain pens is the Platinum Preppy. It's just a few bucks, it performs well, and it's even refillable. While it's great for an entry point or for testing nibs, it does look like a cheap, disposable pen (even though it's refillable). There are plenty of other Platinum fountain pens (and, of course, many other brands) that provide a little more style and durability, but they come at a higher price. The Platinum Plaisir is just over $20 and comes with a metal body, but I just don't like the design. The shiny band on the cap feels too out of place for my taste. Fortunately, there's another option that is closer to the Preppy in price, but with a cleaner and more durable design.

The Platinum Prefounte is a entry-level fountain pen that packs the same great nib and feed system found in the Preppy and Plaisir, but with a trimmed profile and more durable materials. I'm a sucker for anything that uses semi-transparent colored plastics — especially blues, greens, and purples, and this dark emerald variant of the Prefounte is lovely. The color and opaqueness of the material is uniform, but it looks like it shades due to the varying thickness of the material in different areas of the pen. I love looking at this pen while it's on my desk, and I'm still shocked that it costs only $11.

If you've ever used a Preppy or Plaisir, the Prefounte will feel very similar to both of these. The grips are the same, and it's only the balance of the pens that differ due to slightly different weights. The transparent grip provides a great view to the gray feed, and it also has a good feel when writing. The plastic material isn't slippery, and it remains comfortable to use even after a few minutes. It's a straight profile, but I find that there's plenty of tactile grip without a tapered shape or textured surface. The pen is so light that you don't need contouring or texture to provide extra grip control.

The nib is also the same nib that you'll find on any sub-$100 Platinum, which means it will perform well out of the box and provide a smooth writing experience. The Prefounte comes with either a fine (03) or medium (05) nib. The section unscrews from the body so that you can pop in a Platinum cartridge or converter. There's a single black cartridge included with the pen, but I opted for a blue-black cartridge that I already had on hand. You could add a converter to this pen, but at $11, I'm not sure I'd by one specifically for this pen. I'd certainly use a converter if I already had one that wasn't being used in another Platinum pen, so it's nice to have that option.

The cap uses a snap fit for securing it to the pen. Uncapping and capping the pen both have a satisfying feel, and I have no concerns that the cap will come off when in a bag or pocket. There's also a nice click sound and feel when capping the pen so you know for sure that it's secure.

The only branding on the pen is on the base of the cap. There's a small "Prefounte" logo directly under the clip, and a "Platinum" logo on the opposite side. Speaking of the clip, it's really strong. It's metal, so it also makes the pen look slightly more professional. It has no trouble securing the pen to anything it can fit under the clip.

With the Prefounte, this has become my standard recommendation for someone that is interested in getting into fountain pens. It's such a great nib/grip platform, and the nicer build and materials make it easier for people that want something that looks nicer than a Preppy. At $11, it's a fantastic value, but still a low enough price for folks that aren't sure if they'll like fountain pens. This makes a great entry-level "try it out" pen, but also a great low cost gift for that fountain-pen-curious friend, or even a great beater pen to carry yourself. The Prefounte only adds value to the Preppy platform, and I'm so glad it exists.

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

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