The Pelikan Stola III (Fountain Pen, Rollerball, and Ballpoint): 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.)

Pelikan introduced a new line of pens in the fall of 2015 called Stola. The Stola I line is matte and glossy black and comes in a ballpoint and rollerball. The Stola II line (also ballpoint and rollerball) combines two colors: black and matte silver, and the ballpoint pen includes a stylus. These two lines do not appear to be available in America. The Stola III line is matte silver with black accents and is the only one that includes a fountain pen. The word "stola" in German means "wrap," so perhaps the name derives from the special coating used on the pens.

The Pelikan Stola III comes in three flavors: fountain pen, rollerball, and ballpoint. All three are coated with matte-silver lacquer with black plastic accents and a steel clip. The barrels are brass, coated with the same silver lacquer. This gives the pens a nice amount of heft in the hand, but they are not overly heavy.

Each pen comes packaged in a minimalist silver box with a black foam interior and ribbon holder.

The cap (for the fountain pen and rollerball) is made of aluminum and bears the Pelikan logo on its finial.

The black steel clip shape echoes the pelican beak clips on the higher-end Pelikan fountain pens, though it is an outline not solid. It is also very tight so it might be difficult to clip onto thick fabric. The Pelikan name is printed in black at the bottom of the cap which snaps on.

The Fountain Pen

The Stola III fountain pen comes with a medium steel nib (no other sizes are offered). The nib is engraved with some simple scroll work.

A high-capacity cartridge with blue ink is provided with the pen. The Pelikan site doesn't clarify whether or not the pen can use a Pelikan converter. It only mentions the large cartridges and the Pelikan Edelstein ink cartridges.

The Stola writes quite well. I noticed a couple of skips from time to time, but no hard starts. It writes smoothly, but offers no flex or bounce. This is a hard nib.

The Stola III fountain pen is a nice alternative to the Lamy AL-Star, a very similar pen at a similar price point. For those of us who don't like the Lamy's grip section, the Stola offers a smooth grip with a brass (rather than aluminum) barrel. The Stola is significantly shorter than the Lamy (4.625 inches vs. 5.12 inches unposted). I tried posting the Stola and the cap kept popping off, so if length is important to you, the Stola might be too short. The Stola is heavier than the Lamy at 1.2 ounces vs. 0.78 ounces. Unlike the Lamy, you don't have numerous color choices with the Stola, but the Stola seems much more sophisticated in design.

The Rollerball

The Stola III rollerball I reviewed has a medium width stroke, but you can get Pelikan 338 refills in blue or black in fine, medium, or broad.

The rollerball writes smoothly and the ink is bold. I didn't encounter any ink blobbing, hard starts, or skipping. The pen is a nice weight (1.2 ounces) and feels good in the hand. Like the fountain pen, it is almost impossible to post the cap.

The Ballpoint

The Stola III ballpoint uses a twist mechanism to extend and retract the point. Compared to the other two pens, its grip section is quite broad (0.438 inches). Because of this, the pen was uncomfortable for me to hold and my hand tired easily. However, of the three pens, this one is the lightest at 0.9 ounces.

Like the rollerball, my review pen came with a medium stroke. But, once again, you can get 337 refills in black, blue, or red in fine, medium, or broad.

The ballpoint was the least impressive of the three pens in terms of writing. The ink didn't flow as well and was definitely lighter than the rollerball ink. The pen seemed to drag on the paper.

You can purchase any of the three Stola III pens from Goldspot Pens. The fountain pen is $35.95; the rollerball is $27.95, and the ballpoint is $27.95. Refills for the rollerball and ballpoint run $10.00 a piece.

Pros

• The Stola III pens are very reasonably priced.
• The construction of these pens is solid, and the matte silver with black accents is classy looking.
• The fountain pen and rollerball write beautifully.
• These pens would make wonderful gifts for fountain pen newbies, graduates, officemates, and others.

Cons

• Of the three pens, I would recommend only the fountain pen and rollerball. The ballpoint was uncomfortable and the least smooth writer.
• The fountain pen is fairly short and posting the cap is difficult.
• You don't have any nib choices for the fountain pen other than medium.

(Goldspot Pens provided these products at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes).

Pilot Stargazer in Ruby Red: 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.)

The Pilot Stargazer is a beautiful little pen made of lacquered brass. It comes in a presentation box with a clear plastic cut out. It's not as glamorous as some boxes, but it's nice enough that you could certainly give the pen as a gift.

The Stargazer is a small pen that requires posting to feel well balanced. Even though it's small lengthwise (120mm capped; 134mm posted), it has quite a bit of heft to it since the barrel and cap are made of brass. At 27 grams, it feels substantial in the hand.

It's smaller than a Pelikan M600 when it's capped. But when you post it, it's about the same length as the Pelikan capped.

The ruby red lacquer is gorgeous. It's a deep red with a luminous finish.

The pen boasts a number of decorative details. The cap sports a rhodium-plated clip. The bottom of the cap has a large rhodium ring, set off by engraved black rings above and below. The words "Pilot Japan" are also engraved in the ring.

Rhodium rings circle the grip where the nib is inserted and the area between the grip and the barrel. Another ring is near the base of the barrel. These details accentuate the pen quite nicely.

The grip appears to be made of plastic, not brass, which makes it easy to hold. Sometimes metal grips make for sweaty fingers and slippery writing. But not with this pen.

The nib is 14K gold plated in rhodium. It's a tiny nib, but still features beautiful scroll work along with Pilot's name, the gold content, and the nib size (this one is a fine).

The nib is fantastic. It writes like an extra-fine (Japanese nibs tend to be more narrow than their Western counterparts). Even so, it writes smoothly with no scratchiness, hard starts, or skipping. Pilot nibs are almost always trouble free in my experience.

The pen uses a cartridge/converter filling system and comes with a Con-50 converter.

The Stargazer is an impressive little pen. It is well made and has more decorative features than some more expensive pens. It would make an excellent pocket pen and/or small notebook pen. The cap snaps on securely, and the pen is small and substantial enough to be an EDC.

You can find the Pilot Stargazer in Ruby Red, Sapphire, Black, and Pearl for $152.00 at Goulet Pens.

Pros

• The Stargazer is a small, balanced, well-made fountain pen.
• The nib is excellent.
• Ruby Red is a beautiful lacquered color.
• The pen works well as a pocket pen and/or as an EDC.

Cons

• It is a small pen, so people with larger hands may find this pen too small for comfort.
• The Con-50 converter only holds .84ml of ink.

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

Uni Style Fit 3 Multi Pen Review

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

Just when I thought my curiosity with multi pens was at an end, I find another "need" to fill with a new pen. I've reviewed several multi pens in the past, and they're all pretty similar. Really, it comes down to personal preference. If you have a certain brand of pen or refill that you love, you can probably find it in a multi pen.

Personally, I really love Uni gel pens. I love the UM-151 and UM-138 for how well they write — they're both extremely smooth and dependable. But, they only write in one color unless you carry around several at a time. If only there was a solution for this specific problem...

My work has recently changed so that I'm working for two main clients, and I need to be able to track my time and so forth separately. There are many, many incredible tools online that can handle this modest task, but I'm already in the habit of tracking my day with pen and paper. Hence, the need for a pen that can write in at least two colors (for the two clients), and offer a smooth feel and tiny writing tip.

Enter the Uni Style Fit. This is a multi pen made by Uni, the same maker of the previously mentioned UM-151 and UM-138. In this case, the Uni Style Fit comes in a variety of colors, refill capacities, and materials. You can check out the entire selection at JetPens, but I settled on the Uni Style Fit 3 for my purposes. One color for Client A, another for Client B, and a third for non-work stuff.

Now, I know I own about 6 other multi-pens that fit the requirements for my "need," but I wanted to try the Uni version to see if the refills match up with their other gel pens. Luckily, they certainly do.

Aesthetics

On the outside, the Uni Style Fit doesn't look like much. I went with a silver version, which looks like any other cheap gel pen at first, but then you notice the weird top with three buttons and the clear barrel. The three refills are clearly visible through the barrel, and that's a dead giveaway.

The pen is extremely light, just like most other cheap multi-pens. It doesn't feel fantastic, but that's OK for my purposes. Uni offers other, more expensive models that probably feel better in the hand, but I didn't opt for those in my experiment.

Another thing that annoys me about every multi pen I've tried is the sound of the knock devices. They sound cheap an annoying, and I can never get past it. When I'm writing with the pen, it's fine, but once it's time to open or retract, I cringe a little at the sound.

I typically shy away from multi pens that hold more than 3 cartridges because I'm not a fan of the barrel size required to hold that many refills.

Overall, the pen doesn't feel fantastic, but it's also less than $4 for the body, so you shouldn't expect much.

Writing

I was very pleasantly surprised when I started writing with the pen — the refills I got are smooth and reliable, even at the 0.38mm size.

Each refill is sold separately, so you have the choice of size and color for your pen from the beginning. They don't ship with a boring black or blue cartridge that you have to store somewhere, which I find very appealing. Cartridges are less than $2 a piece, and there are many, many colors to choose from.

Installing the cartridges is a simple task, and once they snap in place, you're ready to write.

For the past year or so, I've been using a Leuchtturm 1917 notebook to track my work and time spent on projects. At the end of the week, this data gets added into a timesheet, which in turn gets me paid. But, once you add in a second timesheet requirement, things get complicated in a hurry.

To keep better track of what tasks go to what timesheet, I chose a bright blue and lime green refill. These contrast so well that I am delighted by how much easier my weekly timesheet task is. The third refill is a bright orange, and I use this for non-work notes or appointments.

The blue and green refills are fantastic — they're smooth, bold, and reliable. I can't tell a difference between these refills and the ones in a UM-151, although I'm sure some can.

The orange refill is a bit more rough, but only slightly so. I've had this problem before with light colored gel refills, and I'm assuming it has something to do with the ink properties for lighter colored inks. It still writes perfectly well, just not as smooth as the other two. Also, it could just be a fluke cartridge. I didn't buy two orange refills to test.

Wrapping up

At the end of my work day, I can look at a page of multi-colored notes that makes it simple to see where my time was spent through the day. I love this solution, and I'm very happy that I can use my favorite gel pens to do it. So far, the Uni Style Fit is my favorite multi pen. I wish they had some more attractive high end offerings (like Zebra), but that's not the case for now. At least they write like a dream, and pen aesthetics don't affect that.

If you like Uni gel pens, this is the multi pen for you.

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