(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)
Fine Writing International is a Taiwanese company established in 2011. Their Fenestro series is named after the Esperanto word "window" because of the large ink window in the design. The color way, Aurora, alludes to the northern lights and is a mixture of turquoise and brown luminescent resin.
The pen arrives in a black cardboard box engraved with the company's motto, "To Experience the Joy of Writing." In addition to the pen, inside is a plastic eye dropper and a converter. The pen can also take a standard international cartridge.
My initial reaction upon seeing the pen for the first time was, "That's hideous!" There's something strange about the proportions of the pen. The smaller than normal clip, long cap, and the large ink window seem out of proportion with the pen's length and girth. Obviously, this is a purely subjective opinion. The sense of disproportion is lessened if there's ink in the pen, and it looks normal with the cap removed. Aside from the proportions, the resin is quite beautiful and displays chatoyance in the sunlight.
Flat finials and a slight taper make for a simple, almost angular design. As stated earlier, the clip is quite small compared to the cap. Metal rings encircle the bottom of the cap and the bottom of the ink window. The cap is lined to prevent the nib from drying between uses.
The Fenestro is a lengthy pen when capped or posted, measuring 5.9 inches/150mm capped and 7.0 inches/178mm posted (it's absolutely unwieldy posted). Uncapped it measures a reasonable 5.3 inches/135mm. The grip is 10.5mm and the pen (uncapped and filled with ink) weighs only 14 grams. It's quite comfortable as a writer.
One of the best features of the Fenestro is its multiple filling mechanisms. You can certainly use a cartridge or converter, but the pen can hold a whopping 3.6ml of ink if you eyedropper it. There's an o-ring seal, so you do not need any silicone grease.
The nib is a standard #6 JOWO steel EF with scrollwork and Fine Writing International's logo--a quill. My nib was perfect out of the box--tines aligned, smooth, and good flow.
I inked the pen with Scribo Blue Capri, which matches the turquoise well. The EF nib is not at all scratchy and writes more like a fine than an extra fine. It's definitely a nail of a nib, offering no line variation or flexibility. I tested it on Tomoe River Paper (review here), Cosmo Air Light (review here), and Ayush Paper (review here). Interestingly, on the Cosmo Air Light paper the line seemed wider and wetter than on Tomoe or Ayush paper.
The Fenestro comes in four colors: Kuroshio (royal blue and green), Aurora (turquoise and brown), Winter's Night (silver and black), and The Snow Scene (white swirls). Nib sizes include extra fine, fine, medium, broad, and a large 1.5mm stub. Currently, JetPens only has Aurora and Kuroshio, each costing $85.00 and they are running low on stock. This is cheaper than another eyedropper pen, the Opus 88, which runs between $115 and 120.
Although I'm not a fan of the Fenestro's aesthetic, the pen itself is well made and is a good writer. If you're looking for a pen that holds lots of ink and you're happy with standard JOWO nibs, this is a good option.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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