Writech Sprinkles Gel 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 Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

Writech Gel Pens are easily taking over as the new favorites in my planner posse. With their varieties of colors, pen designs, and ink properties, there's something for everyone in their lineup. I've borrowed a few at our planner parties and was impressed (we have planner parties with our friends, right? Where we swap stickers, share pens, drink too much wine and end up labeling three days in a row as Saturday... If not, I highly recommend it). When I saw their products appear in the JetPens arrivals, I decided to try some of my own. I loved the dual-color set I reviewed before, and the Sprinkles appealed to me because I liked this color palette and I'm a sucker for ombre.

The Sprinkles model has a smooth cylinder body shape in opaque plastic with a lovely color fade design. They have a tinted clear plastic clip and clicker. The clip feels a little weak. I'd hesitate to stress it too much for fear it might break off. But the main body of the pen feels very sturdy. It is sturdy, I can actually say, as I've been hauling them all around work and tossing them in my tote bag with no problem at all.

The primary feature of the Sprinkles set is that they have a silent clicker. No click! No thunk! It's strangely disconcerting. If pen clicking annoys you or your coworkers, these might be the pens that save you. But I have to say, I miss the click. Sometimes I even forget to retract the tip because my brain doesn't register that I even deployed it at all. It's like the clicks of all the pens over the years have trained me, and without the click, I forget what to do. I think it's cool that this option exists, but I would take an obnoxious thunky clicker over a silent one every time.

I have, however, still been using these a lot, because even though they're suspiciously silent, they're great writers. The colors are bright and saturated, the no-smear ink behaves well, the tips are nice and precise, and the colors are perfect for my needs. The refill seems to hold a decent amount of ink, as I've taken a lot of meeting notes with the brown pen specifically, and have no signs of running low. Overall, it's a fantastic set of pens.

This set of five sells for $12.10 at JetPens, and individual pens are $2.45 each. That's a very fair price for a good set of gel pens. I foresee plenty more Writech pens entering my collection in the future. Just the properly noisy ones, though.

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

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uniball Jetstream Prime 3 Color Lite Touch Ballpoint Multi Pen Review

I’ve been sleeping on the uniball Jetstream Prime for too long. Time to correct that.

I bought this pen (full name: uniball Jetstream Prime 3 Color Lite Touch Ballpoint Multi Pen) all the way back in February at the California Pen Show. So long ago, I can’t remember exactly who I made the purchase from. All I remember was being surprised to see it there.

The Jetstream Lite Touch had been launched to great fanfare in 2024, and my experience with it has been great. I reviewed the single pen and the 4+1 multi pen at the time, and have mostly stuck with the single version since. My uniball multi pen time has been mostly spent with the 4+1 Karimoku edition (also seen in the linked review, and in this one,) but the Prime has a lot going for it that has me intrigued.

For starters, the barrel is slim in diameter for a multi pen. So slim, that on first glance it seems like an upgraded barrel for a single refill pen. And it is a metal barrel, too. Aluminum, but not too light and airy, like some of the 4+1 uniball aluminum barrels. The compact nature means the insides are packed, so it has a solid and balanced feel in the hand. The matte finish on my Burnt Orange model is smooth, but it hasn’t been slippery so far.

The deployment mechanism for the Jetstream Prime is a twist, as opposed to a knock. The look is much cleaner for a multi pen, and for the premium Prime barrel it’s a good fit. The Black 0.5 mm refill is in the center, with a quick twist clockwise to engage Red, or counter-clockwise to engage Blue. You will have to jump over Black in the middle every time if you want to go from Red to Blue, or vice versa. The refill retracts in the zones to each side of the Black refill. The clip does line up with whichever refill you select.

Top to bottom: Single refill Jetstream Lite Touch, Jetstream Prime, Jetstream 4+1 Karimoku edition.

From a writing perspective, you can’t do much better than the uniball Jetstream Lite Touch - at least if you are amenable to using a ballpoint pen. That’s a curse word in many pen circles, but I’m a fan, and will not stand for any ballpoint pen slander! The Jetstream is not your parent’s ballpoint pen, and the Lite Touch is so good, you might not even realize it is one. The best thing I can tell you to do is try it and see for yourself. Maybe not the Prime from the jump, but the single barrel is a good starting point at $3.

The Prime carries an extra digit on its price tag, checking in at $31. Looking at the label on my box, I paid $37 for mine, but that was before the pen became more widely available from importers. $31 seems completely fair for an upgraded barrel like this, although Burnt Orange seems to no longer be available. The four current colors are nice, with the Ivy Green looking especially great.

Only one question remains for me with the Jetstream Prime Lite Touch, and that is how it fits into my rotation going forward. It’s going to take the place of the Karimoku model for now, and given the fact the Prime uses the Lite Touch refills and the Karimoku doesn’t, it might find a permanent home on my desk. At least until the Uni Jetstream Slim Multi Pen 0.38 mm gets the Lite Touch upgrade and they will have to battle it out for supremacy.

Maybe I just swap the refills now.

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Kaweco Perkeo Calligraphy Set 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!.)

The Kaweco Perkeo Calligraphy Set includes the Perkeo pen barrel and cap and three different grip sections, each housing 1.1, 1.5, or 1.9 millimeter nibs. 3 Kaweco Pearl Black cartridges are also included but I decided to use my Kaweco Midnight Blue cartridges instead. The set comes in a plastic box.

The pen, grip sections, and cartridges in a clear “tray”.

Since I have already done a review (of the Perkeo), I will focus on the Calligraphy Set. Not only does the set include 3 separate grip sections with the nib and feed, they are different shades of blue, so you can easily tell which nib you’re using. The light blue section holds the 1.1, the royal blue holds the 1.5, and the dark blue 1.9.

The light blue 1.1 section (left) is installed in the pen, 1.5 royal blue in the middle, and 1.9 dark blue on the right.

I knew that the Perkeo would work right out of the box (which it did), but I was really surprised at how nicely it wrote! It wasn’t scratchy but it also wasn’t uncontrollably smooth either. In addition to this Ayush paper, I also tried the smoother Meringue paper and this pen behaved like a champ.

I felt that I had spent a fair amount of time with the 1.1; after all, it’s been inked up since August 1, and used five times before this article, so it was time for the 1.5 nib. This one isn’t quite as smooth as the 1.1, but I think it is a bit more sensitive to angle than the 1.1. Most companies use 1.1 for their stubs so I find it fun to use a 1.5 for variety, and it’s a faster way to go through ink.

1.1 on the first paragraph, and 1.5 for the rest of the page.

Of course, after the 1.1 and 1.5, I have to try the 1.9 and it, too, wrote well out of the box. (The 1.1 and 1.5 nibs have been sitting out on my desk for a few hours so the ink is more saturated. The top of this page is a bit lighter because I put a drop of water on the breather hole to get the ink started.)

Love all the ink that gets laid down by a 1.9!

I liked all three nibs pretty equally, but the 1.9 forces me to slow down a bit more so my letters aren’t as messy.

Writing sample of the 1.1, 1.5, and 1.9 nibs.

The Kaweco Perkeo Calligraphy set retails for $40, which is a good deal for a pen with 3 nibs/grip sections.

(Disclaimer: I bought this set from Vanness Pens. I already had the Kaweco Midnight Blue cartridges and Ayush Paper.)

PS - A 10 ml vial is a great to store the grip sections (Clearly, I cannot grammar when writing! You know what I meant, lol!)

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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!