The Pen Addict Live 2020: Atlanta and Dallas Kickstarter Launching Today!

It’s almost time folks! We are launching our Kickstarter project to bring myself, Ana, and Myke to the Atlanta and Dallas Pen Shows this year, but I know the project reward is what you are most interested in. The preliminary artwork for the Retro 51 Celebration pen will be unveiled later today, and you can back this project to help it come alive.

Project launch is scheduled for 5 p.m. Eastern tonight. To be notified when it goes live, please follow this link and click on the notification button. See you soon!

Posted on March 5, 2020 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Kickstarter.

Narwhal Piston-Fill 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!)

I hadn't heard of or seen a Narwhal fountain pen till I watched Brad unbox his on his Twitch stream. Even after seeing the video, I kept my expectations low. With its price tag of $45, I assumed it was more likely to be cheaply made and slightly overpriced than well-made and underpriced. When the pen arrived, I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe even shocked. Possibly flabbergasted.

The first thing I noticed about the pen is how substantial it feels. It's very solid. A bit heavy, but in a reassuring way. It doesn't feel like the plastic is fragile or cheap, the way some economically priced acrylic pens sometimes do. In the hand, it does not feel like a cheap pen at all. The joins and corners are all smooth and seamless. The threads are precise, both for the cap and for the piston. Because, yes, this is a piston filler! The mechanism resembles the one in a TWSBI ECO, and it holds a comparable amount of ink. As in, a lot of ink.

The piston is operated by twisting the end cap. The cap, end cap, body, and grip section are all in the same pretty, swirly acrylic. The ribbons of color have a great depth to them and it's a lovely effect. The grip tapers smoothly and is very comfortable to hold. The threads at the top of the grip section are so smooth that you can hardly feel them. There is a silver clip that has the perfect amount of grip and spring, and a silver cap band that says "Narwhal." The clip design even looks like a fountain pen! There is also a silver ring at the join for the end cap. Every fitting is absolutely seamless. I don't think I've ever seen this level of precision on a pen under a hundred dollars. Heck, I have some that cost over that that are less well fitted.

Narwhal also make their own nibs, which sounds bold, even foolhardy, but--again--they've exceeded my expectations. This is a good nib. Perfectly wet with no skipping. There's a bit more feedback than I personally prefer, but it doesn't feel too scratchy, and it doesn't feel dry. It also has one of the coolest engravings I've seen on a nib--a leaping narwhal (their company logo). The nib only comes in Fine, but it's not a true fine, in my opinion. It's closer to a western medium, or even a Japanese broad.

When uncapped, it's perfectly balanced. With the cap on, it's very cap-heavy, as there's a chunk of metal at the finial. The only negative I can name so far is that it does not post. I know that can be a dealbreaker for some folks. If it did post, though, that metal in the cap would be a problem. It's a large enough pen that it does not need to be posted, and would even be a bit unwieldly if it was. It's slightly longer than a TWSBI ECO.

I highly recommend this pen if you're looking to try a piston filling pen and want great quality for your money. I can't quite fathom (haha, get it?) how they've kept the cost so low while offering such high level of finish. They could easily be charging quite a bit more for these pens. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Narwhal comes out with next. I'll definitely be keeping my eye on this new brand.

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

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Posted on March 5, 2020 by Sarah Read and filed under Narwhal, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

TWSBI Sapphire Blue Fountain Pen Ink Review

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

For a fountain pen company that sells some of the most popular and innovative pens in the affordable bracket, it seems like TWSBI should have been selling fountain pen ink all along. In fact, they even sold specialized (but empty) ink bottles since the beginning. Well, TWSBI have finally come around and started offering their own fountain pen inks alongside their pens. The Sapphire Blue that I got my hands on is a fairly basic blue ink that does a good job of staying professional and reliable.

I'm a huge fan of blue inks — the brighter and more poppy, the better. Even though I have a slew of basic blue inks from different manufacturers, I don't break them out very often because I prefer using my more interesting and bombastic blue inks. But, there's always a time and place for everything. Sometimes you need that textbook dark blue ink that looks similar to any blue gel pen ink off the shelf at your local big box retailer. Nothing wrong with that color, but it also needs to be a rock-solid, dependable ink that you can rely on in different situations. Similar to TWSBI's pens, you need to be able to use it in a variety of conditions and different types and varying qualities of paper. These are the factors that make up a good basic blue. It's not terribly exciting, but it's reliable.

To my eyes, the shade and hue of Sapphire Blue is very similar to Pilot Blue and Kaweco Royal Blue. It's a bit darker than the Lamy Blue, and J. Herbin's Eclat de Saphir is a lot brighter — to the point that I don't really consider it a basic blue. If I wasn't currently out of Waterman Blue, I'm sure it would compare very closely with Sapphire based on past experience.

It's a good shade of blue! One that blends in well in legal or professional settings. It won't call any attention to itself like other flamboyant fun inks, and that can be a good thing. It's a classy blue.

Even though this is a pretty bland color (on purpose), there is a fantastic hint of shading when using the right nib. It's not dramatic like other inks, but there's a small amount of color variation in some strokes, which provides just enough visual interest to let you know that this is definitely a fountain pen ink.

When I brushed the ink onto a swatch card, I was also pleasantly surprised to see some dark teal/turquoise hints in the ink as well. I've never seen these tones when writing, but they show up pretty clearly in the swatch.

Another thing that really surprised me with this ink is the dry time. It's an extremely fast-drying ink. I know this can vary depending on environmental factors like humidity and paper quality, but it's consistently a fast drier. In most of my tests, it's dry by the 15 second mark and impossible to smudge. This could be a great ink for left-handed writers.

The ink is also well-lubricated and flows well in the pens I've tried it with. I haven't had any issues with it skipping or drying up in the nib after a few days. Overall, it's a really well-behaved ink that I'd put in any of my pens. It does have a noticeable smell, but half the inks I use have some sort of chemical smell when you first uncap a pen or bottle. Nothing to worry about.

While Sapphire Blue is a great basic blue, I do have some gripes about the packaging and the bottle. I don't care about packaging in most cases; if I don't have a use for it, I throw it away after unboxing everything. For inks, I like to keep the box so that the ink bottles are easier to store and transport. While the 70ml ink bottle is what I'd expect in size compared to other bottles that hold the same amount of ink, the box that the ink was packed in is absolutely ridiculous. The box is about twice the size of the ink bottle and seems really wasteful. Plus, in my situation, it takes up a lot of space in my ink storage area that could be used for other inks.

My other gripe is with the confusing decision on TWSBI's part on how to supply an inkwell. In particular, why they chose to ship the inkwell outside of the bottle. I guess I can understand the reasoning for people that prefer their ink bottles sans-inkwell, but I really like inkwells. Fine. I have to install the inkwell myself — no big deal, right? Not quite. The ink bottle is so full that you can't install the inkwell without removing about 10ml of ink. Otherwise, you'll overflow the bottle, make a huge mess, and waste a lot of ink. I don't understand this decision, and wish TWSBI would just install the inkwell at the factory before shipping them out to customers.

At $18, TWSBI's 70ml ink bottle is a pretty good deal. That's a lot of ink, and most manufacturers don't ship bottles that large. For example, Lamy, Pilot, Kaweco, and others normally use 50ml bottles for their normal-size ink offerings. 70ml is a lot of ink, and it's a good deal at this price.

Aside from Sapphire Blue, TWSBI currently offers Black, Blue-black, and Red. Their selection is pretty limited for now, but I'm curious to see if they have more interesting colors on the release roadmap!

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

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