(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
The Fenestro fountain pen is one of those newcomers that really caught me off guard. I hadn't heard of the brand — Fine Writing International — let alone have any awareness of the pen before it showed up on JetPens. With any new brand, there's always a hefty risk with trying something for the first time. In some cases, that risk turns out to be negative. In the case of the Fenestro, it turned out to be a positive risk.
The Fenestro Kuroshio is a beautiful fountain pen that sports a colorful resin body and a glorious 1.5mm stub nib. The Kuroshio part of the name refers to the specific colorway of this model, which is a combination of swirled blue and turquoise that creates a beautiful flowing water effect. I'm mesmerized by the depth of the material and love looking at it while it's on my desk.
Along with the gorgeous resin material, there's a massive ink window (turns out "fenestro" means "window" in Esperanto) that shows you a clear view of how much ink is remaining in the converter cartridge or in the ink reservoir if you've chosen to fill the pen as an eye-dropper, which is completely supported by the Fenestro. There's a beefy o-ring above the threads of the section that connect to the ink reservoir, so you don't have to worry about any ink leaking out if you choose to fill it with an eyedropper. According to JetPens, you can fill 3.6 ml of ink into the pen this way!
The pen is as versatile as it is beautiful. It can be used with nearly any standard international cartridge or converter, or you can fill the barrel directly with up to 3.6 ml of ink using the included plastic eyedropper. The durable resin barrel is acid resistant and alkali resistant, making it safe to fill with any fountain pen ink.
Moving on to the size of the pen, it's not exactly a pocket pen. It's fairly large at just under 6 inches when capped, and a whopping 7 inches when posted. I haven't posted this pen at all because I find the uncapped length (5.3 inches) to be perfect for me.
The grip section on this pen is small compared to the rest of the body size, but it's still very comfortable to use. The material is slick and polished, but still provides a great surface to grip when writing. The transition from the grip section to the ink window is soft to the touch and provides a nice tactile indicator for where your fingers are resting when writing with the pen. Due to the length and fairly lightweight nature of the pen, it's extremely comfortable to use for long writing sessions. I've had zero issues with my standard tripod grip, but your experience may vary depending on how you grip the pen.
The nib is a #6 JoWo with a custom stamp for the FWI brand. Like all JoWo nibs, it performs well and I've been really happy with it. The 1.5mm stub outfitted on this model is velvety smooth and dependable. The edges are delightfully soft while still providing plenty of sharp variation between horizontal and vertical stroke line widths. It's a fantastic nib, and it's also easy to swap out with any other JoWo #6 nib.
The one thing that I really dislike about this pen (and I mean I really dislike it) is the size of the clip on the cap. It's comically small and just feels so out of place on a pen of this size. It could easily be another 0.75" long to fit the length of the pen better. I'm not sure why FWI chose to use such a petite clip on this pen, but I think it was the wrong choice. At any rate, it works great as a clip in terms of pure functional design. If only it complimented the aesthetics of the pen!
At $85, the Fenestro is a good deal. The materials and components are top notch, and the pen is an absolute stunner when it's sitting on your desk or in the right light. It brings me a lot of joy to use, and I think the price is fair for what you get, especially considering the massive amount of ink you can store in it. The shape isn't anything special, but it's a classic shape that should fit many grips. In my few weeks of use, it's performed well, and I expect it to continue holding its own. When comparing this to the likes of a TWSBI 580 or Kaweco AL Sport, I'd be hard pressed to pick either of them over this beautiful Kuroshio model.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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