White Bear Pens Echo 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 her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

Handmade pens? Yes. In beautiful, unique materials? Yes. From a woman-owned shop and new penmaker? Triple yes! Everything about this is good and the pen itself is the best part.

White Bear Pens is a new company founded in 2023 by Mikayla Jackson, who took the journey most of us take: straight down the fountain pen rabbit hole. And then she took it a step further and decided to learn how to make her own pens. She's been touring pen shows all year with a lovely selection of pens in two models: the Ursa and the Echo. I was extremely fortunate to receive an Echo for review. It also came with a custom Rickshaw pen sleeve with the White Bear logo and the softest plush interior to keep the pen safe and cozy.

Handmade pens in fun colors of acrylic are my personal kryptonite, so this was love at first sight. The acrylic is a sparkly blend of pinks, teals, blues, greens, gold, purple, and did I mention sparkle? This is unicorn perfection. There are even fuchsia rings set into the bottom finial and cap band that are so expertly fitted that you can't even feel them--it feels like one smooth piece, even though the construction of such a feature has to be a ton of extra work.

The cap is threaded and the grip section is lightly shaped and flared, giving it a comfortable shape for writing. The cap does not really post--you can put it on fairly shallowly, but I wouldn't want to scratch the material on the threads by trying to force it to post. It has a very nice silver, spring-loaded clip, though, so the cap won't roll away if you set it down. On the top of the cap is an inlay of the White Bear logo, which looks fantastic.

The pen takes either a standard international converter or cartridge, and it does come with a converter. It has a steel nib, this one in an extra fine, engraved with the White Bear logo. White Bear Pens does have their nibs professionally tuned, and it shows. This things writes like a dream. It is super smooth with perfect flow--an absolute pleasure to write with. I was just making lists at first, but I didn't want to stop writing! That's very useful for a gal on a deadline or three!

I am very excited to have experienced one of these early pens from White Bear Pens and I can't wait to see what Mikayla does next!

(This pen was purchased by Brad from White Bear Pens at the 2024 Atlanta Pen Show.)

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Robert Oster Dragon's Night Ink Review

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

Just in time for the shorter days and longer nights, it's a lusciously dark violet-blue ink from Robert Oster that also has a faint hint of copper sheen. Dragon's Night is a gorgeous dark ink that has just enough character to keep it interesting for long writing sessions.

It's not uncommon for Robert Oster inks to have a little flare on top of the base color, and this one is no different. There's a medium amount of shading — just enough to be noticeable under normal writing conditions. But there's also a hidden copper/red sheen that comes out in rare lighting conditions. This isn't a crazy sheening effect that's hard to ignore like some inks. It's subtle, and even when it does occur it isn't widespread. It's small and reminds me of glistening stars or floating embers rising from a small fire.

I had a hard time finding other ink swatches to compare this with because it's a unique combination (in my ink collection at least) of dark purple/violet, dark blue, and blue-black shades. When writing, it usually looks like a violet-black with lots of blue undertones. I've realized that my ink collection has lots of purples, but not many violets, which also means I prefer the warmer purple shades to the bluer violet. Either way, this is an ink color that I'm more than happy to use.

While it's not a particular fast-drying ink, I've found that it's dry to the touch at around 20 seconds in a medium nib. Could be faster, but could also be much slower.

Writing with this ink is an absolute pleasure. It has a good amount of lubrication for the nib and starts easily in whatever pen I throw it in. Despite being so dark, it also doesn't show through to the opposite side of the page much.

I'm a little disappointed that the copper sheen doesn't present itself more readily. It's really shy and I had a lot of trouble creating the optimal conditions to make it come out. In normal writing, it's rare that you'll see the sheen, but it will make you smile when it does appear.

Given the light sheen, it's a good thing the base color and medium shading behavior is so nice with this ink. Definitely purchase this ink due to the color and not with any expectation of sheening!

I've always been really happy with the many Robert Oster inks I've used, and Dragon's Night is no exception, as long as you have the right expectations. This is a violet-black that will be in heavy rotation over the next few months!

Dragon's Night is available in a 50ml bottle for $18, or you can pick up a 4ml sample vial to try out first. It's a good bang for the buck in terms of value, and I'd happily recommend it to anyone that likes the dark, moody violet shade.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Kaweco DIY Sport Fountain Pen Giveaway

This Summer, Kimberly attended the DIY Kaweco Event at Flax Pen to Paper to assemble the Kaweco Sport that was part of the event. I was also able to get her to assemble a second one for me to give away here on the blog, and that’s what I am doing today. One person will win this Berry Sport DIY Fountain Pen with a Medium Steel nib. Read the rules below and enter away!

Kaweco DIY Sport Fountain Pen Giveaway