(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!)
A good glass pen is such a great thing to have around. They may not seem practical at first thought, but they're perfect for testing new inks. It's so much easier to clean off a dip pen after testing an ink than it is to fill a regular fountain pen. And with the ink retention that dip pens have now, it's hardly an inconvenience to re-dip the pen for another half page of writing. The trick, though, is finding a good one. I've used a lot of them that didn't quite work for me. Either the ink didn't flow nicely, or it didn't hold enough ink, or the glass tip was scratchy and tore the paper, or they were too delicate and fragile to use effectively. This Clarto Lavie Glass Pen overcomes all those obstacles and is dang cute while doing so.
Clarto pens are handmade in Japan, so each is unique and they feel like works of art. There's a definite special feeling that one gets while holding something handmade. It's a kind of connection to the maker, from one creator to another. It makes the use of that item all the more special.
This handmade glass pen is a smooth rod with a spiral flame-shaped nib at one end, and the cutest ever blown glass grey tabby cat at the top. It has cute little ears, and wee eyes, and a sweet curling tail, and soft stripes. She looks a bit like my grey tabby, Ursula, which is why I chose grey. It's a very simple construction, and the minimalism of it is definitely part of its charm. The other part of its charm is how well it works.
My favorite use for a glass pens is in ink testing. Y'all know I hate cleaning my fountain pens, so inking up a whole pen just to test an ink feels like a chore. I was excited to have a new tester pen. What I didn't expect, was that it would give me such a fantastic writing experience. I thought it was cute, fine for the short-term use of an ink review. But I would write with this for hours. In fact, in this pen, I've found this year's November challenge. My November-extra-focused-writing-month (formerly NaNoWriMo) will be done with this pen, and I'm excited about it.
The nib writes smoothly with no snags or catches. It has a nice texture on the paper, no dragging or squeaking. It feels just like writing with a good steel nib--and smoother than many. And the ink from one dip lasts for half of an A5 page, so there's rarely an interruption to your writing to re-dip. The spiral design stores ink around the nib, so as one side runs dry, you rotate the pen for some fresh ink. By the time you work your way around the whole nib, you've been writing for ages.
And to clean it--just run the nib under some water for a a second. Presto, done. I love it!
The smooth glass of the pen body is a bit slippery as a grip. That's really the only issue I had with using this pen. I might wrap it in a bit of washi for longer writing sessions. Also, the pen is expensive. The Tabby Cat version costs $140, which is a bit shocking at first, until you remember that it is handmade, and then you write with it and go "OH OKAY I GET IT." There are some more complex designs that cost as much as $179, and they'd be worth it, too. Y'all, there's one with a frog. An axolotl. A manta ray! As well as other seasonal designs. I'm smitten. With this kitten. Sorry, I'll see myself out.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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