Nahvalur Original Plus Rainbow Wrasse Fountain Pen Review

It’s been a year and a half since my Nahvalur Original Plus review, and since that time, this pen has proven to be a solid option for those looking to move past their first cartridge/converter filling system into something more unique, like a vacuum filler. That’s the main selling point for the Original Plus, that is, until you see their latest iteration, the Original Plus Fountain Pen in Rainbow Wrasse.

If you are like me, you may not have know what a Wrasse is, or what it means. According to the internet, the Wrasse is a fish known for its wide variety of colors, and the Rainbow Wrasse is one of the more stunning of the bunch.

Narwhal took a few liberties in translating the look of this fish into a pen, but I am completely here for it. The clear translucent barrel is loaded with glitter, mimicking flickering fish scales in the light, and all of the hardware features rainbow anodization, including the nib. It’s a knockout in my book.

Without fully rehashing my original Original Plus review, I did want to share a few thoughts about the pen. For starters, it fits my hand perfectly. The shape is comfortable, and the weight is balanced. When I’m writing with it, I feel like I could go for hours, if needed. The ink reservoir would allow for that, too, with its 1.5 ml ink capacity - easily filled with the vacuum mechanism.

The nib on my Rainbow Wrasse is Fine, which is the finest Nahvalur currently makes. I’m still holding out hope for an Extra Fine one day, but I like the Fine for daily use, and would have no issue modifying it in the future due to the generous amount of tipping. The line is slightly wider than a similar Steel Jowo #6 nib, but not so much that it feels like a Medium.

It took all of my willpower to not ink this pen up with a Hot Pink ink, which is my usual choice for a pen like this. Instead, I chose the dark Purple of Octopus Fluids Write & Draw Violet Giraffe, which is a pigmented ink. I’ve had good experiences with this ink lineup, and should have no problem cleaning it out when the time comes.

The Nahvalur Original Plus Fountain Pen in Rainbow Wrasse is a Goldspot exclusive release, and at $65, is flying off the shelves. And if you miss out, any of the Original Plus models (most at $55,) would make a nice addition to your writing arsenal.

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

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Kaweco Sport Piston Fountain Pen Review

Like many Kaweco fans, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the launch of the Kaweco Sport Piston Fountain Pen since they first announced it was in the works a year or two ago. Would it be a modern interpretation of one of their classic designs, or would it be a fully vintage inspired release?

Why not both?

In my head, I fully expected a plastic barrel piston-filler, sort of an upgraded, built out, Kaweco Sport, without a clip. What we got was a throwback exterior design with the Black barrel and Gold clip, but using Aluminum for construction, a more modern material. It’s a perfect combination of old and new, and a bit unexpected if I’m being honest.

As obvious as this is to state, the design is less important for this pen than the piston mechanism. It’s the reason it is being made, and it has to work well. In a smaller pen like this, that is always a question. Can the mechanism fit while retaining the desired barrel size? Does it operate smoothly? Does it allow for enough ink capacity as compared to a cartridge? Is the pen easy to clean? So far, the Sport Piston answers “Yes,” across the board.

The clip is easily removable if so desired.

To access the mechanism, Kaweco uses a blind cap that must be removed from the end of the barrel. Under the cap you will find the twist knob that activates the piston to draw up ink, or to expel water repeatedly when cleaning. The twist is a decent size - not too small to use comfortably - and the piston moves smoothly inside the barrel.

A vintage Kaweco Sport Piston, right.

My first draw from the ink bottle filled the ink chamber to around 75% capacity. That’s in the normal range. I could get closer to 100% if I drew up the ink, kept the nib submerged and expelled the ink, and drew up the ink again. That clears some of the air you get on the initial fill. YMMV.

You can check the ink capacity using the built in ink window, which I think is important for piston-filling pens. According to the product specs, the ink chamber can hold 1.2 ml of ink, while a short international ink cartridge holds 0.7 ml. That’s a decent increase for a pocket pen, with the caveat that a bottle of ink is required to refill it.

I ordered my Sport Piston with a Steel Extra Fine nib, and it is perfect for my handwriting. The ink flow from piston fillers is always something to watch, and this one is metered perfectly. I have yet to have any consistency issues in my lines, and I’ve been using this pen regularly for weeks, filled with Kaweco Royal Blue ink.

While my experiences with the Kaweco Sport Piston have been good so far, there are a few things to consider before purchasing:

— Price: This is an easy one to list first, because at $160 ($170 with a bottle of ink,) it is not a mindless purchase. Is it “worth it?” It is to me, but I’m a Kaweco fan, and was looking forward to this release for a while. Could they have lowered the cost if they used plastic/acrylic? Not by much I don’t think. I’m assuming much of the cost is on the inside of the pen, not the outside.

— Blind cap: There are two things to consider. One, people worry about losing the cap. Valid concern. Two, the blind cap can twist off inside of the pen cap when posted if you twist the pen cap itself when removing it from the back of the pen. It takes almost one and a half rotations to completely unthread the blind cap from the back of the pen, so it would take effort to cause this, but it is not out of the realm of possibility. I’ve had no issues so far, and don’t see this becoming a problem down the line.

— Grip: Out of these three considerations, this is the one I have to think about the most. When my fingers are dry, the satin finish of the aluminum barrel is slick. I need a little moisture to lock in my fingers for a more solid grip, and better writing experience. This is prone to happening with metal barrel pens, especially ones with a smooth grip like the Sport Piston.

Size comparison with LAMY Safari.

For their first piston mechanism release in decades, I think Kaweco did a great job. It’s a throwback design to when this filling system was part of their regular lineup, while bringing modern updates to the pen with the choice of barrel material. Hopefully this is a platform they continue building on because I see many different ways Kaweco can take the Sport Piston in the future.

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

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7 Years Already?!?

(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!.)

Hard to believe that 7 years ago today, I got my first fountain pens and oof, to say that I have since fallen into the rabbit hole is the understatement of the century! I don’t have a special pen picked out for this year’s penversary yet (and that’s ok!) but I thought it might be fun to look back at my first order to see what else I bought besides pens, because yes, there are other things besides pens!

As I’ve mentioned before, I couldn’t decide between the Pilot Metropolitan, Platinum Preppy and Lamy Safari, so I ended up ordering all 3! After watching Goulet’s Fountain Pens 101 videos (this is just the first in the series), I knew that I couldn’t just buy the pens by themselves, so what else did I get? And more importantly, do I still have & use them?

The first (of many) pens - I will always have a soft spot for them - Lamy Safari (top), Pilot Metropolitan and (one of seven) Platinum Preppies.

1. Ink sample pack - I have no idea what colors I actually got because it was a random pack and that was before I knew about Fountain Pen Companion and tracking my samples. Given my stellar record of finishing ink samples and bottles (spoiler, I have a terrible record of such), it’s quite likely that I still have said samples. I’m also pretty sure I used some of them early on too, but this was the start of my journey as an inkophile.
2. Rhodia No. 16 Notepad - Black, Dot Grid - Ah yes, the trusty Rhodia Notepad. I used so much of this that I may have gone hog wild when the local craft store had put them on clearance. I still use this from time to time, and while I probably won’t replenish the pads when I’m done, I don’t hesitate to recommend them as a fountain pen friendly paper, even if there are other papers that I enjoy more using which show off inks better.

Down to a few trusty pads! I think I have to make sure there’s always one in my Galen pad holder though!

3. Pen Cleaning Package Set - This set included a Bulb Syringe, a set of 2 - 5ml syringes, and an 8 ounce bottle of pen flush. I have since used the heck out of that bulb syringe, such that it ended up splitting in two and am on my 3rd bulb syringe. Ditto the 5ml syringes, which I have since replaced with 10 and 20ml syringes. I currently have 3-4 syringes with dedicated Schon pen cleaning tools. As for the pen flush, I do use it on occasion but clearly not as much as one might expect, given 7 years of pen cleaning. It’s just that most of the time, plain water works just fine, with a couple cycles in the ultrasonic for the super tough ones (especially if I haven’t touched the to-be-cleaned pile in a while).

4. Pilot CON-50 Piston Converter - I was so glad I got this because the Pilot Metropolitan came with the not-very-useful Con-B squeeze converter. It is still my preferred Pilot converter (I despise the Con-70 and the Con-40 is meh) and I’m glad I bought a small stash of them before they were discontinued.

My favorite Pilot converter, the CON-50.

5. Ink Miser Ink-Shot Inkwell - I still use this, but not the way it was originally intended. Yes, I do pour the rest of my ink samples into the Ink Miser if I need to fill a pen, but I use it more often to keep an ink vial stable when I’m swatching inks. There are now a bunch of vial holders out there but the Ink Miser will remain a favorite because of its dual purpose.

The Ink Miser is handy when you’re getting down near the bottom of a sample.

Even though this Ink Miser has a base, I know I’m just tempting fate by using it as-is, so I repurposed some of the kid’s LEGO to make it extra sturdy.

6. Platinum Preppy Refillable Marker - Ok, this isn’t a fountain pen, so I included it in this list. The marker is around here somewhere but I’ll be honest and admit that I haven’t used it much since getting it because I don’t use markers too often, and when I do, they tend to be the Tombow ABT Dual Brush pens. Still, I don’t regret buying it and if I ever want to use markers more regularly, I’ll pick up another so I can use FP inks with it.

Considering I didn’t know anything about fountain pens, I think I did pretty well with my first order! Other than the Preppy Marker and to an extent, the original ink samples, I’m still using the same items I bought 7 years ago. Obviously, I’ve since bought a lot of pens, inks, and more, but this was a good first order that got me well on my way down the rabbit hole!

As I often say, the best part of this rabbit hole isn’t all the stuff, but all the pen friends I’ve met along the way. Like I said last year, I still can’t believe that I am still enjoying this hobby as much as I do and being a part of this community keeps me coming back for more! Whether I’ve met you in person at a pen show or meetup or have only “met” you on IG, Facebook, Slack, Twitch, Discord, Zoom, etc., YOU are the best part of this hobby and I’m so grateful to have fallen in as deeply as I have. Thank you for being a part of this rabbit hole and for making the past 7 years so much fun! Now, who’s got some fun non-pen ideas to help me celebrate the 7th penversary?

(Disclaimer: All products shown were purchased by me.)