Posts filed under Pen Reviews

Oldwin Art Deco Fountain Pen in Bleu Automne: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

When I went to France last March, one of my objectives was to visit the Mora Stylos shop in Paris. Unfortunately, the only day we were near the shop was a Sunday, and they were closed. I would have loved to buy a pen directly from Monsieur Mora, but it was not to be.

So, this fall, I began shopping for a pen on the Mora Stylos website. I decided on a beautiful celluloid called Bleu Automne in the Art Deco Oldwin style. The only nib choices were fine and medium. I chose a fine nib.

The pen took a little over a week to arrive from Paris. A letter from Monsieur Mora was enclosed and the pen was in a simple black hinged box.

Talk about “oh la la!” I audibly gasped when I opened the box. Inside was an enormous pen in the most gorgeous celluloid I’ve ever seen. Bleu Automne is a combination of deep blue with golden and white swirls. The gold swirls sparkle in the sun. It is simply stunning.

The pen is large at 150mm capped and 135mm uncapped.

It’s really too large to post, though I suppose one could. Even though the pen is big, it isn’t heavy because the celluloid is light material. That said, the celluloid feels much more substantive than acrylic, and it warms to the hand.

The body details on this pen are exquisite. The cap and the bottom of the barrel are each encircled with a thin gold band. Then there are graduated steps leading to the slightly rounded finial and barrel bottom.

The bronze-plated clip inserts directly into the cap (there’s no clip ring). It’s a simple, rectangular clip inscribed with “Oldwin.”

The pen is a cartridge/converter and comes equipped with a Waterman converter. It holds a decent amount of ink.

The 18k nib on this pen is gigantic (German size 7) and glorious. It is decorated simply with the words “Oldwin” and “Paris” along with the gold content near the base.

This shiny piece of solid gold sits atop an enormous feed.

The pen writes smoothly with a tiny bit of feedback. It has a softness to it, but it certainly doesn’t flex, and I wouldn’t call it “springy.” It’s a very responsive nib and is a delight to write with.

When I first received the pen, I discovered four parallel scratches on the nib. I’m still not sure what caused them, though I suspect they came from the clip screw inside the cap.

I notified Monsieur Mora about the problem, and he accepted the pen back for repair. He replaced the nib and fixed whatever caused the scratches. He shipped the pen back to me free of charge and even reimbursed me for the postage I paid to send him the pen. I call that excellent customer service.

The pen is now perfect and, I have to say, it is one of the most beautiful pens I own. Of course, handmade pens like this come at a price. My pen cost over $500, but I am very happy with my purchase.

If you ever visit Paris, I encourage you to visit Mora Stylos at 7 Rue de Tournon. It’s not too far from Shakespeare and Company.

Otherwise, you can view pens for sale on the Mora Stylos website. Just be careful! You’ll want to buy them all. Ils sont magnifiques!

Pros

The Oldwin is a hand-crafted, gorgeous oversized pen from Paris.
Bleu Automne celluloid is unique and incredibly beautiful.
The pen is well balanced even though it large.
The solid 18k gold nib is enormous and beautiful in its simplicity. It is a smooth, responsive nib.
Mora Stylos offers excellent customer service.

Cons

The pen is a cartridge/converter. For this size of a pen, it would be nice to have a piston or eyedropper option.
Mora Stylos pens are quite expensive, as you would expect.
Because the shop is in Paris, if you need repairs, you have to send it there. That is time consuming, but André Mora stands behind his product.

I purchased this pen from Mora Stylos with my own funds.

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Posted on November 25, 2016 by Susan Pigott and filed under Oldwin, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Staedtler Textsurfer Gel Highlighter 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.)

Where were these when I was in school?

The Textsurfer gel highlighters from Staedtler come in packs of five (yellow, orange, pink, green, blue), or three (pink, orange, yellow), or as individual units. The bodies are plastic, cylindrical, with a snap cap and sturdy clips. The bottom portion is a wide, textured twist mechanism that raises or lowers the gel stick.

The gel is super smooth, like a soft crayon. It glides over the paper like warm butter. It is semi-transparent and almost seems to glow, as if it possesses some neon school supply magic. It even smells good. It's formulated to perform well on thin paper without bleeding through--so it's excellent for use in novels, planners, bibles, or textbooks. They would have been perfect for my Complete Works of Shakespeare with onionskin paper.

The gel works well over a variety of inks and is inkjet safe. The only ink type that smudged under the application was gel pen ink. Even fountain pen and rollerball ink stayed put.

On the down side, the wide rounded tips wear unevenly--so they do not produce a precise line, and the line width can vary quite a bit. They also leave a waxy residue on the paper that adds weight to the page and feels slightly sticky to the touch for a little while. But the lines do go down dry, so there isn't the slow dry time that standard highlighters have, even on coated textbook paper.

Because the gel is so soft, it wears down very quickly. Even coloring a small area leaves a noticeable flat edge on the tip. If your textbook pages look anything like mine did--with nearly everything highlighted but the pronouns and adverbs--you're going to go through these pretty fast. The gel stick is a good length, so I do think they are useful and fairly priced--but I would have needed quite a stockpile of these to complete my coursework. Like Smaug on a hoard of highlighters.

I'll use these for the occasional research project, for marking knit and crochet patterns, and for highlighting interesting quotes in the books I read. All the while homesick for my student days. I think these would be a great gift for any scholar, and I personally prefer them to the standard highlighter marker.

I remember the days of smudged highlighter lines, lines that bled through the page, or wet lines that transferred to the facing page, making it look like I'd marked something I hadn't. Exam weeks might mean the sides of my hands were permanently stained in a neon rainbow. I tried colored pencil highlighters, but they required too much pressure on the page and were rough on thin paper. These smooth gel sticks are a fantastic solution to these common student ailments that went unchecked for decades. I'll file these under "brilliant solutions you didn't know you needed for problems you hadn't thought too much about".

Sometimes it's the little things.

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

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Posted on November 24, 2016 by Sarah Read and filed under Staedtler, Highlighter, Pen Reviews.

22 Design Studio Contour Concrete Rollerball Review

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

In the vast world of stationery and writing instruments, you'll find a wide array of materials used to bring these products to life. Plastics, metals, and natural materials. One material that I haven't seen in writing instruments yet is concrete. But, that changed when I received the Contour Rollerball from 22 Design Studio.

That's right, the Contour Rollerball is a pen made from "high-density concrete" and stainless steel. And, let me tell you, it's gorgeous in person.

Given the materials, it has a nice weight to it that gives it a precise and industrial feel. It looks cold and heartless on the desk, but when you pick it up, you realize that there's a warmth and softness in the hard materials. It really is a special pen that you have to hold in your own hand before you can fully appreciate the design.

The mechanical preciseness of the machined parts are exquisite. Everything feels like it was milled in perfect harmony to produce a well-oiled writing machine. The threads are smooth and exact, and every part of operating this pen is a pleasure. The stainless steel cap has a plastic insert to keep the refill from drying out, and it has a substantial weight given its size. The top of the cap is completely flat, which allows you to store the pen standing up on a flat surface. It's not something I'd recommend in the off-chance that it tumbles to an untimely death, but it looks cool.

The refill is accessible through the front of the pen. The small section between the cap threads and the refill tip unscrew from the body of the pen to give access to the refill. It's all a very exact and comforting fit, and I doubt you could use any other refill in this pen.

Not to worry, though, because they picked an excellent refill to wrap this work of art around: the Schmidt 888 ceramic rollerball. The Schmidt rollerball is a favorite around here. It's not the exact same refill as the venerable P8126 found in the Retro 51 Tornado, but it's very comparable. To my discerning hand, it writes the same, so I'm left to assume that it's the same tip on a differently-sized cartridge. If you like how the Retro 51 Tornado writes, then you'll love this automatically.

As for the concrete part of the pen, it's one of my favorite features of the of the pen because it's interesting to look at and it also feels great in the hand. The pen is flat on opposite sides, and there are graduated plans that widen toward the middle of the pen, giving it a stepping contour shape. On one end of the pen body, "22" is embossed to indicate the pen brand. This is the only form of branding on the pen. To me, the pen is a piece of art that is enjoyable both to the eyes and the hands.

The concrete warms up your hand nicely while in use, and has a soft feel even though it's an extremely hard material. This is nothing like your average quick mix concrete that you create in a wheelbarrow. This is high-end, high-density concrete. Over time, the concrete will absorb oils and react with the air, taking on a unique personality similar to the way brass and leather products age over time. According to the 22 Design Studio website, the shape of the pen will also contour over time as you use it.

Overall, I'm really impressed by this little pen. It makes a striking visual statement, and it's a complete joy to use. It excites the senses, and I'm not sure if there's much else you can expect from a writing instrument except that it write well (which, it does).

The Contour Rollerball Pen about $85 from Kohezi Amsterdam. This would make a great gift for yourself or another stationery enthusiast! My copy is the White version, but it also comes in Original and Dark Grey.

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

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