The “old school” Twist and the “new Coke” Twist are quite different in aesthetics! The older Twist is brightly colored (it came in a variety of hues), whereas the new Twists tend to have slightly more muted colorways. But the really big difference is the pen body!

Whereas the older version is a round barrel and cap with a slightly tapered section, the new Twist is all angles. I have to say that on aesthetics, the new Twist wins for me. Despite its slightly less vibrant colors, those angles are so appealing! It also has a slightly reduced tapered section.

Both models are plastic barreled. In the case of the older Twist the pen comes in weighing a cool 10g; the newer pen weighs 21g coming in closer to a Lamy Safari or TWSBI Eco. Both pens feature snap caps that are postable. The older version has a clip; the newer version has an angled body to keep it from rolling away so they haven’t added a clip. They’re relatively close in length, with the newer TWSBI running about 1/4″ longer.

There is some difference in the nibs. Both are steel and marked with a single bird. The nib on the older version is slightly smaller than the newer one. The older nib is unmarked, whereas the newer nib is a medium (no options on it as far as I can tell).

Both take international cartridges. The older pen came with a long one, and the newer one came with two short ones.

So let’s get down to the details. Which one do I like better? Going into this, I was convinced that I was going to be a fan of the new Twist. As I said before the aesthetics made it much more appealing to me. It’s fun, it’s cool, it’s so different (reminds me a bit of the fun shapes of the BENU pens).

But the writing experience was definitely the deciding vote for me, and I just didn’t care for the newer Twist. In the older Twist I had assumed that the nib was a medium, but it was actually a crisp writer and wrote more like a western fine nib. Pelikan nibs are somewhat known for being wet writers, and this wasn’t at all. The smaller girth of the pen was super easy to hold in my hand with zero fatigue.

The newer Twist was simply harder for me. While I don’t hate the triangular grip as much as I hate the Lamy Safari’s angled grip, it just wasn’t comfortable in my hand. I think the pen might just be too big for me (do remember that I have super special tiny hands so it might be a me thing.) The thing I disliked the most was the nib. While it wrote softly with no friction, it was kind of all over the place. It felt much more like writing with a Pelikan medium firehose.

This was a superfun comparison, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to be using that old Twist a lot!

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided free of charge by Endless Pens. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Let’s do the twist! Pelikan Twist old and new. appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

The exterior is entirely opaque white plastic with a clear ring at the cap band. The clip is integrated into the cap and is smooth straight line with no embellishment.

The only branding is the classic “p” and the nib width indication of “03” which is the fine nib.

The pen performs just as well as a regular Preppy but with a simple, clean exterior. The Platinum nib, as always, is smooth and the snap cap makes it a great on-the-go pen. If you have access to a Muji store, I would recommend looking for this gem.

This pen was sent to me by a dear friend.

The post Mini-Review: Muji Fountain Pen appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Despite really liking my TWSBI ECOs, I’ve never actually branched out and tried any of their other pens. (I take that back, I tried the TWSBI Swipe a while ago and thought it was ok.) But this time I saw the TWSBI Diamond Mini AL in Grape (a limited edition color!; $62.50) and decided to give the more expensive model a go!

The Diamond Mini AL is TWSBI’s version of a pocket pen. It is styled similarly to the other pens, in the sense that it has a transparent plastic barrel which gives you a bird’s eye view of the piston filling system. There are differences though. The grip and part of the piston system are designed in aluminum. The barrel of the pen is faceted (hence the “Diamond” feel and look). While the ECO and the SWIPE tend to be boxier, with edges on the cap, the Diamond Mini’s edges are rounded, and the cap is tapered. Overall while the ECO is utilitarian, the Diamond Mini is a bit sleeker looking.

I decided to compare a few pens that I use as daily writers to give you a sense of size.

L to R: TWSBI Eco, TWSBI Diamond Mini AL, Kaweco AL Sport, Sailor Pro-Gear Slim.

While the pens vary quite a bit in length when capped, when uncapped the Diamond Mini AL and the Kaweco AL Sport aren’t that different in length. The nibs, however, do have a size differential. In terms of weight they’re very similar: The Pro Gear comes in at 19gm, the ECO at 20, the AL Sport at 21g, and finally the Diamond Mini AL is the heaviest at 23g. But that’s not a HUGE range.

So what do I think? If I’m entirely 100% honest, I don’t feel much of a writing difference between the ECO and the Diamond Mini AL. This is my first extra fine nib from TWSBI, and given that TWSBI tends to use western-style nibs, I don’t find the extra fine to be scratchy in the least. In fact I quite like it. The pen is a bit weightier in my hand, and it’s smaller in size, but I have small hands and it seems like a comfortable writer. So what would make me pay more for the Diamond AL Mini? To me, it comes down to aesthetics. The Mini is fun, and often I do prefer aluminum to plastic (see my preferences for Kawecos!), but given that I don’t see a huge writing difference, I feel like I’m more apt to stick with the ECOs than amass another collection.

Do you have a favorite TWSBI? I’d love to hear about it!

• Paper: Maruman Mnemosyne N182A Notebook – A5 – Graph ($10.00)
• Pen: TWSBI Diamond Mini AL in Grape ($62.50)
• Inks: Pilot Iroshizuku Murasaki-Shikibu (50mL for $26.00)

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided to us free of charge or at a discount for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Fountain Pen Review: TWSBI Diamond Mini AL Grape – Limited Edition appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

So, over the past few weeks, I’ve acquired TWO new models into my collection: the Smooth Sage ($29, EF nib) and the Frosted Blush Pitaya ($24.50, B nib).

I must confess that this is the first Kaweco Sport with a B nib and I am surprised  how much I am enjoying it. It  isn’t as broad and the BB I tested out years ago and preformed like a Sharpie marker.

Needless to say, my recommendation is that if you’ve never purchased a Kaweco Sport, what in the world are you waiting for? There are dozens of color options and you can even upgrade to the AL-Sport if you want a shiny, and more durable version. We like those too.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Mini-Review: Kaweco Sage Fountain Pen (& Frosted Blush Pitaya) appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Dip nibs are not a new concept. In fact, they much more closely resemble some of the original quills and pens that didn’t have ink reservoirs from which to draw from. Imagine the old-time writer dipping a nib in ink, writing a few letters or words, and dipping again. Today, many folks use dip nibs to test a variety of inks, play with new nibs, or do quick sketches or drawings. I’m not aware of anyone who uses dip nibs as their primary writing instrument (maybe Michael Sull with his Spencerian Script).

So today I’ll be looking at three pens:

• MD Dip Pen ($28, purchased with my own funds from Yoseka Stationery)
• Pilot Iro-Utushi (retails for $11-$26, given to Ana by Pilot USA)
• Sailor Hocoro ($16.00, purchased with Ana’s funds from Yoseka Stationery)

MD Dip Pen

At the most expensive and weighty end of the spectrum, this all started with the MD Dip Pen from Midori. The pen is only available in a Medium nib as far as I can tell, and it isn’t removable. The pen body is plastic and weighs the most of the pens I tested at 11g. The length is comparable to the others.

The Pros: I like the weight of this one – though I know many prefer lighter pens, this one feels really lovely in my hand. It was probably middle of the road in terms of being able to write at length – sometimes I managed to get through a whole line, sometimes I needed to re-dip fairly quickly.

The Cons: The price. You can get the other dip nib pens for a bit cheaper, and even get some additional choice and functionality.

Pilot Iro-Utushi

This pen was the longest, and the tapered body was interesting looking. The pen is available with two nibs and two body choices. Opt for plastic for $11, or upgrade to wood at $26. The nib is not removable.

Pros: With two nibs and two body types to choose from (and a few colors available in each) you have some choice with this one. The plastic body puts it at the cheapest of the three models, and the nib was my favorite out of the three to write with.

Cons: The only con on this one for me is that the nib isn’t removable. It’s not unique in that, but if I could put other Pilot nibs in this body, I’d probably be inclined to invest in this one.

Sailor Hocoro

The Sailor Hocoro was the most interesting option that I tested. It’s available in 4 different nib types, including calligraphy nibs, which I tried. The most unique part of this pen is that the nibs are interchangeable. And they pop out and can be inverted (the nib fits into the hollow barrel) for storage. That makes this one the most versatile of your dip pen options I tried.

The Pros: The combo of the price and the versatility make this pen my top choice of the three I tested. It’s cute, provides easy on-the-go storage and is comfortable in the hand.

The Cons: The calligraphy nib was fun to play with but they most frustrating to use of all the nibs I tested. I think this is because it’s basically a stub nib, and lays down quite a bit of ink. It means that the ink was very inconsistent, and it ran out quite quickly, requiring lots of dipping. I’d love to test out the fine or fude nib.

My overall conclusion is that I have a limited use case for dip nib pens. I use them most often when doing ink reviews, as it allows me to show how the ink would appear in a variety of thicknesses, and exhibit shading and sheening if it has any. I have tested a few dip nibs in the past, and tend to stick with my tried and true Delike Glass Signature Pen (spoiler: it’s not really glass). What I love about it is the ability to switch the nibs out, and that the glass nib holds a bunch of ink, meaning I don’t have to dip as frequently.

• Paper: Baron Fig Mastermind Dot Grid
• Inks: All Robert Oster – Honey Bee, Spearmint, Velvet Crush

DISCLAIMER: Some of these items in this post were purchased with my own funds, others were provided for free or at discounted cost for the purposes of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Pen Trends: Dip Nib Mania appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

I was totally caught by surprise when I saw the new North American exclusive Sailor ProGear Line Friends CONY Fountain Pen ($312). I squealed with delight at how cute it was! I am not familiar with the Line Friends series, but the characters look a lot like Sanrio-esque cute Japanese characters. I grew up as a Hello Kitty kid (quite the opposite to the goth teen I became, right?).

There have been some previous characters like a bear and a duck but oh, the pink CONY bunny! The design of the pen was more interesting as well.  I haven’t bought a new fountain pen for myself in awhile and then in the same week, I found the BENU Skull & Roses Crow and the CONY — the two sides of my Gemini personality, one half cute and the other, a little spooky. I hit Buy It Now and didn’t look back.

Are the current Sailor Pro Gear fountain pens quite expensive? Yes. Should I be supporting this kind of financial excessiveness? No. Did I buy it anyway? Yes.

The pen body is a mix of material colors: the cap is translucent pink with an opaque pink end cap, the body is a milky white with an opaque black end cap. The grip section (shown in a photo below) is a milky pink. The whole pen features silver hardware.

Through the milky barrel, it’s possible to see the color of the converter.

So, of course the converter is pink!

The end cap on the cap feature the smiley face of CONY.

And the best part? The engraved CONY on the nib.

I love the Sailor 14K EF nib and despite efforts to expand my nib options, for everyday journal and daily writing, I always go back to the Sailor 14K EF nib as my go-to. My first ink pick for the pen was Sailor Studio 237 but it was a bit too light with the EF nib. Monteverde Kindness is a much brighter pink than I had wanted to use but is way easier to read.

My conclusions: do I recommend that you drop over $300 for a limited edition Sailor ProGear Slim? Only if you have the cash and want a pink bunny pen. Do I recommend a ProGear Slim in general? Yes. Despite the escalating prices, the Sailor ProGear is still one of the best pens I’ve ever owned and there’s a reason why I have more than one.

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were purchased with funds from our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Fountain Pen Review: Sailor Line Friends Cony (NA Exclusive) appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Inside me there is still a 16-year-old goth girl. There. I’ve said it. I outed myself. So, when I saw the Benu Skull & Roses Crow Fountain Pen ($163) I knew I had to have it.

I first saw the Skull & Roses pens at the LA Pen Show at the  Dromgoole’s tables where Jesi and I were working. We both debated buying the pens on the table but we had so many people checking them out that we both waited to see if the pens sold at the show.

Then we got all “quick! we gotta pack up!” and I forgot to grab the Skull & Roses pen. A few weeks after returning from the pen show, I started thinking, “Dang! I wish I had bought that BENU,” but by that point, I couldn’t find the pen in stock anywhere.

I gave up getting one, until I saw that Truphae had them in stock and, as June is my birthday month, I decided to celebrate still being a kid, and bought it for myself.

The BENU packaging is pretty uneventful (and hence, not photographed) and that’s fine by me. It’s a simple white box with gold lettering and the pen is in a white, paperboard tube cushioned in paper shred inside. While the packaging is fully recyclable it doesn’t give away the cacaphony of color or funkiness going on inside the box. Sneaky.

The Skull & Roses Crow is a pretty silly pen all things considered.  It utilizes a traditional tapered, cigar shape with deeply engraved roses along the cap and barrel and a ring of engraved skulls around the cap band. The pen is a solid black plastic material with a texture in the non-embossed areas to give the pen a leather-like look — kind of like the texture on an old book.One might think of it as a budget-friendly subtler version of the Chaos pen (IYKYK).

The pen did come with a universal cartridge converter which I filled with “be still my Goth-y heart” Sailor Studio 350.

The nib is a standard Schmidt #5 nib. Love ’em or hate ’em, BENU uses Schmidt nibs. I got the EF nib and it was a little scratchy but I used a bit of micromesh and was able to smooth it out. I’m spoiled from years of using Sailor nibs so I still find the nib to be a bit stiff and not as fine as I’d like it but its a decent nib.

Specs:

• Length: 5.375 (capped)
• Length  5″ (uncapped)
• Weight 21gms (capped and filled)
• Weight 16gms (uncapped with full converter)

The smooth grip section is about 0.875″ long with a minimal step down from the threads and an added bit of smooth matte grip area along the pen body creating a space of about 1.5″ overall to grip the pen without coming into contact with the deep sculpted designs.  For some, the deeply engraved exterior and small size may cause pressure on your hand from the design. I didn’t find the sculpted body to be too bothersome for everyday notetaking but I wouldn’t choose this pen to do NaNoWriMo or other marathon writing.

The cap is not really post-able which limits the length.

The Skull & Roses is also available in a translucent red and a mixed black-body-with-translucent-red band called Smolder (currently sold out).

In the end, the plus sides are the ridiculously goth-y design, lightweight and reasonable price. For some folks the downside would be the small Schmidt nib, not post-able and too much engraving that may interfere with overall writing comfort. My thinking is that if you are attracted to the design, the “downsides” can be overlooked because… c’mon, skulls & roses!

DISCLAIMER: Some items were purchased with funds from our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Fountain Pen Reivew: Benu Skull & Roses Crow Fountain Pen appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

My Google-fu tells me that the Pilot Explorer debuted in 2019 and I’m not quite sure how I missed it. Well, I have a few guesses. My first Pilot love was actually the Pilot Metropolitan series. When I first started getting into fountain pens, the Metropolitans were in the “under $20 crowd” which meant they were easily obtainable for me. They came in a variety of fun colors, an array of nib sizes, and were lightweight and felt good in my hand. I may still have several (I can find at least 3 sitting right near me!)

So back to the Explorer. The Explorer is an odd little pen. It’s now priced in the same range as the Pilot Metropolitan (as of writing this the Explorer is $25 and the Metropolitan is $25.42 at JetPens), but it’s a plastic body. Yes, even though it looks like a metallic finish that’s all plastic baby! It comes standard with a steel nib in either Fine or Medium, and a black clip. I also think it looks a lot like the Lamy Safari or AL-Star – doesn’t it remind you of the Vibrant Pink edition?

Then pen comes with a snap cap that is postable, and a proprietary cartridge and converter. (It’s one of the squeeze-y ones so make of that what you will.) The pen is around 5″ uncapped (12.5 cm and 4.8″ to be precise) and 5.5″ capped (14cm and 5.6″). It weighs in at a cool 14g which makes it about the same as the Platinum Preppy that I reviewed a few weeks ago.

All of this is to say that this pen looks and feels like other pens I’ve written with. And while it is perfectly serviceable and nice enough to write with, there’s nothing in it that grabs me and makes me say “Gosh I LOVE this pen.”

Have you tried the Explorer? What do you think?

The post Fountain Pen Review: Pilot Explorer appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

When I started with fountain pens several year ago, I actually skipped what I consider the truly “introductory” fountain pens and immediately went to the next level. I started with a Lamy Safari, a Pilot Metropolitan and finally, a TWSBI Eco. While they’re all great pens in a decent price range, I know that I skipped some of the even lower end pens that make a great introduction to those new to the fountain pen industry, and even beloved by more experienced writers.

So when the new limited edition “Maki-e” Platinum Preppys ($10) showed up on Jetpens site, I was compelled to take a look. The Platinum Preppy is an introductory level demonstrator-body fountain pen that is well loved and has been around since 2007. The pen itself is around 5″/12 cm (uncapped) and weighs in at just 13g. It’s durable, fun to use and comes with steel Platinum nibs, generally in extra fine, fine or medium. The pens can be used with cartridges or converters, but beware that Platinum uses proprietary ones so you won’t be able to just get away with standard international cartridges. The nibs write well out of the package, and the ink flows smoothly immediately.

I chose to purchase the Kachimushi 03 which comes with a blue body printed with silver dragonflies, intended to look like Maki-e. The pattern is aesthetically pleasing and hasn’t been damaged in the few weeks I’ve been using the pen, but I also haven’t see what long term use might do. I expect the pen may get scratched and the dragonflies may not stay intact forever.

A quick note: maki-e is a time-consuming Japanese technique of lacquer decoration. While the motifs in these Platinum Preppy echo what you might see in true maki-e, they are in fact printed on the plastic barrel. True maki-e would be far more expensive. 

So what do I think? For a $10 pen, I think the Preppy provides a pretty great writing experience. In comparison, I did pull out my as yet unused Pilot Kakuno to compare. The Pilot Kakuno is also a plastic demonstrator pen, featuring a Pilot nib (this one is in medium). Capped, the lengths are a bit different (about 1/4″), but uncapped they are virtually the same length. The nibs are different – you can see the Kakuno is a larger nib unit. The standard Kakuno retails for $12.50, whereas the standard Preppy retails for $7, with the Maki-e limited edition coming in at $10. Pilot also makes use of proprietary cartridges and converters, so you’ll have the same issue there (that is, you can’t just throw a standard cartridge in there and go).

In truth, both of these are great little pens and I sometimes forget how you can introduce someone to a really fun writing instrument at a fraction of the cost of what many of us spend pursuing our hobbies. For what it’s worth, I have a slight preference for the Preppy but I don’t have a good reason to articulate why.

What’s your favorite low-cost or introductory fountain pen?

The post Fountain Pen Review: Platinum Preppy Wa Modern Maki-e Fountain Pen appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

The Nautilus pen design features porthole windows around the barrel, just below the cap that allows the user to see the ink piston inside. Ahoy, ink matey!

In the past we’ve reviewed other Nahvalur (formerly Narwhal) designs like the Key West and the Voyage. The design of the Voyage is similar in terms of build and size. The porthole windows being the only distinct visual difference in the two models. The big upsell on the Brilliant Bunny is the 14k nib.

The 14k nib is specially engraved for this limited edition. I love with waves around the edge of the nib. Unfortunately, the only nib size available for this special edition is M but there’s enough tipping material that it could be ground to a finer size, if desired.  We did not want to ink this up so that it would be pristine for the winner but we did “dry test” it to get a feel for the nib. The 14k nib has a bit of spring to it but it is not a flex nib. It will be a very expressive nib, reacting to the amount of pressure the writer applies.

Size:

• Capped: 6″
• Uncapped:  5.25″

The Nautilus does not post.

Weight:

• Capped: 31gms
• Uncapped: 17gms

The cap is heaver than I expected but since it can’t be posted it won’t throw the balance of the pen off.

There have only be 50 of the Brilliant Bunny pens made and we are fortunate to have one to giveaway to a lucky reader. If you want to guarantee that you’ll be a proud owner of one of these pens, hop over to Enigma Stationery and order yours today.

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell us what your Chinese Zodiac sign is. If you don’t know, make one up. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? One entry per person.

If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give themonkeys some time.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Friday, March 17, 2023 (St. Patrick’s Day — oh, the irony!). All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 5 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Enigma Stationery for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Fountain Pen Giveaway: Enigma Stationery Nahvalur Exclusive ‘Brilliant Bunny’ Nautilus Fountain Pen appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.