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Over the years, I have reviewed most of the popular TWSBI fountain pen models there are. For an overview:
I know I lack the “GO”-model with the spring in above list – but it is sitting here in the review stack, to be reviewed for you, soon.
Another model I haven’t yet tried was the “Eco-T”, which is basically similar (or the same as) the Eco, but with a triangular grip section similar to the one of the Lamy Safari.
I always wanted to review this pen, and see what it is all about. Finally I got around to it!
Before we hop into the review, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Nomadostore for supporting the review of this pen. You can also buy all kinds of TWSBI products in their webshop (no affiliate – just a friendly pointer).
The video is, as always, preceded by some quick facts. Again, I hope the review is helpful and that you enjoy watching it!
Click on the photos to enlarge.
The post Video-Review: TWSBI Eco-T Saffron appeared first on Scrively - note taking & writing.
Montblanc normally does quite a few special releases over the calendar year. Mostly, those releases are different designs of pen bodies.
In the recent time, however, Montblanc has also started to release special edition pens with speciality nibs, such as the MB 146 Calligraphy Flex nib – or now the MB 149 Calligraphy curved nib.
It is fantastic to see that companies such as Leonardo, Aurora, and now also Montblanc, bring back the variety of nibs that were commonplace back in the days – and that in the modern days we were only used to from specialty nib makers such as Sailor.
But let’s now have a look at what the Montblanc Diplomat 149 Calligraphy Curved nib is all about!
Before we hop into the review, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Appelboompennen for supporting the review of this pen. You can also buy the Montblanc 149 Calligraphy Curved Nib in their webshop (no affiliate – just a friendly pointer).
Check out the video-review below, which is as always preceded by some quick facts. Again, I hope the review is helpful and that you enjoy watching it!
Click on the photos to enlarge.
The post Video-Review: Montblanc 149 Calligraphy Curved Nib (Special Edition) appeared first on Scrively - note taking & writing.
Every year, Pelikan blesses us with a bunch of special edition writing instruments – and inks.
Among the writing instruments, Pelikan often comes up with excellent finishes and color schemes to excite the stationery connoisseurs out there. One of the most eagerly anticipated materials is the famous “tortoise” – or “Schildpatt” – that Pelikan makes some of their pens in since decades.
While the red or brown tortoiseshells are among the most popular ones, they are not new, but rather a nod to older vintage times where similar colour schemes had already appeared. So what Pelikan did with the 2022 Special Edition was truly special in at least two ways.
One, Pelikan launched a black tortoiseshell material pen, which to my humble knowledge had never happened before. Second, they brought the tortoise finish to an X05-pen body – meaning: this is the first tortoiseshell finish ever on a silver coloured / palladium plated pen. All other tortoise finishes this far have been on gold accented pens.
This, in my opinion, is one of the most appealing finishes that Pelikan has launched. And I totally expect this pen to be a future classic and rarity.
Before we hop into the review, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Appelboompennen for supporting the review of this pen. You can also buy the Pelikan M605 Tortoiseshell-Black in their webshop (no affiliate – just a friendly pointer).
Check out the video-review below, which is as always preceded by some quick facts. Again, I hope the review is helpful and that you enjoy watching it!
Click on the photos to enlarge.
The post Video-Review: Pelikan M605 Tortoiseshell-Black (2022 Special Edition) appeared first on Scrively - note taking & writing.
Why is there a need for an explanation of the format of an ink-review, you might ask?! Well, because the ink reviews on Scrively are not like all the other ink reviews that you will find out there. This, again, is because Scrively is written by a lefty. Hence, I have walked that extra mile and made the effort to come up with a slightly twisted own format for ink reviewing that aims at catering my needs – and hopefully the needs of many more southpaws out there. It is my sincere hope that I will be able to serve the lefty-fountain pen community with ink-reviews that are meaningful – in the hope for ever more lefties to start daring to pick up a fountain pen and also experience the joy of writing with fountain pens, which really is a pleasure indeed. Of course, I do also hope that the reviews are enjoyable to the ‘right’-handed fellows out there, too 
.
So what is special about the ink reviews here on Scrively?
Well, lefties sometimes (think they) have a fountain pen issue, because the writing from left to right causes the writing hand to slide over what has just been written (the “writing line”), thus smudging and smearing the fresh, wet ink all over the place. This writing style is called side-writing and is the way most lefties, unless they’ve retrained themselves, tend to write. This includes myself as well.
Now there are a lot many well-meant tips out there on the internet on how, as a lefty, you might succeed in retraining your writing style so as to be able to write as if you basically were right-handed. Underwriting, for instance, is one of those “strategies” which are considered to be very effective, because this technique will keep your writing-hand below the writing line. With that, you will most likely have next to zero restrictions when it comes to fountain pen writing, i.e. you will be able to use all the nibs (flex, broad…anything that puts a lot of ink on the paper and, in turn, will take an eternity to dry), inks (no need for caring about drying times), and paper (so called fountain pen-friendly paper which is quite “ink resistant” and causes the ink to dry slowly – that helps the ink to develop more…let’s just call it “character” here) that right handed people can use, too. Sounds great, doesn’t it?
No, it doesn’t. At least not to me. Why? Personally, I tried to practice underwriting for a little while. Not more than some days, though. So yeah, technically, I can absolutely see this working. No doubt. However, I just refuse to strain and twist my wrist and joints into the most uncomfortable of positions for weeks or months, just to become sort of something I am not – a wannabe righty. To me, a writing-tool has to accommodate my needs, not the other way around.
On top of that, all this effort and stress of retraining your writing habits, at least in my own experience, is absolutely not necessary. That is, if you just consider a few things, that really ain’t a big deal: you just combine the right nib-sizes, paper-choice and ink. That might sound complicated, but really isn’t at all. In short, with nibs you stick with EF to M. With paper, you just refrain from the super-duper fountain pen-paper, that will have that ink laying on it’s surface for ages to show all that shading. Taking that into consideration, you are all set to become a very happy fountain pen user.
Disclaimer: Provided you have an approach that is similar to mine, i.e. you are more of a functional writer with a great appreciation for the aesthetics of writing (paper, pen & ink) while not being overambitious with artistic writing or calligraphy or a longing for thick strokes, a lot of line variation (i.e. flex nibs), very wet nibs/inks or paper that brings the best details out of an ink. Then you might really have to become an underwriter. Personally, I am more than good with a regular line and seeing at least most of the nice characteristics of the ink I use.
Having that said as a rather long prelude, let’s now turn to the format that I came up with and that I do employ for all of my ink reviews.
As a lefty, I will do all ink reviews using EF- to M- nibs. These do not lay down too much ink on the paper. The ink will then, of course, dry much faster than with a broader nib, which is what the typical lefty might want in everyday pen usage. Hence, I am mostly interested in how the ink performs and what the ink looks like (ink characteristics) using any of those nib-sizes. This also means that I am not using any flex- or whatever-nibs in my reviews, since I do (for now) simply not care how an ink behaves or looks with those ones. Since I am, of course, nevertheless interested in what the color (and some shading) really looks like on paper, each ink review will contain an ink swab.
On top of that, I will place special emphasis on the wetness and the drying times of the ink which, again, is of special interest to lefties. Besides the drying time, I came up with something that – besides the “Regular Smear Test“ – I call the “Left-Page Smear Test”. First of all, I do write with all the inks that I test for about one week, using them as my everyday ink for this period of time. This is the amount of time where I can really see how the ink performs in various conditions and where I will also fill a couple of pages in my notebooks. The “Regular Smear Test” then just comments on the “smeariness” (is that a word even?) of the ink that one would experience when actually writing “regularly”. The “Left-Page Smear Test” responds to the fact that, as a lefty, when writing on the right page of a notebook, your writing hand will rest (for longer periods of time) on the left page of the notebook. The ink on that left page is already dry, but the extended resting of the palm on that dry ink will occasionally cause smudging. And this is what the “Left-Page Smear Test” is all about: Will the dry ink on the left page smudge?
When it comes to the “testing ground”, which is the paper on which I test, I will always test on two types of paper: Leuchtturm 1917 and regular standard photocopying paper. Why?
For the Leuchtturm 1917, this is one of my (and many other people’s) preferred notebook. First of all, Leuchtturm is for many reasons among the favorite notebook options for many Bullet Journalists, which I am one of. Second, the paper is quite fountain pen friendly and lefty friendly. This means that it is just ink resistant enough to show you some of the nicer ink characteristics such as shading, while it is also just absorbent enough to make it the perfect choice for lefties. On top of that, the paper is slightly off-white or ivory, as are many notebooks out there, so you will be able to see what the ink looks like on such a paper.
For the standard photocopying paper: this is still the standard paper that is present in very many offices around the world, and you might also wanna use a fountain pen at work, the place where you most probably spend minimum 8 hours per day. Not everybody will have the option to pick whichever paper he or she would like to use at work. I, for one, am a PhD-candidate, which means annotating articles and grading student course papers – no way around standard paper here. The situation might be similar for many out there. Standard photocopying paper is also highly absorbent, which makes it a good option for many lefties because the ink basically dries – or rather: gets absorbed – instantly. This is, of course, the tradeoff of that kind of paper in combination with fountain pen ink: most ink will look rather flat (i.e. no shading), because the ink just gets ‘soaked in’ straight away.
Having that said, I do not test ink on e.g. Tomoe River or Clairefontaine paper, because I and many lefties do not write on such kind of paper. For the interested reader, ink reviews on such paper are widely available in other corners of the web, where my ‘right’-handed fellows do an excellent job in reviewing ink.
So, in short, the ink reviews on Scrively follow the scheme below:
Review criteria
Testing ground
Lefty-Rating
. 
For providing accuracy and consistency when it comes to the representation of the ink’s color, all scans of my ink reviews are produced with a Doxie Flip mobile scanner @600 dpi.
I sincerely hope that this section will be helpful to you and that you enjoy reading it!
Ink name: Caran d’Ache “Ultra Violet”
Unit capacity: 50 ml (glas flacon)
Price: ca. 26 €
Price per ml: ca. 0,52 €
| Leuchtturm 1917 | Standard copy paper | |
| Color | matte, dusty dark purple | flat violet-purple |
| Saturation | high | high |
| Shading | pronounced – dusty-pale to dark | some |
| Feathering | none | yes |
| Bleed-through | none | yes |
| Wetness | moderately wet – lubricates nicely | ok |
| Drying time | 18 sec. | 1 sec. |
| Smudging when dry | no | no |
| Regular smear test | ok | ok |
| Left-page smear test | ok | ok |
I would like to take the opportunity to thank The Pen Company for supporting the review of this ink. You can also buy the Caran d’Ache ink in their webshop (no affiliate – just a friendly pointer).
Purple inks are something special, as they are a bit unusual. They are not your usual green, red, blue or black. At the same time they can be about as legit as a blue or black ink, for instance in business or school settings. This makes them an interesting alternative to the aforementioned – with the potential to be a bit of a signature ink to be written with.
The Caran d’Ache “Ultra Violet” from the “Chromatics” ink series is, colorise, a wonderful example of a purple/violet ink. It appears as a matte, dusty dark purple on chream’ish paper such as the Leuchtturm – which is how I enjoy it the most.
On standard white copy paper, the color appears as a bit of a flat violet-purple. It still looks beautiful, but is less interesting – which is also due to the shading being much less pronounced on standard paper than on the less absorbent Leuchtturm paper, where the ink shades in pronounced ways.
Ultra Violet is a rather wet ink, which lubricates nicely. Unfortunately, some of this wetness and lubrication seems to come at a price. In the test here, it causes very long dry times (18 sec. +) on less absorbent paper such as the Leuchtturm, and feathering as well as bleed through on the more absorbent standard paper (where it dries really fast, as it is sucked into the paper rather swiftly).
Pricewise, this ink is definitely on the very pricy side of things. More expensive than the Pelikan Edelstein or the Graf von Faber-Castell inks, and even more expensive than the (in Europe) pricy Pilot Iroshizuku inks, the Caran d’Ache commands a very steep premium.
As for its ‘leftyness’, there is unfortunately no stamp of approval. On some papers, the dry time is simply too long for that, really. On other papers, the ink gets sucked right in and bleeds through, which isn’t necessarily more useful.
I hope this was helpful – feel free to check out my other ink reviews as well.
The post Caran d’Ache “Ultra Violet”: Ink Review appeared first on Scrively - note taking & writing.
Pocket pens often come with quite cool and sophisticated logics of how to be portable while being able to extend to a full length pen.
Some examples include the Kaweco Sport, Kaweco Lilliput, Traveler’s Fountain Pen, Kaweco Special S, the SCHON DESGN pen, or the No 1 pencil.
There are many more – one of them being the Lamy Pico, which is an expandable ballpoint pen with a push mechanism, in a cool and minimalist design.
Before we hop into the review, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Fontoplumo for supporting the review of this stationery item. You can also buy the Lamy Pico (ballpoint pen) in their webshop (no affiliate – just a friendly pointer).
Check out the video-review below, which is as always preceded by some quick facts. Again, I hope the review is helpful and that you enjoy watching it!
Click on the photos to enlarge.
The post Video-Review: Lamy Pico – Ballpoint Pen appeared first on Scrively - note taking & writing.
Wow, was I surprised to notice that it has been 4 (!) years since I have reviewed the last Diplomat pen – a brand which I have a high opinion of, and that I have reviewed multiple pens from.
Diplomat was founded in 1922, meaning that the last year 2022 formed their 100 year anniversary. For this special occasion, Diplomat launched a special pen – something they had never done before in terms of production style and filling system: the Diplomat Nexus Fountain Pen.
Diplomat says they named the pen Nexus to signify a high level of connection between technical innovation and ergonomic design.
Did they succeed, and does the Nexus live up to this ambition? See all about it in the video review below!
The video is, as always, preceded by some quick facts. Again, I hope the review is helpful and that you enjoy watching it!
Click on the photos to enlarge.
The post Video-Review: Diplomat Nexus (100 year anniversary pen) appeared first on Scrively - note taking & writing.
It is pretty much exactly one year ago that I had introduced the then new stationery brand Ateliers Phileas with a review of their first product, the A5 leather notebook cover called Yokohama.
I have used that A5 cover, and A5 notebooks, for work for quite a while. At some point, finding the A5 size somewhat bulky, I was really curious to see if an A6 size would work for me – as well as how the Yokohama, which had just been released in an A6 size, would hold up.
I got one, loaded it with an A6 MD paper notebook, and gave it a spin for the last 10 months or so in daily use. Below comes the verdict.
Before we hop into the review, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Ateliers Phileas for supporting the review of this notebook cover. You can also buy the Yokohama notebook covers in their webshop (no affiliate – just a friendly pointer).
The video is, as always, preceded by some quick facts. Again, I hope the review is helpful and that you enjoy watching it!
Click on the photos to enlarge.
The post Video-Review: Ateliers Phileas “Yokohama” (A6 Leather Notebook Cover) appeared first on Scrively - note taking & writing.
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