By now you should have heard of the Wancher Dream Pen Kickstarter project. If you haven’t, it’s either because you have not been prowling around the fountain pen world enough, or haven’t been paying attention to my blog! š I have recently posted about their Kickstarter project, and it is not often, if at all, that I post about a Kickstarter. The reason I decided to write about this Kickstarter is that I liked the way Wancher carried out their product development process, and the message they gave in their promotional video. I also felt that it was a great opportunity for you beloved readers out there to be able to obtain an urushi pen at a more affordable price tag. Lucky me, I have been contacted by Wancher to review their True Urushi fountain pen. What a privilege for me! They have sent me the black steel-nibbed version and I have been writing with it for a while. Read further for my breakdown of my thoughts of the pen. First Impressions I have never had an urushi pen before, so to be honest I had not known what really to expect. I had seen pictures of the pen when […]
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BENU began in January 2016 when Alex Semanin and Kate Dmitrieva started a new creative concept āto make writing instruments and desk accessories for those who prefer bright colors and new designs that are playful, stylish, and fun.ā The name BENU comes from the Egyptian deity linked to the Sun, creation, and rebirth, and is a symbol of constant change, recurrence, and renovations. Their fountain pens, ballpoints, and rollerballs are all designed and handcrafted in their Moscow workshop, and all fountain pens come with a Schmidt nib in Fine, Medium, or Broad. I first heard about BENU pens last year from a few friends that had purchased the BENU Minima model in Classic Black with Skulls. They raved about the design and how it grabbed peopleās attention every time they used them. When I saw that BENU was launching a new line of pens called Chameleon, I knew I had to get one to try out for myself. All the Chameleon pens have the same body design, but vary in colors and patterns. I reached out to BENU pens to learn more about the line, and Kate Dmitrieva agreed to send me a Benu Jolly Chameleon to review and test. […]
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I have never tried before any pens from Karas Pen Co, so when they contacted me to check my interest to review one of their pens, I definitely jumped at the opportunity! The pen they sent me is from their Signature range – a spring Decograph 1801 Special Edition no less, elegantly named Sleeping Beauty. While this pen was provided to me for free in exchange for a review on my blog, all opinions where applicable are my own. In Karas, all their items are designed and manufactured in Arizona, USA. So it is not a surprise that their Decograph 1801 was going to feature one of their landmarks. That landmark would be the the Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Mine of Globe, Arizona. Initially, the name “Sleeping Beauty” calls to mind the Disney animation based on a classic fairytale, but upon reading the product sheet that came along with the pen, I realised it’s about the mine! That makes much more sense as I could not really think of how else the pen would be associated with Disney (laughing at myself now). Appearance and packaging When it comes to acrylic pens, I really love marbled or swirly designs, so when I […]
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I got my hands on two inks from Elixir Ink Company for review through Maybelline recently and couldn’t be more pleased. The Elixir Ink Company is from Singapore, and their inks are produced locally. Support local? Yes! The one I’m reviewing today is the River Safari ink. It’s always nice to try items that are locally made. I explored Elixir’s website and found out that the two inks I received were their limited Edition Inks specially made for Singapore Fountain Pen Lover’s (SFPL) 2017 Pen Show. Unfortunately, according to Elixir’s website, they’re currently out of stock. Anyone knows if they will be producing more stock? Performance The writing sample above is written on a Maruman Spiral notebook, and I had no problems with bleed-through and feathering. The ink is almost pH neutral at 7.5.Ā It writes a little dry for me, but I’m pretty sure that it’s the nib. Others had provided feedback, saying the inks were a little on the wet side. Pros Their River Safari is a pretty, dark olive green with a little bit of shading. Olive Greens had never been a personal favourite, but i’ve grown to like them recently as […]
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I just have to put it out there. Iāve got to admit it. Itās been eating me inside for weeks, months! Iām not a fan of many Lamy pens. That being said, IĀ amĀ a fan of the Lamy Nexx! Read on to find out whyā¦. Also, be sure to check out my personal blog for more exclusive content! The Pen BoffinWe, The Pen Boffin love pens! Who doesn’t, right? We are a blog currently run by Ali Abbas Panju and Oliver Jack Bennett, and are committed to reviewing fountain pens, writing opinion pieces about fountain pens, and all other paraphernalia! Please check out our main blog for exclusive posts, and follow our social media to keep up to date! Feel free to contact us, and as always, write on. thepenboffin.wordpress.com/
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Stabilo Singapore has provided me for a review their EASYbirdy fountain pen, one of their first fountain pens which they have launched this year. It is an interesting pen with a feature that I haven’t seen before in other fountain pens – the nib angle can be adjusted using the red tool in the picture. The red tool is actually a device where you can plug into the cartridge area and unscrew the nib part of the pen, after which you can adjust the nib angle in 3 different places to find your preferred one, and then tighten it again. To explain the mechanism better, I have made a video introducing the pen and its special nib adjusting mechanism, as well as a brief review of the writing experience. Oh, and I should mention that this particular version that I received is a left-handed version, which means that the ergonomic grip on the pen section is shaped nicely for a leftie to use. That’s kind of them! Although, to be honest, I am so lazy that I don’t actually bother to change the writing posture of my hand. š If you’re looking to give a fountain pen to a child […]
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The Levenger L-tech 3.0 came in a silver box. Something cheap made well enough to be customised, but just a box. appearances do not matter to me here, it has been tossed carelessly as I did not deem it worthy of a photo. How it is presented looks costly, but gaudy and too much of a resemblance to a metal brief case filled with cash like on a low budget D-list movie. It is jarringly out of place, Iām no triad boss, it is not a discreet box. Diagram by me, like I used MS Paint, I made this with pro Photoshop skillz. Mad SKILLZ bro. Lie. I can’t Photoshop. Next. Photo sources as listed. Opening it, I nodded my first approval– thorough enough, and not too expensive for what I paid, a mostly brass alloy stick nestled in dense foam with not just one, but two stylus tips. One meshy and the other silicon-y Well, for a fountain pen, it wasnāt too expensive, retailing at the Levengerās site for US$99. Levenger also sells other pens, associated paraphernalia from paper to, quite oddly, wallets and wristwatches. Are they going to be a department store? At the point of my first […]
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Be blinded by the striking colours of the new Pilot Metropolitan Retro Pop fountain pens! Pilot Singapore has generously sent me these pens to drool over and caress, and I got to keep one of them. I spent a long time deciding which pen to keep, and finally decided on the purple one as I don’t think I have a purple pen yet (I might be wrong… lost track of all my fountain pens). But keeping any or all of the colours was definitely possible, since they all look so gorgeous! As always, the condition I make to my sponsors for pen reviews is that I would like to provide my personal honest opinion of the pen, and this is the same case for this review. Pilot has in no way influenced my opinion of the pens. The Pilot MetropolitanĀ Retro Pop is the third series of Metropolitan fountain pens that were launched in October by Pilot. In Singapore, the Metropolitan pensĀ are very popular especially among beginners, and even some of the more seasoned fountain pen users seem to like them very much. No wonder 3 full series were launched. These stylish pens areĀ a refreshing change from previous Metropolitan (MR) series, […]
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This is my fourth and final part of the Iroshizuku Inks And Their Meanings series of reviews, where I reviewed 6 Iroshizuku inks per part. In this last instalment, I will review the remaining 6 inks:Ā Murasaki-shikibu, Chiku-rin, Ina-ho, Ama-iro, Take-sumi, and Shin-kai. To read aboutĀ how I log my inks, click onĀ this article. It may be helpful for you to read that to understand some of the terms andĀ references that I make in my post below. IroshizukuĀ Murasaki-shikibu Murasaki-shikibu (ē“«å¼éØ) has a couple of meanings. Most call it “beauty berry” but Murasaki Shikibu is also the nickname of a famous Japanese poet/novelist from the Heian period. She was from the Imperial Court in Japan and served as a lady-in-waiting to the Empress then. In fact, when I asked my Japanese colleague about the meaning of “murasaki-shikibu”, this lady was the first to cross his mind. Other than that, the Japanese beautyberry (Callicarpa japonica) is a treeĀ that has purple berry fruits, a plant native to Japan. Ink Characteristics This is the only purple ink in the whole Iroshizuku series, a bit of a pity because I love purple inks myself and hope that there might have been more purple options. But at times, […]
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This is the third instalment of my Iroshizuku ink review series, where I talk about Iroshizuku inks and their meanings, and also observe their characteristics.Ā Here I will review Fuyu-gaki, Kiri-same, Fuyu-syogun, Tsukushi, Yama-guri, and Kosumosu. For a brief on how I log my inks, read this article. It may be helpful for you to understand some of the terms andĀ references that I make in my post below. Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki Fuyu-gaki (å¬ęæ) translates to “winter persimmon”, which is an orange fruit that can be found worldwide, but mostly in China, Japan, and Korea. These fruits turn ripe and are ready for harvest in autumn, and most of the persimmons that are available at the end of the year are of the fuyugaki type, with softer and juicier flesh (as opposed to the jirogaki, which has a harder and crunchier flesh). Ink Characteristics As expected from the name, the ink is a bright orange colour, the colour of fresh, ripe persimmons. It’s a very attractive orange, especially when the first layer of ink is swabbedĀ on the paper. Interestingly, when the second layer of ink was laid down (refer to the top half of the swab area), the colour turns into a duller […]
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