I have been so, so lax of late. These pens arrived with me for review months ago and the review has been sitting in my notebook since then. It has not been a good start to the year healthwise but things are looking up!
So these are two Kaweco Original fountain pens in matte black. Both are entirely metal and nearly identical. The difference between them lies in the nibs. One is an EF and the other a B. They arrived in a rather fancy Kaweco tin which I really liked – the presentation was good and the pens are rather sleek, for all that they are black. People who know me, know I am a BIG fan of colour and so a black pen is not usually my scene. I do like the matte finish though and think these would be great pens to have for work.
They are well proportioned and sit nicely in my hand. For something that is entirely metal, they are not too heavy and I can write with them for quite a while without any pain.
My only issue, and it is a strange one, is that the section feels kind of… slippery. It feels like it could do with some texture to help the grip. I had this experience before with the Visconti Rembrandt that I reviewed last year and after a while, the feeling went away. It hasn’t with this.
Though they superficially look identical, there are differences between them. The main one is the size of nib. The EF is equivalent to a Bock #5 and the B to a Bock #6. The difference in nib has led to slight differences in the pen – the EF is narrower by a small amount and the section on the B is shorter to accommodate the larger nib.
In terms of how they wrote, I LOVED the B nib. It was wet and the ink flowed smoothly. It wasn’t too broad either. I am less used to EF nibs and found this one quite dry and scratchy. That may be the nature of an EF nib but I guess it may also be a quality control thing. I am not sure how well Kaweco does QC!
These are quite pricey for a plain black pen, at around £115 from Cult Pens. I admit that I am hugely biased but if I had that to spend on a pen, I’d be chucking a wee bit extra in and commissioning something brightly coloured from one of our talented UK pen makers. However, I know the blackness and the style of these pens will appeal to a great many people.
Oh! Oh! Oh! I forgot. Remember I reviewed the Kaweco Sport LE pens last year and really liked the plastic one? I did put one on my Christmas list and I did get it – a Kaweco Iridescent LE in a medium nib. Its cheap and cheerful and doesn’t pretend to be anything it isn’t and I love it!
The Inky Sea 