REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: OPUS 88 FANTASIA FOUNTAIN PEN

I reviewed the Opus 88 Koloro Demonstrator a while ago (read it HERE), and was quite impressed with the excellent quality they delivered for a very reasonable price. This time, Opus 88 steps into the pocket pen territory with their latest Fantasia range, and does so in a very unique and interesting way, both in terms of design and functionality!

Thanks to Pen Chalet for sending this pen over for review. You'll want to read on to the end of this review, because together with Pen Chalet I'm also giving one of these Fantasia pens away to a lucky reader!

The Fantasia is a curious pen. I remember being intrigued by the design when I first saw photos of it on Opus' Instagram page, I wasn't sure what to make of it. The ebonite and acrylic combo feels acquainted from their Koloro line of pens (which I haven't reviewed yet, let me know if you'd be interested in a review!). Then they went a step further, and incorporated a bunch of colored acrylic and ebonite rings in various bold colors into the cap. It's an eye-catching design element for sure, a playful and bold design choice. It might even come across as somewhat childish (definitely not a business-y pen!), but frankly it redeems itself because it's so damn well-made.

This tiny pen is -in fact- so well made, that it makes me question why this company can make a near-perfect product (fit and finish is bar none, everything is perfectly polished, parts are well-centered, and the entire construction feels sturdy), yet a multi-million company like Montblanc or Pelikan can't be bothered to correctly center their cap bands so the engraving lines up with the clip (UGH so annoying!). color me impressed!

If you think away those colorful stripes for a second, the design is actually quite straightforward, but they did incorporate some functional design elements in a rather interesting way. Again we see a Japanese eyedropper filling system, only slightly smaller of course. The piston knob at the back of the barrel is purposely smaller to reduce the size of the pen, but this can make it trickier to unscrew the seal (not impossible though), so they fixed that in a very clever way: like a screwdriver, the cap finial fits onto the back finial so you can use the cap to open and close the shut-off valve. It's a somewhat redundant feature because it's not impossible to unscrew without it, but it's clever nevertheless.

L to R: TWSBI Eco T, Sailor Pro Gear, Opus 88 Fantasia, Opus 88 Koloro, Lamy Safari, Lamy 2000

As I said, the Opus Fantasia is a pocket-sized pen, measuring 11.6 cm (4.6") closed and 14.4 cm (5.7") posted. The cap can be screwed securely onto the back of the barrel to post, which transforms it into a very comfortably sized and balanced pen (rather lightweight, at 20g total). The section is very short, but the threads and step are subtle so they don't get in the way when I hold the pen. Despite the small footprint, it's a very comfortable writer, the only downside is of course that you have to screw and unscrew the cap both to open the pen and to post the cap, so it's not the most practical for quick notes.

What IS good for taking notes, is the large ink capacity, paired with the excellent nib. It's just a stock #5 JoWo nib on a stock plastic feed, but it writes as it should. It's a fine nib, smooth enough and the eyedropper filling system provides a consistent flow of ink.

If I had to make one remark, I'd say eyedroppers aren't immediately my preferred filling system for pocket pens. I don't know if it would be a smart move to pocket-carry, but I did carry it around in my backpack and it never leaked or burped (thanks to the shut-off system). I did seal the barrel threads with some silicon grease though, just in case.

The Fantasia is again an excellent product, just like the Koloro Demonstrator. I have yet to fault either of them on any aspect of their design, build quality and writing experience. At 125$, the Fantasia is a bit more expensive than the other Opus 88 pens, but the more intricate construction justifies the price point in my opinion. The design is perhaps a bit more playful than what I'm used to, but I guess that can't hurt every now and then. On top of that, it's just an excellent writer, and it's still not terribly expensive considering the quality you get.

The Fantasia is a great pen, and you can WIN one thanks to the great folks of Pen Chalet one Opus 88 Fantasia in a color and nib of choice to one lucky winner! All you have to do is enter the giveaway through the widget below! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This product and the giveaway product are provided to me by Pen Chalet, so I could write this review. I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared in this review are completely my own! This post does not contain affiliate links. GIVEAWAY RULES: Winner will be picked 01/03/2019 and will be contacted via email, if the winner fails to reply within one week, a new winner will be picked.