Wednesday, December 12, 2018

REVIEW: SYAHI IMPERATOR FOUNTAIN PEN

Review: Syahi Imperator fountain pen
Syahi - perhaps not a brand you have heard about before, and that's because they are still fairly new on the market (founded in 2017). On paper, this young Indian brand brings an impressive list of features to the table that could make for an awesome pen: A large -almost oversized- form factor, handmade, almost completely wooden construction and an extensive selection of steel nibs to choose from (including flexible, or BB nibs!). The recipe for success... but does it also impress in real life?

Before we dive into the review: a big thanks to Syahi for sending this pen over for review! 
Review: Syahi Imperator fountain pen
The Syahi Imperator arrives in a stylish cardboard box, and is accompanied by a rather decent-looking leather (I don't think it's real leather, but it's very soft nevertheless) single pen case. The presentation definitely gives off a luxury vibe, and would look great as a gift.
Review: Syahi Imperator fountain pen
The Imperator model is large, and has a flattop cigar shape that's considerably girthy. The outside is made completely out of wood (in this case 'Ipe', Brazillian walnut). and accentuated by 'antique brass' trims that have a slightly brushed finish to them. It's a good-looking pen with an understated elegance to it. The warm brown wood has a nice grain and texture, and it pairs well with the understated, gold-colored trims. 
Review: Syahi Imperator fountain pen
But unfortunately it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Because when I took a closer look, I started to notice quite a few build quality issues. Of course wood is a natural product and it's not the easiest to work with, but there are some details that I think should have been finished a bit better.
Review: Syahi Imperator fountain pen
mind the gap
The trim rings at the clip and back of the barrel move around, causing them to sit misaligned with the rest of the cap and barrel. 
Review: Syahi Imperator fountain pen
The assembly of the wooden parts on the metal liners in the cap and barrel isn't done very accurately, there is some pretty obvious glue residue left on a few metal parts. 
Review: Syahi Imperator fountain pen
The center band also had a rather obvious scratch on one side. It's unfortunate to see these flaws that really shouldn't be present on a pen in this price class. I feel like they miss some level of QC that would prevent errors like this, which I think would be very easy to fix. 
Review: Syahi Imperator fountain pen
Review: Syahi Imperator fountain pen
L to R: Leonardo Momento Zero, Pelikan M800, Opus 88 Koloro Demonstrator, Syahi Imperator, Lamy Safari, Lamy 2000
In terms of size, the Imperator is a comfortably large pen, measuring 14.2 cm (5.6") capped, and 13cm (5.11 ") uncapped. The cap doesn't post, but I don't think that's a problem for most people. It's a rather bulky pen, but in a pleasant way that fits my hand nicely. The section isn't overly wide, so that means there is a bit of a step from barrel to section. Nevertheless, the metal block threads and the step didn't prove bothersome in the hand. 
Review: Syahi Imperator fountain pen
The #6 steel nib is another area where I stand very divided (unfortunately). The Syahi website mentions that their nibs are: 'german-tipped nibs made in india'. It's not the prettiest nib in the world, the surface of the metal looks 'wavy' (in lack of a better word to describe it) and the decorative line that visually separates the gold-plated part from the rest of the nib isn't stamped properly so it doesn't run all the way across the nib surface. 

They mention that their nibs are tuned by an in-house nibmeister and I'm inclined to believe that because the writing experience is actually really good. Even though the build quality of the nib is somewhat shoddy, it performs excellent out of the box. I went for the BB because you don't come across double broads very often on steel nibs, and I wasn't disappointed. It's a fabulously smooth, wet writer that lays down a broad (western broad) line, and the plastic feed keeps up nicely with the heavy ink flow.

Unfortunately the tables turned again the next day, when I tried to write after the pen had been sitting unused for a day... it had dried out quite badly. Bummer, so I primed the feed and didn't put any further thought into it. The next day I had the same issue, sometimes it even dried out after a few hours. It just kept drying out! So I figured it must've been the ink (after all, I DID put the rather infamous Organics studio Walden Pond in it!) and changed it a couple times over the next few weeks, trying different, less saturated inks. Unfortunately the drying out issues persist, and it hard starts every time the pen has been sitting idle for a while. It distracts from the otherwise excellent performance of the nib, and makes it a difficult pen to use on a daily basis because it's rather unreliable. 
Review: Syahi Imperator fountain pen
I really wanted to like the Syahi Imperator. It's such a good-looking pen, and the nib is downright excellent when it works. But it's plagued with quite a few issues that you simply shouldn't find on a 159$ pen. They are a young brand so there's room for improvement, and I sincerely hope they can fix these issues because the potential for an excellent pen is certainly there. It shouldn't be so difficult to ramp up QC, which would take care of a lot of the things that bothered me, and perhaps a plastic liner inside the cap could fix the drying out issues. But, at least at this very moment, I can't really recommend the Syahi Imperator, especially in a price range where there are many excellent steel-nibbed competitors (such as Edison, Franklin-Christoph, Leonardo Officina Italiana,...)

UPDATE: It seems that Syahi substantially lowered their pricing recently, to where all their pens now cost around 110$. It's always good news when pens become less expensive, but especially in this case I think it changes the perspective quite a bit. While it doesn't change the fact that there are some QC issues, it's now at a more realistic price point for what you get!

This product was sent to me by Syahi, 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.
Review: Syahi Imperator fountain pen

1 comment:

  1. I have been using Syahi Imperator pen for about 5 years now. It is a piece of art. It comes with a gold and steel nib option. Writes beautifully. Unposted it feels good. A little heavier when posted.

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