REVIEW: ESTERBROOK ESTIE SPARKLE OVERSIZED FOUNTAIN PEN

I typically wouldn't consider myself the target demographic for products that have the word 'sparkle' in their name. So when Bryan from Esterbrook (and Kenro, red.) offered to send over a sample of their new Estie Sparkle oversized, I was actually this close to declining. As a pen-reviewer, I try to stay unbiased as much as possible. But in this case, I was worried I'd be too heavily biased against the pen's aesthetic, given it's soooo far out of my comfort zone. Turns out I was dead wrong for thinking that.

As soon as the box opened, I gasped a little. DAMN. THIS. THING. IS. BEAUTIFUL!

Don't forget, that's coming from the guy who, at the beginning of his pen-blogging career, didn't even think about straying away from colorless, black pens. I expected something obnoxiously gaudy and over the top, but instead this 'Garnet Red' Diamondcast Alumilite material (Made by McKenzie Penworks) strikes a perfect balance of bright red metallic particles captured in a deep, dark red (almost black in some places) acrylic. It sure does catch the eye when the light hits it, but it's really not as overpowering as I expected.

The white specks of diamond dust are subtle, but noticeable up close!

The unique thing about Diamondcast is that it is, well, made with real diamonds. Waste diamond dust from cutting gems, to be precise. The tiny white specks of diamond dust add an extra layer of sparkle to the red metallic flake that is best appreciated up close.

To be clear, this pen will not be everyone's cup of tea. But it wasn't too hard to persuade me, so  I guess everything is possible. On the other hand, if you're the kind of person that wants even more bling, the two other colorways ('Montana Sapphire' and 'Tanzanite Blue') are seemingly a bit more vibrant and in-your-face, at least going by the images I've seen online.

The Sparkle is a special edition that does command a rather hefty premium over the standard production colorways of the Estie (more on that later). However, apart from the Diamondcast material, the Estie Sparkle shares the exact same design as the regular Estie I reviewed a couple months ago (review HERE). That's a good thing if you ask me, because I really do enjoy the minimalist, clutter-free aesthetic of the Estie. The Oversized version of the Estie follows the same clean lines as the regular model, just overall a good bit bigger. The large size and clean design of the Estie oversized put all the emphasis on the striking Diamondcast material, and deservedly so. It really shines - literally!

L to R: Pelikan M1005, Esterbrook Estie Sparkle OS, Estie Honeycomb, OPUS 88 Flow, Lamy Safari, Lamy 2000

What's also striking, is the size of the Estie Oversized! I probably should've seen that coming, since the regular model is already pretty much an oversized pen. But I was still quite surprised when I first opened the box. It's an absolutely huge pen, and especially the added width makes the oversized Estie feel considerably larger than its smaller sibling. Heck, it even makes a Pelikan M1000 or Montblanc 149 feel kind of small! Its size reflects in the weight as well. Since the barrel and cap walls are machined considerably thicker than on the regular model, it feels extremely solid in the hand, and should be able to withstand a good bit of (ab)use. It feels noticeably more substantial than the regular Estie, but at 33 grams it's still far from what I'd call heavy or unpleasant to use.

As far as I can tell, the Estie and Estie Oversized share the exact same section. I did find the Estie a particularly comfortable pen to use in my original review, but the copy-pasted section does introduce one caveat in the much larger (and wider) Oversized variant: where the regular Estie had almost no step at all - a huge plus in terms of comfort - the oversized adds its extra girth in the shape of a substantial step behind the all-metal section threads. While the block threads are subtle enough to go unnoticed in my grip, the step can definitely be felt depending on how you hold the pen. It's not an absolute dealbreaker for me, but in terms of absolute comfort, the regular Estie has a slightly more forgiving form factor.

The Estie Sparkle comes with the same JoWo-made steel nib and plastic feed as the regular Estie. The medium nib on my pen is perfectly smooth and lays down a rather wide and wet line. It's an excellent nib all-around, without a doubt, and the spring-loaded inner cap ensures a reliable ink flow that starts right up when you need it.

One negative is undoubtedly the rather high price of the Estie Oversized and this 'Sparkle' special edition in particular. The production run on these isn't particularly large I was told, so you do get something unique, but there's no denying that an MSRP of 395$ is quite a serious price hike over the 250$ base price of the oversized model (retail price of the Sparkle is 316$ from US vendors, 395€ from European vendors like La Couronne Du Comte or Appelboom). For a pen in that price range, I would've liked to see a gold nib as standard, or at least the option to upgrade to one. That shouldn't be too hard to do, given JoWo's gold and steel nibs are interchangeable, so I'm hoping Esterbrook will add this option at some point.

Being 'worth' that kind of money or not, is of course highly subjective and it maybe shouldn't depend solely on the nib material. Recently, we've seeing more and more brands jump into the higher echelons (+250$) with steel-nibbed pens, which rubs people the wrong way because these pens lack the perceived value that a gold-nibbed pen has. But let's be real here: apart from the prestige, the added value of the gold alloy is almost negligible, and performance-wise there's plenty of steel nibs - including this one - that can easily measure up to their gold counterparts.

If you can live with the price, the Esterbrook Estie Sparkle oversized is not only an excellent writer, it also pulls off a bold - but tasteful - aesthetic that surprised me in a pleasant way. I already liked the regular Estie, but they absolutely nailed it with the Sparkle, and I think they made the right choice to let the oversized model show off the color and depth of the Diamondcast material at its finest!

NOTE: This product was provided by Esterbrook (Kenro), 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 contains affiliate links.