REVIEW: GALEN LEATHER MAGNUM OPUS PEN CASE

Galen Leather has been a staple within our community for several years now. Along the way, I've tested and reviewed a fair amount of their products. The consensus always boils down to Galen being exceptionally good at creating a well-thought-out, unique, and affordable product. Galen's Magnum Opus pen cases (which translates to "masterpiece"), feel like a step in a different direction for the Istanbul-based brand. Affordability may not have been a top priority this time around. Instead, they went all-out on creating a beautifully made and highly practical means to store and carry your pens!

While that may sound like a bit too much praise for a pen case (hah, that rhymes!), I genuinely think the Magnum Opus comes close (and maybe even surpasses) my all-time favorite, the now-discontinued Visconti's Dreamtouch case - which, up until today, remains my baseline for a great pen case.

Why am I so lyrical about this case? Well, there are a couple things I look for in a pen case. Sturdiness is the most important one, I want my pens well-protected at all times. Finishing, and especially soft, pen-friendly finishing on the interior of the case, is my second pet peeve. Why protect your pens with a case, if the case itself feels like it'll scratch them up?

It just so happens that the Magnum Opus does those two things almost flawlessly, and it does so while looking stylish and minimalist, to boot! From the outside, the Magnum Opus is a super-clean-looking hard leather case. It's completely made out of smooth leather that's soft to the touch (available in both 'regular' leather finishes and Galen's signature 'smokey' leather), stitched all around, with a stealthily hidden magnetic closure. The outer shell is very stiff, meaning there's no chance of your pens getting crushed in transport or from un-gentle handling.

The Magnum Opus comes in two variants. However, when I picked up mine at the Dutch Pen Show a few years ago, the newer, zippered version wasn't introduced yet. The zippered version seems to share the same internals as this one, but obviously has a zippered closure instead of magnets. The zippered version can also stand up straight on a desk, which is probably the biggest differentiator between the two.

L to R, on the top row: Galen 10-pen case, Galen Magnum Opus 6-pen, Galen Old School 5-pen.
Bottom row: Esterbrook Nook 6-pen, Visconti Dreamtouch 6-pen, Franklin-Christoph Penvelope 6

The Magnum Opus has quite a chunky profile, especially compared to the Dreamtouch case

Galen's cases are typically quite compact and space-optimized, but this one isn't. The Magnum Opus is a beefy case, as can be seen in comparing them side-by-side to some other 5 and 6-pen options. While that seems like good news for people who want to carry large pens, it's not entirely that straightforward. The Magnum Opus has a very similar capacity to the Visconti Dreamtouch case. So purely in terms of efficiency, the Dreamtouch case still wins. Then again, the two-part design of the Magnum Opus, with its removable inner tray, eats away some of the interior space.

L to R: Visconti Homo Sapiens (large), Pelikan M805, Montblanc 149, Leonardo MZG Art Deco 2021, Lamy 2000, Pilot Capless LS

So what can you fit in the Magnum Opus, then? Well, normal pens like a Pelikan M800, Lamy 2000, or Visconti Homo Sapiens aren't an issue whatsoever. The Magnum Opus can fit a lot of oversized pens too, but 'oversized' isn't exactly a very precise definition. Galen's own website states pens 16cm (6.3") long, and up to 1.6cm (0.63") in diameter will fit, and this matches my own experience with the case. So, even very long pens like the Leonardo Momento Zero Grande (about 15.5cm/ 6.1") fit easily because they're not extremely wide. On a sidenote, I noticed that for some reason the Leonardo MZG Art Deco 2021 limited edition (pictured above) is a bit longer than usual, and at 16 cm it's at the absolute limit of this case. 

It's the thickness of some pens that might be a more limiting factor (especially for pens with a beefy clip). A classic, 'chunky' pen like the Montblanc Meisterstuck 149 proves to be a fairly tight squeeze. The Montblanc is quite wide around the cap band (1.6 cm/ 0.63"), which causes it to sit snug against the sides of the case (something my OCD brain would rather avoid, even though I doubt the microfiber and leather interior of the case will cause any harm). 

Both exterior and interior are nicely put together. Even the interior parts you can't really see, seem to be finished with care. The color-matched stitching is done clean, straight and even. The microfiber lining is super soft and comfy for your pens, and there are no sharp edges or hard surfaces that could damage your pens. Also, the leatherwork on the hard 'shell' of the case is done cleanly and ensures that your pens only come into contact with smooth microfiber or leather surfaces. 

I can see why Galen called it the Masterpiece, they really outdid themselves on the construction of this one. I have quite a good eye for flaws or imperfections, and I genuinely couldn't find anything to complain about!

The Magnum Opus doesn't have any unnecessary details or ornamentation, but it's the small details that really add to the premium look and feel. Details like the tight and crisp molded edges of the case stand out to me. Everything is so precise and clean! It feels like a much more expensive product than it actually is.

At 109$ (about 103€) for the 6-pen, or 159$ (€150) for the larger 12-pen variant, the Galen Leather Magnum Opus is priced at the top of Galen's product portfolio... And it shows! It sets a new bar for the brand in my opinion. And considering what you're getting, I think it's worth every cent.

Construction is just that bit more refined (I literally couldn't spot a single flaw), it's good-looking and minimalistic, yet also refined in its details. And what's more important, once again Galen knows exactly what customers want: durable and sturdy protection for your pens, but at the same time an easy way to display your pens, thanks to the removable insert. It accommodates considerably large pens better than most other options on the market today. And while the footprint of the Magnum Opus is perhaps a bit larger than I would've liked, it's not unreasonable for its two-part design.  

Disclaimer: This product was bought with my own funds. This review was in no way sponsored or influenced by Galen Leather. This post does not contain affiliate links.

REVIEW: PLATINUM CURIDAS FOUNTAIN PEN

To say that the Platinum Curidas had a bit of a false start would be the understatement of the century. Platinum's "Capless-killer" was extremely hyped when it was first announced in early 2020. But Covid hit hard, and the launch of the Curidas suffered -like almost every other product back then-  from supply issues. 

The initial hype had already slightly dissipated by the time the Curidas actually hit the market.. But then came reports of feeds cracking randomly, and despite Platinum fixing the issue rather swiftly, that totally killed the momentum for the Curidas. Admittedly, even I didn't really give the Curidas much thought... that is, until today! In an effort of Platinum's EU marketing team to finally give this pen the attention it deserves, a Curidas found its way onto my desk for review. Call it a second 'launch', if you will. 

In all fairness, the Curidas absolutely deserves more attention. It may not be a perfect pen, but IMHO neither are similar pens like the Pilot Capless or Lamy Dialog 3, and at least Platinum has both competitors firmly beat in terms of pricing. 

The design of the Curidas is an interesting one. There's something positively futuristic about it, a bit space-age almost, executed in a very Japanese way. Unfortunately, Japanese pen brands don't shy away from using injection-molded plastics (sometimes on pens many times the price of the Curidas!), so that's also the material of choice we see here. The transparent plastic doesn't give a very premium feeling to the Curidas. Though what it can do is provide a unique insight into the mechanism. I went for the clear finish to get the most out of the demonstrator look, but the other color finishes offer a similar translucency to gaze at the pen's innards.

L to R: Gravitas Sentry, Pilot Capless LS, Pilot Capless, Platinum Curidas, Platinum #3776, Lamy 2000, Lamy Safari

Uncommon for most Japanese pens in this price range, the Curidas is a very large pen. Measuring 15.3cm (6.01") when closed, it towers out above pens I'd gladly call oversized (such as the Gravitas Sentry). With the nib extended, the story changes a bit; the Curidas is now 14.1cm (5.53") long, the same length as a Pilot Capless. 

With a diameter of 13.6mm (0.54") for most of its length, the Curidas is an incredibly bulky and massive pen. Especially for the Japanese market, it's quite off-brand to make such a large pen. The Curidas has a similar bulkiness to the Lamy Dialog 3 (which I forgot to include in the above size comparisons!), but differs strongly from the all-metal Lamy in terms of weight. The mostly plastic construction has the merit of keeping this bulky pen fairly lightweight, at just 24 grams. 

If you're used to wider pens, the Curidas can be a comfortable fit for you. For once, clip placement - a classic problem with retractable fountain pens - isn't an issue with the Curidas. The wide diameter of the barrel keeps your grip mostly out of the way of the clip. My fingers still rest against it, but it's not too noticeable. Just in case you do find it bothersome, Platinum did make the clip removable (they even include a tool to disassemble it). 

In terms of comfort, the biggest gripe for me is this weird protrusion on the underside of the pen (which is necessary to make room for the internal mechanism to actuate). You might be able to avoid it if your grip sits quite far back, but there's a very real chance that your middle finger will bump into it from time to time. Personally, I find it incredibly distracting for my grip. At the very least, I'm convinced they could've made it a bit more rounded off and comfortable. 

All in all, the Curidas is a comfortable enough pen for short to mid-length writing sessions, and it's a pen that's easy to reach for in those scenarios. Writing a full-length essay with it, though (like the draft for this review)... my hand did get cramped a bit.

Quite a few parts! You can also disassemble the front section as well!

The Curidas is built around a rather complicated and large mechanism, so it's not very hard to see why Platinum had to make this pen so big to accommodate its innards. The mechanism is mostly metal, but some parts are made of plastic. I'd feel more reassured about longevity if it was entirely metal, though so far I've seen no signs of wear that would give reason for concern. Pretty much the entire thing can be disassembled quite easily (the same cannot be said for the Capless nor Dialog 3), which is very practical for cleaning.

The knock is very long, and has to be pressed all the way down to deploy the nib. That long travel is needed to slide the entire nib unit and its housing (let's call it the 'cocoon') forward. It has a rather satisfying click in which you feel both internal springs engage, and a pleasing and loud 'snap' at the end. The knock does rattle a bit when the nib is extended, though.

The sealing mechanism for the nib (a plastic and rubber tube with a small trap door) seems to do its job perfectly, even after quite a few weeks of deliberately letting it sit untouched. No signs of drying out yet. I can see a potential issue where, over time, lint and debris could work their way in between the trap door and the soft rubber seal around the cocoon, which could prevent the door from sealing properly. But since the entire mechanism can be disassembled for cleaning, this would be an easy fix.

Onto the writing end then: The steel F nib (similar in design to other steel Platinum nibs, only smaller of course) required a slight nudge to fix a minor misalignment that was causing some scratchiness. But after that, it has been smooth sailing, really. The nib still has a bit of pleasant feedback, but that's not uncommon for a platinum nib. It feels nice using a true Japanese fine nib again - it just has that certain quality and balance to it that only Japanese nib manufacturers get right. It lays down a very fine line in a balanced ink flow.  The nib has an ever-so-slight amount of bounce to it, which cushions the writing experience quite nicely. 

At 85€ (Currently on sale for 75€ at Penworld!), the Platinum Curidas doesn't cannibalize on Pilot Capless or Lamy Dialog 3 territory. Instead, it sits comfortably in that sub-100€ price range where it becomes increasingly harder and harder to find exciting pens. So it certainly has its value and uniqueness going for it as selling points. 

The Curidas has the potential to become an excellent mid-range clicky fountain pen. But this is a first iteration of a very complex and ambitious pen, and there are some things that can still be optimized. Especially simplifying the mechanism and getting rid of that 'bump' on the underside of the pen would be a welcome change. Trying to make the entire pen a touch smaller also probably wouldn't hurt. Let's hope that Platinum treats it properly and continues to further improve and hone the Curidas in a future version 2.0!

Note: This product was provided by Penworld, free of charge, 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: GRAVITAS SENTRY BIG DROPPER & DELRIN FOUNTAIN PEN

Yes, it's no surprise that Gravitas has quickly become a sort of personal catnip for me - every new release looks more impressive than the last, and for the life of me I can't keep my wallet shut whenever I see a new Instagram post from Ben... When would this be considered an addiction?

Perhaps you're thinking: "Another Gravitas review? Didn't he publish a review of the Gravitas Sentry just a month ago?" And you'd be absolutely right! But at the dizzying pace that Gravitas produces fantastic new releases, with new products around the corner seemingly every week, I can barely keep up buying them... let alone getting them reviewed! 

L to R: Black Delrin, white Delrin, Polycarbonate 'Big Dropper', Stainless steel Sentry

In an effort to keep up, I figured I'd bundle two of the more recent Gravitas products together since they share most stats anyway, differing only in the material they're made of. So in this review, we're taking a look at two additions to the Sentry lineup: the Gravitas Delrin and Big Dropper fountain pens. 

For those of you that liked the design of the Gravitas Sentry, but were put off by the sheer weight of these solid metal pens, these two might be right up your alley. The Big Dropper and Delrin fountain pens follow very closely on the design of the Sentry, carrying over the flattop design with pointed finials, curvy cap, and elegant long tapered body.

The real difference obviously comes from the use of clear translucent polycarbonate for the Big Dropper, and Delrin for the... well, Delrin version. 

The Big Dropper is made from clear translucent polycarbonate with a matte frosted finish. The machining and frosting is very uniform and provides a pleasant texture to the pen. As the name suggests, the Big Dropper lends itself perfectly to eye-droppering. I typically stay away from eye droppers (I don't care for the potential discoloration on clear pens, and I rarely ever need or want the ridiculous large ink capacity they provide), but this pen comes fully prepared, should you wish to eyedropper yours. 

O-rings ready for eye-droppering!

They even added o-rings to the threads on both the section and cap to ensure an airtight seal (though you might want to add a dab of silicon grease on the section threads, just to be safe). It's difficult to say how the stainless steel section will react to prolonged contact with ink, but I'd assume it'll be fine as long as you don't go for very acidic iron gall inks or the like.

A subtle detail separates the regular black Delrin on the left, from the Delrin orange Cerakote on the right.

The Delrin option is perhaps my favorite (at least until I get my hands on the new Ultem version!). Delrin is a rather unique 'engineering plastic', meaning it has special characteristics and high durability that make it useful in industrial applications. It is slightly more dense, and has a super-slick and smooth (Delrin is often used as a liner in moving parts, because it's low-friction) feel in the hand. Just like the Big Dropper, the Delrin version comes outfitted with o-rings, ready to be eyedroppered!

The two standard colors of Delrin are opaque black and opaque white (interestingly, the white Delrin is the only pen without an etched Gravitas logo on the cap, because the material doesn't work well with laser-etching!). For a hint of color, there's also a black delrin version with an orange logo on the cap (though the color is quite faint) and an orange cerakote section. If you want even more color, Ben has also found a way to dye the Delrin into whatever color you like. If you've already bought a Gravitas pen before, you're automatically a Gravitas member and have access to a members-only area on their website where you can find some of those more experimental and flashy finishes! 

The one downside of Delrin is that it is highly susceptible to scuffs and scratches, so you might want to look elsewhere if you want to keep your pens looking pristine! This is especially noticeable on the black delrin, scuffs are harder to see on the white version.

L to R: Namisu Nova, Ensso Piuma, Gravitas Pocket, Gravitas Delrin, Gravitas Sentry, Gravitas Entry, Gravitas Flagship, Lamy 2000, Lamy Safari

Dimensions - at least on the outside - are identical to other variants of the Sentry, with a capped length of 14.6 cm/ 5.75", and 13.9/ 5.47" cm uncapped. At the widest point of the cap, the Sentry measures 15.5 cm/ 0.61" in diameter, and the barrel is 14 cm/ 0.55" at its widest. 

Of course, polycarbonate and Delrin - while both durable plastics - can't be machined as thin as their metal counterparts. This is apparent in the changes to the thickness of the cap, which meant that a slight redesign of the internals was necessary to make it fit together properly 

Sentry Delrin on the left, Sentry aluminum black anodized on the right

So while the section remains equally long to the one found on the Sentry, you'll notice that it is in fact a bit narrower (12mm at its widest point versus 13 on the metal version of the Sentry). This puts the Big Dropper and Delrin Sentries in between the Entry and (metal) Sentry in terms of section size, striking a good balance in my opinion. 

Those millimeter differences might not sound like much, but they do make the plastic versions to the Sentry feel noticeably less bulky in the hand. Also due to the increased thickness of the cap, there's a more visible transition from the barrel to the section, though in the hand it's still barely noticeable as it steps down very gradually from the tapered edge of the barrel to the rubber o-ring, then the threads, and finally the section. 

The plastic cap and barrel of course make for a substantially lighter pen. The polycarbonate big dropper weighs in at 29 grams (uncapped 26g), while the slightly more dense Delrin version weighs 32g (uncapped 26g). Since the metal section provides most of that weight, both plastic Sentries have a very clear balance towards the section, and feel much more nimble in the hand. I know a lot of people have strong feelings against metal sections, but Gravitas consistently implements them very well on all their pens, with a strongly pronounced taper and ridged machined texture to provide a comfortable grip.

I got these back when Gravitas still equipped their pens with JoWo nibs. There's no point in telling you how a JoWo nib writes (you probably know this already, anyway). BUT, the new nib units are still backward-compatible with JoWo housings, so you can swap them out with spare nibs you may have lying around. In my limited experience with the new Gravitas steel nibs, I was quite pleased with how they perform, they can certainly hold up against JoWo.

The Gravitas Sentry Big Dropper and Sentry Delrin are enticing new additions to the ever-expanding Gravitas catalog. They offer the same streamlined-yet-robust design of the Sentry, which I enjoy a lot. Will you mistake the Big Dropper or Delrin Sentry for a small pen? Probably not. But the combination of lighter weight and balance, and more average section width, definitely strikes a better balance if you're not that into oversized pens. 

They're priced fairly reasonably as well, at just 95€ regardless of which plastic version (polycarbonate, Delrin, or Ultem) you choose. As always, Ben Walsh has even more material options to choose from on the horizon (most noticeably, a Micarta version is currently in production), so there's no lack of options!

Some of the products featured in this review were sent to me by Gravitas. 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 affilate links.