REVIEW: OPUS 88 JAZZ DEMONSTRATOR FOUNTAIN PEN

No matter how many Opus 88 pens go through my hands, time and time again I'm impressed with their fun designs and impeccable quality! I particularly enjoy seeing their demonstrator models whenever they come up with a new model, those always inevitably pop up, though sometimes only after a while. 

In the case of the Opus 88 Jazz, it took them a short while to move on from the translucent tortoiseshell acrylics they first released this model in, but they did make up for the lost time by immediately releasing two demonstrator versions instead of one: The Opus 88 Jazz 'Clear', and the frosted Jazz 'Holiday Clear'! My thanks go out to Opus 88 for sending me both pens to check out!

The Design of the Jazz is possibly one of the most 'classic' approaches to a fountain pen that we've seen from Opus, yet. It takes after traditional cigar-shaped pens, with a slightly tapered bulbous shape and large rounded finials. In fact, it has some likeness to the Penlux Masterpiece Grande I reviewed not too long ago (HERE). 

The Jazz features a bit more ornamental trims than you typically find on an Opus pen, with a decorative band on the cap, above the clip (separate from the ring that actually connects the clip to the cap) and above the blind cap. 

The rounded center band is a new addition for Opus 88, and its minimal logo engraving perhaps looks a bit empty on the standard opaque colorways of the Jazz - but it does match to the clean look of the demonstrator versions, I find. The teardrop-shaped clip with knurled sides makes its return from one of the first pens that kicked things off for Opus, the Koloro. 

I firmly expected Opus to follow their current trend of releasing demonstrator pens with matte black trims, but the Jazz is the exception to that rule, with standard silver-colored trims. This once again adds to the more classic design of the Jazz, and it's not a bad choice IMHO, if not that it does make it the odd one out when put next to the Demonstrator and Omar Demonstrator.

The Jazz 'Holiday Clear', which is the frosted/matte version of the Jazz demonstrator (I don't quite understand the reasoning behind the name?) gets ruthenium-colored trims - though polished, so still not quite like the matte black trims of the other Demonstrator pens. All demonstrator pens from Opus already come with frosted innards, though the addition of a matte finish on the outside gives the Holiday an even more uniform and opaque look, contrasting strongly with the polished, dark trims. Of course, the biggest difference is how the Holiday Jazz FEELS in the hand, the soft matte surface texture sets it apart completely from the other versions. The matte finish is quite uniform across the entire pen, living up to the excellent construction standards of Opus, once more.

L to R: Leonardo Momento Zero Grande Pura, Penlux Masterpiece Grande, Opus 88 Omar, Demonstrator, Jazz, Montblanc 149, Pelikan M805, Lamy Safari, Lamy 2000

It's no secret that Opus 88 likes to create large -very large-, oversized pens, so it'll come to no surprise that the Jazz is also a very big pen. Though, even besides the already large Demonstrator and Omar, the Jazz is still a decent bit longer. Strangely though, because of the more streamlined design, it doesn't feel too big (though of course that boils down to personal preference!).

At 15.1 cm/ 5.95", it's unapologetically oversized, though, that's more or less a given with Opus. Without the cap, you're left with a pen that's 13.3 cm/ 5.24" long, which is more than comfortable for even a large hand. If you're feeling adventurous, you could still post the cap, though it doesn't post awfully deep so you'll end up with a ridiculously long pen! At 28 grams, the Jazz is surprisingly quite a bit lighter than the smaller Opus 88 Omar. 

L to R: Opus 88 Demonstrator, Omar, Jazz

The section design of the Jazz is again (almost) identical to those on a lot of their other pens: a decently sized section with a nicely pinched taper that transitions smoothly into the threads. There's a bit of a step behind the threads and it can be quite sharp depending on how you hold the pen, a bit unfortunate on an otherwise very comfortable pen!

The barrel size of the Jazz is visibly shorter than the Demonstrator and Omar

Interestingly, despite the Jazz being the largest of the three, it still loses to the Demonstrator and Omar when it comes to ink capacity. You can actually see that the barrel part of the Jazz is noticeably shorter, likely due to the proportions of the pen. 

Now admittedly, 3 mL is hardly anything to scoff at, but it is indeed less than the 3.5mL of the other two models. The Japanese eyedropper filling mechanism continues to be a fantastic trade-off between huge ink capacity, while still keeping a practical advantage over traditional eyedroppers.

Compared to the last Opus 88 pen I reviewed -the Opus 88 Flow-, the Jazz returns to the camp of JoWo for the nib choice (in fact, all demonstrator models so far have exclusively used JoWo nibs). An excellent nib choice that also implies that this pen should be suited for conversion to a Pilot parallel nib (a fun feature I've discussed extensively in my review of the Omar). The broad nib I tested on the Jazz Clear worked flawlessly out of the box, and pairs great with the large ink capacity Japanese eyedropper.

The Opus 88 Jazz takes all the elements that I've liked before -and continue to like- about Opus' oversized, demonstrator, Japanese eyedropper-filled fountain pens, and crams it into a design that's actually remarkably traditional and 'normal' (for their doing). Their interpretation of a classic cigar-shaped fountain pen works well, even though it's not quite as eye-catching as the more unique styles of the Omar, Flow, or Bela. It's an inoffensive design and it works especially well in these two clear demonstrator finishes. As always, one of the main reasons of appeal for me continues to be the competitive pricing of Opus pens: for 108€/ 104$ (at site sponsor Appelboom, use discount code 'friend' for 10% off!), you really do get a whole lot of pen for your money!

Note: This product was sent by Opus 88, 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: STILFORM ARC GEL PEN

Stilform. By now, you've probably heard of this German-based minimal design brand, born in the cradle of crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Certainly, if you frequent this little space on the interwebs, you've come across one of my reviews of their earlier Kickstarter projects: The Stilform Kosmos pen, or Ink fountain pen. Their latest design follows in Stilforms - by now well-known - style, with more magnetic mechanism action of course, but built around a different style of refill: We're looking at the Stilform Arc gel pen. Stilform sent one over for review and I've been playing with it for the past couple of months now, so I think it's about high time I give my opinions on it!

The Arc can still without a doubt be classified under the minimal design moniker, no surprises there. Designwise, the Arc utilizes elements we've seen before on Stilform's Ink fountain pen: a straight cylindrical overall shape, two large flats that run the entire length of the pen, pronounced chamfered edges, and a rounded cap finial. 

The featureless -almost monolithic - design of the Arc is interrupted slightly by the introduction of a functional design element at the back of the barrel: a noticeable step-down, and a short cylindrical part (also with nicely chamfered edges, of course!) protrudes from the barrel to seat the cap securely when posted. Interestingly, with the cap removed, the front and back of the pen are almost perfectly symmetrical...with the exception of the pen tip that extends out the front, of course.

Stilform being Stilform, the barrel has magnets too, so the cap is held on magnetically even when posted...and it aligns with the flat sides too! Attention to the small (and sometimes hidden!) details is the name of the game with minimal design, and Stilform provides with surprisingly complex engineering under the hood, especially for a pen that looks so deceivingly simple from the outside! The magnets in both the cap and the barrel finial are adjustable to make the cap align both when closed, AND posted. If you order just the pen itself, that should be a non-issue, as alignment is checked during assembly (For what it's worth, my pen came perfectly aligned out of the box).

However, the Arc can also be purchased with a magnetic ruler that acts both as, well... a ruler, and a desk pen-style base. I didn't receive the ruler add-on to try out, so I can only say that it looks kind of cool from the pictures (although we've seen a couple pen+ruler combos from various brands on Kickstarter, and I've never felt too strongly about any of them, to be honest!). The magnet of the ruler can be misaligned out of the box, so they include a tool to adjust the magnets of the pen. Clever!

The aluminium version I was sent has an anodized finish in the Night sky blue finish. The finish has held up very well in the few months I've been using it - and I've used it quite a bit, I have to say! Some very minor wear spots are beginning to show at the edges where cap and barrel meet... probably because I'm quite a fan of fidgeting with the magnetic mechanism, so some wear is to be expected!

L to R: Ensso Piuma, Stilform Kosmos, Stilform Arc, Stilform 'old' Kosmos Ink, Stilform New Ink, Lamy Safari, Lamy 2000

The Stilform Arc measures 14.3 cm/ 5.61" closed, and 12.3 cm/ 4.84" open. With the cap posted (I found myself using it like this most of the time) it's still a very comfortable size: 14.9 cm/ 5.87". This aluminium version has a pleasant 25g total weight, while the titanium version comes in at a more hefty 37g. 

The Arc is notably quite slim, with a diameter of 10.5 mm/ 0.41" that goes down to 9.2 mm/ 0.36" at the thinnest part because of the flat sides. Compared to the new Ink fountain pen that was made a bit thicker and larger overall, the Arc is a bit of a departure and my hand required some adjusting to it, finding a comfortable way to grip it. The way you hold the pen is also obviously influenced by the two flat sides that run the entire length of the pen, where I found it most natural to rest my thumb on one of the flats. Unlike the Ink fountain pen, where a completely round section underneath the cap provides you with a comfortable grip, The Arc doesn't have a dedicated section, so you hold the pen somewhere along the barrel instead.

That said, the design does make sure that you can hold the pen as far up the barrel as you desire, and the fact that the cap posts so securely (the satisfying posting mechanism makes it one of the select few pens that I use posted almost exclusively!) makes it a lengthy pen so you have all the freedom to hold it as you please. 

The Arc is a gel pen, and as such it comes stock with a Pilot Juice Up needlepoint-type gel pen cartridge. With the Pilot Juice critically acclaimed as an excellent refill, it's not a strange choice, although it is interesting to see something other than Pilot's G2 (even though it's no secret that I love that refill to bits!). The Juice Up is supposed to be a hybrid between needlepoint and a traditional gel refill, but that's mostly down to how the tip looks. Using the G2 0.5 mm refill as a benchmark, the black ink of the Juice Up - also 0.5 mm, although of course other line widths and different colors are available - looks a bit less pitch-black compared to the G2's, and the line width is essentially the same. 

After some experimentation, I was pleasantly surprised to see that, besides the Juice and Juice Up, a wide variety of refills can actually very easily be made to fit: from Pilot's own G2, and other G2-sized rollerball or gel ink refills (This website very handily presents all refills in terms of size, the 111.1 mm length refills on this page should fit), even Parker-style ballpoint refills (and all the variations that exist on that type of refill) work if you put a short spacer (a piece of an empty gel ink cartridge works fabulously to 'hack' refills!) behind it to make up for the difference in length.

I have to say, Stilform continues to impress me with every product they create. That's not surprising of course, their formula of minimal design and magnetic mechanisms, combined with a keen eye for the smaller details, simply works. At a certain point, I hope they'll also dare to stray from the beaten path and create something completely different... but for the time being, I think the Arc is an excellent pen, and a good addition to Stilforms growing product catalog. The Stilform Arc is available at an MSRP of 80€ (not including the 20€ ruler base). The titanium version is substantially less friendly on the wallet (MSRP of 130€) - as is expected for most titanium pens on the market. Overall, the Arc leans towards the pricier end for a metal pen like this, but I feel like Stilform provides the quality and cool-factor to justify the price. 

This product was sent to me by Stilform, 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: TWSBI DIAMOND 580 SMOKE ROSE GOLD II FOUNTAIN PEN REVIEW

Courtesy of Appelboom, a TWSBI Diamond 580 Smoke Rose Gold II (or RG II in short) landed on my desk. I have to admit, it's been a hot minute since I last reviewed a TWSBI... heck, it's been a hot minute since I last held a TWSBI in my hand! Not that I don't have a couple TWSBI's laying around, but for some reason, none of them have been in rotation in the past year or so. Maybe being spoiled for choice as a pen blogger is the main 'hindrance' (hey, you won't hear me complain!) that prevents me from picking up the sleek 580Al (review HERE), uber-functional and fun Eco (review HERE), or even the hugely underrated GO (that I probably should review at some point).

In my defense, TWSBI hasn't exactly been churning out new and innovative products in recent years.  Their last pen to really impress me was the Go, but that too was already quite a while ago. So perhaps I was just getting a bit bored. TWSBI's current strategy seems to involve exploring different, sometimes more luxurious, materials and trendy finishes for the existing models in their catalog, and you can hardly argue with the effectiveness of said strategy - every new special edition Eco colorway seems to sell like hotcakes (I too, have to admit being quite tempted by the new Cement Grey Eco)!

So, as I was saying, TWSBI occasionally takes one of their established models and puts them in a  more luxurious, shinier outfit. Seemingly in an effort to bump them up into a slightly more premium category. Yes, the Smoke Rose Gold II is the most expensive version of the Diamond 580 to date, but not so much so that it takes away from the value proposition we've come to expect from the Taiwanese brand.

If you can't see the ink sloshing around in the barrel, is it really a TWSBI?

The name of the TWSBI Diamond 580 Smoke Rose Gold II is about as self-explanatory as it is long: You get the demonstrator 580 you're probably familiar with by now, but with the inclusion of a smokey, translucent grey cap, section, and piston knob that contrasts against the transparent faceted barrel. Ultimately the color of the ink dictates the look of the pen, put a darker ink in it, and the result is an overall darker, sleek-looking pen, 

The darker resin is offset by a bit of bling that is the rose gold trim. Interestingly, the Smoke Rose Gold inherits the 580Al's aluminum piston mechanism - also rose-gold plated for the occasion - but not the 580Al's metal section. I guess too much rose gold would be too much. The plated aluminum of the piston has a slightly different color than the other rose gold plated trim, but it's not too distracting from the overall picture. Everything combined, this is a pretty stylish - and photogenic! - pen. I'm not gonna lie, that's not something I ever expected to say about a TWSBI! 

L to R: Platinum #3776 Century, TWSBI Diamond Mini, TWSBI Eco, TWSBI Diamond 580 RG II, Lamy Safari, Lamy 2000

Picking up the 580 to write instantly feels familiar again. The slight resistance in the first turn of the cap due to the rubber o-ring that seals it airtight, the subtle texture of the faceted barrel, and a reassuring bit of weight you might not immediately expect from a 'plastic' pen... Ah yes, this feels familiar! 

Over the years of me ignoring the Diamond 580, I almost forgot that this is a really comfortable pen to use! It's actually a fairly large pen, at 14.3 cm/ 5.63" capped, and 13 cm/ 5.12" uncapped. The grip is relatively short but has a decent diameter and comfy profile. The transition from section to barrel is only interrupted by a set of threads that are barely noticeable in the hand. Making it a comfortable pen to hold, even if you grip slightly higher up like I do. I find the 580 to be more than long enough to use unposted - Luckily because while the cap can post, it sits quite far back on the barrel and throws off the balance of the pen. 

Maybe the one thing, above everything else, that makes me wonder why I don't use my TWSBI's more often is the nib! All the way from the most inexpensive TWSBI Go, to this most decked-out model, I've never come across one that didn't write flawlessly out of the box. In particular, I have a soft spot for TWSBI's 1.1mm stub nibs (it's a shame they never brought back the excellent 1.5mm stub!). The 1.1mm stub on this 580 RG II - rose gold plated to match the rest of the pen - is no different. It's a consistent and smooth writer that provides a very precise and crisp line variation. The heavier ink flow of the stub nib pairs perfectly with the 580's large ink capacity.

It's impressive to realize that in all those years, the 50$ standard version of the TWSBI Diamond 580 is still... 50$! It never went up in price (at least not as far as I know). If standard versions aren't your cup of tea, the 85$ Smoke Rose Gold II is an easy upgrade to recommend. It's still a lot of pen for relatively little money, and the rose gold trim successfully adds some flair to the utilitarian-looking Diamond 580. 

As usual, pricing isn't quite consistent depending on where you are in the world. Pricing from EU-based retailers like Appelboom is unfortunately quite a bit higher across the board, with the RG II retailing for 109€ (105$ without VAT) - that's quite a mark-up! Regardless, in the current market where steel-nibbed pens regularly fetch 300$ or more, even the most expensive TWSBI is still an excellent bargain if you ask me. Now excuse me while I go fill up one of my own TWSBI's again!

Note: This product was sent on loan by our site sponsor Appelboom, 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: BEN WALSH DESIGN GRAVITAS FOUNTAIN PEN & GRAVITAS TWIST PEN

I started chatting with Irish designer Ben Walsh about a year ago when all this was still a concept idea and a bunch of renders. Ben - who got into the pen making industry with unique, handmade concrete pens - wanted to create a metal pen from scratch, and he was actively engaging with the community to gather feedback. One year, and a lot of exchanged thoughts and ideas later, Ben has released his pen - I should say 'pens - out in the wild via a Kickstarter campaign that took off last week: Gravitas pens!

Now, if you know me and my reviews, you'll know that I have a sliiiiight tendency to get overly excited about cool metal pens, but believe me when I say this is a Kickstarter you HAVE to check out if you're even the slightest bit interested in this type of pens! If you still don't believe me after this review - no offense taken - check out Anthony's review over at UK Fountain Pens. Anthony likes it too, and he's a tough guy to convince!

From afar, you might be forgiven for thinking of the Gravitas fountain pen and Gravitas 'Twist' capless rollerball as a 'been there, done that' design. True, nobody's reinventing the wheel here (not that anyone has done that in the pen industry for a very long time, I'd dare to say), but if anything the Gravitas pens are very good looking wheels! The Gravitas and Gravitas Twist pair up nicely side by side, but they are two relatively different pens in terms of design. 

Let's start with the Gravitas fountain pen (and capped rollerball), which has a very pronounced torpedo shape with a girthy, straight cylindrical body. It tapers down sharply towards the cap and barrel finials into pointed ends... but instead of a point, you'll find a small silicon nitride ball on either end! 

Despite a somewhat tactical pen vibe, the finials' main intent is to provide a more durable design that could survive a drop better than a bare aluminium finial would. Compared to the more rounded cigar-shaped Ensso Piuma or Namisu Horizon - two comparable pens - the Gravitas has a much more robust and bulky appearance (probably because it IS robust and bulky), which I quite enjoy. 

Yeah... too much is too much!

The clean, minimal design is interrupted by a threaded section on the back of the barrel. While I don't find the threads as visually distracting as I thought I would, I'm still happy to know that they will be dropped in the final production version. The Gravitas is more than long enough to be used without posting (in fact, it looks a bit silly with the cap on the back!) so you won't miss those threads at all. 

Streamlined!

The Twist pen is a different beast altogether. It's sleeker, skinnier, and has a long and rounded taper towards the narrow tip of the pen. What sets the Twist apart is its flat spot that prevents it from rolling around. With respect to the center of the pen, the flat is angled towards the front of the pen (my photo's don't do this justice at all). This gives the pen a mean-looking 'stance' when it sits on a flat surface, with the tip angled downward - it's quite cool. 

The twist mechanism of the Twist (the name certainly isn't far-fetched!) is of Schmidt make, the same as those found in Baron Fig's Squire. It has a pleasant action and feels quite solid (there's a slight rattle, but nothing too distracting). I do wish that the twist knob was a bit longer compared to the rest of the pen, to make it easier to reach and operate. Ben took note of this as well, when I and a couple other reviewers were asked to give input on these production prototypes, and so these changes will most likely end up in the final design. 

While the idea is to expand the Gravitas collection with various materials and finishes (including really neat laser-etched graphics that cover the entire pen!), the Kickstarter starts off with three clean-looking anodized aluminium finishes: black, silver and gold. Even on these 'prototypes' (quite advanced proto's, but still...), the finish is immaculate. The aluminium base pen is bead-blasted to remove machining marks, and then anodized to give a smooth matte finish that is very pleasant to the touch.

The Gravitas fountain pen...

And the Gravitas Twist pen

L to R: Baron Fig Squire, Karas Retrakt, Namisu Nova, Ensso Piuma, Gravitas fountain pen, Gravitas Twist pen, Lamy Safari, Lamy 2000

The Gravitas fountain pen is a fairly large pen, noticeably larger than most other metal pens from the likes of Ensso, Namisu, Karas... It measures 14.8 cm/ 5.81" capped, and 13.4 cm/ 5.28"  uncapped. The maximum diameter of 1.5 cm/ .59" runs along almost the entire length of the pen, which makes it look bulky and robust. Underneath the cap, you'll find a long, gently tapered section with a comfortable diameter (1.1 cm/ .43" even at the thinnest point) that flares out slightly towards the nib.

Shallow threads and an angled transition towards the barrel create a comfortable writing experience 

The threads are shallow and fine, rendering them barely noticeable in the hand. The threads are single start on this prototype, and take a hefty three full turns to cap and uncap. The final production pen will get more common triple start threads that need fewer turns. One of my favorite practical design elements on the Gravitas is how the step towards the barrel is angled to make the transition much more gentle in the hand. It's an elegant and simple design decision that makes all the difference in terms of comfort, and yet you barely ever see it on other pens. It's a larger pen, so even the all-aluminium construction still comes in at 39 grams. I guess you could say the Gravitas has a reassuring... gravitas to it (terrible pun, I know), it sits nicely balanced in the hand.

The Twist pen is a bit smaller than its capped companion, although in absolute terms it's still far from compact. At 14.1 cm/ 5.55" in length, and with a maximum diameter of 1.4 cm/ .55" it's a bit shorter than the fountain pen. Due to the more tapered shape of the Twist, it definitely appears smaller than it actually is. With a weight of 34 grams, it feels positively hefty in the hand, too.

In terms of comfort, both pens score high marks with me. The Gravitas fountain pen has a comfortable design, a lot of the small details, like the shape and size of the section, the subtle threads and angled transition towards the barrel, are the result of careful consideration on Ben's end, taking into account a lot of input he got from the community. The Twist actually has a unique angle (hah! got it?) in terms of comfort, with the flat spot providing a natural area to rest your thumb, index or middle finger (either way you rotate it, it sits comfortably in your hand). The stretched out, tapered design means you can hold it closer to the tip or further up, to get the grip diameter you prefer. 

The Gravitas Twist comes loaded with Schmidt's P8127 rollerball refill. While that's not a bad refill, I've recently switched towards gel-based refills for my non-fountain pen writing. Luckily, the P8127 is similarly sized to standard Parker G2 refills (not to be confused with Pilot's G2!), which gives plenty of choices to swap refills to a ballpoint or gel refill (I've been using the Monteverde Ceramic gel refill, which fits perfectly and works quite well, even though it's not quite as fine as I'd like)

The Gravitas fountain pen, on the other hand, warrants some explaining: While the prototype I have in my hand has a Bock nib - common for most metal pens you'll find on the market today - Ben made the switch to JoWo when he noticed the quality wasn't as consistent as he'd like with Bock. It's good to know that a strict QC is in place to ensure each nib functions as it should. As a lot of brands adopt stock JoWo and Bock nibs these days, individual QC is the way to provide that little extra that sets your brand apart. Ironically, the Broad Bock nib on this particular pen has been one of the smoothest, and wettest Bock nibs I've come across. But regardless, I think JoWo is the safer choice, and it's something different from what most other brands are doing!

The Ben Walsh Design Gravitas pens are the result of a million small little details and considerate design choices. It has taken quite a few years, but the culmination of Ben Walsh's effort has led to two great-looking AND functioning pens (technically three, also counting the capped rollerball) that I can wholeheartedly stand behind. Maybe because I've had a teeny tiny say in how they turned out, but probably because they are just fantastic pens - simple as that! If I sound enthusiastic about them, that's because I am. 

If you feel like supporting the Gravitas pens, you can check out the Kickstarter page until September 17th. The Gravitas Twist pen starts at 45€, and the capped Gravitas rollerball and fountain pen each start at 50€, which is very affordable. Even at future respective retail prices of 65 and 70 euros, I still think these are a killer deal. Enough blabbing already! I've already gone and put my money where my mouth is, and I think you should, too.

This product was sent to me by Ben Walsh Design 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 affilate links.