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.

REVIEW: KILK ORIENT FOUNTAIN PEN

I'm excited because I have an entirely new (to me) brand in front of me for review today! This bright and cheerful orange pen came from Istanbul in Turkey, made by the brand Kilk. I first encountered Kilk pens on the table of Fontoplumo at last year's Dutch pen show, but it took me until this year when Frank (from Fontoplumo) encouraged me to try one out. I'm a sucker for orange pens, so obviously, I couldn't resist their newest model: the Kilk Orient! 

A single glance at the Orient was all it took to be intrigued by the Orient. It has a couple design features that make it stand out quite strongly. 

The first thing that probably caught your eye is the vibrant orange acrylic that this pen is made of (recently, they also introduced a stunning green 'cracked ice' version). Large streaks of pearlescence flow throughout the material and appear to glow when light hits it. You get a slight glimpse of the converter and nib through to the semi-translucent acrylic. 

But it's not just the material. The overall shape and design of the Orient are also quite out there: The pen has a very sculpted, organically flowing shape, especially on the barrel there's a very strong curved taper towards the back. The cap and barrel have flat finials. 

Personally, I find the barrel shape a bit strong, but it is an original-looking pen, to say the least. And as a plus side, the shape of the barrel allows for the cap to post deep and very securely on the back.

The design feature that absolutely won me over, however, is the use of sterling silver for the clip and center band. It's quite rare to see sterling silver on a 300$-ish pen, but not for Kilk. Almost all their pens have at least some silver accents, even their most affordable sub-200$ standard models! The clip follows the same flowy, curvy lines of the rest of the pen. The center band immediately draws the eye with its stark, geometric pattern that counters the organic shapes in the rest of the pen. The clip and center band received a matte brushed finish to give them a more vintage appearance.

L to R: Scribo Piuma, Pelikan M805, Leonardo Momento Zero Grande Pura, Kilk Orient, Lamy 2000, Lamy Safari

The Orient is a mid-sized pen, measuring 13.9 cm/ 5.48" in length when capped and 13.2 cm/ 5.19" uncapped. It's quite a bulky pen around the center band (15 mm/ 0.59" on the barrel), but a strong taper towards the nib takes that down to 11mm/ 0.43" at the concave of the section. The entire pen weighs just 20 grams, with the balance mostly towards that large silver center band when uncapped. 

The curved, organic shape of the Orient naturally conforms to the shape of your hand. Together with the gentle taper of the section towards the barrel, and nicely flush threads, this is a fantastically comfortable pen to use.

It also has to be said that the production quality of the Kilk Orient is second to none. The entire pen feels incredibly solid and robust in hand. The sterling silver parts were cast very precisely, with crisp details. All the acrylic parts are perfectly polished (you'd think that that's a given these days, but it's not!), and everything fits together seamlessly. 

In fact, my only remark would be that construction is sometimes a bit too precise. There are quite a few crisp edges on the Orient (the finials, the cap lip, the clip). I wouldn't go as far as saying they're bothersome or too sharp... except for the clip! The clip narrows down into a point that, in my opinion, should've been rounded off just a little bit to make it less sharp. The pointy edge could grab onto fabric when you carry it in a vest pocket, for example.

The #6 steel nib comes from the stables of Bock, customized with a clean and simple laser engraving of the Kilk logo on the nib face. This medium nib came very well-tuned out of the box and runs true to western sizing. It's a stiff nib, in line with recent Bock nibs being thicker and stiffer than they used to be a few years ago. The nib is fairly smooth, though has a slight-but-noticeable touch of pencil-like feedback, similar to Bock's titanium nibs. The ink flow is nice and rich, but most importantly, consistent. 

The market of 200-300$ pens is filled with excellent options these days, including many smaller and custom makers. What Kilk brings to the table with their Orient fountain pen, though, is a strikingly original (dare I say, a touch eccentric?), very well-made pen that writes as it should out of the box. Not to mention the beautiful sterling silver details you'd usually only see on much higher-end pens. With all that, 295€ (at Fontoplumo) feels like a very fair retail price for this pen. 

Note: This product was provided by Kilk and Fontoplumo, 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.