I purchased this pen many months ago from Cynthia at Journaling Arts when I was ordering some Rhodia pads to try out. I thought it was a great looking pen so I added it to the order, but when I got my package in, the Rhodia pads sprung into action, but the Tombow Object Rollerball got set aside. I'm not really sure what took me so long to test out this pen, but boy, was I missing out a great writing experience.
The barrel design is what sold me, and looking at it, it is easy to see why. I knew when ordering that the ink would not be my favorite - which is probably why I set it aside for so long - but that barrel was hard to pass up. The material is a lightweight aluminum with a black matte finish and glossy black accents. The grip area is a ribbed plastic, which I thought may be a little slick, but that is not the case at all. I was able to keep a firm grip while writing, with no indication of the pen moving around or slipping in my hands.
From an ink perspective, the pen comes with two rollerball ink cartridges - one marked 05 Fine and another marked 03 Extra Fine. The written review at left was done with the 05 cartridge, but by looking at the line, it feels like you are writing with an 0.7mm-1.0mm liquid ink cartridge. The ink laid down a thick, dark line, and my lettering looked very nice, but it was a little heavy on the page and did bleed through to the other side on occasion. The 03 cartridge came in a little thinner - more in the 0.5mm-0.7mm range - and did a little better job with the bleed mainly because there was a little less ink flow.
The refills are not going to stop me from using this pen though. It is very fun to use and look at, and I'm sure it will draw glances from your friends and co-workers. I need to research what other refills might be a good option for this pen. If I find a good one, this may become one of my top every day pens.
Click here for the XL review.
