Faber-Castell Essentio Ballpoint Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

The Faber-Castell Essentio ballpoint pen is a classy pen with a stylish carbon fiber body that looks great with any outfit or carry.

There's a lot of pens available today that use the popular Parker style cartridge, which means that there are plenty of options in the way of third-party refills. This is always an interesting genre to me because I know that I can choose a pen based on aesthetics or feel and know that I can completely control most of the writing experience by replacing a refill.

The Essentio is a bit on the larger side of the ballpoint pen scale, but it's also incredibly comfortable to use. The rubber grip section has a soft feel and a matte finish, which make it both comfortable and resistant to fingerprints.

The body is made of a carbon fiber (or something similar) material that lends a classy aesthetic as well as a light weight. It's shiny without being overly so, and there's a small and classy Faber-Castell logo toward the top of the body.

The clip is fairly light compared to most other pens I've used. I wish it were a bit stronger, but given the overall light weight of the pen, it does a great job of keeping the pen secured to whatever you attach it to. The clip has a slight curve that adds a bit of visual interest to the pen.

The click mechanism is smooth, reliable, and fairly quiet. The top of the nock has a concave surface that feels great on your thumb. While it's not loud or overly clicky, using the nock on this pen is incredibly satisfying and tactile.

Like I mentioned at the beginning, the Essentio uses a Parker-style refill. The included refill is a Faber-Castell bold refill that is actually stupendous. It reminds me quite a bit of the Schmidt EasyFlow 9000 refill, which is high praise. It's incredibly smooth, dark, and dependable. When so many ballpoint refills can suffer from skipping or dryness, it's always a relief when the stock refill performs so well. Most of the time, I replace the refill with an EasyFlow, but that's not necessary in this case.

Writing with this pen is a great experience. The combination of the size, light weight, smooth refill, and comfortable grip section make for a great writer. At $35, the Faber-Castell Essentio a bit on the expensive side, but it still falls within the normal range for a well-performing ballpoint pen. There are lots of attractive options in this price range, and this one should be on your list for gifts and affordable ballpoints. It's a great value and excellent performer. And, if the included refill isn't your thing, you have so many options for replacement.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Ohto Horizon EU Ballpoint Pen Review

Do you ever dream about making your own pen? If you are reading this blog, you have probably at least considered the thought. I think about it too. And I’m not even talking about this from the perfect pen standpoint, but rather something fun and functional that I would like to use every day. The Ohto Horizon EU Ballpoint is nearly that pen.

From the moment I unboxed it I loved it. The design, in particular, stood out to me. The yellow barrel pops, and the hex design gives it that added bit of coolness. When I held it to write with, I noticed the hex barrel morphs down into an almost-round grip section. There are a few light ridges you can see and barely feel when writing, but they don’t get in the way. They don’t necessarily help with grippiness though, as it could get slick if your fingers are wet.

The refill is engaged by pushing down the knock on the back of pen, then retracted by pressing the button on the side of the barrel. It is snappy and fun. Like, too much fun. Click. Snap. Click. Snap. Click … you get the picture! And the clip is as nice as the rest of the pen. It’s strong, and keeps a low profile.

With all of my raving about it, why is it only nearly perfect? You guessed it - the refill. It’s merely good, and if I wasn’t spoiled by better refills, I might even think it is excellent. My immediate thought was “I hope I can swap this out for something better,” then I unscrewed the tip of the barrel, pulled out the refill to see what it was, and let out an “Ugh!”

This is a weird refill shape and size. Heck, I don’t even know what you would call it. It’s small and skinny, close to multi pen size, and has tiny wings on the side of the barrel. I didn’t think there was any way I could find a better refill to put into it.

And I was wrong!

Turns out, there are other Japanese pens that take this style of refill, and both Pilot and Uni make ones that match. There is even a Hi-Tec-C model, which I have subsequently ordered two of (black and blue 0.4 mm) for my Ohto Horizon. Maybe it can be my perfect pen after all.

I must not be the only one who thinks that, because at the time of writing they are sold out at JetPens. And they should be. The barrel colors look fantastic, the pen feels great, and it’s only $8.50. I think you are going to be seeing a lot of this pen, especially in my pocket.

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Caran d’Ache 849 Nespresso Ballpoint Pen in Dharkan: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

I rarely use ballpoint pens anymore, but I wanted one for my purse. I don’t carry fountain pens in it due to their potential to leak. Plus, my various pen cases don’t fit in my purse. So, I decided I needed a nice ballpoint that would be my “purse pen” for those rare times I need to write a check or when I need to jot down a quick note.

I ran across the Caran d’Ache 849 Nespresso pen on Instagram. I loved the color (it matches my purse pretty closely), and I liked that the pen was made from recycled Nespresso pods. I think those things are so wasteful, but Caran d’Ache came up with a way to make them into a lovely click pen.

The pen is packaged, appropriately, in recycled cardboard, and the presentation is sophisticated yet simple.

The pen comes with one Goliath medium black cartridge, but I ordered a fine blue because I don’t like medium points. Installing the new cartridge was simple: you just unscrew the click mechanism, remove the old cartridge and put the new one in, and press on the click mechanism while turning.

As I stated above, the pen is made from used Nespresso aluminum pods using a special alloy. The surface has some texture which is created with microbeading and electrostatic treatment. Caran d’Ache and Nespresso have collaborated to create a different color Nespresso pen each year. This year’s color is Dharkan which is a lovely grayish blue.

The body of the pen is hexagonal. One side is engraved with the words “Made with Recycled Nespresso Capsules.”

Under the modern-looking stainless steel clip “849 Caran d’Ache” is engraved, and “Swiss Made” appears just below the click mechanism.

The click mechanism is also engraved with “Caran d’Ache.” It is a very quiet mechanism, so if you like to irritate co-workers in meetings by clicking your pens, this is definitely not the pen for you. Or, maybe it is! You can click away without irritating others and, who knows, you might get a promotion!

The ballpoint writes smoothly, and the ink glides onto the paper. I did not encounter any problems while writing, such as ink blobs or skipping.

Unfortunately, this pen is way too skinny for my hand, though the hexagonal shape helps with gripping. Writing three pages with it was agony, and I was glad to put the pen down after finishing my handwritten review. This is obviously not the pen’s fault. I just prefer larger diameter pens. Folks who love skinny pens will find the Caran d’Ache Nespresso to be very comfortable. That said, a purse pen isn’t meant for writing novellas. I just want a light and leak-free writing instrument for times when I don’t have access to a fountain pen. For this the pen will work well.

Still, this is a rather expensive purse pen. I purchased my Caran d’Ache Nespresso from Goldspot Pens on sale for $45.90. Although the pen is well made and classy looking, I’m not convinced it’s worth almost $50. The refills are also a bit expensive at $9.50 a piece.

I will probably return this pen, depending on whether or not I have to pay Goldspot’s 15% restocking fee. If I have to pay that on top of shipping it back, I may just keep it or give it to someone as a gift.

Pros

• The Caran d’Ache 849 Nespresso pen is a very nice looking ballpoint pen. I love that it is made from recycled Nespresso pods, which are otherwise quite wasteful.
• The pen has a textured surface and a hexagonal shape, both of which make it possible to maintain a good grip on the pen.
• The pen writes smoothly, and the Goliath cartridges are easy to replace.
• I really like the Dharkan color.

Cons

• At almost $50 this is an expensive ballpoint pen.
• I have small hands and found the pen to be too skinny for long writing sessions.

(This pen was purchased at full price with my own funds.)