Inks for the TWSBI ECO Plum with Onyx Fountain Pen

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

To no one’s surprise, I had to get the latest TWSBI Eco, the Plum with Onyx. It was difficult to tell what the color of the pen would be, since there were Eco photos with different tones of red, pink, purple, and magenta. So I thought it would be fun to walk you through my ink selection process so you can get a sense of the real color (no, I don’t do this for every pen, just some of them). Also spoiler: this pen really is difficult to photograph!

TWSBI Eco Plum with Onyx on Cognac Girologio writing mat.

Purple writing mat.

Grey writing mat.

Turquoise writing mat.

The best I can describe the color of the Eco Plum is that it is a magenta-ish color with a bit of pink and purple. The solo pictures make the Eco look more red than it is in real life, regardless of background (and yes, this is with some post-processing already - definitely not my strong suit). And despite using custom white balance with a grey card, the writing mat colors aren’t truly accurate either. This is one reason why ink and pen color photography can be difficult for us amateurs. Of the four photos, I think the closest is the one on the purple mat.

Next, I pulled a bunch of Col-O-Ring swatch cards from my collection and rather than compare the pen to the swatch card, I opted to swatch the inks in a 68 gsm Tomoe River notebook by Odyssey Notebooks. This way I could make sure the ink looks like it would on paper that I use quite often. As with my ink reviews, the swatches were made with a stainless steel Kakimori dip nib in a Kaweco clutch pencil holder.

Inks from the top: TWSBI Grape, Diamine Amaranth, Vinta Vineyard La Union, KWZ Raspberry, Robert Oster Napa, Monteverde Sweet Life Blueberry Muffin, Colorverse Andromeda, Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-budo, Scribo Rosso Chianti, Diamine Raspberry Rose, De Atramentis Thomas Alva Edison (Black Red), Diamine x Cult Pens Robert, Robert Oster x EndlessPens New Year New Hue!

After I swatched all the inks and set the pen on top, it was pretty easy to see which ones were close but not close enough. Keep in mind that the closeup photos make the pen cap look darker than it does in real life.

TWSBI Grape, Diamine Amaranth, Vinta Vineyard La Union, KWZ Raspberry, Robert Oster Napa, Monteverde Sweet Life Blueberry Muffin, Colorverse Andromeda.

As much as I would’ve liked TWSBI Grape to be a match, it was too light and a bit too pink. KWZ Raspberry was more of a hot pink, while Robert Oster Napa and Monteverde Blueberry Muffin had some brown tones that didn’t work with the pen. The other three were possibilities.

Iroshizuku Yama-budo, Scribo Rosso Chianti, De Atramentis Thomas Alva Edison, Diamine x Cult Pens Robert, Robert Oster x EndlessPens New Year New Hue!

The Yama-budo was a touch too purple (thank goodness since I already have a pen inked with it), Raspberry Rose a wee bit too brown, De Atramentis was too dark and too purple (reminder that DA’s inks have a “line/theme name” like “Thomas Alva Edison” and a“base ink name” like Black Red). I liked the sheen of Robert and also the shimmer of New Year New Hue! How’s a girl to choose?! Reswatch for the next round!

Since I picked the 1.1 nib for the Eco Plum, I decided to use the Sailor Hocoro 1.0 stub dip nib to see if the ink looks better/different from a stub.

Diamine Amaranth, Vinta Vineyard La Union, Colorverse Andromeda, Iroshizuku Yama-budo, Scribo Rosso Chianti.

I already said Yama-budo was too purple but I must have really wanted to give it a second chance and yes, it’s still too purple for me. Diamine Amaranth was nice but it felt dry from both the Kakimori and Sailor Hocoro dip nibs. I really liked the Vinta, Colorverse, and Scribo from this batch.

Another look at Iroshizuku Yama-budo and Scribo Rosso Chianti, as well as Diamine x Cult Pens Robert, and Robert Oster x EndlessPens New Year New Hue!

The Diamine Robert was a really good match, but just a bit darker. The green sheen would’ve been fun though! The shimmer in the Robert Oster New Year New Hue! Was also really tempting but the base ink was a bit too light and too pink.

It was tough but I whittled it down to these two inks - Colorverse Andromeda and Scribo Rosso Chianti.

I could have gone either way with these two inks, but in the end, the Scribo Rosso Chianti won out because it was the right color and tone, and the Andromeda was just a teensy bit brighter. It also helps that I have a 90ml bottle of the Rosso Chianti and only a sample of the Andromeda.

Really happy with this combo - TWSBI Eco Plum with Onyx and Scribo Rosso Chianti!

(Disclaimer: I purchased the TWSBI at Flax Pen to Paper during Fountain Pen Day, all inks are my own, as well as the dip pens. The Odyssey Notebook was bought by the Bossman at a past pen show at regular price.)

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Mayfair Pens Noldor Fountain Pen Review

(This is a guest post from Paul, aka The Poor Penman. Paul (he/him) is a life-long stationery fiend and former industry professional. Read about his journey with pens and paper at The Poor Penman and on Instagram.)

(Author’s note: I will endeavor to keep the Tolkien references to a minimum in this review, both because I’d hate to draw any undue attention from The Estate, and because this article’s gracious host would not understand them anyways.)

Mayfair Pens is a Virginia-based brand owned and operated by craftsman Ben Stewart. Ben makes fine fountain pens in several uniquely-styled pens inspired (at least a little) by Tolkien's Legendarium. I have admired his work for some time online, and had the chance for a hands-on look at the San Francisco Pen Show. Mayfair makes a handful of models with different characteristics, like the shimmering resins of the Arkenstone line, or the pocketable and postable Narya.

I chose the Noldor model for the simplicity of its design, as well as its position as the first design in the Mayfair family.

The Noldor is a cartridge/converter pen equipped with a steel Jowo #6 nib. The design consists of a smooth-sloping barrel with soft rounded corners and a pinched grip section. The shape of the pen is reminiscent of a glass vial or narrow flask, with seams that would be invisible were it not for the colorful resin mix. The grip section is reverse-threaded into the barrel (righty-loosy,) concealing the converter compartment. The Noldor is compatible with short and standard international cartridges and your typical Schmidt-style converter.

This particular Noldor, MY Noldor, was crafted from a sparkling dark resin mix with tones of purple, blue, red, and gold throughout. There were quite a few runners-up on the table (and online.)

The grip is pinched at the end of the section, rising slightly and dropping-off sharply to meet the cap. At its narrowest point the grip measures in at around 12 mm, swiftly widening to around 14 mm. This is on the wider end of my pen size tolerance, but still usable. Mayfair pens ship with a standard steel #6 JOWO nib unit. The nib that came with my Noldor writes well enough, but I immediately swapped it out for a laser-etched Tree of Life style design that felt very fitting for the piece.

I have mixed feelings about the cap. On the one hand, it’s simple. The cap is completely free from logos or insignia. It has a smooth shape that maintains the silhouette of the pen. On the other hand, it is quite small. And light. And fairly prone to rolling. If you tend to hold your pen cap while writing, then there’s no problem here. I tend to rest mine on the desk or tabletop, and sometimes the coordination of man fails.

Let’s talk about value. The Noldor retails for $185, which is not a small ask. In fact, this comes very close to my limit when it comes to recommending pens. There are some considerations to be made, however, such as the source and (for lack of a better term) provenance of the pen. Strictly speaking, the experience of using a Noldor is not remarkably different from less-expensive products; Jowo nibs and converter fillers are not exactly rare. What sets Mayfair apart is the design and artistry that goes into each piece. From the resins to the shapes, these things are unique. The main difference in buying a Mayfair compared to a “Big Pens” $200 offering is that your dollars go directly to the person making the pen. There is a direct relationship between the piece you buy and the person you buy it from. There’s something special about that, and it cannot be replaced by a bit of gold or precious resin.

Overall I’m enjoying the Noldor from Mayfair Pens. It has been in rotation for a few refills now, which is really saying something. The shape and style of Mayfair’s designs may not be to everyone’s taste, but that uniqueness is what drew me in. I think there is a LOT more room in the fountain pen market for interpretive and creative pen profiles. Ben Stewart, the craftsman behind the pen, uses a beautiful assortment of material blends to make unique pens that will stand out in any collection. He also does an excellent job displaying his work online, but I highly recommend checking them out live at a pen show if you ever have the opportunity. But not this one. This one is mine. My own. My… Precious.

(Note: For more on Mayfair Pens, check out Caroline’s Meet Your Maker post.)

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Nahvalur Eclipse Retractable Fountain Pen Review

I love modern takes on classic fountain pen design challenges. Whether it is creating a better filling mechanism, modifying nibs to meet the needs of today's user, or trying make a better retractable fountain pen, I’m here for all of it.

Nahvalur decided to take on the latter challenge with the Eclipse, their version of a retractable fountain pen. We have seen several companies attempt to match what the great Pilot Vanishing Point brought to the market decades ago, but none have been able to equal it. Given that the VP is untouchable, how does the Eclipse stand up to the rest of the retractable pen market? Pretty well.

The main design element of the Eclipse that differentiates it is the nib deployment mechanism. Instead of a button knock on the end of the pen (Vanishing Point, Platinum Curidas,) or a twist (LAMY Dialog,) this pen is what I’m calling a barrel knock. To deploy or retract the nib, you grab both ends of the pen and push it towards the middle. You can see the gaps in the middle of the barrel that allow the alternating aluminum parts to slide together and engage the mechanism. At the end of the day it’s still a knock mechanism, but handled in a unique way.

Given this design, how do you get inside the barrel to access the nib unit and fill the pen? The rear of the pen twists, and in turn, unthreads the pen in the middle interior. The pen then slides into two halves where you can access the nib unit and ink converter. The pen fills by putting the removed nib unit into an ink bottle and using the supplied converter to draw in ink. Reverse the assembly process, and start to write!

I never used the launch version of the Eclipse, but there were reports of difficulty re-assembling the barrel once undone. Whatever the issue was seems to have been resolved in the current models, because I’ve had no troubles taking the barrel apart and putting it back together repeatedly.

From a writing perspective, I like the nib a lot. This one is a Fine Steel model (also available in Medium,) and both the line width and ink flow have been great. As someone who likes fine lines, I couldn’t ask for much more.

The Ecplise has many of the standard retractable fountain pen downsides, such as a long and wide barrel, and a clip in the grip area. It’s on the limit size-wise for me (my retractable preference lies with the Vanishing Point’s partner, the skinner barrel Pilot Decimo,) but still very usable. The bigger challenge with the Eclipse is the edginess of the aluminum parts in the middle of the barrel.

Close-up of the raised edges on the barrel.

The questions here are two-fold: 1. can you pinch your fingers when engaging the mechanism, and 2. just how sharp are those aluminum parts? To answer the second part, they obviously aren’t sharp, but each strip of aluminum has a raised lip along the edges. Given the number of them, you can really feel them on the barrel. Not so much when writing, but they are there. For the first question, I haven’t pinched myself yet, and I’ve used both single-hand and two-handed deployment options. If I didn’t pay attention, I do wager that I could get caught out.

Retractable pen comparison, top to bottom: Platinum Curidas, Nahvalur Eclipse, Pilot Vanishing Point, Pilot Decimo.

At $99, I think the Nahvalur Eclipse is a great option, if you can deal with the considerations listed above. Those considerations are what makes retractable fountain pens a secondary or specialty pen for many users, as for some people they just don’t fit their hand. For others, it offers something different than the Platinum Curidas in the same price bracket, and is much cheaper to try than the Pilot Vanishing Point and Decimo, both of which use 14k nibs. Overall, Nahvalur has made something interesting with this pen, and I look forward to continuing to use it.

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