Conway Stewart Lustrous Burgundy Pearl Fountain Pen with a Fine Semi-flex Nib: 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 reviewed a beautiful Peppered White Conway Stewart Churchill awhile back for Pen Addict. Because I was so impressed with that pen I’ve kept an eye out for another Churchill in a different color scheme with a more interesting nib. I constantly monitor Fountain Pen Hospital’s “The Back Room,” and I’ve gotten some really great pens at terrific prices from them. When I saw this Conway Stewart, I snapped it up.

My first Conway Stewart came in a rather simple box, so I was quite surprised when I received an enormous package from FPH. Inside was a large, green, hinged box with clasps.

A tiny book about Winston Churchill, a cigar (!), the pen, and a bottle of Conway Stewart orange ink were tucked inside the white sateen interior. I wasn’t expecting such a fine tribute to Winston Churchill! However, I’m not quite sure what to do with these items other than store them in the box. I guess I have a cigar handy for some special occasion . . . when people smoke cigars . . . which is basically never?

The pen is exquisite. Lustrous Burgundy is a good name for this acrylic with deep burgundy and lighter pink swirls exhibiting lots of chatoyance. The luminescent color only appears in two vertical swaths down the barrel. The other sides of the pen are dark burgundy. I’d prefer more consistent color over the entire surface, but the dark and light contrast is beautiful, nonetheless.

The barrel is engraved with “Conway Stewart ‘Churchill’ Made in England” along with the limited edition number out of 500.

The Churchill model is distinctive with its slightly rounded top finial, bold lines, and tapered bottom finial. It’s definitely a large pen, measuring 5.71 inches/145mm capped, 5.4 inches/137mm uncapped, and 7.1 inches/180mm posted (as if!).

Deep grooves encircle the cap finial, and the 18K gold clip is engraved with the Conway Stewart logo.

A total of five 18K gold rings adorn the pen: two on the cap and three on the body. This is one classy looking pen.

I wish a pen of this size and price was a piston filler, but it’s a cartridge/converter. That’s not the end of the world, because a converter is a bit easier to clean than a piston filler. However, a pen this large could do with greater ink capacity.

The 18 karat fine, semi-flex nib is adorned with the Conway Stewart logo and name. I prefer this nib design to the more recent version that has the British flag on it--not that I have any problems with the British flag, mind you! I just prefer this simpler design.

When I first started to write with the nib, I was quite pleased with how smooth and bouncy it was. As a fine semi-flex, it doesn’t have a huge amount of line variation, but there’s enough to enhance my writing. I inked the pen with Iroshizuku Yama-Budo, which is a well-behaved ink and a good match for this pen.

Unfortunately, the more I wrote, the more frustrated I became. The nib writes beautifully for about one page, and then it exhibits skipping and hard starts. I have to unscrew the barrel and push more ink down into the converter, which is unpleasant and interrupts my writing. I don’t know if this is a converter problem or an issue with the feed, but it’s disappointing.

This limited edition Conway Stewart was produced in 2007 and is not readily available for purchase. In fact, my Google search resulted in one hit--an eBay listing for this pen (without the ink) for $1,800! “Holy &##@!” said I. I’m happy to report that I did not pay anywhere near that much, thank goodness. I realized that I got a Churchill Burgundy Pearl at a super price from FPH! Now I just need a nibmeister to work some wonders with the ink flow.

(I purchased this pen with my own funds.)

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Nakaya Dorsal Fin 2 in Heki-Tamenuri: 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.)

Nakaya pens are all grail pens in my opinion, but there’s one model, in particular, that has always captured my imagination: the Dorsal Fin 2. To me, the pen mimics the soft curve of a Samurai sword more than it does a dorsal fin. But I’ve never much liked the Dorsal Fin 1 model, even though it more obviously evokes a dorsal fin. Dorsal Fin models (especially the Dorsal Fin 2) are in high demand and are constantly on backorder. When nibs.com announced last summer that they were expecting a shipment to arrive in the fall, I preordered one immediately and received it in October.

Nakaya pens come packaged in a softwood box with a red velvet-like interior. Included with the pen are a box of cartridges and a kimono. The pen is also supplied with a converter.

Heki-Tamenuri is a lovely urushi with organic, earthy tones of brown and green.

One of the reasons I chose the Dorsal Fin is because the model’s unique lines show off the underlying green urushi so well.

When you uncap the pen, you see even more of the green in the threads and grip section.

This pen is pure zen. It is perfectly balanced capped and uncapped, and it feels absolutely luscious in the hand. Urushi warms to your body temperature, so the pen becomes an extension of you. Writing with it is a simple pleasure.

For this Nakaya, I chose a medium-soft nib with added flex, ground to a stub by John Mottishaw. The Nakaya branding on the nib is gorgeous and the nib performs exactly as I hoped it would.

You can see the flex of the tines in this photo.

I inked the pen with Iroshizuku Tsukushi. I’ve found that Nakaya pens work especially well with Iroshizuku inks. This nib is wet and smooth. It is bouncy when writing without flex and it offers good line variation when you flex the nib.

The Nakaya Dorsal Fin 2 retails at $1,500 plus additional charges if you want nib modifications like mine. It’s obviously one of those pens you think about long and hard before purchasing. I’m absolutely pleased with my purchase. Not only is this pen a piece of beautiful art, it is one of my best writers as well.

You can purchase the Nakaya Dorsal Fin 2 from nibs.com. The Dorsal Fin 2 comes in various colors, including Heki-Tamenuri, Kuro-Tamenuri, Aka-Tamenuri, Midori-Tamenuri, Toki-Tamenuri, and various Ishime colors.

(I purchased this pen with my own funds after selling several beloved pens so I could afford this one!)

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Leonardo Momento Zero Blue Hawaii Fountain Pen Review

If you have paid attention at all to the fountain pen scene over the last year, then you have seen the rise of Leonardo Officina Italian fountain pens. Susan has reviewed two for The Pen Addict already (here and here) and I’m finally ready to spill a few words on my own Leonardo Momento Zero Blue Hawaii fountain pen.

Leonardo Officina Italiana was launched in 2018 by the Matrone family, who have a combined 45 years in the pen business, primarily with the now-shuttered Delta. All Leonardo Pens are manufactured in-house in Italy, where they also manufacture pens for Armando Simoni Club. This experience has led the the creation of one of the best new entrants in the pen market in years.

What caught my eye with the first batch of Leonardo pens were the materials used. The acrylics in the Momento Zero lineup (they also use celluloid and ebonite) are stunning. Choosing my first proved to be difficult, but I zoned in on the Blue Hawaii early on. The only issue was the color was so popular that it took me a while to acquire one with rhodium trim!

My time came all the way back at the 2019 Atlanta Pen Show, and the Momento Zero has been a regular in my rotation ever since.

While the material used for this pen is what caught my eye, what good is the material if the pen barrel isn’t nice to use? The experience of the makers show that they know how to make a great feeling writing instrument, not only a great looking one.

The grip section has a slight taper in the middle, allowing for a natural feeling finger placement. The barrel length (5.5 inches) and diameter (0.6 inches) both fall into the standard size category for me, and the 0.8 oz. weight give it a perfectly balanced feel. It uses a cartridge/converter filling system, with a blind cap on the back end of the pen as an added way to access the converter. Speaking of which, this is a fancy converter that I very much enjoy.

If you were to force me to list any negatives about the Leonardo Momento Zero, I can come up with two, but only barely. One, the materials on the barrel do not line up. There are six areas that the materials run through, and none match up. They aren’t trying to line the material up and it’s off - it’s not supposed to line up at all. I think of it like the pattern on a calico cat, and I think it is great. Some may not like it.

Two, Leonardo uses Bock nibs. If I had my choice, I would choose Jowo every time, but it’s pretty clear that these nibs are being QC’ed and adjusted if needed before leaving the shop. This steel EF nib was perfect right out of the box.

With a street price of $199 these are not inexpensive pens, but I feel that they represent good value. And, with a bit of shopping around, you can bring that price down on this model a good bit. I recall paying $180 for mine from Dan Smith at the Atlanta Pen Show, and site sponsor Pen Chalet has several models for as low as $159. With the number of models and colors available, you are certainly able to find one that suits your style if you are interested in Leonardo Officina Italiana fountain pens.

I know I am interested, as I just picked up my second one a week ago. And I feel like it won’t be the last.

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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!