Wingback Fountain Pen Review

After enjoying Wingback’s previous releases, the Mechanical Pen and the Mechanical Pencil, I was happy when they reached out to send me a review sample of their current release, the Wingback Fountain Pen.

Like their previous two releases, the Fountain Pen features various metal barrels - in this case Brass, Stainless Steel, and Titanium - plus a knurled grip section. This style is consistent through all of Wingback’s writing lineup, and, while these are simple, classic designs, I appreciate the refinement and clarity of the final product.

Being a stainless steel fan, I was happy that was the material I received for my review model. Like with previous Wingback designs, this pen is on the small side of the ledger, but it is not a small pen. At just under 10 mm in diameter, and 117 mm in length when capped, it is a perfect pocketable, portable size.

Weight-wise, the stainless model checks in at 39 grams. That’s on the heavy side, but to be expected given the material choice. Heavy is fine if it is balanced, but this one is not. When unposted, the pen is too short for anything but quick notes. That means the cap needs to be posted, and when it is, the weight shifts too far to the rear.

Having the weight towards the end of the pen means that as you lighten or adjust your grip, the pen twists in your hand. That also means you have to re-adjust your grip to get the nib back to the proper writing angle. As it turns out, I do this a lot, so the weight imbalance was very apparent to me. If your grip is on lock and stays that way, you won’t run into this as much as I have.

Designing a shorter cap is obviously a solution, but that breaks the design symmetry it looks like Wingback has gone for with this pen. Is there an easier solution if this looks like a pen you will like? Yes. Choose the Titanium option.

#TeamStainless, from top to bottom: Wingback Pencil, Pen, and Fountain Pen.

I’m a huge stainless steel fan, but at less than half the weight (19g for Titanium, 39g for stainless steel,) I know which pen will work better for me. Even though the design doesn’t change, there is so much less weight that I’d wager the balance issue will be negated almost completely.

As I obsess over the balance, it is easy to forget the writing aspects of the pen. In short, it’s great. I’ve become a fan of Bock’s #5 nib ever since I got one in my Hardy Penwrights Model 10-R Retro Fountain Pen. As I mentioned in that review, it is around a 5-1/2 size, which works well for this pen.

My initial inking of this pen was with the included black short international cartridge. That’s something I rarely do - use the default cartridge - but I accidentally engaged it when unboxing so I went for it. I should do that more often, because this ink is great! Maybe it’s because I haven’t used a smooth, rich, black ink in a while, but I’m sure enjoying it.

The included ink cartridges should never be part of your buying decision, but it does bring up another consideration: what filling options do I have for this pen? Short international options, mostly. If you are feeling frisky, Wingback mentions the possibility of eyedropper-filling this pen, but you go first and let me know.

#TeamStainless, Part 2, from top to bottom: Kaweco Liliput Ballpoint, Kaweco Steel Sport, Wingback Fountain Pen.

What should be a consideration is price, and the Wingback Fountain Pen is priced right. £95 for Brass or Stainless, £135 for Black Steel or Titanium. That’s completely fair for a pen of this quality.

The Wingback Fountain Pen is now available on Kickstarter, and is well past its funding goal. There are aways risks with Kickstarter, but so far, Wingback has run great campaigns that have gone smoothly. This one ends 17 days from the time of this post, so be sure to check it out if this fountain pen fits your needs.

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

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Platinum Prefounte Fountain Pen Review

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

One of the easiest pens to recommend to people new to fountain pens is the Platinum Preppy. It's just a few bucks, it performs well, and it's even refillable. While it's great for an entry point or for testing nibs, it does look like a cheap, disposable pen (even though it's refillable). There are plenty of other Platinum fountain pens (and, of course, many other brands) that provide a little more style and durability, but they come at a higher price. The Platinum Plaisir is just over $20 and comes with a metal body, but I just don't like the design. The shiny band on the cap feels too out of place for my taste. Fortunately, there's another option that is closer to the Preppy in price, but with a cleaner and more durable design.

The Platinum Prefounte is a entry-level fountain pen that packs the same great nib and feed system found in the Preppy and Plaisir, but with a trimmed profile and more durable materials. I'm a sucker for anything that uses semi-transparent colored plastics — especially blues, greens, and purples, and this dark emerald variant of the Prefounte is lovely. The color and opaqueness of the material is uniform, but it looks like it shades due to the varying thickness of the material in different areas of the pen. I love looking at this pen while it's on my desk, and I'm still shocked that it costs only $11.

If you've ever used a Preppy or Plaisir, the Prefounte will feel very similar to both of these. The grips are the same, and it's only the balance of the pens that differ due to slightly different weights. The transparent grip provides a great view to the gray feed, and it also has a good feel when writing. The plastic material isn't slippery, and it remains comfortable to use even after a few minutes. It's a straight profile, but I find that there's plenty of tactile grip without a tapered shape or textured surface. The pen is so light that you don't need contouring or texture to provide extra grip control.

The nib is also the same nib that you'll find on any sub-$100 Platinum, which means it will perform well out of the box and provide a smooth writing experience. The Prefounte comes with either a fine (03) or medium (05) nib. The section unscrews from the body so that you can pop in a Platinum cartridge or converter. There's a single black cartridge included with the pen, but I opted for a blue-black cartridge that I already had on hand. You could add a converter to this pen, but at $11, I'm not sure I'd by one specifically for this pen. I'd certainly use a converter if I already had one that wasn't being used in another Platinum pen, so it's nice to have that option.

The cap uses a snap fit for securing it to the pen. Uncapping and capping the pen both have a satisfying feel, and I have no concerns that the cap will come off when in a bag or pocket. There's also a nice click sound and feel when capping the pen so you know for sure that it's secure.

The only branding on the pen is on the base of the cap. There's a small "Prefounte" logo directly under the clip, and a "Platinum" logo on the opposite side. Speaking of the clip, it's really strong. It's metal, so it also makes the pen look slightly more professional. It has no trouble securing the pen to anything it can fit under the clip.

With the Prefounte, this has become my standard recommendation for someone that is interested in getting into fountain pens. It's such a great nib/grip platform, and the nicer build and materials make it easier for people that want something that looks nicer than a Preppy. At $11, it's a fantastic value, but still a low enough price for folks that aren't sure if they'll like fountain pens. This makes a great entry-level "try it out" pen, but also a great low cost gift for that fountain-pen-curious friend, or even a great beater pen to carry yourself. The Prefounte only adds value to the Preppy platform, and I'm so glad it exists.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Lamy 2000 4-Color Ballpoint Multi 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 Lamy 2000 multi pen has been around for decades, but just like the fountain pen variant, you can buy them new today. I saw a Lamy 2000 multi pen a few years ago at a pen show when I was already in the midst of a multi pen craze, but I didn't jump on it when I had the chance. I regretted that decision. But then the pen became easier to find in the US, and I finally have one. It's a fantastic multi pen that just happens to have the iconic Lamy 2000 style.

I've tried out my fair share of multi pens over the years. From the basic Bic that you can find at most big box retailers, to all the sub-$30 Japanese options and even the more premium German pens that are made from metal and feature unique mechanisms for picking the refill. Each pen has its place and provides loads of value, but there's a lot to be said for style and form. I'm sure a Jetstream multi pen can do everything this Lamy can and survive almost as long, but which one do I enjoy using more? Definitely the Lamy.

When it comes to multi pens, one of the biggest options that will filter people from one side or another is whether or not the pen includes a mechanical pencil refill. Personally, I prefer my multi pens to be 100% ink refills as I don't prefer writing with mechanical pencils. But I also appreciate that there are abundant use cases where a pencil/pen combo is invaluable. In the case of the Lamy 2000, it comes with black, blue, green, and red ballpoint refills. I struggled to find the specifications for the tip size online, but a quick measurement of the line width on paper tells me that these are fairly fine tips at 0.5mm. It's a great width for my writing style, and the refills all produce a clean, crisp line once they start flowing. The ink formula in these ballpoint refills all take a couple of scribbles to get started, but they work flawlessly once they're going. I'm hoping that since these are ballpoint refills (as opposed to gel) that they'll last a bit longer.

The Lamy 2000 multi pen uses gravity to determine which refill to extend. I love this particular method because it always feels like magic when compared to the more common method of using one button per refill. How does the gravity system work? There are 4 refills inside the pen, and there are corresponding color indicators at the top of the pen barrel next to the nock (with the Lamy, the clip acts as the indicator for the black refill). Simply orient the pen so that the color indicator for the refill you want to use is on the top, press the nock down, and the corresponding refill extends. When you're ready to retract the refill, it works just like any other retractable pen — simply press the nock down again and it releases.

Pens that use this system can be a little finicky. For example, I have an old Staedtler multi pen that needs the orientation of the pen to be exact before extending the refill will work properly. Otherwise, it jams because two refills are trying to extend at the same time. In the case of the Lamy 2000, it works flawlessly. I noticed on the first few dozen operations that it felt a little scratchy, but that went away over time. I imagine there was some roughness or burs on the inside of the nose cone that were knocked down after some normal use. At this point, it's a smooth and satisfying experience.

Writing with the Lamy 2000 multi pen is a fantastic thing. I love the feeling of the Makrolon after it's been in my hand for a minute. It has superb grip while also being smooth. It's a magical material that I never get tired of using. The multi pen has a smaller diameter body than the fountain pen version, but it's still comfortable to use. The balance is great despite the length as most of the weight is toward the writing end. It's also pretty quiet while writing. multi pens can sometimes be a little noisy due to the unused refills rattling inside the body as you write, but that's not a problem for the 2000.

The included ballpoint refills feel smooth and make crisp, satisfying lines. Like I mentioned before, they usually need a couple of scribbles if you haven't used it in a while, but they work really well once they're "warmed up." As fair as ballpoint refills go, I really can't complain. The colors are nice and vibrant, and there isn't any skipping or thinning as I write or scribble.

One of the perks of the Lamy 2000 multi pen is that it uses a standard D1 refill size. This means you have lots of options for refills outside of the included ballpoints. There are lots of gel, hybrid ballpoint, and ballpoint refills to choose from, as well as plenty of colors. In the future, I'll probably swap in some gel refills in this pen to change things up. Sure, they don't last as long as ballpoint ink, but I like having the option of using different tip sizes and colors.

The Lamy 2000 is such a good design, and it's no wonder that Lamy translates the design to so many other types of pens in their lineup. I have several other non-fountain-pen versions of the 2000, but I think the multi pen might be my favorite of them all (except for the fountain pen, of course). At $79, it's also more affordable than the fountain pen and offers a lot of versatility with the instant color changing ability. If you're either a fan of the 2000 design or a fan of great multi pens, this is worth checking out. If you're a fan of both, this is a no-brainer!

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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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!