Posts filed under Pen Reviews

Carolina Pen Co. Charleston Slim Fountain Pen Review

If you have been using pens for any length of time, I’m sure you have discovered what your favorites are. Favorite brands, favorite materials, favorite shapes, favorite sizes, favorite weights, and so on.

I use all kinds of pens, and in a wide range of options. From big and heavy, to small and light. But I do play favorites with my most … favorite … pens. In general, I prefer pens on the smaller end of the spectrum. Barrels that are narrow, materials that are light. Those needs match my handwriting style - tiny, block printing - the best.

The latest pen to match my needs perfectly is the Charleston Slim model from Carolina Pen Company.

The original Charleston model is one of the pens that launched Jonathon Brooks’ pen making career. It is a classic fountain pen shape, with its widest point in the middle of the barrel, and slight tapers towards each end. I’d imagine it is one of his most popular sellers, too, as it is a great platform to show off his material making prowess.

In general, the Charleston is too wide for me to own more than the one I have. It’s great, and I have it fitted with a wider nib - Broad, ground into a Kodachi by Matthew Chen - befitting its wider diameter. But this isn’t a pen barrel I want to use finer nibs and grinds with.

*Top top bottom: Standard Charleston, one-off slightly narrower Charleston, Charleston Slim.*

Jonathon knows this about me, and last year he took it upon himself to narrow down a Charleston model when I ordered a pen using his Warm Tone Primary Manipulation material. In quick measurements of the widest point in the barrel, the change knocked off a little more than 1 mm of the diameter (15.9 mm on the standard, 14.8 mm on my one-off,) which is noticeable in the hand.

Fast forward to this Summer, at the Washington D.C. Pen show, when I spent plenty of time with Jonathan, and his child Kristen, checking out all of their pens and materials. That’s when Jonathan handed me this new “official” pen model, the Charleston Slim. It was even narrower than the last pen he made for me, and I was immediately smitten with it. He even let me pick out a couple to review, keep, or giveaway. Maybe all of the above!

First things first: the measurement. Taking my calipers to the same spot of the barrel, it checks in at 13.2 mm. For comparison, the Edison Beaumont - another personal favorite - lands at 12.1 mm mid-barrel. And the Beaumont is a pen that I rave about, despite being too small for many users. Not for me, though!

The Charleston Slim is exactly what I want size and weight-wise from a fountain pen. The length fits my hand perfectly unposted (you can technically post it, but it is loooong,) and the pinched section hits my grip just right.

The material of this model is called “The Committee,” and is one of Kristen’s materials from Fountain Telling. It is a wonderful blue green swirl with sparkly undertones, and it POPS. It’s hard not to grab a material like this first off the table when you see it. It also has the Fountain Telling logo etched onto the Fine Jowo #6 nib.

The Charleston Slim is a new favorite pen shape of mine, and one I look forward to exploring in other materials. Jonathon has several models listed for sale on his website for $200, and will certainly have more available at a pen show near you in the future.

My thanks to Jonathon and Kristen for providing me this pen for review. And stay tuned for tomorrow’s post!

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

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Posted on October 16, 2023 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Carolina Pen Co, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Gravitas Pens Quark Titanium Fountain Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And her latest book, Root Rot, is now available!)

I love tiny pens. So portable! So cute! I can fit more of them in my house! And I love Gravitas Pens, so trying out the Quark, the new itty bitty pen from Ben Walsh, was inevitable. Probably also inevitable that I was going to love this pen.

This is a really tiny pen! It's pocket-sized even for girl pockets. Its closest sibling in size is the Kaweco Liliput, which it is often compared to, as that is the other notoriously tiny pen. It's a bit smaller than the Liliput when capped, but a bit longer when posted. It's very comfortable to write with when posted, and the back end has threading on it so that the cap screws in place, keeping it secure.

The cap covers most of the body when closed, and beneath it is a full-sized grip section with a full-sized nib. There may also be a 5th dimension hidden under the cap, which would explain where all of the pen goes when the cap is closed.

The body unscrews from the grip section to reveal juuuust enough space for a short international cartridge.

This titanium version of the quark is very light, so it causes no hand fatigue after long writing sessions. This model also has a titanium flex nib and polymer feed. The nib flexes smoothly, and writes with a nice bounce when not flexing. The feed keeps up well, and I can write quickly with no dryness or skipping. It's a fantastic writing experience, and I've been reaching for this pen for both quick notes and long afternoons of writing.

I've carried this pen daily for over a month, from everyday routines to wild adventures. For daily carry, it's excellent--it may be a permanently inked fixture in my kit. It did not love going camping with me, however. I'm not sure if it was the rough hiking-pack life, or the temperature shifts from cool nights in the woods to hot days on the beach, but it leaked an entire cartridge on that trip. I had no leaking issues with it before that, and have had none since, so I definitely attribute the leaks to my own abuse of the poor pen (or it could have been a faulty cartridge). I would need another trip to the wilderness to be sure--hopefully I can do that soon, for many reasons. I will say though, that I had no idea that the pen had leaked, because the cap contained the entire mess--likely stored in that 5th dimension. Not a drop spilled out of the cap. Until I uncapped it, which was epic.

For my tastes, this is another win for Gravitas. Some may find the pen too small, even when posted, but I prefer smaller pens, and the light weight and fantastic nib and feed mean that I can write with it for hours.

The pen comes with a plastic tube on a lanyard that can be used as its carrying case, and mine also came with a wee canister to hold spare cartridges. The standard Quark is 90 Euros, or about $95, and the upgraded titanium flex nib with polymer feed increases the price to 110 Euros, or about $116. I think that's a very fair price, and it's certainly a lot less than I paid for my Kaweco Liliput Fireblue back when they were first released. This pen has definitely become my favorite pocket fountain pen, so if you're a wee pen fan, definitely give this a try.

(This pen was purchased from Gravitas Pens at full retail price.)

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Posted on October 12, 2023 by Sarah Read and filed under Gravitas, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Faber-Castell GRIP 2011 Mistletoe 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 thing I love most about ballpoint pens that use the Parker style refill is that I can pick a pen that I like and know that I have a whole lot of options when it comes to what refill I use. This makes a pen much more versatile and useful.

The Faber-Castell GRIP 2011 Mistletoe is a ballpoint pen that features a unique three facet body and round grip dots all over the body and grip. It looks visually interesting due to the odd shape of the barrel and the grid pattern of dots that extend from grip to clip.

The Mistletoe variant of this pen is what gives it the rich metallic color. It's a "Teal Black," but it looks like a dark gray with blue-ish tint in every light I've put it under. Under a high power flash, the blues and greens of the teal come out a bit, but they're still soft. Still, the metallic bits in the paint add a lot of character to the color and work well together with the grip dots and clip colors. Regardless of what the color is called, it's a nice-looking color that I enjoy.

The knock mechanism on this pen is very satisfying to click. It doesn't require a lot of pressure to operate, but it makes a fantastic click sound and crisp feel that reminds me of a clicky mechanical keyboard switch. If you're familiar with the Parker Jotter knock, you might know how heavy duty and noisy it is. It's also satisfying, but in a different way. The GRIP 2011 click is much gentler and refined, and I absolutely enjoy clicking it.

The clip on this pen is incredibly strong. It's difficult to lift with your finger, but it has no problem sliding over a pocket or bit of fabric. The clip strength means this pen is secure when attached to something. I really appreciate how strong the grip is while also being incredibly easy to use. In my book, a weak clip that causes you to lose a pen is as bad as a clip that is too strong and stubborn and requires two hands to remove.

The nose of the pen unscrews from the grip section so you can replace the refill. The seam for the cone can be hard to spot because it blends in really well with the body. Since this is a Parker-style refill, you can roll with any number of excellent refill options. The included refill is really great, though. It's a blue 1.0 mm refill that is really smooth and consistent. The blue ink is on the darker side, but still easy to distinguish.

Combine the smooth refill with the three-facet body, and you've got a really comfortable pen. I like the grip provided by the three sides and the grippy dots, and I think the shape should work with many styles of grip, not just the three-finger grip that is considered "standard."

The Faber-Castell GRIP 2011 is a little longer than most pens that use a Parker-style refill. One of the perks of this refill is that it's short but still packs a lot of ink supply. But, there's no reason the pen has to be shorter — in the case of the GRIP 2011, the extra centimeters of length give the pen a great balance when writing. Whether the length is functional or aesthetic, I like the balance of the finished product.

At $25, the Faber-Castell GRIP 2011 is a unique and well made ballpoint pen option. The pretty color and unique style doesn't look like anything you can buy off the shelf at an office supply store, and you're guaranteed to continue using for (hopefully) the rest of your life given the accessibility of the refill size.

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

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