Posts filed under Pen Reviews

Pilot ILMILY Nuance Gel Pen Review

Very few things in my stationery life get me more excited than a gel ink pen with a fine line and a unique ink color. The Pilot ILMILY Nuance Gel Ink Pen combines those things perfectly, and packages them into a great barrel.

Review over, right? Not so fast.

As a fan of Pilot’s highly Instagramable ILMILY (I Love Me, I Love You,) product lineup, I somehow had missed the launch of the Nuance. It wasn’t until a friend included one in a care package of awesomeness to me that I tried one out, and I was immediately hooked.

That pen in question, the Nuance Black Yellow, made me giddy. As I alluded to up top, an 0.5 mm gel ink pen, and in a color as weird as Black Yellow, really gets me going. It wrote well, and the barrel was cool and comfortable. Immediately, I asked, “Are there more?”

Yes, Brad, there are more. Many more.

One of the fun ideas I’ve seen pen companies tackle over the past several years is the idea of “Black+” ink formulations. My all-time favorite is Uni-ball’s Signo DX in Lavender Black (0.38 mm please, and thank you.) Uni-ball expanded on that idea with their BLX formulation in other pen lineups, and brands like Pentel and Sakura dabble in a more limited capacity. These colors take the very business-like black ink formulation and add a hint of other colors to the mix.

Pilot took that “hint” of added color directly into the product name of this lineup. The colors are nuanced on the page, often requiring closer inspection to see the alternate shade come through. They are there, to be sure, but set your expectations accordingly.

In my writing samples, I made sure to mix in the Black ink of the Pilot G2 0.5 mm pen as a baseline. The Nuance lineup also has a Black-only ink pen, but I wasn’t compelled to purchase that one. I did purchase the remainder of the colors, minus Black Brown, which was simply an oversight on my part.

The beauty of these inks is that you can get away with using them in settings where Black ink is the expectation. You and I can have our little secret, ok? I think Black Red and Black Yellow have the most noticeable undertones, and therefore are my favorites. Black Green is the least interesting, and Black Blue and Black Violet land in the middle. Other brands do those combinations better.

It’s almost impossible to see through a computer screen, but the writing order is Pilot G2 Black, Nuance Black Blue, Black Violet, Black Red, Black Green, Black Yellow, and then back to the Black G2 down the page.

If you know what to expect going in to the ILMLIY Nuance series, you will be happy with the results. That is, if you want to pay over $4 per pen. That is at the top of the price range for a gel ink pen, but that is where Pilot has placed this premium brand. At that price I can’t recommend the entire set, but if you like them, pick out one or two of the more interesting colors. Or, pro tip, grab the refills for half the price and use them in Pilot G2 compatible pens. Taps forehead.

I’m glad the Pilot ILMILY series exists. Yes, it is premium priced, but it gives them a platform to experiment outside of their normal product lineups. I’m always for that.

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

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Posted on October 23, 2023 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Pilot, ILMILY, Gel, Pen Reviews.

Pilot Iro-Utsushi Dip 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 for pre-order!)

One of the things we love about fountain pens is that they can hold a wee tank full of our favorite ink and continuously feed it to a smooth nib. Dip pens give a similar nib experience, but without the ink tank hooked up to it. Instead, you dip the nib into a bottle of ink before writing on the page. It sounds inconvenient--having to stop writing all the time to re-dip! And with some dip nibs, it can be an issue. Leave it to Pilot to make one that just rocks.

The Pilot Iro-Utsushi is a simple design. It's a hollow, lightweight plastic body with a plain metal nib at the end. That's it, that's the pen! Uncomplicated. No feed, no moving parts, just a writey stick. The body comes in several color options, this one is a smokey, clear grey. The body tapers steeply toward the end, and it has a fairly plain grip section. There are a few textured lines along the length of the grip to help with slipping, but they're so smooth I'm not sure they do much. The pen is so light, though, that it doesn't need a fancy grip section. Balance and control aren't issues.

The nib can be either fine or medium. The one I tested is a fine nib. If you've written with a Pilot Metropolitan pen, the writing experience is similar. Which is to say, it's good. The nib is smooth and has perfect ink control. It's not too wet, but never feels dry. It isn't flexible at all, but it creates a nice, consistent line.

The most noticeable feature of this dip pen is that it writes for aaaaages on a single dip. I got 70 words on a single dip--about a third of a page. Two dips per page? That's hardly an interruption at all. And I could scribble vigorously across more than an entire line of a page before a single dip ran out. Despite holding a useful amount of ink, the nib never dripped. There was no mess, no fuss--just a pleasant writing experience.

The only issue I had with the pen at all is that I wish it had a roll stop of some kind. Because it has no real cap, just a rubber sleeve covering the nib, it tends to roll around whenever it is set down. Other than that, this is a great dip pen. It is currently priced at $11, which is a little higher than I thought it would be. The Pilot Varsity is only $3.20, and it has ink in it! It's a fair price compared to fancier dip pens, though, and it would be perfect for ink testing. Or just writing anything--the dipping is rare enough that it doesn't slow things down. It feels old-timey. Like I'm writing some kind of love letter or a constitution, not a grocery list. I dig it.

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

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Posted on October 19, 2023 by Sarah Read and filed under Pilot, Dip Nib, Fountain Pens, 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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