(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)
Galen Leather and Vanness Pens sent Pen Addict two products for review: the Galen A5 Leather Notebook in Crazy Horse Forest Green and a Scrikss 419 fountain pen in indigo. I decided to review them together, using the pen to test the notebook and the notebook to test the pen.
The Scrikss 419 Fountain Pen in Indigo
Scrikss is a Turkish pen company established in 1964 in Istanbul. The 419 model is a reproduction of a pen created by Scrikss in the past, and it is a limited edition. It comes in a cardboard box with Galen branding.
The pen is made from acrylic resin and has a clear ink window. I was surprised to discover that the pen is a piston filler because the pen is so small and light.
The Scrikss 419 is a diminutive pen, measuring 125mm/4.9 inches capped, 117mm/4.6 inches uncapped, and 150mm/5.9 inches posted, with a grip diameter of 9.16mm. It weighs next to nothing even when fully inked (unposted) (8.21 grams).
The clip is gold-toned with the Scrikss logo and the cap ring is engraved with the Scrikss name.
Although the cap threads are located above the grip, your fingers still touch them, at least partially. But the threads are smooth so the pen is comfortable to hold.
The medium nib is 23k gold-plated stainless steel. It's a simple nib engraved with the Scrikss logo.
The piston is hard to turn at first. Once you get it in motion, however, it moves more smoothly. The pen doesn't hold much ink--maybe .5 ml.
When first inked, the medium nib was wet, sometimes leaving blobs of ink in its wake. But, the longer I wrote, the drier it became, to the point that it suddenly stopped writing. You can see this in the photo below. At the top of the page, the ink is much darker and flows well. It gets lighter and drier and then stops writing mid-sentence.
The only fix for this is to manually push the ink down with the piston. Then the process starts again: too wet, just right, dry, then nothing--a frustrating experience.
In addition to the inconsistent ink flow, the medium nib is a little scratchy. It isn't terribly bad and might be fixed by using micro mesh.
I'm just not impressed with the pen at all. It's too small for my hand (but for people who love small pens, this would be a plus). It feels flimsy, the piston is finicky, the nib is inconsistent, and I found the writing experience unpleasant. $35.00 might be reasonable for a piston-filled fountain pen. However, the problems I had with ink flow and nib inconsistency make me hesitant to purchase another Scrikss pen.
The Galen Leather A5 "Everyday" Notebook
Galen's leather notebook in Crazy Horse Forest Green is simple and beautiful. It arrives in a black magnetic-closure box.
The green leather is smooth to the touch and has variations that add to its character. Over time, scratches, nicks, and fading will make it even lovelier. The leather is thin, so the notebook doesn't feel overly heavy. The only branding is on the back cover, and it is tasteful.
Inside are 200 sheets (400 pages front and back) of hand-sewn, blank, white 52gsm Tomoe River Paper. The corners are curved for a sleek look.
Galen provides four templates: 7mm lined, 10mm lined, 5mm graph, and 10mm graph. Because Tomoe River Paper is so thin, these templates work perfectly to provide guidance for writing or drawing. A plain piece of leather serves either as a blotter or a pad for writing.
The notebook doesn't include any pockets or bookmark ribbons.
I tested the paper with the pens I currently have inked. As expected, the paper handled all of them admirably, although there is significant show through.
Swabs look wonderful on Tomoe River Paper:
I'm quite happy with the Galen Leather Notebook. It is beautiful, simple, and useful. It lays completely flat when open, which is another plus.
I plan to use my notebook to practice Zentangles and Mandalas.
You can purchase the Scrikss fountain pen in a variety of colors for $35.00 fromGalen Leather. The Galen Leather Notebook in either Crazy Horse Brown or Crazy Horse Forest Green costs $36.00 (Galen or $25.00 Vanness (currently out of stock).
(Galen Leather provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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