(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
The Nemosine Singularity is an entry-level fountain pen from a new (to me, anyway) pen company that has a lot going for it. It's not often that we see newcomers to the entry-level game, so this is always exciting. But, it's also difficult to break into this level of fountain pen due to the excellent options already available.
The Nemosine Singularity is just a hair under $20 on JetPens, and you have a fairly good range of options between color and nib size (including an intriguing 0.6mm stub option). While the "gift box" aspect of this pen is a joke, the rest of the pen holds up well against expectations.
On first unboxing this pen, I had similar thoughts and assumptions as when I've purchased $6 fountain pens on eBay from a Chinese manufacturer. There's no flash or pizzazz in the packaging, and the experience is fairly boring. That's fine as long as the pen lives up to the unbelievable price. In the case of the Singularity, the presentation should be improved upon due to the surprisingly great quality of the pen.
This pen reminds me a lot of the Monteverde Artista. While it looks like that pen is being retired from JetPens, it is a great all-round pen for general writing. The Singularity is cheaper, has more nib options, and performs very closely with the Monteverde. I was impressed when I first tried it out.
At $20, you're up against a couple of the best budget fountain pens out there: the Pilot Metropolitan and Kakuno. After the $30 mark, you're in Kaweco, Lamy, and TWSBI territory, so let's leave them out for now. When you compare the Metropolitan and Singularity, the features are very similar. They both come with converters and cartridges, and they're only $5 apart. When comparing these, it really comes down to your own preference. Do you want a professional pen with classy accents? The Metropolitan is the best choice. Do you like how demonstrators look, or do you prefer plastic-body pens? The Singularity is a better option.
The build quality of the Singularity is better than I expected. While it's lightweight, it doesn't feel cheap or fragile. This pen can deal with some abuse, although it will show scratches. The clip has moderate strength and the threads feel precise and well-made.
Moving on to the grip and nib, it keeps impressing. The grip is a black plastic, and it fits my hand perfectly. This combined with the light weight make it ideal for longer writing sessions. The particular model I have uses the medium nib, and it writes like a dream. It's a bit on the wet side, but that's something I expect and want from a medium nib. It never stutters, skips, or has a hard time starting, and it's as smooth as can be. It's a steel nib, but it has a good amount of flexibility that can provide some minimal variation with the right pressure applied.
I'm not sure where the nibs are sourced, but they do say "Made in Germany" on the bottom. Also, the decoration on the nib is classy and pleasing. It's not a plain nib, but it isn't chintzy either.
The included converter does feel cheaper than the pen, but it's worked great so far. One minor complaint I have about this converter is that it has a small ball inside to keep the ink moving around. Other converters use this same method, and the noise that the ball makes inside the converter when you move the pen around has always bothered me. I'm not sure why it's there when other converters do just fine without it. Like I said, it's a minor niggle.
Overall, I've been really impressed by this budget newcomer. It feels well-built while also remaining light, it writes like a dream, and it costs less than $20 (barely). I can see this being a perfect recommendation for people who want to spend 20 bucks on their first demonstrator. For me, it will be a common tester pen for different inks since the nib performs so well.
The Nemosine Singularity is available in Onyx, Aqua, Azalea, and Demonstrator colors from JetPens. You also have an option of EF, F, M, B, and 0.6mm stub nibs. The stub looks particularly interesting!
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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