(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.)
I missed out on the first generation of the Tactile Turn Mover--it was FoMo come to life. The pen world was all abuzz and I wasn't in on the action. Well, I've caught up. And now I see just how much I was missing out on. This is a cool pen!
Since I missed the first version, I can't speak much to how this one has improved on the earlier design, but I can definitely tell that this is a well-thought-out pen.
It takes the G2 refill and any other refill that can be adjusted to fit those specs. I love the G2, so I'm very happy with that, but I'm tempted, now, to pick up the smaller Shaker pen that takes Parker style refills. And considering how many pretty colors there are available, it's totally reasonable to pick up multiples. Totally. And the price is fair at $69 for an aluminum Mover or Shaker.
The pen I have is anodized aluminum in a bright purple color. It's a warm magenta purple, not a cool blue one. It almost seems like it's glowing. The body is covered in a fine ridged texture. It's not rough to the touch, but it does have grit to it. It provides excellent grip, but be careful when placing it next to other objects and NEVER put it next to a fancy-finished pen like maki-e or urushi. It's like coarse-grit sandpaper against other pens. You can actually file your nails with it. On the plus side, it's tough and doesn't show wear itself. It's a great edc pen and can clearly take a beating. I dropped it right on its nose the other day and was afraid it would be bent--nope. Not even a scratch.
Despite being metal, it doesn't feel heavy. It's well balanced with thicker walls toward the front of the pen, so it supports itself as you write.
The clip is stainless steel and very sturdy. It flexes enough to clip onto things, and then it stays put. The clip also has a hidden, subtle branding on the underside, which was fun to discover. I love the clever minimalism of that. The click mechanism--if you can even call it that, since it is totally silent and doesn't click--is made of titanium. It depresses smoothly and quietly, and the titanium is sure to give it a longer lifetime than other machined clicks that wear out far too quickly. It also has a long stroke length, which recesses the tip further in the barrel so there's less chance of leaking or staining. The click isn't quite flawless. Mine does occasionally misalign somehow and get stuck or meet an odd resistance. Sometimes the pen gets stuck overextended and I have to click a few times to get it lined up correctly. It's possible this could be caused by purse debris getting into the parts. I have not gone easy on this pen and it has followed me around work for a few weeks.
Overall, the pen has insanely good precision. It was a while before I could even find the spot to unscrew the nose cone to access the refill--the seam blended in so well it was practically invisible. And everything fits together with perfect alignment and no rattling or awkwardness. It feels like it was built by NASA, not in a one-man shop in Texas. But Will Hodges is clearly good at what he does. This will definitely not be my last Tactile Turn pen. Just opening the web page to get the pen specs was an exercise of willpower. If you're in the market for a retractable metal pen, this one easily tops the list.
(Tactile Turn provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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