Two months ago, I reviewed the Otto Hutt Design 03 Fountain Pen. I remember that one well, because it took a little bit of time to understand exactly what I had in that pen. The more time I spent with it, the more then pen and I clicked, and I’ve ended up loving it.
You could repeat the exact same process, and same result, with the Otto Hutt Design 04 Wave Blue Fountain Pen.
The Design 04 is a classically designed and manufactured German pen. Otto Hutt has been making pens for themselves, and other brands, for nearly a century, and that experience shows in the end result. The quality is exceptional all the way around.
There are seven pens in the Design series, and the 04 sets itself apart with a lacquered barrel, which allows for several different color and design choices. These range from standard solid colors - such as black, white, pink, and green - to an all black model, to different inlays and guilloche patterns, like with this Wave Blue. There are even different hardware colors depending on the pen. There are more individual models on the Design 04 than there are numbers in the Design series!
The metal barrel of the Design 04 is not overly heavy. You feel some weight, but it is balanced in the hand. Posting the cap is possible, but that does alter the balance of the pen significantly and I wouldn’t recommend it.
Balance with this pen is important due to the narrow nature of the grip section. As someone who prefers this size of grip, it is ideal for me, but I know others will find it to be too narrow. The section is long enough to allow you to grip low up against an upturn towards the nib, or pull back to the middle and reside on the taper. Neither the cap threads or barrel step pose any real challenge to a standard grip.
The stainless steel Fine nib was perfect out the box. And in true German fashion, it is wide and wet. Do I personally prefer finer nibs? Yes. But I’ll be darned if this isn’t a perfect writer. It also started up immediately every time it sat on my desk for several days between use.
I was able to choose which Design 04 I wanted to review, courtesy of my friends at Kenro Industries - the US distributor for Otto Hutt. As I mentioned above, there are a ton of options, and the Wave Blue stood out not only for the pattern, but as a design style I don’t have in any other pen. That said, Otto Hutt didn’t make it easy with all of the great options!
The price varies from $200 to $316 in the Design 04 lineup at Pen Chalet, with this exact model checking in at $280. From a value perspective, I think it is right on the mark. I only have to look back to my Tibaldi Perfecta review to realize that the base Design 04 is a much better bang for your buck. From there, you can choose from a slew of designs and features that suit your needs the best.
Right now, the Otto Hutt Design 04 suits my needs for a well-made, classically-designed, wonderful-writing, German-engineered fountain pen, with other models from the brand residing firmly on my radar.
(Kenro Industries provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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