Fountain Pen Review: Click Pens Aristocrat Renaissance Michelangelo

As a pen reviewer and blogger, it's always a joy finding new and little-known pen brands from unexpected places—India. I came across several pen makers from India after my review of the GM Custom Pens Kusanagi last year. It's amazing to see the variety of pen designs from India's pen makers and the types of materials they use for their fountain pens. 

One of the pen brands I got interested in is Click Pens. Based in Indore, a city in west-central India, Click Pens was established in 1978 with a commitment to producing quality writing instruments.  They produce fountain pens, calligraphy sets, rollerball pens, and ballpoint pens. Since 1978, Click Pens has created more than 20 fountain pen models using different materials such as acrylic, ebonite, and ABS plastic. 

Click Pens Aristocrat Renaissance Michelangelo fountain pen.

The Aristocrat Renaissance Michelango fountain pen is well-made and handcrafted from acrylic. It is sturdy, well balanced in hand, and the section with a diameter measuring around 0.5 inches is easy to hold while writing, and comfortable even for a long period of writing. I tried writing with this pen on two pages of A5 paper, and I did not experience any discomfort with the section.

The Aristocrat Renaissance fountain pen has the following measurements and specifications:

• Length, capped: 5.7 in | 14.5 cm
• Length, uncapped: 5.3 in | 13.5 cm
• Length, cap posted: 7.1 in | 18 cm
• Full pen weight: 23g | 0.81 oz
• Body material: Acrylic
• Colors: White (Michelangelo), Orange (Da Vinci), Red (Raphael)
• Trim: Chrome
• Cap: Screw-on; postable
• Clip material: Steel 
• Nib: Steel
• Filling mechanism: 3-in-1 filling mechanism: converter, cartridge, or eye dropper

Click Pens Aristocrat Renaissance is available in three colors: white (Michelangelo), orange (Da Vinci), and red (Raphael). It can be filled with ink through the 3-in-1 filling mechanism. This includes filling hte pen with ink using international standard cartridges, through the supplied K5 converter, or by eyedropper conversion. This pen can be used as an eyedropper fountain pen as the barrel doesn't have holes or metal parts that will react to ink. I filled the Kusanagi's barrel to check its capacity and learned that if this pen is used as an eyedropper fountain pen, it can take as much as 2.5ml of ink. That's a lot of ink!

This pen can be filled with ink using cartridges or the supplied converter. It can also be converted into an eyedropper fountain pen.

All pens in the Aristocrat Renaissance series are fitted with a black cap and barrel end. The two-ring cap band complements the chrome clip etched with the logo. The rings are securely fitted into the cap, but one of them is a bit loose and I'm afraid it may fall off.

The white semi-translucent barrel of the Aristocrat Renaissance Michelangelo is beautiful. The swirly silky white ribbons look so pure, so neat, so clean. It's also a nice contrast to the pen's black cap. It will be nice to see ink sloshing inside the barrel if I convert this into an eyedropper pen.

Aristocrat Renaissance fountain pens are fitted with No. 6 stainless steel nibs. The medium nib in my Michelangelo is embossed with the Click Pens logo, India, and M to indicate nib width. Out of the box, it wrote instantly and I did not experience any hard starts which is a common concern with new pens. It writes wet and smooth. Aristocrat Renaissance fountain pens are also available with Fine, Broad, and Semi-Flex nibs.

The Renaissance is fitted with a No. 6 steel nib.

Michelangelo is a full-sized fountain pen that shares almost the same length as a Lamy Safari and TWSBI ECO. This pen is postable, but I use it unposted. Posting makes this pen uncomfortably long at 7.1 inches. Uncapped, it's almost the same length as TWSBI ECO, Lamy Safari, and Laban 325.

From the top: TWSBI ECO, Lamy Safari, Michelangelo, Laban 325, Jinhao 159.

Uncapped, Michelangelo is as long as TWSBI ECO, Lamy Safari, and Laban 325.

To test the performance of this white fountain pen, I chose a nice turquoise ink. Krishna Inks Cool Breeze is a beautiful ink match to this pen. Ink flow to the nib was fast, and the medium steel nib wrote smoothly out of the box without the need for adjustments or tuning. I did not experience hard starts or skipping. Michelangelo is surprisingly an enjoyable pen and it writes smoothly every time I use it.

Perfect combo. Krishna Inks Cool Breeze on Michelango on Ayush Paper. 

The Renaissance Michelangelo came in a nice box with a converter and two cartridges.

I am happy with the Aristocrat Renaissance Michelangelo fountain pen from Click Pens and I will recommend it to anyone who wants to explore and know this pen brand from India. It's a lovely pen and I'm glad to have one for myself. Get one for your collection!

Rants of The Archer thanks Click Pens and Unique Pen Industries for providing the Michelangelo fountain pen in this review. The Renaissance series fountain pens are available from Click Pens where they retail for ₹2,200 (~US$30) each. For updates on their product offerings, follow Click Pens on social media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clickpens.in/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clickpens/