It's been a year since I rebooted this blog and I am surprised to know that I have now written 57 reviews since April 2020. I have tested and photographed close to a hundred products since then! I have learned so many things as I wrote about fountain pens, ink, and paper. Plus I also get to meet many people from faraway countries and cultures. In my search for new products to review, I met Teun Prinsen of Giants' Pens from The Netherlands.
I didn't know that there are pen makers from The Netherlands! Teun allowed me to choose the material, size, and nib width of the pen he was making for me. Meeting Teun was truly a pleasant surprise and it was an amazing experience being a part of the pen-making process. After some extensive exchange of messages, here's Giants' Pens' Maple Burl for Rants of The Archer!
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| Giants' Pens from The Netherlands offer handcrafted pens in all sizes. |
Giants' Pens was founded by Teun Prinsen and Joep Prinsen. Both co-founders are pen makers, and they create custom, handmade fountain pens. Teun and Joep, both students at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven allow customization in what they do. Besides fountain pens, they also tune and quality control the nibs that they use for their pens.
The materials that Teun used for this pen include a maple burl for the barrel and casted resin for the cap and section. This is a long pen and the section diameter is bigger than most of my pens. I love the wood grain of the maple burl even the voids, and lines towards the barrel's end.
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| Giants' Pens' maple and resin fountain pen. |
This wood and resin fountain pen has the following measurements and specifications:
- Length, capped: 6.09 in | 15.47 cm
- Length, uncapped: 5.46 in | 13.9 cm
- Length, barrel only: 3.77 in | 8.1 cm
- Body material: Maple wood
- Trim: None
- Clip: None
- Cap: Screw on, not postable
- Nib: No. 6 Jowo steel in Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, or Broad
- Filling mechanism: Cartridge or converter (both included)
This pen can be filled with ink using standard international cartridges or a converter, and Giants' Pens includes a converter with each pen purchase.
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| A converter is included with each pen purchase from Giants' Pens. |
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| The maple barrel is given a cyanoacrylate layer for a polished and shiny finish. The coating gives the wood depth and character, showing off its natural beauty. |
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| The cap and barrel ends of this pen are both pointed. The barrel end shows the wood grain beautifully. |
Giants' Pens offers Jowo No. 6 nibs in their fountain pens. This pen came with a steel JoWo No. 6 Broad nib that wrote smoothly out of the box. I'm not so much into nib priming or tuning when using a pen for the first time, so I'm glad this pen's nib wrote so well with its first ink. I did not experience hard starts, skips, or inky blobs as I wrote with it.
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| This pen's Broad nib wrote smoothly out of the box. |
This Giants' Pens fountain pen is a full-sized pen that shares almost the same length and diameter as an Esterbrook Oversize, and Bexley Intrepid. I personally chose a large-sized fountain pen that is lightweight yet substantial. Uncapped, this pen is longer than Esterbrook OS, Bexley Intrepid, or Lamy Lx.
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| From the top: Esterbrook Rocky Top OS, Bexley Intrepid, Giants' Pens Maple Burl, Unnamed pen from China, and Lamy Lx. |
To test this pen, I filled it with New Brew Ink Blood Stain, a new fountain pen ink brand from the Philippines. The Broad nib wrote smoothly out of the box and did not need any priming or modification. This large but lightweight pen fits my hand so well, and its design allows for comfortable writing. Even if I had to write a whole page, I did not experience any discomfort at all.
I am very happy with my first fountain pen from Giants' Pens and I am recommending it to anyone who wants to know Teun and Joep and explore their wonderful pen creations. This pen is beautiful and well-designed, and I'm glad to have one in my collection. Teun and Joep are excellent and skilled pen makers who can customize any pen using a variety of materials. Get one of his pens for your collection now!
Rants of The Archer thanks Teun Prinsen, Joep Prinsen, and Giants' Pens for providing the fountain pen in this review. Their pens are available on their website: http://www.giantspens.com/index.html
If you want a custom-made pen from Teun and Joep, visit their website or look them up on Instagram. At the moment, the queue is about 2-3 months, and anyone who wants to get on the list can choose the material for their pens.
To learn more about Giants' Pens, visit their website (http://www.giantspens.com/index.html) or follow them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giantspens/.
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