Fountain Pen Review: Stanford Wood Studio Ghost's Breath

I have used fountain pens for almost thirteen years now, and these writing tools have brought me so much — friends from different parts of the world, art and calligraphy, and this blog that I have been working on ever since. Writing reviews for this blog have become educational and entertaining for me. I meet many people, I receive products from different countries, and with them, I learn about their culture and design preferences. 

Through one of my Instagram posts, I came across an interesting pen maker from an equally interesting country. Stanford Wood Studio, based in Stanford, South Africa are makers of canoes and kayaks. But they also make pens. They make fountain pens, solid wood pens, silk pens, and wood and resin pens and pencils. One of their fountain pens, a three-color clipless Unique caught my eye. This fountain pen is unique as it has three distinct barrel colors, its material has an unexpected addition, and it has a very intriguing name: Ghost's Breath.

Stanford Wood Studio Ghost's Breath Unique fountain pen

Di and Dave, the wonderful team at Stanford Wood Studio called the new pen in their Unique series Spookasem, after the Afrikaan name for cotton candy or candy floss. However, in South Africa, Spookasem translates to ghost's breath. The Unique pen, appearing like a sweet mix of fine cotton candy strands, also has the spectral, ethereal feel of a ghost blowing a kiss. A fun ghost, Di said, not the baddie. One that rolls around with kittens in balls of soft wool, and splashes the dawn clouds with watercolors. So they kept the name Ghost's Breath for this one-of-a-kind, only-one-in-the-world fountain pen. 

Ghost's Breath has an interesting name, but its story is even more captivating, one that I love telling people. This fountain pen has a special ingredient embedded in the blank it was made from—wood shavings from a double canoe that Dave was working on! According to Di, when Dave made the blanks, he was also finishing a double canoe in ash. As he completed the canoe's gunnel, he shaved the finest paper-thin curlicues. The canoe was very special to them both as they have spent many, many months to finish it, and they thought the shavings could be a memento of the canoe and be given a new life in a pen. Ghost's Breath contains the ash shavings from Dave's double canoe, and as long as this pen is with me, I will always remember how special it is to Di and Dave, and that somewhere out there is a double canoe waiting to reunite with its playful ghost sibling.

Ghost's Breath has three sides with unique colors. This side has a combination of blue and pink and some purple swirls. The yellow or golden swirls are the ash shavings from Dave's double canoe. 

This side has more blue swirls.

This dominantly pink side is my favorite because it shows more of the ash shavings.

The Ghost's Breath fountain pen has the following measurements:

• Length, capped: 5.5 in | 14 cm | 140 mm
• Length, uncapped: 5.2 in | 13.2 cm | 132 mm
• Length, barrel only: 3.5 in | 8.9 cm | 89 mm
• Length, section to nib: 2.2 in | 5.6 cm | 55.9 mm
• Length, cap: 2.25 inches | 5.7 cm | 57 mm
• Diameter, barrel: 0.6 in | 1.7 cm | 17 mm
• Cap thread: 0.5 in | 1.4 cm | 14 mm

The Ghost's Breath is a well-balanced fountain pen. It has a nice heft that's just right for writing. I also like the diameter of this pen's section and how I can comfortably grip it as I write. This pen's cap doesn't post, but that's okay with me as I do not usually write with my pens posted.

This beautiful fountain pen can be filled with ink using cartridges or converters. It's a standard-sized pen that can be filled with short and long international standard ink cartridges. However, Stanford Wood Studio provides a Beaufort converter for every pen purchase, and the Ghost's Breath came with one.

The Ghost's Breath's cap, section + converter, and barrel. That's Robert Oster Signature Dusky Pink in the converter.

The Ghost's Breath cap has a small breather hole to prevent messy ink burps. Screwing an airtight cap onto the pen usually causes air to be pushed into the ink reservoir (cartridge or converter) through the nib/feed. When the cap is unscrewed, the trapped air is released and the nib usually "burps" ink. A breather hole prevents inky accidents such as these from happening.

The Ghost's Breath's cap has a small breather hole to prevent ink burps. 

Most of my fountain pens have clips, so when I got the clipless Ghosts' Breath, it was a new experience. I realized I always needed to check which end I was holding so I don't put it nib down in my pen wrap. However, the makers of the Ghost's Breath are a thoughtful bunch, they provided these simple design tweaks to remind the user of the pen's ends—the cap has a flat top, while the barrel has a pointed end.  Thoughtful, wise, brilliant design!

Thoughtful, wise, brilliant design: this clipless pen has a flat cap top and pointed barrel end, a very helpful design feature. 

Up close: the beautiful ash shavings.

Ghost's Breath is fitted with a #6 bi-color steel and gold Bock nib in my favorite width, broad (B), but it can also be fitted with either a fine or medium nib. This Bock nib is my first Bock, and it wrote smoothly out of the box. It is soft and springy, and such a joy to write with.

The #6 steel and gold Bock nib in Ghost's Breath is such a joy to write with.

The Ghost's Breath is a full-length fountain pen, sharing almost the same length as a Lamy Safari or TWSBI ECO, but it has more heft. It's a litter shorter than the Esterbrook Estie and Laban Wisteria, but it's comfortable to use for long periods of writing. 

Capped, Ghost's Breath is almost the same size as Lamy Safari or TWSBI ECO and shorter than Esterbrook Estie and Laban Wisteria.

Uncapped, Ghost's Breath has the same length as the other four pens. 

To test this beautiful Ghost's Breath's broad Bock nib, I first filled it with J. Herbin Rouille d'Ancre, but it was too wet and dark to be a match. I also filled it with Laban Greek Mythology Aphrodite, but the pen wrote dry. A search in my ink box revealed the perfect ink color with just the right wetness, Robert Oster Signature Dusky Pink. The Bock nib wrote smoothly, and I did not experience any hard starts, skips, or inky blobs. I had no trouble writing at all. And I am so happy I can use this beautiful ghost to write my own compositions and do some colorful doodles. 

Here is a piece I wrote last summer. The broad Bock nib is a wet and smooth writer and I'm glad I can use it for long periods of writing.

And I can use it for ink art, too!

I am very happy with this unique Ghost's Breath, and I am mesmerized with it still. I feel honored that Stanford Wood Studio trusted me to write the first full review of one of their fountain pens. Ghost's Breath is a well-balanced, built for long-term use, and a stunning and beautiful pen. It's not only a work of art, but it's also art that works!

For now, this is the only Ghost's Breath fountain pen that exists. However, if anyone wants to own one, do visit Stanford Wood Studio's website or send Di and Dave a message at info@stanfordwoodstudio.com. There are also many interesting fountain pens in their shop! Get one for your collection!

To learn more about Stanford Wood Studio, how to buy their kayaks, canoes, and pens, and for other details about their wonderful work, visit their website at https://www.stanfordwoodstudio.com/ or follow them on social media:

• Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/StanfordWoodStudio)
• Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/stanfordwoodstudio/)

My deepest gratitude to Stanford Wood Studio for sending this fountain pen to Rants of The Archer all the way from Stanford, Western Cape, South Africa to Laguna in the Philippines. It's a fountain pen full of many interesting stories and it will write more significant ones in the days to come.

Fountain Pen Review: Kaweco Classic Sport Red

Kaweco welcomed 2016 with the launch of a selection of new pens, ink colors, and accessories. Four Sport pens — one for each of the following lines: Classic, Skyline, ICE, and AL — were released during the year. A bright, shiny red pen with gold trims was added to the Classic line, and my friends at the magical shop in Nürnberg sent me one to review here. I do not have many red fountain pens, and the red Classic Sport pen is the perfect addition to the small group of red pens in my collection.

The red Classic Sport fountain pen is from Kaweco's Sport Series that includes the Aluminum, Stonewashed, AC, Art, Brass, ICE, and Skyline. It is available in black, chess, guilloche, white, green, burgundy, transparent, and red. It is called the Classic because it follows the same design from the early 1940 Kaweco Sport pens. Sport pens are clipless, but clips are available from retailers in chrome, gold, or bronze finishes.

The Sport is a lightweight fountain pen, is easy to carry in one's jeans' pocket, or tuck in a bag. This small pen, however, has a unique design and becomes a full-sized pen when the cap is posted on the barrel. The pen is designed well, and Kaweco built it using high quality plastic.

Without a clip or an ink cartridge, the Classic Sport fountain pen weighs 10g (body - 6g; cap - 4g) only. Did you know that a posted Kaweco Sport fountain weighs exactly the same as the body of a Lamy Safari?

The Classic Sport fountain is ~4.10 inches with its cap on, and a short 4 inches without the cap. When the cap is posted, the pen measures 5.3 inches long — a full-sized fountain pen!

Some fountain pen users say that Kaweco Sport pens are difficult to use without posting the cap. But this pen's faceted cap is designed to be an extension of its barrel to make it a full-sized pen. The cap is also a built in roll stopper, so that even without a clip, the pen will not easily roll off a surface.

The Classic Sport fountain pen's parts — barrel, section (grip + feed + nib), and cap are in the same bright red color. The nib and feed are friction-fitted into the section, and they can be easily pulled out for a thorough cleaning. The cap is threaded and screws securely to the barrel — not typical of small pens in this price range — which is a very practical feature.

The Classic Sport fountain pen is filled with ink using cartridges or converters. Kaweco has their Premium ink cartridges for Sport fountain pens, but international standard short cartridges also fit in these fountain pens. Kaweco also offers two types of converters for Sport fountain pens: mini-converter and the squeeze converter (in my pen, pictured above) which can fill up with the same amount of ink as an international standard short cartridge (0.5–0.6 ml). However, filling it up was awkward, and squeezing it repeatedly did not fill it with ink to its full capacity. I inked this pen instead with a cartridge of Kaweco's Sunrise Orange.

The bottom of the Classic Sport fountain pen barrel is knurled, and says 'Made in Germany.' 

The Sport's oversized cap with octagonal shape is iconic and distinguishes it from other Kaweco pens.

Classic Sport pens have gold trims, including their finial (top cap), which bears the Kaweco logo.

My red Classic Sport has a medium (M) nib, but Kaweco Sport pens have nibs ranging from extra fine (XF) to double broad (BB). Other Sport pens have chrome/silver nibs, but those in the Classic line have gold plated nibs. The imprint includes the nib width (M), Kaweco logo, and the words Germany and 1883 under a filigree-like pattern.

The feed and nib of Kaweco Classic fountain pen. The nib's gold plating has discoloration in the part where it is inserted in the section, but this does not affect writing at all.

My red fountain pens: Lamy LE China, Pelikan Souveran M400, Unic, and Kaweco Classic Red.

Kaweco Sport fountain pens (from top): Calligraphy, AL (aluminum), ICE, Skyline, and Classic.

The medium nib wrote well out of the box. It's still a little narrow for my writing, but very useful when the occasion calls for small handwriting. Sunrise Orange was launched in 2016, together with Smokey Grey.

The Kaweco Classic Sport is a well-made, compact fountain pen that is portable and easy to use. The gold-plated steel nib writes well, and can easily be swapped with other Sport nibs. It's a great pen in the US$30 price range, a perfect companion for small notebooks. If you are looking for a happy fountain pen, I suggest you get this red Kaweco Classic Sport for yourself.

The Classic Sport and other Kaweco pens are widely available in many reputable sellers worldwide. For a list of sellers, visit Kaweco's Store Locator.

I received the Classic Sport fountain pen in this review free of charge from Kaweco Germany for review purposes. For more details, visit the Kaweco website.

In the Philippines, Kaweco pens are available at Scribe Writing Essentials stores in Eastwood Mall, Shangrila Plaza Mall, Glorietta 5, SM Aura, SM Megamall, and in their Cebu branches. For their complete location/address, contact numbers, and store hours, visit the Scribe website. Kaweco pens are also available at Stationer Extraordinaire.

Fountain Pen Review: Monteverde Prima Green Swirl

In my years of accumulating, collecting, and using fountain pens, I've tried many brands, and found several favorites to keep. There are still some that I want to try, pen brands that I want to know more about. One of these is Monteverde, an American pen brand distributed by YAFA Pen Company. I've always wanted to try Monteverde pens — the demonstrator Artista Crystal, the carbon fiber Invincia, and the acrylic Prima.

A few weeks ago, Pen Chalet owner Ron Manwaring kindly sent me this lovely Monteverde Prima fountain pen in Green Swirl with a wonderful No. 6 stub nib to review. I don't have many green pens, and this Prima in Green Swirl is just beautiful! It's a perfect green pen for the year, to match Pantone's 2017 Color of the Year, Greenery.

The Prima series is available in five colors: Green Swirl, Tiger Eye Swirl, Turquoise Swirl, Purple Swirl, and Black Swirl. Monteverde also offers them either as ballpoint, or rollerball. These pens' caps and barrels are made from European grade glossy acrylic resin, accented with black and chrome.

The Prima measures 5.30 inches long and weighs 27 grams when capped. Without the cap, it is only 4.92 inches and 17 grams. When the 10 gram cap is posted, the Prima is longer at 6.10 inches, and heavier at 27 grams. This is why I (and other fountain pen users) do not usually post my pens. Posting their caps make them uncomfortably long and heavy.

Cap and barrel of Monteverde Prima. The translucent glossy acrylic resin with black swirl is just beautiful.
In different lighting, it has an attractive sheen and shimmer.

It's useful that the Prima can be fully taken apart. The threaded Monteverde converter can be easily disassembled, too. 

The barrel tapers off toward the black finial at the bottom, separated from the body by a chrome ring. When the fountain pen is uncapped, and the barrel is separated from the section, one is left with the converter and the nib and feed assembly (holder, feed, and nib). Using a rubber grip, I was able to take out the screw-type nib and feed assembly from the metal section. I pulled out the nib and feed from their holder, for a complete disassembly. It wasn't an easy process, and one I won't recommend to newbies and inexperienced hands to avoid breaking the feed or its holder. 

I usually disassemble pens for thorough cleaning and even drying. Cleaning pens for reinking or storage is always a must for me. 

Monteverde Prima parts (from top): cap, barrel, section, piston driver, converter, piston rod/shaft, converter ring, nib and feed holder, feed, and nib.

The Prima's metal clip is quite stiff, but holds the pen securely in place. The chrome cap rings with black inset has two imprints: 'Monteverde' on the clip side, and 'PRIMA' on the back side.

The Prima can be filled with ink using a standard international cartridge or converter, both included in the box. The threaded Monteverde converter screws onto the section for a secure fit, preventing ink spills if the converter is accidentally pulled out. The Prima's metal section adds to the durability and stability of this pen.

Monteverde offers the Prima fountain pen series with a fine, medium, broad, and stub (1.1) stainless steel nib. The Prima's nib contains several markings. Monteverde's logo of jagged mountain is imprinted across the nib, cutting across the breather hole. At the base, the logo and 'Monteverde USA' are imprinted. On the left tine's shoulder, 'Monteverde' is again imprinted, while the nib width (this pen has a 1.1 stub) is on the shoulder of the right tine.

The underside of the Prima's feed bears the number 6, indicating the pen's nib size.

The Prima's nib (center) with other No. 6 nibs (left to right): Edison, Bexley, Nemosine, and Jinhao.

Size comparison with smaller and bigger pens. From top: Kaweco Ice Sport, Prima, Kaweco Student, Lamy Al-Star, and TWSBI 540. The Prima is a full-sized pen designed to be ergonomically balanced for comfortable writing.

The Prima's 1.1 stub stainless steel nib is an expressive writer. The line variation it produced, together with ink shading is lovely. It's a hard starting nib, though, and definitely not a wet writer. When I was writing the text below, I had to pause several times to push some ink in the converter into the feed and nib. I'm thinking that this problem may be due to poor ink flow in the feed, a common Monteverde concern that I knew about prior to this review. But that can be remedied by widening the ink channel, and using a wet ink to avoid flow issues.

Despite the flow issue (which I have fixed), I am happy with the Prima and will recommend it to those who want to explore and know the brand. It's a great pen, and I will consider getting another one in the future. The Tiger Eye and Turquoise Swirl pens look good! Get one for your collection.

The Monteverde Prima in this review is provided by Pen Chalet where it retails for US$75. For more details on purchasing pens from Pen Chalet, visit their website at https://www.penchalet.com/.

Pen Review: Schneider iD Fountain Pen

I love Schneider pens. I have a huuuge stash of Schneider gel pens, fineliners, and rollerballs hoarded collected before I shifted to fountain pens. When I got my first Base pen, a black pen with smooth, wet medium nib, I was hooked. I found their simplicity charming and elegant. Through time, I have acquired more Schneider pens, mostly fountain pens: the colorful Zippis, the minimalist Base pens, and a Creativ calligraphy set. And last year, a new Schneider fountain pen caught my attention. I first saw the Schneider iD fountain pen at Cultpens, while ogling at the other Base models.

After reading about Schneider iD, I wanted one, being a Schneider fanatic and pen addict. But like so many pen and paper products, the pen isn't available in the Philippines. *Sigh.* So I did the expected, and months later, I received news that Schneider has kindly sent me an iD fountain pen to review. Hurray!

And here's my first fountain pen review: the Schneider iD fountain pen.

The Schneider iD came in two boxes, an outer box and an inner box. The outer box is made from black, thick, board paper. I like the simplicity of this box.

The inner box is made of transparent plastic with the Schneider logo on top, and the iD logo in the lower part of the box, near the bottom. Love the white artwork there. :)

A plastic pen holder keeps the iD in place inside the second box. A small brochure about the Schneider iD line of products is also included. The cover says "iD full of ideas". I like that. :)

The Schneider iD is a big pen, alright. It is huge, but not heavy. It is just right for my grip. It measures 5.75 inches when capped, and 5.25 inches uncapped. The cap does not allow posting the pen, which is just fine for me, because I rarely post my pens. It may be a problem for people who are used to posting their pens.

Here is the pen again, disassembled. On top is the cap, next line have section and barrel, bottom are feed and nib.

Did I say this pen is huge? I didn't? But it is! Look at that cap. It is huuuuuge! With a huuuuuge, oversized, wide shiny chrome clip and huuuuuge top cap.

This ring is on the top of the clip, near the top cap, and I assume this is meant for lanyards.

The Schneider logo is imprinted on the rubber material on the pen's cap. I am not so happy with this feature because the rubber is a monster lint and dirt magnet.

The iD logo is printed on the barrel, next to the wide metal ring. Because I got the chrome pen, the logo is imprinted in gray. The green and purple pens have matching logo color imprints.

Do you see the cartridge inside the barrel? The iD has a transluscent gray barrel, black plastic end cap, and the distinctive wide metal chrome ring. This photo gave me an idea about what I can do next with this pen. Read on, the surprise is at the end. :)

Like the cap, this pen's section comes with black, soft rubber that is ergonomically-designed to fit snugly to the pen user's fingers. This feature is excellent because it will help the user write comfortably even at longer periods of time.

Here is the Schneider iD's nib, which comes with a new feature: a breather hole. The breather hole is important as it promotes the exchange of air and ink in the pen's reservoir. The nibs of my Base pens do not have this feature, though.

The Schneider iD has a German (European) medium nib, which is bolder than other medium nibs. The day I got this pen, I was itching to ink it right away using the cartridge that came with it. But I waited until I got home because I wanted to use my current favorite ink: Diamine Majestic Blue. And the pen (and ink) did not disappoint. The iD wrote as soon as I inked it. The nib is softer than I thought it would be, writes smoothly, and Diamine Majestic Blue flows well on paper. (See photo of writing sample on Kokuyo paper below.)

The underside of the feed and nib shows the enormous iridium on the tip.

Schneider logo on the nib.

M is for medium. This is imprinted on the nib's left ear.

Feed and nib up close.

I have generously mentioned the Schneider Base pen in this post. I feel that I must write about it as well. But for now, I am happy to present the two pens here for comparison. Below are photos of the Schneider iD and Base nibs side by side, front and underside. Note that the Base nib does not have a breather hole and the ears (as I want to call them now - if there is a real name for these, kindly let me know) as seen on the right photo showing the feed's underside. The Base pen's feed's underside also appears to be flatter than that of the iD's.

I wrote my handwritten pen review on Kokuyo paper. The iD wrote so well on this paper, but also on a variety of papers as well, such as my Venzi journal and Rhodia Reverse notebook. If you read what I wrote below, you will know that I named this pen Kay. :)

For the large image, click here.

The Schneider iD fountain pen takes standard short or long international cartridges. In fact, my pen came with one short international cartridge. A converter may also be used, but it will have to be bought separately from independent pen sellers. Schneider surprisingly, does not make their own converters.

And here is the surprise. :)

The transluscent barrel of the Schneider iD gave me the idea that I could turn this c/c pen to an eyedropper (ED). I noticed, too, the long threaded part of the section where it joins the barrel. To test it, I filled both barrel and cap with water and observed it for a couple of hours, carefully watching it for leaks. And... no leaks! I then applied some silicone oil  to the section threads and my Schneider iD fountain pen is an instant ED-filled pen! Hurray!

Below are photos of the Schneider iD filled with J. Herbin Orange Indien.

For this writing test, I chose my Rhodia pad to match the orange ink. ;) The Orange Indien is a suggestion of my good friend and fellow blogger Tom Overfield.

For the large image, click here.

CultPens currently describes the Schneider iD products as weird and wonderful. I understand that not all fountain pen enthusiasts will like the form, but I am sure that many will agree with me that this pen's performance is more than excellent. It won't win 1st Prize in the 2009 ISPA and Innovation Award for nothing, right? I love it and I will definitely get another pen or two when it becomes available locally. In the Philippines, Schneider pens are available at all Office Warehouse branches.

The Schneider iD fountain pen in this review is from Germany, courtesy of Schneider. It is part of the series that include two more pens: a ballpoint and a rotary pencil. All three pens are available in green, purple, and black, which is my pen's color. Right now, it is filled with Orange Indien and writes like a dream. :)