Fountain Pen Review: Laban Gloria Ruby Red

It's amazing how fountain pen brands come up with new pen models. Each month, a new fountain pen model is introduced to us, and we get a wide variety of fountain pens with different designs and materials. Last month, Laban introduced Gloria, a brand new line of brass fountain pens with a highly detailed endless diamond guilloche pattern. Gloria is available in two color finishes, Sapphire Blue and Ruby Red, and I chose the red pen for Rants of the Archer.

Ruby Red is a standard-sized fountain pen with a guilloche engraving pattern on lacquer with a shiny finish. I love turning the pen in light and seeing the engraving pattern at different angles. I also feel the pen's lines and pattern as I hold it to write.

Laban Gloria Ruby Red in the blue gift box including converter and warranty booklet, Laban's special bookmark accessory, and a nib sticker of Gloria's nib.

Gloria is my first brass fountain pen from Laban. The three 325 (Wisteria, Snow, and Lagoon) fountain pens that I reviewed before are all made from precious resin. While Laban's more popular pen models (325, Rosa, Taroko) are made from resin, the company also offers a number of brass fountain pens (Antique, Antique II, Gloria)  and I'm glad that I can review one.

Gloria Ruby Red, one of two fountain pens in Laban's newest series.

Laban's Gloria fountain pen has the following measurements and specifications:

• Length, capped: 5.28 in | 13.4 cm
• Length, uncapped: 4.70 in | 11.9 cm
• Length, cap posted: 5.96 in | 15.1 cm
• Full pen weight without cartridge or converter: 41 g | 1.45 oz
• Weight, cap only: 18 g | 0.63 oz
• Weight, barrel and section: 23 g | 0.81 oz
• Body material: Brass
• Trim: Gold
• Cap: Brass, screw-on, postable
• Clip material: Metal 
• Nib: Gold-plated stainless steel in Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, or Broad
• Filling mechanism: Converter or standard international cartridge included in the pen package

Gloria is a heavy pen especially with the cap on. It can be used with the cap posted, but the pen will be top-heavy, affecting one's writing comfort. Usually, posting makes pens uncomfortably long and top-heavy. Thankfully, this fountain pen can be used comfortably without the need to post the cap.

The Gloria Ruby Red can be filled with ink using cartridges or converters. A Laban converter is included in each pen purchase.

Gloria's brass cap bears the Laban branding. The wide cap band is engraved with the Laban logo and the gold-plated clip is firm, sturdy, and holds the pen securely in place. Unlike the 325's finial which is the Laban logo, the Gloria only has a semi-pointed gold-plated disc as its finial.

Gloria's brass cap has a wide band engraved with Laban's logo.

The finial (left) and barrel end of Gloria Ruby Red are simple, gold-plated discs.

Gloria's two-toned nib is made from rhodium and stainless steel. The German-made nib is engraved with Laban logos, Iridium, and Germany. The nib width marker (B) is on the right shoulder of the nib. Laban offers the Gloria fountain pen with a size 5 nib. The nib widths available are the following: Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, or Broad. My fountain pen has a Broad nib and it wrote smoothly out of the box. It didn't need any priming before I wrote with it.

The Gloria's section is gold-plated brass with a metal coupler. An O-ring is installed around the coupler to provide an airtight seal inside the barrel and prevent ink leaks.

The No.5 nib on the Gloria Ruby Red wrote smoothly out of the box.

The 325 is a larger pen, but the Gloria is heavier because it is made of brass. Both pens are sturdy and comfortable to use, with nibs that write smoothly.

Beautiful Laban fountain pens: Gloria Ruby Red and 325 Snow.

The Ruby Red is a full-sized fountain pen, but it is shorter than a Lamy Safari, Leonardo Momento Magico, or Tibaldi Bononia. It is heavier than the three pens, but it's a well-balanced pen that is comfortable to use.

From top: Tibaldi Bononia Seashell Mist, Leonardo Momento Magico Millefiori, Gloria Ruby Red, Lamy Safari Special Edition China, and Kaweco Classic Sport Red.

Laban has also recently launched the Greek Mythology 2 fountain pen inks and kindly sent Ares Red to match Ruby Red. It's a match made in heaven! Watch out for my review of these amazing Laban inks!

Laban has made a perfect pen and ink match: Ares Red and Ruby Red.

To test how this beautiful red fountain pen writes, I filled it with Ares Red from Laban's Greek Mythology II Fountain Pen Inks series, a matching red ink. The pen wrote well out of the box and I did not experience any hard starts or skipping. The steel Broad nib wrote smoothly, I had no trouble writing at all. The Laban Gloria Ruby Red is such an enjoyable pen. It's elegant, beautiful, sturdy, and one that can be used for long periods of writing without any discomfort.

The Broad nib writes smooth and wet, there are some feathering in my writing, but no bleed at all.

I am very happy with the Laban Gloria Ruby Red fountain pen and its Broad nib, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to explore and know this excellent pen brand from Taiwan. It's a beautiful and sturdy pen and truly well-built for long-term use as Laban is dedicated to crafting excellent pens using only the best materials. Get one for your collection!

The Laban Gloria Ruby Red fountain pen is available at Laban.com where it retails for US$240. Aside from the Gloria series, Laban also offers the following collections: 325, Abalone, Antique, Antique'II, Canyon, Flora, Galileo, Mento, Mother of Pearl, Pocket Pen, Rosa, Skeleton, Solar, and Taroko. Laban offers pens in different materials including aluminum, brass, abalone, mother of pearl, resin, and silver.

To learn more about Laban, where to buy their pens, and for other details on purchasing their pens, visit their website at https://www.laban.com/ or follow them on social media:

• Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/LabanPen/)
• Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/labanpen) 
• Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/labanpen)
• YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1pN51UTW4EZTTUxVmVNR1Q)

Fountain Pen Review: Otto Hutt design 04 Wave White and Rose Gold

When I was new to fountain pens and fountain pen use, I liked and collected white pens. I liked white pens because they look neat, elegant, and stylish. Back then, I had a couple of white pens and they are adorable. I have changed color preferences for my fountain pens through the years, but I have happy memories with my white pens and they will always have a special place in my collection.

When I revived my blog at the height of the pandemic last year, I received the kind support of several pen companies from Europe, including one that was new to me—Otto Hutt, from Germany's "Golden City" of Pforzheim. I fell in love with the company's Bauhaus style and its workmanship is amazing. They also have beautiful, appealing, and elegant white fountain pens. One such pen is the Wave White and Rose Gold from their design 04 series. I reviewed the Black Square Guilloche design 04 and design 06 Seashell Pink earlier, and they are both lovely, beautiful pens. But the Wave White and Rose Gold is different. It's stunning!

In my years of reviewing pens and related products, I noticed that brands present their products differently. Though presentation boxes and accessories are usually unused and kept in storage — or discarded — after purchase, I enjoy seeing them and their branding. These packaging details reveal how a company values its products. I like Otto Hutt's presentation boxes for their pens. They're elegant, compact, and sturdy. It's worthwhile to know that these boxes are also 100% Made in Germany.

Otto Hutt's packaging for their pens is elegant in black and silver or white. 

Presentation boxes for Otto Hutt pens are elegant, compact, and sturdy. These boxes are carefully designed to ensure the safety of their contents, and like Otto Hutt pens, these boxes are also 100% Made in Germany.

After my first review of the design 04 pen in October last year, Otto Hutt has reached more pen users, and the company has launched new pens since. I'm glad to know that the new Otto Hutt pens still speak precision, quality, and functionality. 

Otto Hutt design 04 fountain pen pays homage to aesthetic straightforwardness. Based on an original design by Otto Hutt, this pen combines classic with traditional craftsmanship. It is 100% made in Germany, produced in their own factory with a 70-man workforce. This slim and compact medium-sized pen is made of solid brass. The barrel has a three-dimensional guilloché pattern with waves that vary in depth. These are coated with rose gold and then supplemented with several layers of lacquer, which are sanded and polished after each application. 

The cap and clip of this pen are both made from brass with a highly polished rose gold coating. For its size, this pen is well balanced. It's not too heavy from the materials it's been made from, but it's not light, either. Design 04 Wave White and Rose Gold is available as a fountain pen, rollerball, twist ballpoint pen, and twist pencil. 

Otto Hutt design 04 Wave White and Rose Gold fountain pen.

The Otto Hutt design 04 Wave White and Rose Gold fountain pen has the following measurements and specifications:

• Length, capped: 5.2 in | 13.2 cm
• Length, uncapped: 4.8 in | 12.2 cm
• Length, cap posted: 6.7 in | 17 cm
• Full pen weight: 38.7 g
• Color: White
• Trim: Rose Gold
• Body material: Brass 
• Clip material: Brass
• Nib material: Stainless steel, but also available in 18ct gold
• Filling mechanism: Converter or cartridges (standard international long or short) 

The barrel of this design 04 pen has a three-dimensional guilloché pattern with waves in varying depths coated with rose gold and several layers of lacquer which are sanded and polished after each application.

Design04 fountain pens can be inked using standard international short or long cartridges. It can also be filled with ink using the converter that is included in each Otto Hutt fountain pen purchase. The converter that came with the design 04 fountain pen is branded with the Otto Hutt logo and I prefer this because it helps me prevent mix-ups and use the correct converter each time. A wrong converter could result not only in ink spills but also in breakage. 

The clip of the design 04 pen is Otto Hutt's unique mechanical spring clip handcrafted from solid brass with a high-quality rose gold coating and checked by hand several times to ensure quality. This clip is a special feature of Otto Hutt writing instruments. It is highly polished but well constructed. There are no sharp corners or uneven parts that could snag a shirt pocket or pen case slot. It feels solid, very sturdy, and the spring works perfectly.

The design 04's cap also bears three engravings including the full Otto Hutt logo, the pen's identification, and an abbreviated logo. The cap's rose gold coating is super shiny and I did not use a pen rest in these photos as I'm avoiding scratching it.

The full Otto Hutt logo is engraved on the top part of the cap above the clip.

Otto Hutt pens are unique pieces and have individual identification. A 6-digit numerical code is engraved on the opposite side of the cap, which also bears the word GERMANY. This code is also noted on the pen's warranty card, and it ensures that every writing device is one of a kind.

Each Otto Hutt pen is given a 6-digit code as its identification.

The cap's finial is engraved with a variation of the Otto Hutt logo.

The lacquered guilloche on the barrel of design 04 is very elegant and classy. I love seeing the rose gold filling peeking from the waves and the gloss of highly polished lacquer that is smooth to the touch.

Otto Hutt offers both steel and 18ct gold nibs in EF, F, M, and B for their fountain pens. A stylized image of half a nib is engraved into the nib. The design04 fountain pen sent to me has a steel bicolor medium nib that is platinum- and rose gold-plated. The plating is neatly done and it's also very pretty.

For their fountain pens with rose gold trims, Otto Hutt uses bicolor nibs with platinum- and rose gold-plating.

Otto Hutt design 04 fountain pens. 

Otto Hutt design 04 is a slim and compact fountain pen. While capped, it is shorter than the design 06, TWSBI ECO, Laban 325, and Lamy Safari.

Uncapped, it's the same length as the design 06 and not too short compared with the Laban 325 and Lamy Safari. This comparison shows that the design 04 fountain pen is not so compact at all. In my previous design 04 review, I showed the pen in comparison with a Lamy 2000 and Faber Castell e-Motion where the three pens were almost the same length when they were uncapped. 

To test the medium nib in the Wave White and Rose Gold fountain pen, I filled it with Otto Hutt Gold Dust, a beautiful fire red ink with gold shimmer. Out of the box, the medium nib wrote smoothly and consistently with excellent flow and visible ink shimmer. I tested the nib for a couple of days, and despite being filled with a shimmer ink, I did not experience any hard starts or skipping, it wrote well every time I used it. This pen's medium steel nib is so good. The design 04 is an excellent pen, it's well-made, sturdy, and very comfortable to use for long periods of writing. Get one for your collection! 

Otto Hutt Gold Dust ink reminds me of summer sunsets when the sky is filled with warm hues of red and orange. 

I love this warm, fiery red ink even without the gold dust shimmer.

But look at that shimmer! This ink is so red-hot!

Otto Hutt design 04 fountain pen is an excellent pen. The Wave White and Rose Gold is classy and elegant, sturdy and well-made. Get one from Otto Hutt where it retails for €225.00 (steel nib) to €335.00 (18 carat gold nib), or from authorized sellers worldwide. Find the one nearest you!

Rants of The Archer thanks Otto Hutt for providing the design 04 Wave White and Rose Gold fountain pen for review purposes. Visit the Otto Hutt website or click the links below to learn more about their series 01 to 07:

• design01 - classic
• design02 - classical style with traditional artisanal craftsmanship
• design03 - modern
• design04
• design05 - functional
• design06 - innovative
• design07 - perfection in form and functionality
• design08 - quality standards

Follow Otto Hutt in their new adventures!

• Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ottohuttgermany)
• Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ottohutt/)

Fountain Pen Ink Review: Krishna Inks Sindhoor

Last year, when the pandemic was still new and the lockdown was driving everyone crazy, I came upon a new brand of fountain pen inks that offers a fantastic array of colors. Krishna Inks has so many rich, vivid, and happy ink colors inspired by nature and the Indian culture and I instantly fell in love with a number of dark blues and deep reds. I liked Sindhoor, After Dark, and Night Before Christmas, all saturated inks from the Super Rich Series. I have used these inks for regular writing and have made a number of ink art pieces with them. 

I read about the brand after I received my initial batch of inks for review and I was surprised to learn that Krishna Inks are all handmade by a medical practitioner in India. Krishna Inks are made by the famous anesthetist Dr. Sreekumar Neethu Maruvancherry in Kerala. Inspired by his master Ramachandran of Calicut, Dr. Sreekumar started mixing fountain pen inks in 2010, turning his hobby into a passion. I read somewhere that despite his intense hospital schedule, Dr. Sreekumar never fails to devote a few hours a day to mixing inks. 

Krishna Inks Super Rich Series Sindhoor

Krishna Inks Sindhoor is a bright, happy red fountain pen ink from Krishna Inks Super Rich Series. It is packaged in a 20ml glass bottle and presented in a white box with an icon of the ink color's inspiration which is the traditional vermilion red cosmetic worn by married women in India at the beginning or completely along the parting-line of their hair or as a dot on the forehead. 

I love the red color of Sindhoor. Its brightness gives a page a happy vibe. Sindhoor is a saturated ink with some shading, and it has excellent flow and wetness, which makes writing very smooth. I have tried writing with it using two fountain pens on different paper types and both pens wrote smoothly. Krishna Inks are non-toxic and are safely formulated so they will not clog pens. I am not so sure yet if it stains pens, but I did not experience staining in the two pens that I have filled with Sindhoor. It also has very low water resistance.

Sindhoor is a bright, happy red fountain pen ink.

All bright and happy like Sindhoor. Of all my red fountain pen inks, these are the ones closest to Sindhoor: Camel Scarlet Red, Diamine Poppy Red, Robert Oster Fire Engine Red, and Monteverde Valentine Red.

This is Sindhoor from a Lamy Al-star Ruby Red with a wet 1.1 nib. It took around 25-30 seconds to dry, but ink drying times vary depending on nib width, wetness, paper quality, and hand stroke. Sindhoor will definitely dry faster in a Fine or Medium nib.

In my writing sample on the Endless Works Recorder Notebook, Sindhoor doesn't show that much shading or sheen, but it has a consistent beautiful color and excellent flow.

Sindhoor is perfect for wider and wet nibs such as the Lamy 1.1 as it shows the depth and richness of this red ink.

Shading can also be seen in wider and wet nibs.

Here is Sindhoor in my Sailor Pro Gear Slim Raspberry, paper is Buke 180gsm. The color is consistently a bright red that gives a page such a happy vibe.

Sindhoor is not only for writing, it can also be used for ink art. The paper I used here is Canson 90gsm acid-free sketch paper.

If you want to try a happy, bright, and rich fountain pen ink, try Krishna Inks Sindhoor. I love writing with it because it's smooth and it's such a happy color! Get a bottle for your fountain pens!

Krishna Inks have four series, including the following: 

• RC series, comprising inks with sheening characteristics. They can be used for regular writing and art. Sea At Night is a bestseller.
• Super Rich series have saturated ink colors that are bold, vivid, and happy. After Dark and Brown Pink are crowd favorites.
• Kot-Massi series, a special series of document inks made in the traditional Indian methods. These inks cannot be rubbed or washed out.  
• Lyrebird series have the safest inks for fountain pens. They are available in waterproof versions.

Rants of The Archer thanks Krishna Inks for providing the fountain pen ink in this review. For more details on how to get their inks, visit their website: https://krishnainks.com/ or follow them on social media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KrishnaInksIndia
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krishnainks/