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PENMANIA – Fountain pen “Novus” launch & review

January 9, 2018
, 12:42 pm
, English

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IntroDUCTION

Happy New Year for 2018 everyone! I am excited to announce the launch of the first PENMANIA fountain pen – code named “Novus” from the Latin “new”.

Created out of quality ebonite, Novus is a fountain pen made by hand by a master crafts-man based on my design and specifications; 6 color combinations are currently available as you can see from the images below.

The Novus was designed to be a premium fountain pen that would offer a superior writing experience to similar offerings, a fountain pen to be passed on to future generations if cared for properly.

Each pen is unique and has a glossy finish and shows the careful dedication invested by its creator in each piece.

My main objective was to design a fountain pen with a classic design, yet minimalistic and elegant. The section has a comfortable length of 3 cm and the pen comes with a number 6 JoWo nib which combined with the low weight of the pen barrel – 14 g – offers an excellent writing experience. This pen was made for long writing sessions.

Why ebonite? Because it is a natural material, it’s robust and resilient if cared for properly, because it offers a different and special tactile experience when compared with plastic or metal. Because ebonite is my favorite pen material and because Novus is an homage to the vintage fountain pens which used to be built out of ebonite. Because although the fountain pen has a generous size due to the low weight of the material is perfectly suitable for long writing sessions.

The only metal part in the pen besides the JoWo nib is the metal clip, which is functional and has a gold tone finish.

The fountain pen features a screw on cap with 2 turns; the cap has a rounded tip while the tip of the pen barrel is cut straight. As mentioned before the ebonite has a shiny finish and aside of the black version there are available 5 color combinations in the “mottle” design fashion. The length of the pen is 145 mm with the cap and 134 mm without the cap. You can write with it without using the cap. The cap can be posted on the pen barrel and it holds on securely if you wish to do that.

The section is made out of the same ebonite color combination as the pen barrel and has an ergonomic shape. At the thinnest point we have ~ 9 mm and at the largest point we have ~ 11 mm. The length of 3 cm combined with the diameter means you can use the section of pen in different ways based on your comfort zone. The threads of the section are not deep enough to create discomfort to your fingers so you can use it this way as well.

The Novus fountain pen comes with an integrated ink converter – Schmidt K5 – international standard. The pen can be used with international cartridges – short and long and it can also be used in the “eye dropper” mode provided you use silicon grease on the inner section threads. The “eye dropper” mode provides the largest ink capacity around ~ 4ml; due to the risks and temperature variation I am recommending caution when traveling with the fountain pen filled in this way and always keep a paper tissue handy.

The fountain pen comes with a genuine natural leather pen sleeve of the best quality made out by our Romanian partner – KronLeather goods.

You have the option to choose between one or two slots pen sleeve; the leather is sourced from Italy and has the best thickness in my opinion to accommodate quickly the fountain pen. The pen sleeve offers extra protection for the pen and it can also help in alleviating the ink drying times if you choose not to use the fountain pen for a long time.

MANUFACTURER

This is a product of PENMANIA!

Designed and produced by a master crafts-man in India; India has a long tradition in manufacturing fountain pen of all kinds and levels including those made out of ebonite.

Currently in the works there is an acrylic version of this pen! I will comeback with details and images of the prototype in a separate article if I am satisfied with the result.

Characteristics

PEN

Material: ebonite
Weight: 22g total / without the cap: 14g
Lenght: 145 mm / without the cap: 134 mm
Ink system: international converter, cartridges or "eye dropper" mode
Culors: 6 culors are available - see below for more images
Other: the pen is featuring a screw on cap; the ebonite material adds an extra protection against ink drying issues; the cap can be posted

NIB

Manufacturer: JoWo, Germany
Size: no. 6 - F (fine) & M (medium)
Material: steel, two-tone finish - silver and gold
Other: the nib unit can be screwed off the section for deep cleaning purposes or to replace the nib if needed; the nib itself can be pulled out with a gentle pulled out action

ERGONOMICS

COLOR VARIATIONS

6 color variations are available at this moment:

Black
Blue black & black
Green & black
Dark yellow & blue
Green & yellow
Red & black

SUITABLE INK

Any kind of ink which is suitable to be used with a fountain pen. As for all fountain pens if you don’t use the pen for an extended period of time (over 2 – 3 weeks) I recommend to give it a good rinse with warm water not cold or hot water and stored it away safely in it’s pen sleeve. In my case for the below writing samples I used Noodler’s Ink Bad Belted Kingfisher.

WRITING SAMPLES

As mentioned in the introduction of the blog post the fountain pen comes with an excellent no. 6 JoWo nib, available in 2 sizes : F (fine) and M (medium).

The ink flow is excellent! Either the F or the M nib tip the pen writes without hard starts, skips or without scratching the paper. The nib is hand tuned to accommodate all types of paper but we recommend fountain pen friendly paper to be used for the best experience. My personal favorite is the medium nib! Please take into consideration that the type of ink you are using can also have an impact on your writing experience!

PRO's & CON's

Note: Please note that the below pro’s are con’s are my own and reflect only my own likings and perception of the writing instrument I am testing; your experience can be different than mine and that is to be expected !

PRO's

The design of the fountain pen
The ebonite material
The nib
The weight
The excellent pen sleeve

CON's

NOTHING! This is after all my first fountain pen! 🙂

FINAL NOTE

I hope that you will like this fountain pen based on what you have seen so far; if you have questions about Novus please let me know in the comments section below!