Paper: Rhodia Dot Pad

Pen: Franklin Christoph Pocket 45 IPO Steel M

Ink: Sailor Bung Box Tears of a Clown

I first saw this pen on the Goulet Pens banner and then this specific Raden finish on the Gourmet Pens blog. I have to admit, I thought it was absolutely hideous. My mind hasn’t changed too much on this front, this is not the most aesthetically pleasing (to me) pen that is available.

However, upon reading review after review touting the pen’s virtues, I started getting brainwashed thinking that it was more of a practical v’s beautiful pen and when I saw the Raden finish version in City Super’s Log On store in Hong Kong, which was super cheap to begin with and even better priced with the exchange rate back then, I took a leap and purchased the pen.

At the time of purchase, it was one of my most expensive fountain pens and I was pretty excited to try it out. I inked it as soon as I got back to the hotel room with the cartridge that came with the pen and tried it out. It was awful! The fine nib was dry and scratchy and it was a terrible experience. I reasoned at the time that it must have been the ink obviously and the paper was your standard hotel room notepad which was also obviously the issue, so I didn’t think much of it at the time and flew home with my purchase.

When I came back home, I inked it with Iroshizuku Ku Jaku and tried it on Rhodia paper and it was still absolutely awful. Now I knew that it was unlikely to be either ink or paper as I had used both successfully many times before. I knew it must have been the nib.

I tried adjusting the nib to make it wetter by “gently” bending the tines upwards to get more ink flow but I got a bit fed up with how long this process took and became less and less gentle on the tines until, genius that I am, I sprang the nib. My options now were either to get the nib fixed by a nib meister or purchase a new nib altogether. I noticed that Ed Jelley had the same issues that I experienced when he bought his Vanishing Point and opted to follow his suit, which was to buy a replacement nib from Richard Binder in medium.

Once the replacement nib arrived, I inked it with Iroshizuku Shin Kai and tried it on Rhodia again. Oh my! The experience was completely opposite to my first try – the nib was wet and smooth and it wrote perfectly! I could now fully understand why everyone raved about this pen, despite its less than appealing looks (to me).

Over long writing sessions, the placement of the clip does bother me because I don’t hold my pen in the “proper” pen grip, so I really only use this pen for quick notes and meetings. The push button mechanism really is very useful for these situations as well, as having to unscrew and screw pen caps in meetings, multiple times can be incredibly irritating as well, so the pen serves a purpose.

From an inking point of view, because the pen has a retractable nib, the part of the nib which sucks in the ink when you refill using a converter is much higher up than a standard fountain pen, so if you fill from an ink bottle, you will need a higher level of ink in your bottle to successfully fill this pen. Otherwise, you can always use a cartridge. If you do want to use a cartridge, make sure you don’t lose your little cartridge cap, which prevents the plastic cartridge from being damaged by the push button mechanism of the pen.

I ended up liking the nib so much that I purchased a matte black version for my husband, to try and convert him to the dark side (of fountain pens), but unfortunately, he was not keen. O no. I will just have to keep it for myself.

View of the Raden sparkles

Note: Sadly, Richard Binder no longer offers a full range of nibs to purchase.

If I could only use one brand of ink for the rest of my life, it would very likely be Pilot Iroshizuku. I know I only posted my favourite inks of 2016 a little while ago and Sailor outnumbered Iroshizuku two to one but I still stand by that comment.

Iroshizuku is the luxury, high end line of inks made by Pilot. There are 24 inks in the line, although I have recently heard that there are 3 additional limited editions available exclusively in Tokyo. In my experience of Iroshizuku inks, they are all wet writers, well behaved (even on Moleskine for some of the inks!), and all easy to clean – which as you know, is an important ink quality for me.

Ajisai is a mid-hydrangea blue, and is more purple toned than other mid-blue Iroshizuku inks like Tsuyu Kusa and Kon Peki. In wet nibs, it dries more blue compared with drier nibs which show up more purple. I really like the way it looks in that stub nib and the Falcon nib in the writing sample below. It looks like it is more cornflower mid blue and more subdued than the Goulet Swab Shop sample below.

For shading enthusiasts, shading is present but not overt. Keep in mind that it is not that saturated so the colour difference is not as great, but for a mid-blue, it is pretty reasonable. To my eye, it looks more obvious in the stub than the flexible nib.

(Sorry my lines are a bit wobbly)

The closest ink I have in colour to Ajisai is Sailor Nioi Sumire. Noodler’s Periwinkle is sort of similar, but it looks like it has been soaked into the paper and doesn’t seem as vibrant as Ajisai or Nioi Sumire. Looking at the awesome Goulet Pens Swab shop, Sheaffer Blue also looks very similar to Ajisai and is much easier (and cheaper) to obtain.

Swab Shop Image – courtesy Goulet Pen Company

I’ve actually not used this ink very much since I purchased it – I’ve always felt a bit self-conscious using it at work feeling that being so bright and purple/violet toned, it was not work appropriate. However, I’ve started being a bit braver when it comes to using different colours at work and as I review this ink, I’m beginning to like it more and more. After using colours like Amethyst, Dark Lilac, Sweet Potato Purple and Tears of a Clown at work in 2016, this is looking very tame. If you’re sitting in the board room or going for a job interview/first day at work at a serious work place, then this may not be the colour to make your debut in. However, for everyday work situations, it brightens up the day.

Pilot Iroshizuku inks run at about USD$30 retail and AUD$50 or so at a brick and mortar, but you can get it for cheaper on ebay or Rakuten. These will usually come direct from Japan but can be had for as little as USD$16 plus shipping.