Taccia Covenant Fountain Pen Review
12 October 2015The Covenant is a fountain pen with an unusual oversized-cap design. Taccia aren’t a widely known brand, so is this pen gimmicky or classy?
Thank you to Pen Chalet for sending me this pen to review.
Price: $129
Nib options: fine, medium or broad
Barrel options: jet black, midnight breeze, parchment swirl
Filling system: Standard cartridge/converter
Size: 14.3cm (5.6″) long, 18.5cm (7.3″) posted. 1.6cm (0.6″) diameter
Weight: 34g (1.2oz)
I’m reviewing the midnight breeze version with a broad nib.
The two-tone steel nib is good. The first ink I tried was Diamine Ancient Copper and it ran a little dry. That’s not unusual with that ink. Since then I’ve tried three other inks and they’ve all been great, with a good flow and never a skip in sight. It doesn’t have a whole lot of character but it’s good and reliable and very smooth. It’s very pleasant nib to write with.
The hand-turned resin barrel and cap look great. There is a subtle depth to the colour, with streaks of silvery pale blue running along beneath the surface. If you’re a little finicky, like me, it will bother you a little that the streaks don’t match up in different parts of the pen. I think that’s perhaps asking too much of a pen in this price range, though. I can let it go (if I don’t think about it too much) because the pattern isn’t too in-your-face and the overall effect is lovely, with a certain degree of sophistication.
The clip is folded metal and works well enough. The band that holds it onto the cap is a nice touch and adds to the general elegance of the pen.
The Covenant takes standard international sized cartridges and converters.
You will notice I have been avoiding talking about the cap. The cap is, of course, why I picked this pen in the first place. (That, and the fact that I haven’t seen many reviews of Taccia pens out there.) The cap is very big. It runs just about the whole length of the pen, like a sleeve. It also posts deeply. (It would be silly if it didn’t.) This design means the threads above the section are nicely out of the way. I’m coming to realise I prefer slim pens so, posted, it’s too fat for me. It’s also very long. Unposted, it’s a lovely size (good length, light weight, comfortable width) and, there’s no denying this, you are unlikely to lose the cap.
For me, the big cap is an interesting feature with little practical benefit. If you like a wide pen then I can see the advantage. The cap is the barrel, in effect and so, posted, it gives you a good width without having an additional even fatter cap. If you see what I mean.
Is the big cap a gimmick? I don’t think so but only because the Covenant is a good pen in its own right. It looks good, is comfortable (in my case, unposted) and has a good nib. I really enjoy using the Covenant. It’s a classy pen.
Pros
Good nib
Lovely resin cap and barrel
Interesting design
Cons
This is a ginormous pen when posted. (This may be an pro for some.)
Thank you once again to Pen Chalet for sending me this pen and for supporting Pens! Paper! Pencils! Please do go check them out.
I’ve just jumped straight from your FC Basic review to here Ian, and what a lovely pen this is. Unfortunately, I’ve just been stung £14 tax and handling for three Knox nibs (that cost £12) from X-pens (their punitive postal charges of nigh on £8 took me over the threshold) – so I’m a bit anti importing things at the moment. I’m off to Purepens in a minute to buy a Carbon Basic, so I’ll drop a hint to Ross. You never know.
And worst thing of all, if I’d bothered to check over at the FPN, the lovely people there would have told me of U.K. stockists of Knox, Bock and Jowo nibs before I ordered from the States. Ho Hum.