Divine Design featured

Divine Design Eyedropper Fountain Pen Review

18 April 2018 By ian

Divine Design have been around since 2003 but I only heard of them recently when Scribble offered to send me their Eyedropper pen to try. Their tag line is ‘Presents with future’ which is a lovely concept.

Divine Design Eyedropper on the beach

Price: €33 plus VAT if you’re in the UK (about £34 as of April 2018) – nib not included
Filling method: cartridge/converter or eyedropper
Barrel options: black section/cap with a clear barrel
Nib options: medium (but see below)

First of all let’s get the nib out of the way. Scribble got his from FP Nibs, which is an excellent source of Jowo nibs if you’re in Europe. I’ve bought several nibs from them: 14k broad stub, 14k broad cursive italic, stainless steel broad architect. They’ve all been excellent. If you get your Divine Design Eyedropper from FP Nibs, the nib is extra. Given how many options you have from FP Nibs, this is a great idea as long as you know what you’re doing. If you don’t, I can imagine it being a little intimidating. I was able to find the pen with a nib included available elsewhere for €12 extra, which is about what a basic stainless steel nib will cost you. I hadn’t realised the nib was extra when I wrote the handwritten review and it does alter my conclusions slightly.

Divine Design Eyedropper purple nib

Scribble picked this very purple medium stainless steel nib for his pen. It’s a smooth nib with good flow. It is very purple but the lacquer is already starting to come off in places. I think this might be because the cap is a very tight fit and rubs against the nib.

The Eyedropper can unsurprisingly be used as an eyedropper and a syringe is included to help you with this. That’s a really nice touch. There’s a rubber O-ring where the barrel screws onto the section so you don’t need to worry about silicon grease. In my experience the pen was completely leak-free. A converter is also included if you prefer and it’s a standard size so many cartridges will also fit.

Divine Design Eyedropper clip

The clip is basic. It feels ‘budget’, being plain and thin pressed steel, but it works well enough.

The cap screws on to close and pushes on to post. It posts securely but not very deeply making the pen very long.

Divine Design Eyedropper posted in hand

It’s all quite light so there are no problems with balance whether posted or not. The pen, unposted, is a sensible length and comfortable to hold. The threads of the top of the section are shallow and out of the way.

Divine Design Eyedropper unposted in hand

The pen is distinctly unimaginative in design which is unfortunate if only because of the brand’s name. You’d hope for better from a company called Divine Design. It isn’t helped by the name being printed on the side of the barrel in a font that screams workplace office supplies.

Divine Design Eyedropper branding

However, when used as an eyedropper, with lovely ink sloshing about inside, the pen is saved somewhat.

Divine Design Eyedropper uncapped

There are better looking eyedropper pens available for less money. What this pen has going for it is the option FP Nibs give you when you buy from them. It’s a reasonable pen that you can put an interesting nib into. Personally, I’d prefer to spend my money on a different pen and then swap in different nibs later.

Pros

Inclusion of filling syringe is a nice touch
Lots of nib options when bought from FP Nibs
Choice of filling methods

Cons

Not very pretty (at all)

Divine Design Eyedropper handwritten review