Kaweco Elite fountain pen cap

Kaweco Elite fountain pen review

25 August 2014 By ian

Kaweco Elite fountain pen review

The Kaweco Elite is the top of the range Kaweco fountain pen.

Kaweco Elite fountain pen blunt end

It’s a largish pen and is made from black acrylic resin (posh plastic), with a chrome plated cap. The barrel has the octagonal cross-section that makes the Sport line so distinctive. It’s well made, with a nice weight to it.

Kaweco Elite fountain pen capped

The cap is very shiny! It’s marked with “Kaweco Elite, Germany”. Kaweco do this with all their pens. I think it works on the Sport line very well but on this pen it cheapens the look. If you have to stamp “Elite” on something then perhaps it isn’t…

Kaweco Elite fountain pen cap

The clip is firm and clips onto things, which is always a plus. The cap does post but only just and it unbalances the pen.

Kaweco Elite fountain pen posted

The steel nib is larger than the usual Kaweco nib. It suits this pen very well. It’s smooth to write with and maintains a consistent line. Fine and broad versions are available in addition to this medium size. It’s a good nib and it adds some extra class to the pen.

Kaweco Elite fountain pen nib

This is a cartridge/converter filling pen. The included converter is a standard Kaweco one and is perfectly fine. Interestingly the Elite comes with a little spring that holds the converter in place to stop it rattling in the barrel. There is perhaps an argument that this shouldn’t be necessary but I have no end of pens, at all prices, that have rattly converters so I’m glad of something to stop it. Any international standard cartridge should fit if you’d prefer.

Kaweco Elite fountain pen deconstructed

I’ve thought long and hard about this pen. It’s a good pen. It looks good – very Kaweco-classy-retro – and it writes well. It just doesn’t quite feel like Kaweco’s elite pen. It ought to be the best pen Kaweco produce but it doesn’t have the beautiful engineering of the Sports (AC or AL) and it doesn’t have the charm of the Dia. It’s a good pen, not a special pen.

Kaweco Elite fountain pen handwritten review

Many thanks to Kaweco for loaning me this pen for the purposes of the review. I’ve done my best not to let their generosity influence my opinions.