Metaxas Stylos Color featured

Metaxas Stylos Color Fountain Pen Review

20 February 2017 By ian

The Stylos Color is a pen I backed on Kickstarter, designed by a gentleman called Kostas Metaxas. Although, as far as I can tell, it isn’t available to buy anywhere, Kostas has just finished his fourth Kickstarter campaign on a variation of this pen (all but the first one being successful) so there’s a fair chance he’ll be doing another one which will give you a chance to back something like this for yourself, should you so wish.

Price: £33
Nib options: fine or medium stainless steel
Barrel options: aluminium in lots of colours, possible to mix and match the barrel/cap and the section colours
Filling system: standard international cartridge/converter

Metaxas Stylos Color capped

What drew me to this pen in the first place was the design. I’ve not seen any other pen like it. It looks very Greek and it really appealed. There were ten different colour options and you could mix and match the barrel/cap with the section.

Metaxas Stylos Color branding and threads

Although this pen looks great, it doesn’t look as if it will be very comfortable to hold. Looks can be deceiving though and it feels great in the hand. The contours of the barrel mean it rests nicely in your hand and the shaped section sits comfortably between your fingers. (Although it’s a metal section the combination of anodising and shape means it doesn’t get slippery.) It’s light without feeling insubstantial. The only issue when it comes to comfort is the threads as these are quite intrusive and, with my fat fingers at least, dig in a little. That said, this is still a pen that lends itself to extended writing sessions.

Metaxas Stylos Color with cap to the side

The cap doesn’t post and there’s no clip. A clip would look terrible on this pen. Because both the barrel and the cap screw onto the section, it’s easy to unscrew the barrel when you’re trying to unscrew the cap. The way to avoid this is to hold onto the band (coloured red on my pen) when you unscrew it.

Metaxas Stylos Color nib

The nib is a #6 stainless steel Schmidt. I’m not a huge fan of Schmidt nibs, I find they lack character, but the medium one on this pen is okay. It’s smooth and flows well.

Metaxas Stylos Color undone

It uses standard international cartridges or converters, giving you lots of options.

I really like this pen. It’s well made, interesting to look at and comfortable to write with. It was also very good value. I recommend keeping an eye open for future Kickstarter campaigns from Kostas.

Metaxas Stylos Color Uncapped

Pros

Comfortable barrel shape
Interesting and unusual design
High quality manufacture

Cons

Threads a little intrusive
Have to take care not to unscrew the barrel when you’re taking off the cap

Metaxas Stylos Color in hand