TWSBI Precision Fountain Pen Review

4 July 2018 By ian

TWSBI’s Precision fountain pen caused quite a stir when the promotional photos were released, with a lot of people expressing surprise and disappointment with the striking design. Thanks to Scribble’s generosity, I was able to take a look at one in person.

Price: £75
Filling method: piston
Barrel options: gunmetal only
Nib options: stainless steel inextra-fine, fine, medium, broad, or stub
Size: 13.7cm long capped, 12.8cm unposted, 16.8cm posted, 1.3cm diameter
Weight: 30g

The TWSBI’s Precision series is a range of all metal pens and mechanical pencils with hexagonal barrels. The fountain pen, currently available in just this gunmetallish finish, is a fairly substantial implement unlike, for example, the Precision mechanical pencil. The pen feels well made and, being made from metal, it shouldn’t suffer from any of the cracking problems some of TWSBI’s pens have experienced in the past.

This is a pen that looks better in person than in photos. The step down from the barrel to the section looks quite threatening but isn’t. Because the section is quite long, your fingers are well out of the way of the step and the pen is in fact quite comfortable to hold. The step down doesn’t seem as significant when you have the pen in hand as it does in some photos. The section has a slightly textured finish to aid grip.

There is a merciful lack of branding, the red TWSBI logo on the end of the cap and the etching on the nib being all there is. This is distinctive and looks good.

The medium nib on this pen is excellent. It flows well and I’ve not experienced a single instance of poor behaviour. It’s smooth, too. A great steel nib.

The cap screws on to close and there’s an o-ring there too. There’s little chance of the cap coming off accidentally. The cap pushes on to post. There are two o-rings here, which means you need to push quite firmly to get the cap on. As this end is also the piston-filling knob, every time I went to post or unpost the cap I was worried I was going to turn the knob and squish out ink. As posting also makes the pen very long and quite unwieldy, I’d suggest avoiding it as much as possible.

As with the Precision pencil, the clip looks as if it should be removable but isn’t. It works well enough.

The piston mechanism is smooth and very satisfying to use. The pen holds a good amount of ink and there’s a small ink window so you can see how much ink is left. To my eyes the ink window looks a little as if it was wedged in after the designer had finished, as an afterthought, but it is useful.

I don’t like the gunmetal finish. It’s got a brown tint to it and it reminds me of the worst of 70s style, which is saying something. Some of you young folk may think the 70s is all retro and chic but that’s because you didn’t have to live through it the first time. Of course, taste is a personal thing and you may feel I have none.

The Precision is well made and works as it should. It feels like a quality pen. I personally do not like how it looks but if you do then this is worth a look.

Pros

Good nib
Feels good quality

Cons

Posting quite unwieldy