Posts filed under Fountain Pens

Schon DSGN x Custom Nib Studio Sashiko Fountain Pen Review

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

My purchases at the recent 2025 Pacific Northwest Pen Show were pretty restrained and I hadn’t planned on buying any pens, but when I heard that two of my favorite pen people were doing a collab, I knew I had to take a look.

Schon DSGN x Custom Nib Studio Sashiko fountain pen.

Gena Salorino of Custom Nib Studio launched their Sashiko Fountain Pen collab with Ian Schon of Schon DSGN a couple weeks ago at the PNW Pen Show. This Sashiko pen has an engraved design, which is inspired by the Japanese stitching/embroidery technique of the same name. According to Wikipedia, “Sashiko (刺し子, lit. 'little stabs') is a type of traditional Japanese embroidery or stitching used for the decorative and/or functional reinforcement of cloth and clothing.” There are different kinds of patterns for Sashiko embroidery/stitching, like stripes, checks, diamonds, etc. Gena chose the cross stitch pattern because this is the technique they use to repair their own clothing, which I think is extra cool.

When asked how this pen came about, Gena said they had always wanted to work on a pen with Ian and it came about a few months ago when they “daydreamed” their idea of a pen to him, who took the idea and ran with it. And thus, the Sashiko fountain pen was born.

The Sashiko pen is made from Ultem (also known as polyetherimide or PEI), an engineered plastic that is much stronger than acrylic. It can also be machined to be very thin, resulting in a very lightweight pen. The finish is neither a matte nor super polished, giving it a “warm” feeling to it, similar to ebonite.

Rather than creating a single sashiko pattern and then reproducing that pattern on all the pens, Ian, ever the engineer, challenged himself to “create a style of 'macro' programming to create a new unique pattern for each pen that follows the same logic and styling, but is totally one of a kind.” This gives it a random, handmade feel without actually hand-crafting each stitch. As a result, each of these pens are unique. I appreciate the “imperfection” of the cross markings, which echoes real life stitching on fabric.

You can see that each of the stitches are similar but different.

One of the things that impressed me the most about the pen is the cap threading - in addition to it taking a mere half turn to cap/uncap the pen, the last little turn to cap the pen has a gentle resistance that tells you it’s about to be fully sealed. It’s hard to describe but it is such a satisfying sensation.

Just a few threads are needed for a half-turn cap/uncap.

Cleaning Ultem pens is easy - usually water (and soap, if necessary) is all you need. Alcohol is also safe if you need a deeper clean. Ian recommends avoiding ammonia-based solutions, including pen flush. If you want to use pen flush to clean the nib/feed, unscrew the nib unit to clean it separately.

The pen measures 5” (127.5 mm) when capped and 4.8” (122.5 mm) when uncapped (note that the pen does not post). It weighs 0.66 oz. or 18.77 g with nib unit & converter. Here are some pens that are similar in size, along with their weights:

Pen

Weight (uncapped with converter)

Weight (capped with converter)

Sashiko

0.546 oz/15.46 g

0.66 oz/18.77 g

Schon Dsgn Full Size Fountain Pen - Aluminum

0.729 oz/20.66 g

0.927 oz/26.28 g

Sailor Pro Gear

0.543 oz/15.43 g

0.835 oz/23.69 g

Platinum 3776

0.475 oz/13.50 g

0.840 oz/23.82 g

Franklin-Christoph 03

0.440 oz/12.48 g

0.657 oz/18.62 g

Pilot CH 912

0.440 oz/12.47 g

0.755 oz/21.41 g (with Con-40)

Pelikan M600

0.397 oz/11.22 g

0.646 oz/18.31 g

Note: I sorted this by descending uncapped weight since the Sashiko can’t be posted.

Pens similar in size and/or weight to the Sashiko pen (L to R): Sashiko, Schon DSGN full-sized fountain pen, Sailor Pro Gear, Platinum 3776, Franklin-Christoph 03, Pilot Custom Heritage 912, Pelikan M600.

Writing sample of the Sashiko pen, with a Broad Journaler. Robert Oster Tokyo Denim Blue seemed like a good choice for the Sashiko. Paper is Ayush Paper dot grid.

The Sashiko pen includes an o-ring for the grip for eyedropper use only.

The Sashiko pen costs $300 and comes equipped with a converter, an unbranded Jowo 6 nib from Extra Fine to Broad, and an o-ring (only for eyedroppering). If you want a nib grind for the Sashiko, you have to add that to your cart separately. You can also order a Monoc with a grind from Gena via email.

When I first saw the IG post announcing the Sashiko pen, I thought that it was cool, but probably not my thing. Despite being in the tongue-in-cheek Black Pen Society, I prefer more colorful pens. I’ve also felt that Ultem pens were a bit too light (weightwise) for me. But when I got to touch, hold, feel the pen in hand at the PNW Show, I was sold. It isn’t cheap but it wasn’t overly expensive either. I went from “it’s cool, but maybe not for me” to “this is more interesting than I expected it to be and I’m glad I get to buy one and support two wonderful people”.

A batch of 100 pens were made, with no current plans to make more. Gena will have them at their table at the upcoming DC Pen Show and SF Pen Show, as well as on their website.

(Disclaimer: The Sashiko Pen was purchased by me at full price from Gena at the 2025 Pacific Northwest Pen Show. I also paid regular price for the Journaler grind on the Broad nib. Everything else shown is also my own.)

Posted on July 25, 2025 and filed under Custom Nib Studio, Schon DSGN, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

BENU Pixie Emerald Green Fountain Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

The Benu Pixie has gotten a lot of attention and hype ever since it launched since it's a new entry in the pocket pen category. Pocket pens are exciting because they usually have some sort of interesting or unique design due to the size constraints. While pocket pens aren't for everyone, the Pixie is certainly one to consider if you're a fan of the small form factor.

The BENU Pixie in Emerald Green and Silver Trim is the one that called out to me, and I couldn't be happier with the look of this little pen. The material is a mix of a rich, royal blue and a vibrant emerald green that both have sparkly, reflective particulates floating around to add character and dimension to the luxurious colors. Where the green and blue materials meet, there's a band of gold/copper flakes that do a great job of marrying to the two hues.

The pen body and grip section are both made of the same blue material, while the cap is split 50/50 between the blue and green. The gold/copper flake band and debossed BENU logo fall directly on the border of green and blue material. The area of the cap that has the logo is also slightly concave. Either capped or posted, the pen is gorgeous. The silver BENU logo and nib match well with the green and blue materials.

Like a lot of pocket fountain pens, this pen also relies on you posting the cap when you want to write. When the cap is posted, the length of the pen is comfortable for writing as long as you like. It balances nicely and the fit of the cap on the back of the pen is snug and secure. It's easy to operate, and the cap only takes a couple of turns to remove or screw on. The pen body without the cap is just impossible for me to use, but I'm sure some people could make it work. I'm not sure why you'd want to when the posted setup is so comfortable, though.

The silver #5 Schmidt steel nib worked great out of the box for me. I chose an EF point since this such a tiny pen, but it's actually comfortable enough in my hand that I could have easily gone for a large nib. In my mind, smaller pens are easier to use when they have small nib tips, but that's entirely unrelated. The Pixie can easily handle large, wet nibs with no problem.

But, large, wet nibs will fly through short international cartridges, which is the largest refill you can fit in this little pen. This isn't a problem for anyone that's used a pocket pen before. The diminutive size means they're also paired with a small ink capacity. You could probably find a converter or two that can fit inside the tiny body, but I'd stick with the short international cartridges. Either that, or you could convert this into an eyedropper pen pretty easily provided you have some silicone grease. There are plenty of threads mating the grip to the pen body to ensure a tight seal.

I was hoping the concave area of the cap would provide a nice stopper for the pen to keep it from rolling around, but this is unfortunately not the case. The concave detail just isn't prominent enough to offer any sort of stopping power, so the pen rolls freely on uneven surfaces. This is a slight bummer, but not a deal-breaker.

I also wish there was an option for a clip on this pen. Pocket pens can be tricky to secure to things given their unique sizes, and a clip can be handy if you don't plan on carrying this pen loose in a pocket or bag. I'm betting that they didn't include a clip so as to keep the minimal aesthetic and to avoid covering the beautiful material. Still, I like to think it could have been done tastefully if they really wanted to.

LAMY AL-Start, left, Kaweco ART Sport, right.

The Benu Pixie has been an absolute pleasure to use. I like pocket pens and really enjoy a Kaweco Sport. The Pixie is similar in size, but a little shorter both when capped and posted. For my hand, it doesn't seem to make much difference in terms of feel between the two pens. Once again, BENU has given us a bunch of gorgeous material options to choose from. While I still adore this Emerald Sea colorway, there are several others that are still calling to me. I just don't need that many pocket pens. Right?

If you want a Pixie of your own, you can peruse the different options at Vanness. There are several material options split between two main categories: silver trim and gold trim. The trim and materials are meant to compliment each other.

At $72, the Benu Pixie is priced in a way that makes it really difficult to turn down. It's cheaper than most BENU full-sized pens, but you still get the stellar materials and color options. Sure, it's more than double the price of a Kaweco Sport, but it's well worth it in my mind due to the custom materials that give the pens most of their character. Either way, if you like the color, you won't be disappointed in the performance.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)


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Posted on July 23, 2025 and filed under Benu Pen, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Kaweco Piston Sport - A Quick Review

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

Those of you who know me, know that there are a few brands where I am a little crazy about and the Kaweco Sport is one of them. I have them in gold trim, silver trim, clear, frosted, and aluminum (the other metal versions don’t really appeal to me), so I was super stoked about the Kaweco Piston Sport fountain pen when it was announced over a year ago. It was only released in Black and as of this writing, there aren’t any other colors announced either. So I finally caved and asked the Bossman if I could borrow the one he used for his review of the AL Piston Sport. He said no because he had already given it away, but he ordered the Classic one for me from sponsor Pen Chalet so I could review it.

In looking up details for this pen, I realize that vendors had different names for this pen, so I went to the Kaweco website for the definitive name, which is the Kaweco Piston Sport Classic. There is also the Piston Sport AL (aluminum) which is what the Bossman reviewed, but this review is for the Classic, aka plastic, version. Classic also means that it has gold-colored trim, as opposed to Skyline, which is silver trim (other series also have silver trim, like Frosted or Ice, etc.).

Kaweco Piston Sport Classic.

The way to tell that you have a Kaweco Piston Sport (left) as opposed to a regular Kaweco Sport (this one is Honey), is the gold ring by the blind cap.

At the beginning of April 2025, I inked up the Kaweco Piston Sport with Franklin-Christoph ATL ‘23 ink, and I’ve used it 8 times over the last three months. It wrote without issues upon inking with the F-C ink, which has average flow, and I’ve had no issues with it despite not using it consistently during that time. It would write immediately regardless of how long it had been since I last used it - I’m sure there was at least a one month stretch in there (also, another shout-out to Fountain Pen Companion for making it easy to have these stats).

Uncapped, you can see that there is an ink window, which makes it easy to see ink levels.

Inking the pen requires removal of the blind cap, the presence of which prevents users from accidentally turning the piston knob.

I had wondered if the piston filler would make the nib write wetter/broader, but it gave me the expected line width for a Fine (it is available in Extra Fine to Double Broad). I was able to remove the nib unit from the Piston Sport, which also has an o-ring to prevent leakage. As I am currently traveling, I don’t have any of the non-plastic Sports with me to confirm, but it looks to be the same nib unit that is swappable with those models. You can also pull the nib and feed from the housing and swap it with other Sports as well (I don’t generally do this since I have other Sports I can swap from, and the Piston Sport is still inked up).

The Piston Sport’s nib unit unscrews easily. (Pardon the “fancy” backdrop, aka paper towel, lol.)

The Piston Sport nibs (left) next to the regular Sport.

Used both the Piston Sport (Fine) and the Honey Sport (Broad) to continue writing out Hamilton lyrics. The line widths are what I expected for both. The ink in the Honey Sport is Diamine Candlelight from the 2021 Inkvent.

With the regular Kaweco Sport costing around $28-30, I expected the Piston Sport to cost more, and it does, coming in at $75 MSRP. I know that there are other piston filler pens that cost less (TWSBI Eco/Swipe/Go, Nahvalur Original, Monteverde MP 1 are some that come to mind), but if you really like the form factor of the Kaweco Sport with the added ink capacity (1.2ml vs 0.7 ml cartridge or 0.5 ml mini converter), the Kaweco Piston Sport is a pretty good choice, especially when the AL Piston Sport comes in at $160. If Kaweco starts offering this pen in other colors, my wallet will be in trouble, but until then, I’m good with this one.

(Disclaimer: The Kaweco Piston Sport was purchased by the Bossman at a discount from sponsor, Pen Chalet. I purchased the Honey Sport separately.)

Posted on July 11, 2025 and filed under Kaweco, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.