Tag Archives: montegrappa

PEN REVIEW: Montegrappa Espressione

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So pretty.  So sleek and modern. A great profile. This Montegrappa Espressione is quite the looker!

And..it has a screw-to-post cap – Mr. Pentulant loves that.

Montegrappa is a well-respected line, many people love their pens. I don’t love this. In fact, I pretty much hate it. How is that even possible?

See the metal grippy part? (Grown ups call the the Section or Gripping Section.) It’s metal. And it’s omg, too short. Which means that my finger is resting on the threading. Which means it hurts. Bad.
And. It’s heavy. Too heavy. When posted (as it’s clearly meant to be), it’s unbalanced and gross.
No likie.
But man, it’s pretty.
Here is my written review.  Click to make it bigger.
In an act of unselfish love, I offered the pen to Mr. P. And even though he loves him a screw-to-post pen and he agrees the Espressione is gorgeous, he rejected this pen, too!
I’m going to ponder a bit on what to do with this pen. I won’t write with it again. Mr. P won’t use it either. Seems a shame to let it hang around here with no love when someone else would probably love to have it.
Will keep you posted on how this one plays out!
But tell me your thoughts – have you tried this pen? Have you given away pens you would never use?

INK PREVIEW: Oops.

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Pffft.

I’d completed the review of Montblanc’s Winter Glow and then went to my stash – grabbed four red inks out of my red inks sample bag – and above is the result.

Dude. Those aren’t red. Maybeeeeeee Rouge Caroubier is close – but even it is more of a pinky color.

Heaven only knows why I didn’t stop after the first – or the second – OR THE THIRD – but I kept right on going.

So..what you have here is a mess. But at least you can see the swab of Winter Glow and a bit of writing. It’s darker than I thought it would be coming out of the pen.

I’ll get a proper review of Winter Glow done soon.

After I try sorting my samples by color one more time 😉

PEN REVIEW: Montegrappa Micra Red

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My sweet, beautiful Montegrappa Micra. Marbly resin with sterling silver accents, this pen is stunning. I really dig the patina that has developed over the years.  I bought it new at a pen show (when? I cannot remember), used it regularly for a bit, and then placed it in a drawer with other pens.

Why would this pen sit so long unused? (Love the dog fur in my pictures?)

The pen measures around 4.5″(or around 5.75″ when posted).
The cap is a screw-to-post style. (Loooove this feature.)

Even after years of sitting, the red is just as vibrant. The swirls in the resin are just a bit opalescent.

Having sat for so long, I didn’t remember the model name of this pen. I had to research a bit and couldn’t help but read some of what I found at Fountain Pen Network.

After writing with it for a bit, I think I may have discovered why it sat for so long. It’s just not as comfortable as other expensive pens. The silver grip isn’t – grippy. It’s awkward, even. While the shape of the pen is faceted, the grip is smooth (though slightly concave) and feels – hard. I found myself with a total death grip and tired hand.

And the writing. I’m sure this is a matter of ink incompatibility (or a cleanliness issue).

Skipping . . .

And hard starting . . . 
As always, click to make any image bigger.


So I changed paper . . . 
My bottom line?  Well, I’m not ready to say just yet. I don’t remember the pen being this uncomfortable, or the skipping and hard starting. 
I’m going to give it a good cleaning, change the ink, and try again.  Will keep you posted.