The Well-Appointed Desk

While I was in Atlanta, I finally got to see the new Wahl-Eversharp fountain pens up close and personal. The whole line is such a great homage to the original pen designs. There are a lot of different variations available of the Skyline design but all the details are right. My biggest dilemma was deciding which design to buy. In the end, I decided on the Skyline 50 in menthol green ($159). I purchased the pen from the Anderson Pen table at the show and they were tickled to inform me that the pen came in a gift box with a matching toy Corvette. The gift box is 1950s-theme drive-in design with a magnetic closure. It was a nice package but I’m inclined to prefer my pens in a small, wholly-recyclable paperboard boxes. Still, the graphics are fun.

The toy Corvette is cute and now sits on my mantel as a souvenir from the Atlanta Pen Show. The pen, on the other hand, is living it up as a daily carry in my NockCo Lookout case with my other daily carry pens. The body is 50s refrigerator green plastic with silver tone accents. The Wahl-Eversharp site says the details are “palladium plating.” The cap is smooth chrome with a coordinating green plastic dome nestled under the clip which loops over the end. The cap is a signature element from the original Skyline and is beautifully recreated here. Because of all the metal, the cap is quite weighty. If you prefer a heavier pen, the cap easily posts but the pen is long enough to be used without posting… at least for me.

The tapered end reminds me of a lot of classic desk pens but the Skyline 50 is not as long and the end is a softer cigar shape. It feels lovely in the hand.

One of the unusual aspects of the pen is how the pen needs to be disassembled in order to fill the converter. The chrome ring at the end of the pen untwists to reveal the twist knob of the converter but I could not see if I was getting ink in the converter so I ended up having to untwist the pen at the nib to pull the whole nib/converter out of the pen to successfully fill the converter. It wasn’t a huge big deal, just odd. Alternately, there is the convenience of this pen taking standard cartridges so filling on-the-go would be a breeze.

The nib details are what sold me on this pen. Look at the engraving! Its reminiscent of the details on the top of the Empire State Chrysler Building and is just gorgeous. The only downside of the Wahl-Eversharp Skyline was that the only nib option is a medium. But I was willing to give it a whirl despite it not being my favorite nib size and I ended up being pleasantly surprised.

The nib was a little noisy on paper (especially after testing out the Edison Premiere which was silky) but it gave the writing experience a little toothiness. I didn’t feel like the pen was going to move faster than I could write. The line width of the medium nib was on the finer side of medium. There is also a little softness to the nib, its not as stiff as a lot of the steel nibs available today but I wouldn’t really call is a flex nib.

I’m glad I purchased this pen. It is a beautiful pen, writes nicely and is such a great design. The Skyline 50 series is also available in a bright cherry red and a sky blue if minty green is too much for you. There are also more traditional Skyline designs available including the lust-worthy Skyscraper Limited Edition 100th Anniversary model with the sapphire accents and guilloche engraving.

In Atlanta, I mentioned I’d never tried an Edison pen and when I returned home, my pal Kasey (AKA Punkey) had kindly sent me his Edison Nouveau Premiere to try out. This particular model is the limited edition Macassar Ebonite model that was sold through Goulet Pens in 2013. The coloring reminds me of wood grain in warm coffee and cream swirls. What was most surprising was how light the material was. The ebonite feels different from plastic, both lighter and more rigid. It also has a slightly matte appearance, not a glossy sheen. It made the pen feel warmer.

The stock F nib is two-toned and looks good with the pen and the coordinating gold-tone clip. Its a good quality nib and the writing experience was smooth and comfortable albeit a bit wet and wide for me. I would have preferred an EF nib but borrowers can’t be too picky.

Unposted, the Ebonite Premiere weighs just 12gms. That’s lighter than a plastic Kaweco but its a full-sized pen. Even posted, the Premiere is 19gms. Pretty impressive. For me, it was more comfrtable to write witht he pen unposted and its measures 5.125″ unposted. Posted its a whopping 7″ long and a wee bit top heavy.

I was highly impressed with my whole experience with the Edison Nouveau Premiere. The lightweight ebonite material made a larger pen comfortable, even in my little tiny hands. The craftmanship is impeccable and I am definitely going to be in the market for my own Premiere. Maybe that gorgeous lilac acrylic version currently available at Goulet? I found Mary’s review of last year’s Cherry Blossom edition and the pen is equally lightweight in acrylic. Sweet!

Big thanks to Kasey for letting me try this pen.

The pen was tested on Rhodia Uni Blank No. 18 pad with a 7mm guide sheet underneath and Diamine Twilight blue black ink.