The fine folks over at Pen Chalet gave me the opportunity to try the new Monteverde Poquito fountain pen (Retail price $30; from Pen Chalet, $27). Its a classic looking, teeny tiny pocket pen for sure. This is the first Monteverde pen I’ve tried so I was quite excited for the chance to take my first foray into the Monteverde pen world.
The details:
The packaging was on the budget side, just a cardboard box with the pen in a plastic sleeve with an instruction sheet and a single refill cartridge. For the price point, I don’t expect presentation quality packaging but if this is a make or break for you or you were hoping to give this as a gift, I recommend creating your own presentation packaging for this pen.
The branding on this pen is quite subtle. In black on the opposite side of the cap from the clip, in small type, is the Monteverde brand name and below it in smaller text “Poquito”. I know a lot of folks are not fond on the Monteverde logo type and this is some of the most subtle application I’ve seen. Truly unobtrusive. On the top of the clip is a small emboss stamp of the Monteverde crest.
I received the chrome finish version with a “Iridium Point Germany” medium stainless steel nib. The pen has a smooth, tapered shape that made me think, “If a Fisher Space Pen and a Kaweco Sport ever merged…” then this would be the result. Good looks, totally pocketable with some steely-eyed missile man good looks.
As the comparison to the Kaweco Sport and Liliput was inevitable, here’s a quick run down of the comparison specs:
|
Poquito |
Kaweco Sport |
Kaweco Liliput |
|
| length: closed |
4.5” |
4.0625” |
3.75″ |
| length: uncapped |
3.75” |
4” |
3.5” |
| length: posted |
5” |
5.125” |
5” |
| weight: filled & capped |
17gms |
12 gms |
10 gms |
| weight: filled, no cap |
11 gms |
6 gms |
7 gms |
Overall, the physical size is quite comparable. For determining the width of the pens, the Poquito feels more like the size of a Uni-Ball Signo capped pen while the Kaweco Sport barrel has the width equivalent of a Sharpie marker. The Liliput is ever-so-slightly narrower than the Poquito and is the same diameter from end-to-end while the Poquito tapers on each end. Does that make sense?
I let my husband try the Poquito to get a “man’s perspective”. He found the pen too small overall but normally he prefers ACME pens. He couldn’t find his Fisher Space Pen so we couldn’t do a side-by-side comparison but he’s pretty confident that, when posted, the Space Pen is about a 0.5″ longer than the Poquito.
The writing experience:
The cap posts easily and does not affect the pen’s weight. The cap actually helps to weight the pen creating a pleasing writing experience. The narrower overall width of the Poquito made it comfortable in my small hands. Its wider than the Kaweco Liliput but obviously narrower than the Kaweco Sport.
The grip section is tiny with a slight ridge where the body and cap snap together. The ridges are smooth so they are not distracting but I imagine this might not be comfortable for extended writing sessions. The cap snaps on with a satisfying click.
The nib was silky smooth out of the box. I seldom use a medium nib fountain pen but this wrote so smoothly and consistently as soon as I put the accompanying cartridge in it. Not one skip or stutter. The line weight was on the finer side of medium for a European/American nib. No lefty issues with getting the ink to flow and on the paper.
The nib is stiff with no flex but I needed only the lightest touch to write and got some nice line variation and even some shading from the black ink. I would probably prefer a fine nib but I like the look and feel of the medium and is not a make-or-break aspect for me with this pen.
If the nib is any indication of Monteverde’s other fountain pens, you’ll definitely be seeing more Monteverde reviews here soon. This pen is “full of awesome” for $30 or less.
Options:
The Poquito fountain pen is new for 2014 and is also available in a dark Stone Gray, a bright metallic Turquoise and a metallic Pink finish with silver tone clip (see the colors over at FPGeeks). The Poquito line offers a stylus/ballpoint model in a similar size and an XL version.
Pen Chalet would like to offer a special discount for readers of The Well-Appointed Desk. Receive 10% off any item on their site using the coupon code wellappointeddesk, including the Poquito. Offer is good through March 31, 2014.
DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Pen Chalet for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
