The Kaweco Sport Skyline editions have seen a lot of press lately. It seems that almost every pen blog I visit is showcasing the new colors (mint particularly), so I suppose I am no exception.
First and foremost I want to showcase where I received the pens from as it is a pen retailer that many people may not have heard of called Fontoplumo out of the Netherlands. For a little while the Skyline models were tough to find in the States which is where Frank from Fontoplumo came in. A fantastic seller; great communication, prices are good, and very reasonably priced shipping to the US even from Europe. If you've not visited Fontoplumo's site, definitely take a minute to do so.
What's not to love about the Kaweco Sport models? Stylish, perfectly pocketable, and good writers overall. I've yet to have a negative experience with one, but I've heard some people have had mixed luck with the nibs. I will admit that anything above a medium seems to be hit or miss, but the fine and extra fine have always been fantastic.
So all the fuss about the new Skyline models is this: silver logo and silver nib (also mixed with some new colored barrels) which is kind of a big deal.
Up until now the only way to get a Kaweco Sport without the gold colored accents was to upgrade to the AL Sport which is about a $50-60 jump. While the feel and weight of the AL Sport is superior to the plastic barreled Classic Sport in my opinion, that jump for a lot of people is huge so I'm really glad Kaweco has listened and now offers some more subdued models in their entry level fountain pen realm. Kudos, Kaweco.
An obscene amount of Kaweco Sport models
With the mint color being the one that stood out the most, I opted to get that one and even threw in a second to give to my wife. She has a few Retro 51 Tornado rollerball pens I've gotten her, but this would be her first "real" fountain pen and she was thrilled. Not quite ready to have her heading around town with the vintage rOtring collection as of yet, but we're working our way up, right?... She absolutely loves the Kaweco and has been using it all the time. I did have to set her up with some decent paper too...
Honestly, I hope this isn't the last direction Kaweco goes with the Sport line. It has been around for awhile in one form or another for nearly 80 years or so which is a long time. How can it be improved?...
My thoughts are to that of the Lamy Safari line. Great entry level pen, good durable quality, and really, really fun. Lamy purposefully brings out new and sometimes wild color schemes as they know how much the community and their fans love it. Christine from Pentulant (great blog!) has one of the most extensive collections I've seen from all the regular colors to the super rare special ones. She even had me make big custom Dudek Double-Groove to hold her neat collection!
So why couldn't Kaweco do something similar and create the same buzz with lots of fun colors? And I'm not talking about the Ice Sports as they are a little too over the top I think. There is something about a solid, shiny, plastic pen in bright colors that just brightens people's day and makes them excited to write. Granted, Kaweco has been a bit more of a "traditional" line over the years, but I'm excited that they've branched out and done some new things. Who knows? Maybe we'll have a neon Kaweco Sport some day.
For around $20-25 you can also get yourself a Kaweco Sport Skyline in either Mint, Grey, or Black (with silver accents...). Thanks again Frank from Fontoplumo for the great service!
Oh! And if you did go through Fontoplumo you could do as I did and use the 10% off promo code (WAD2014) that was given to Ana from The Well-Appointed Desk.