I must be going through a phase of all black pens or something lately... working on polishing up those ninja skills. Or, there are just a bunch of sweet pens that I've been trying lately that happen to be on the more nocturnal side.
A new "Night" Edition of the Kaweco AL Sport has just been recently released as an exclusive by the folks at Most Wanted Pens (http://mostwanted-pens.com/) which I was excited to check out. They were kind enough to send me a fountain pen version for review, but I asked them if I could also buy a rollerball at the same time to take a look at them as a set.
We can consider the Kaweco Sport series as a bit of a staple in the pocket pen arena. Unique and historical design, strong quality, and a good story to go along with it. They are as fun and interesting to use as they are practical.
I've about lost count, but in the last 4 years or so of doing this blog I have reviewed probably 8 different variations of the Kaweco Sport lineup which is pretty wild. One of my favorites was the now discontinued ART Sport series, which was a lineup of the popular design made from a variety of beautiful acrylics.
Shot from my ART Sport review post
The Night Edition really is not different in function and utility when compared to other AL Sports, but it is definitely more "stealthy". The all black finish is super sleek.
The pens come in a simple, but nice Kaweco tin, nestled in a velvety plastic tray. Although I don't generally store my pens back in them, the Kaweco tins are surprisingly difficult to get rid of as they can easily be repurposed to hold ink cartridges, refills, etc.
The overall finish is a matte black, but the Kaweco emblem and fountain pen nib are more of a shiny appearance. Normally the etching of the "Kaweco AL Sport Germany" on the side of the cap is highly visible, but in this case it is coated and more subtle.
For the fountain pen I requested a fine nib as I've always tended to have success in the EF or F sizes with Kaweco. As mentioned above, the nib is also coated in black to match the overall aesthetic of the edition.
It writes clean, is a bit on the dryer, feedback side, and is pleasant to write with. I loaded mine up with the included Kaweco black ink cartridge, but it can take any standard international. There is the possibility of using a Kaweco mini converter, but I've never had one and can't speak to how well it functions.
As mentioned, I also ordered a companion rollerball version because, well, I really enjoy the AL Sport rollerball pens. My favorite was the raw aluminum version, but I gave that one to a dear friend and have been itching for a new one which I think this one will suffice.
The rollerball version takes a standard Parker style refill, but can also take the beloved Schmidt Capless P8126 (or 7) refills. I actually thought they usually shipped with the P8126, but this time it had a Kaweco branded Ceramic Gel Roller 0.7 refill which is actually pretty great. I don't love it as much as the Capless, but out of the box I enjoyed it.
The only real downside is that being a special edition these seem to fetch a bit of a premium coming in at 100 Euro for the fountain pen (but comes down to around 84 Euro when the VAT is removed for US buyers) and the rollerball at 70 Euro, but they sure are cool. This rounds out to about $65 to $90 US respectively (not including shipping). But, if an all black motif is totally your style, these may be worth the extra spend.
Special thanks to Most Wanted Pens for providing the fountain pen for review!
