I, like a few other bloggers, was given the pleasure of receiving some sample goods from Sebastian and Sabine directly from Kaweco for review on the blog, so I will likely have a lot to say about the brand over the coming months! I'm excited about this as Kaweco is one of my favorite brands so this should be a treat. Thanks again, Kaweco, for providing some samples for me to review on The Clicky Post.
My first round of these Kaweco reviews rest on the Student model fountain pen. The Student is one of Kaweco's larger models closer to your average full-sized fountain pen. It is a bit above your entry level fountain pen price coming in at about $50-60 depending on where you buy from, but based on my experience with the pen it seems reasonable.
The barrel of the pen is made from molded acrylic so the pen overall isn't extremely weighty. The grip section is made of chromed brass and is the heaviest part of the pen and when unposted it is heavier on the front end. Due to the added length with the cap posted, I've found myself writing without it but with it didn't seem a terrible bother. This is primarily due to the light weight acrylic. If the barrel was metal I could see it running a bit top heavy.
The cap posts securely with a good push, but doesn't go on very far at maybe only an inch.
This particular pen was loaded up with an F nib which started up quick and smooth as is the usual experience with Kaweco. I've been using an EF in my blue AL Sport and thought I was sold on it, but using the F might have just swayed my sweet spot... Although, I've got a few nibs to get through still before I can set that in stone. I loaded it up with the the standard Kaweco blue cartridge and it writes beautifully. The Kaweco nibs are so pleasant to work with.
The color of the barrel is advertised as "blue", but in some lighting could be observed as being a bit on the violet side. Not purple by any means though. For me, this is kind of a distraction as violet pens aren't really my forte, but perhaps a deeper blue composition would change the look of the pen completely?
If you are familiar with the Allrounder, the Student is kind of like it's little brother. It carries primarily the same shape, but is slightly shorter and is acrylic rather than aluminum. They share the same clip, but have different decorative chrome bands around the cap. At half the price, you get a similar feel, but with less weight.
Like the Allrounder, despite being a larger pen it shares the smaller nib of the Sport line. Some of the other bloggers that have done reviews of the Allrounder found this to be a bit disappointing, but I don't really mind it. Perhaps I just need more time with larger nibs to feel differently. I'm most concerned about how the pen will write and as mentioned, the Kaweco nibs (even the smaller ones) write awesome.
All in all, I really like the Student and I think it is a pretty good value. I enjoyed the writing experience particularly with the F nib.