Kaweco Student Fountain Pen

Many moons ago, a customer came into the shop to browse and say hello (mostly to browse). Incidentally, he had purchased from us online, and due to some weird coincidence of pen orders that were very, very similar, and some very minor brouhaha going on at the shop, we thought we may have sent him the wrong pen. Turns out, my pre-emptive email only embarrassed myself because he did get the right pen, but he came by the shop anyways! While there, he mentioned that we should look into expanding our Kaweco line, specifically the Student, and more specifically the yellow Student, since he had a particular liking for yellow pens. Now, after extensive planning and coordination, and just because we so highly value the particularities of our very special customers, we have finally brought it in! And it turns out he knew what he was talking about, because our first rave review of this model also happened to be one in yellow, described as a "warm, mellow yellow" - which is exactly right.  

We have the Kaweco Student in Vintage Blue, Yellow, Black and Translucent Blue. It's the acrylic version of the metal Allrounder, and has a friendlier price. It is available in nibs from extra fine to double broad, or you can upgrade to an italic nib. Nibs are always available as spare units as well. Kaweco nibs are more in line with European thicknesses, so a bit wetter and wider than Japanese nibs, and the writing sample with this Student is with a medium nib.

It's a bit of a retro or vintage looking pen. In fact, this model here is in "Vintage Blue", which actually does look like a vintage blue; it has just a hint of teal in it, just like Rohrer & Klingner Verdigris!). The clip has a bit of styling to it, and Kaweco has also released this as a removable clip for the Sport along with the new Skyline models.

One of the my favourite things about the Student is actually its balance. It's a light pen due to its acrylic body, but its grip is made out of a heavy metal. I don't post most of my pens because I don't like for my pens to be too back-heavy or top heavy, but having the weight much closer to where my fingers are gripping actually makes it much nicer to write - it's almost as though the pen is bringing itself to the paper for me. Sometimes metal grips can get a bit slippery, but the hourglass shape of the grip helps alleviate a bit of that. While Kaweco is most known for its Sport model, very durable and portable and sporty, the Sport's biggest downfall is that the converter is difficult to use and tiny, leaving only cartridges or an eyedropper conversion; the Student is a full-sized pen and so it fits a standard international converter, or even two standard short cartridges - one in play, and one spare.

 

The Kaweco Student is a great all-around pen - it looks classic without being boring, takes a cartridge or a piston converter, feels great in the hand, and doesn't break the bank.