Kaweco Sport Art

Kaweco Sport is one of those pens you don't hear a lot about, but it's as distinctive and well designed as, say, the Lamy 2000. The unique design has a massive octagonal cap which hides a slim and tiny barrel; post the pen, and you nearly double its size. I particularly love the Sport as it's clipless, though you can, if you want, buy a clip for it; the faceted shape of the cap prevents the pen rolling on your desk.

However when I tried the base range of Sports, I found they seemed very light and insubstantial. I preferred the Al Sport; the metal made it a comfier weight in my hand. But I don't really like metal pens.

Then I found the Sport Art. This is the luxury end of the range; rather lovely acrylic in a range of jewel-like colours. I managed to find the Lapis pen used on eBay at about half its retail price; then I fell for the Amethyst at the London Pen Show. I think probably it's amber next. (Want to see that? It's here. I think Mr Brown likes it almost as much as I do.) These pens feel wonderful in the hand; warm, rounded, dense. And they write beautifully. Easy to start, fairly wet, and ready to go.

Lapis and Amethyst. Marvellous translucence.

 Also: swappable nibs. Although you can't just stick a Kaweco Ice Sport nib unit in, I'm told you can swap the nibs and feeds (not the unit) between different pens. So if I want to get a big fat italic nib in there instead of the medium I have at the moment, I can do so. I haven't tried yet, so don't take my word for it.

The best thing about these pens? The material has the translucency and depth I associate with some of the best Italian celluloids. But there's no bling. No cap ring, no clip, nothing except the recessed 'Kaweco' medallion at the end. The simplicity of the form allows you to fully appreciate the beauty of the material.

It's love. It really is. Perfect.

And I've just managed to get the wonderful Amber version on ebay!