PRODUCT REVIEW - ATTERSON ELEGANCE FOUNTAIN PEN
I tried a butter chicken pizza last night, from a restaurant in my area known to have pretty decent food. Like everything else on the menu, the pizza was good. But would I order it again? No, because butter chicken curry baked into a cheesy pizza is the kind of novelty thing you try once to get it out of your system, but it's just too experimental to become a familiar favourite. It was rich and thick and heavy. I've still got more than half leftover a day later, because I can't eat more than 1 slice at a time. I'd class this with a butter chicken bunny chow... tasty, but unusual to the pallete. I wouldn't order a butter chicken bunny chow again either.
Our customary chit chat out of the way, let's get to some serious writing. I'm doing another review post today, and this isn't coming from a place of laziness. I intend to be thorough and detailed in my opinion, because this product deserves a full break down. I'm reviewing the Atterson Elegance luxury fountain pen (together with the Pelikan 4001 bottled ink). It was my first ever fountain pen purchase - seriously, what rock have I been living under that I bought my first fountain pen at age 32 - so I had high hopes for it. Here's where it fell short and over-delivered.
OVERVIEW
Products: Atterson Elegance luxury fountain Pelln & Pelikan 4001 bottled ink in the shade blau-schwarz
Bought from: Take-a-Lot
Price: R179 (fountain pen) and R139 (bottled ink) and R40 pick up fee
CONS
I'm starting this review a bit differently by talking about the cons first. I feel that the analysis of whether this is truly a luxury pen, as branded, is the core of this review. The fact that I'm discussing this under the cons section means you already know I don't think the product lived up to the luxury title. Businesses are so quick to term anything 'luxury' these days, that I believe the word will soon become a gimmick with no value attached to its use. Luxury products, speaking as someone who owns a business starting to lean into this industry, need to have 2 inherent qualities to be truly worthy of the title: precision-quality finish and an elevated buying experience. The Atterson Elegance luxury fountain pen had neither.
The pen is only available from commodity e-commerce stores like Take-a-Lot and Amazon. Hidden among a mish-mash of random objects, you truly don't feel discerning picking this pen out of the pile of cheap quality stuff online. The buying experience was no different to sifting through apples in the cart at the supermarket. When the pen arrived, it was plopped into a little plastic baggie (like the ones drug dealers sell their wares in on the telly) and while the brand may not have had control over what items it was placed next to on Take-a-Lot, I could not forgive that they couldn't even package their pen nicely despite being so quick to claim the luxury title.
Let's talk product quality now. My pen has a scratch on the cap. I'm not going to be a drama queen about it and return the pen, because I actually like it (see the extensive list of pros below), and it's not a big scratch. But luxury products are not sent out with imperfections on them. I've bought Bic pens that don't have blemishes on them, so that's saying something of Atterson's carelessness. On the note of product imperfections, there is a massive flaw that I have read in almost every review of this pen - and then experienced myself first hand. The pen is marketed with a velvet storage pouch as one of its value adds. Buyer reviews warn that the pen doesn't fit in the pouch. And I can confirm that mine certainly doesn't. The pouch covers about half the pen, and the end sticks out. This would be the equivalent of my bespoke publishing company printing book covers slightly smaller than the actual book page, so that the top of the page block sticks out, and chuffedly claiming them to be luxury. There is just no precision at all as to how this combination of fountain pen and pouch were made to work together.
I'm being harsh because this is the bold title the Atterson brand gave its pen on Take-a-Lot: "Atterson Elegance: The Luxury Fountain Pen for Discerning Writers + Pouch."
Ultimately, this fountain pen is not a luxury product, but it is still a very good product well worth its price. I wouldn't return this purchase for the world.
PROS
Now, the exciting bit. I think every writer needs to own this pen, even if you have other, more premium pens in your collection.
The pen comes with a converter in the barrel. This is the mechanism that allows you to draw up ink from a bottle into the pen. It makes the cost of refilling the pen cheaper over time because a bottle of ink will last for years, plus you can simply change the colour of ink whenever you want. I havent tried it yet (so don't take my word on this), but to my knowledge you can even remove the converter and stick in pre-filled ink cartridges if you're not a fan of how messy bottled ink can be. Converters that can be fitted - and fountain pens that have them installed - are enormously expensive so you've hit a big saving here.
The writing experience is sublime. The nib is fine and allows for beautiful, delicate writing. The iridium point draws the ink across the page in such a sensory way... The sound of gentle scratching on the paper, the light vibrations in the fingertips. It's incredibly engaging to work with this pen. I have used this pen for over a week now and there is zero feathering (when the ink seeps outwards from the letters) and zero rough starting (where the ink doesn't flow out from the pen nib at first.) The weight of the fountain pen is medium - I believe the manufacturing materials are a combination of stainless steel and plastic - and it sits nicely in the hand to produce confident lettering.
And the price is unmatched. Fountain pens break the bank. They are all ludicrously expensive, and not just the Mont Blanc ones. On my hunt for my first fountain pen, I came across ones that cost thousands of rands at the minimum. I really thought I was going to have to put a fountain pen as a birthday wishlist item. For someone who is just starting out with fountain pens, this is the perfect experimental doorway in to see if you like the unique writing experience first, before investing in something more prestigious.
The Pelikan 4001 bottled ink I paired it with deserves a special mention. I bought it in the shade blau-schwarz - fun fact, I've also started learning German, so the name called out to me - which translates to blue-black. The ink works really well with all paper types, even regular exam pads and computer paper. It dries within barely seconds. Just as soon as I've finished a word, I can wipe my hand across the page with no smearing. The ink consistency also helps to eliminate feathering. And the shade - oh, don't get me started on how gorgeous it is! A beautiful dark indigo blue, my favourite colour. It is far more blue than black, so don't expect it to be interchangeable with black ink, but it's elegant and sophisticated. I look forward to buying more of this specific range in the other brilliant colours, like emerald green and bright red, because it is exceptionally high quality.
CONCLUSION
The Atterson Elegance luxury fountain pen makes a mistake in calling itself a luxury item, but it is phenomenal quality nonetheless. It is the perfect entry fountain pen or even everyday pen for more experienced users. Personally, I consider it good practice for the day I get that Mont Blanc I'm after. I recommend pairing this pen with the Pelikan 4001 bottled ink because it's so easy to work with as a new user without access to special paper.
On another, slightly related, note, I was surprised at the carelessness with which Parker pens are being sold these days. Growing up, they were considered a premium brand - probably still are, if their prices are anything to go by. But I walked into both Waltons and PNA to look at them on my hunt for my first fountain pen, and the sales staff have no knowledge of the Parker products at all. Parker is the type of pen you buy for the materials, the craftsmanship, the quality, the nuances in handwriting each pen will produce. The sales staff at these chain stores simply did not understand what they were selling at all. They couldn't answer questions about the nibs, the barrels, the ranges. I was simply led to the case and asked to pick the one I wanted because the assistant couldn't tell the difference between any of them. Needless to say that is not how I wanted to buy my first Parker pen. It's going to be a milestone moment, as Parker has always intended purchases of their pens to be, not another grocery store style experience, thank you very much.
For more articles written by Keli H, the author, visit this blog's home page on keli-h.com
Keli H is the award winning author of the 400 series, which includes The Four Hundred Club and Splitting an Empire. The 400 series is high brow contemporary fiction revolving around the lives of wealthy circles. Keli's other works include Creating Literary Art. She is also the founder of The KREST House, a storytelling empire.
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