I recently acquired a new fountain pen from the helpful people at Pen Chalet. I’d been looking for something new for my everyday carry after Sketchbook Skool; something I could use to both write and draw. I was looking through Pen Chalet’s website and the Monteverde Prima caught my eye, the Prima comes in 5 different colors and I decided to go for the green swirl. I had thought I’d be seeing an opaque green but the color was nicer than I expected with different shades of iridescent jade green streaked with veins of black. The resin is translucent and if I have one criticism about the color, it might be a little too translucent but that’s a personal preference.
Monteverde Prima
I ordered the pen with a fine nib because when I ordered it, I had sketching in mind and since I like a fine line it seemed like a logical chose. The nib is stainless steel and while it’s not a flex nib I found that it actually does function like one, I was able to vary the line width without much effort; much less effort than say a Lamy Safari. An ink cartridge and convertor are included and frankly, I tossed the cartridge into my endless drawer of cartridges since I rarely use them; I prefer a convertor so that I can leverage the board array of inks I have on hand. The pen features a screw on cap, you’ll need about three twists to get it off. As a side note, I loved the convertor in this pen because unlike so may others, it screws in so I’m fairly confident it’s not going to pop off.
I inked up the convertor of my new Monteverde Prima with one of my favorite inks, Noodler’s Saguaro Wine and took it for a test drive on the three surfaces I most often use, a Rhodia #16, a Leuchtturm1917 and a sheet of Fabriano Artistico Hot Press watercolor paper. Across the board I found that it wasn’t the silky smooth experience that many people lust after. For me though, that’s a good thing because I like the tactile feedback it makes drawing and sketching a better experience. The line width of the nib is on par with a Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen with the S tip but your mileage may vary since different inks have different properties in terms of how they flow. That said, I went though a couple of different Noodler’s inks and the line width remained fairly consistent.
The Prima is well balanced and comfortable in the hand and while the cap posts well, in this particular pen I preferred to not to post the cap. Nothing about weight or balance here, it’s just a little easier for sketching with when I may be twisting the pen at a variety of angles. Sketching with the pen is a nice experience; the flexibility of the nib was nice allowing me to achieve some variation in line width. With a light touch I was able to get a hairline and a little more pressure allowed me to get to a broader width and was able to create some very nice cross hatching, shading and stippling.
All in all, I thought his was a great pen and I want to thank the folks at Pen Chalet for suggesting it. In terms of the tactical experience it offers more than a Lamy Safari which is pretty much one of my go to pens for sketching and writing. In fact, I’m so satisfied with this pen that its take a place in my journaling bag and has become of my daily carry. Check out Pen Chalet, they have a good selection and are a helpful bunch.
