Namisu N1 pocket fountain pen
Namisu N1 pocket fountain pen (blue/gold)
I backed this on Namisu's kickstarter a while back. It became an exclusive to kickstarter/pre-orders after some delays with production. I like pocket pens and didn't have a blue pen, so here we are...
The pen came shipped in a ridiculously large box given the actual pen size. They probably could've downsized the shipping box by half. The pen's actual box is very small, and the pen was further encased in a plastic tube for protection. For some reason I was convinced I bought a titanium nib to go with this, but after checking my records, I think I had misremembered. This colour of knurled grip reminds me of a nail file.
It's a bit of a weird colour way to me, from a colour harmony POV. This is definitely more of a rose gold, than a yellow gold. If I had my way I'd choose black/gold, but it wasn't offered as a colourway! The next closest thing would be stealth black, but I also already have such a pen...warm red/gold also feels more harmonious to me, but I also already have a red/gold pen...! Perhaps like my OPUS88 Omar, where I sacrificed personal aesthetic for price point and variability in my FP suite.
The anodizing on the blue cap (aluminum) was even, but less so on the clip. The first load of ink I put through this pen partially drained into the cap. I'm not sure why, I thought perhaps it was the vacuum seal from capping/uncapping? But it hasn't happened again so far, at least with the pen stored horizontally. I also noticed some steel-wool type material stuffed into the barrel of the pen; I thought it was a mistake at first, but perhaps it is acting like a "spring" to keep the cartridge pushed into the feed?
The sensation of capping/uncapping takes getting used to. There's a sound. Metal scrapping against metal isn't something I'm used to hearing (nor do I find it pleasant). It's not a quiet pen that you can un-sheath in a quiet meeting unnoticed. You can post the cap very deeply or more shallow, since there are several O-rings on top to hold the cap in place at your preferred length. I find that I don't post it super deep.
The nib makes noise when you write on the paper, at least on Rhodia it sounds a bit SQUEAKY which was surprising to me. I don't think it's the worst sound, but also something to consider. Might be a bock nib trait. I'd also say that Bock nibs seem to have a bit more 'spring' to them than Jowo steel nibs. Ink used above is Pennonia's Balaton-kék, though the photo does not do the multishading properties of the ink justice!
It is indeed a small pen when fully capped...but not one where the grip is mega small! It still feels substantial because of the weight/materials.
Today's music post: Big Moonlight (Ookii Gekkou) by Vanishing Twin