New nibs and more testing of the TWSBI Diamond IROC 850

By On · 14 Comments · In Fountain Pens, News

I just thinking the other day how it had been quite some time since we’ve last heard from TWSBI. In fact, the last time we even mentioned them on the site was more than a month ago! But it appears it was for good reason: Speedy and his wife were on what I’m sure was a much needed vacation on a cruise to Alaska and then a trip to the Rocky Mountains. Now that they’ve returned he’s back to his old ways of keeping us informed as to what’s going on with TWSBI.

The first somewhat shocking news is that they’re testing nibs from a new supplier, JoWo (pronounced yo-vo). Hopefully, the third time really is the charm. Shown below are the 4 sizes, from left to right: B,M,F,EF. Speedy mentions that each nib has a very clear line width and they’re all very smooth and wet! That last little bit should please a lot of people who have experienced drier than average nibs.

TWSBI testing new nibs

It was back in late May that we last heard any news of the IROC 850. TWSBI has been playing with more finishes for the pen and I really like the direction things are going:

TWSBI Diamond IROC 850 finish options
I have to say, the middle barrel definitely appeals to me the most. But, seeing a completed pen in what appears to be just a raw finish certainly is tempting:

TWSBI Diamond IROC 850 assembled
And I love the ink window hidden when the pen is capped:

TWSBI Diamond IROC 850 assembled uncapped
As I’ve said before, the more I see of this pen the more excited I get. What about you? What do you think?

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  • http://twitter.com/bjw_draw Bonnie Jean Woolger

    It looks, so great, I want to try drawing with it and an EF nib :)

  • Shawn

    Who’s the new nib supplier?

    • Truppi

      I’m guessing JoWo. If it ain’t Bock and it ain’t Schmidt who else could it be? Also those feeds look a lot like the feeds on nibs that you get from Meister Nibs.

      • http://fpgeeks.com/ Dan Smith

        Yep, you nailed it. They’re from JoWo.

  • http://manoeuver.blogspot.com/ Tim Hofmann

    body of the 850 looks kinda busy, cluttered even. The hexy look is a good idea, but rotring’s take was much simpler and utilitarian as it was, it looks almost elegant compared to the TWSBI. The center detail on the body and cap look superfluous to me. I like the hidden ink window.

    I hope the nibs work out although I have no complaints about the 2 nibs I own. Hope Speedy had a great vacation, he does great work.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Stephen-Taylor/684872546 Stephen Taylor

      I agree. There’s too much going on, and the effect is fussy. I think having both parallel and perpendicular lines running down the barrel is what is overloading the design. I hope Speedy decides to restrain the design more before he releases it.

      • Maja

        I agree. Get rid of the perpendicular ‘notches’! The rest of the pen looks very nice, though…. I am relieved to see that this design doesn’t have the same big drop-off from barrel to section as the Vac 700 (just a personal pet peeve of mine—to each his/her own) Thanks to Speedy (and Dan) for the updates!

  • ianmedium

    I love the raw finish one the best, a really beautiful design, any idea of ball park cost on this one? Also, who is the new nib manufacturer?

    • http://fpgeeks.com/ Dan Smith

      We’ve heard no info regarding the price but I expect it to be around the $100 price point. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it up around $125 though.
      As far as the nib supplier goes, Speedy didn’t say and we’re currently waiting for a response via email. As soon as we know we’ll update the post.

  • http://www.facebook.com/thethirdeye Derek Suckling

    Am I the only one that thinks about the Camaro IROC-Z when they read about this pen? :p

    • Adam

      Nope :D

  • http://theinkednib.com/ Lee Smallwood

    I’m a bit sad about the JoWo trials. I’m just about certain to really give us the best in both #5 and #6 size nibs with as many sizes as possible (including the excellent #5 1.1 and 1.5 stubs), it would be necessary to source #5 from Bock and #6 from JoWo. That’s admittedly a lot of hassle for a company the size of TWSBI, but it’s what I’d love to see happen. The Bock 540 nibs are superior, but the 700 nibs are just too rigid and according to what I understood Pendleton Brown to be saying to a group including me at Raleigh, just way too thick to really work on effectively. Losing the 1.1 and 1.5 stub if indeed that is part of moving to JoWo would be a really sad thing for me. I wonder if TWSBI would be handled by Brian Gray as he is the American distributor of JoWo or if they’d be handled in a different way because TWSBI is an oddly hybrid company with American and Taiwanese operations.

    I think the detail on the 850 is fine, but to me it is looking to me to be a $120-125 pen. If that price is correct and if the pen doesn’t write well posted (which the metal body seems to imply no it won’t), I just personally would have trouble seeing the appeal. Despite not warming to the Micarta yet (I’d love to feel one — maybe that’d help), I am fine with the concept of a $100+ TWSBI in general. It has to be a pen that makes sense to me, though. A Pelikan M200 at over $100 makes no sense to me. A Bexley Corona at over $100 makes sense to me. Time will tell, though.

  • Jay

    TWSBI Mini first!

    • http://www.facebook.com/will.platt.39 Will Platt

      yup!