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View Full Version : Nemosine Sungularity Hand Written Review



KrazyIvan
June 16th, 2012, 07:36 PM
This review can be viewed in its entirety (more pictures) on my blog: http://inktronics.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/nemosine-singularity-hand-written-review/

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5232/7383217198_e92604ac07_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/7383217198/)
Nemosine Singularity Review (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/7383217198/) by IvanRomero (http://www.flickr.com/people/ivan_romero/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8148/7383218472_b85b1659e0_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/7383218472/)
Nemosine Singularity Review2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/7383218472/) by IvanRomero (http://www.flickr.com/people/ivan_romero/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7102/7383022638_e7b40175af_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/7383022638/)
Nemosine Singularity (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/7383022638/) by IvanRomero (http://www.flickr.com/people/ivan_romero/), on Flickr

Bogon07
June 17th, 2012, 04:00 AM
KI, nice looking pen. You don't see too many in that sort of light grey colouring. Nice clean style although the clip is slightly chunky looking.
Certainly seems a value for money package with pen, converter, cartridges and booklet in the box.

Wonderful photos as usual.

gordyt
June 17th, 2012, 10:44 AM
Thanks for the review! I was able to find the perfection warranty here (http://nemosinepens.com/#/contact/4563356600):



3 Year Perfection Guarantee

We're positive that you're going to absolutely love our pens and that they'll continue to perform with the precision and consistency that you expect with your daily writing instrument. Every one of our pens includes an unconditional 3 year warranty on the ink flow, from converter to nib, even if the issue was caused by user error. If within 3 years you have any flow issues with your Nemosine fountain pen, return it to us along with $5 to cover testing, labor, and return postage... we'll fix up and return your pen, guaranteeing that you'll enjoy your pen for years to come!

* A single unit can be returned to us a maximum of 3 times within 3 years (to ensure that new part replacement is not abused.)

** To forego a bunch of fancy legal jargon, we must reserve the right to rescind our warranty offer at any time, at our sole discretion, without notice. We certainly don't foresee any chance of resorting to this kind of action... but instead of paying a lawyer buckets of money to state the same thing within 3 pages of legal jargon, we figured we'd just protect ourselves by saying it outright.

goldiesdad
June 17th, 2012, 06:22 PM
I have one and love it ... mine wrote great right out of the box ... IMO a great value. I got mine via Amazon for under 15 bucks ...

writingrav
June 19th, 2012, 02:39 PM
Looks great and at that price I wouldn't even count in against my budget (if I had a budget)

Freddy
October 15th, 2012, 10:04 PM
I have two of these and they are two of my smoothest writing pens at any price. I have an ivory with an extra fine nib and a demonstrator with a .6mm calligraphy nib. I was so impressed that I purchased one as a gift for a friend. The only problem I had was a leaky converter in the ivory pen. I simply replaced it with an inexpensive Chinese international converter that I had and the pen now writes flawlessly.

inky
October 16th, 2012, 07:50 AM
Yet another pen to add to my "To Buy" list. Great review!

KrazyIvan
October 16th, 2012, 08:18 AM
I have not had any problems with the pen yet. I have heard of various issues with the pen though.

This has turned out to be my green only pen. Currently filled with Mont Blanc Irish green.

Thank you inky. :)

writingrav
October 16th, 2012, 03:49 PM
Thanks Ivan, great review. So great that I just ordered the same pen. I saw that Amazon also lists just the nobs for sale and I was tempted to buy a medium to switch out, but decided to wait.

Freddy
October 16th, 2012, 05:10 PM
Rather than go through Amazon, why not give their site a try at xfountainpens.com? I had excellent results and when I called about having something added to my order because I missed a special they offered by less than 24 hours, the man I spoke with very graciously helped me out.

writingrav
October 16th, 2012, 07:39 PM
Rather than go through Amazon, why not give their site a try at xfountainpens.com? I had excellent results and when I called about having something added to my order because I missed a special they offered by less than 24 hours, the man I spoke with very graciously helped me out.

Didn't realize there was a site. Next time.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Sailor Kenshin
October 17th, 2012, 08:45 AM
Great review, thanks. Nice writing, too!

I have the 'granite,', but in the smaller of the italics. Currently filled with Chesterfield Teal. it's a good combo. ^^

KrazyIvan
October 17th, 2012, 09:12 AM
Thanks Ivan, great review. So great that I just ordered the same pen. I saw that Amazon also lists just the nobs for sale and I was tempted to buy a medium to switch out, but decided to wait.

Thank you.


Rather than go through Amazon, why not give their site a try at xfountainpens.com? I had excellent results and when I called about having something added to my order because I missed a special they offered by less than 24 hours, the man I spoke with very graciously helped me out.


Great review, thanks. Nice writing, too!

I have the 'granite,', but in the smaller of the italics. Currently filled with Chesterfield Teal. it's a good combo. ^^

They did not have any of the italic nibs when I purchased. I wonder if they sell those nibs separately.

writingrav
October 17th, 2012, 01:23 PM
Rather than go through Amazon, why not give their site a try at xfountainpens.com? I had excellent results and when I called about having something added to my order because I missed a special they offered by less than 24 hours, the man I spoke with very graciously helped me out.

Actually, thanks. I cancelled my Amazon order and called xfountainpens. I was able to order and had more choice of nibs. I got a .6mm italic.

Zhivago
October 18th, 2012, 09:28 PM
I recently got the .8 italic/stub in walnut. Quite good so far. The plastic doesn't strike me as high quality and the clip is 'chunky' and unattractive. But I can live with all that if the pen holds up and continues to write as well.

I wasn't as keen on the metal Nemosine pen that xfountainpens now carries. The 'Fission' has, I assume, the same nib, so it should write as well. However, from the pictures I thought the grip was some kind of brushed or matte material, but it is polished metal (chrome, I assume). There are polished metal grips I've found reasonably comfortable to use, but I didn't think the Fission's would be one of them. Back it went.

KrazyIvan
October 19th, 2012, 09:31 AM
I did see the italic nibs by themselves on the website. I might invest in a few.

UK Mike
January 26th, 2013, 11:30 AM
The pen looks really classy in Grey. I have one being shipped as I write in black. I am looking forward to trying it out.

bulbboy
January 27th, 2013, 05:49 PM
I bought the clear demonstrator and it was great! So I ordered another one in red

Great pen!

Zhivago
January 27th, 2013, 06:41 PM
Does anyone know if the nibs are a friction fit or unscrew? I've tried both and haven't been able to get the nib on my Singularity off either way.

KrazyIvan
January 27th, 2013, 08:09 PM
They are friction fit.

Zhivago
January 27th, 2013, 09:54 PM
Thanks, Ivan. Mine was in there really good but I finally got it out. I didn't want to over pull the thing without being certain.

KrazyIvan
January 28th, 2013, 08:56 AM
I know how that goes. I have been thinking about getting or making a knockout block just because of that. :)

Zhivago
January 29th, 2013, 06:24 PM
I may buy one of those off you, Ivan. :D

I took the nib out again because I wanted to compare its size to a Knox K35 nib. It was even harder to get out this second time! I'm even a little surprised I didn't break the feed or do some other damage. There was no dried ink or anything else I could see to cause the issue. Oh well, better a really tight fit than a loose one.

KrazyIvan
January 29th, 2013, 07:44 PM
I may buy one of those off you, Ivan. :D

I took the nib out again because I wanted to compare its size to a Knox K35 nib. It was even harder to get out this second time! I'm even a little surprised I didn't break the feed or do some other damage. There was no dried ink or anything else I could see to cause the issue. Oh well, better a really tight fit than a loose one.

Make sure you are fitting the nib/feed into the section properly, it only goes in one way. The section is notched for it.

Zhivago
January 29th, 2013, 07:47 PM
Make sure you are fitting the nib/feed into the section properly, it only goes in one way. The section is notched for it.


Thanks, I'm aware of that and have seen the same fitting on some other pens (the Monteverde Prima, for example).

bulbboy
February 3rd, 2013, 11:58 AM
My red one came in and it is very scratchy! Tears paper scratchy...

I'll have to work on it because the clear one I have writes wonderfully

KrazyIvan
February 3rd, 2013, 10:50 PM
Let us know how it works out. Sounds a bit odd. It may need a tine alignment.

Zhivago
February 7th, 2013, 06:09 PM
Ivan only alluded to it in his review, but has anyone converted one of these into an eye dropper?

KrazyIvan
February 8th, 2013, 08:39 AM
Someone converted the Demo version to an eyedropper on FPN. I am leery about the conversion because you can accidentally unscrew the barrel when unscrewing the cap. It happened to Doc Brown in his review.

Zhivago
February 8th, 2013, 11:51 AM
Good point. I'll check out the FPN thread.

fountainpenkid
February 8th, 2013, 02:16 PM
Someone converted the Demo version to an eyedropper on FPN. I am leery about the conversion because you can accidentally unscrew the barrel when unscrewing the cap. It happened to Doc Brown in his review.

In his review?! You mean he gets inky hands in the middle of the video? I must see this now :)

KrazyIvan
February 8th, 2013, 03:50 PM
In his review?! You mean he gets inky hands in the middle of the video? I must see this now :)

No. He talks about how the barrel can come off when you try to uncap the pen and it happens to him a little later after he mentions that. No ink involved as he was using the converter.

chad.trent
February 12th, 2013, 08:58 AM
No. He talks about how the barrel can come off when you try to uncap the pen and it happens to him a little later after he mentions that. No ink involved as he was using the converter.

I just received my Singularity last night and have the same issue. About every other time I uncap it, the barrel unscrews instead of the cap. I have it on my desk filled with Noodler's Black and it's drippy and ink covers the nib.

I've heard a lot of good things about this pen, so I'm wondering if I got a bad one...

KrazyIvan
February 12th, 2013, 11:20 AM
I learned not to tighten the cap so hard and then tighten the barrel just a little bit more. Have not had any issues with it. Just don't crank down on it. I think this is where some of the cracked caps are stemming from. A rubber o-ring on the barrel may also help to keep the barrel on by providing a bit of friction to resist being undone.

chad.trent
February 12th, 2013, 12:03 PM
Yeah. I've always been cautious about cranking down too hard. Plastic being plastic.

I am going to try a new ink tomorrow and see if it behaves any better.

Sailor Kenshin
April 6th, 2013, 08:26 AM
I just picked up a Black with EF nib and an Ivory with F....So now I have three of these excellent pens for the money, though they no longer come in that cool box. Hard times, I guess.

Reviewed them recently.

Thanks for the inspiration, KI! (http://heartofsock.blogspot.com/2013/04/finding-nemo-in-which-dr-inkenstein.html)

KrazyIvan
April 6th, 2013, 08:51 AM
I got mine from Amazon and they treat them differently than when you buy from xfountainpens. The nib is a JoWo, and you get a box. It's also $5 more. I do like the looks of that black version. Thanks for posting.

Sailor Kenshin
April 6th, 2013, 11:14 AM
UW! Xfountainpens sends a box, but it's similar to the Noodler's Ahab box. And I think they do include that how-to, which makes it great for beginners. I have one such person interested in the Nemo!

southpaw52
April 6th, 2013, 02:49 PM
Great detailed review and great pictures.

Barbara
April 6th, 2013, 06:44 PM
Yet another pen to add to my "To Buy" list. Great review!

I agree with both sentiments.

woosang
April 7th, 2013, 07:38 PM
Great looking pen. Never heard of it before. One to look out for

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 2

KrazyIvan
April 10th, 2013, 10:26 AM
Thank you woosang. As a starter pen it is very good.

ardgedee
May 10th, 2013, 08:27 PM
Got two Singularities (heh) -- black with EF nib for myself, demonstrator with F nib for my wife. They came in little cardboard boxes, not the nice display boxes. No cartridges were provided aside from a box I ordered.

Mine worked great nearly out of the box, reasonably smooth nib and incredibly paper-friendly; doesn't seem to care whether I'm writing on low-grade office supply paper or a Moleskine, it's all good. Hasn't bled or skipped, will dry out if it's left uncapped for more than a couple minutes, but never needs starting as long as it's kept capped. It's quickly replaced my previous pens as my daily writer. My wife hasn't been nearly as lucky; hers is a slow starter, has been harder to fill (even after swapping converters), skips and won't feed well.

We had ordered a couple Chesterfield Ink-branded inks from xfountainpens along with the pens. The Obsidian black was too thin and grey for the EF nib, but the Archival Vault has been very good to it; it goes down a medium blue-black and darkens to a near-black after about an hour. The Night Sapphire blue-black is more blue than black -- it's only been tried in my wife's pen, so I'll withhold a verdict on it until after resolving the problems with the pen.

I don't have any useful comparisons to make yet. Just received some Noodler's Ink pens yesterday and filled the Ahabs tonight. They don't write as easily, but I wasn't certain I should have been expecting them to either; they're designed for different purposes than the Nemosine, I think.

Sailor Kenshin
May 11th, 2013, 06:34 AM
Having both the EF and the F myself, I wonder could this be an ink issue? You say the F isn't writing as well as the EF...maybe try a different ink in the F?

Mine write about the same. I used diluted Zhivago in the EF, and diluted BSIAR in the F.

Don't care what people say...ALL pens and inks are divas, lol, and some pens are waiting for that perfect ink.

KrazyIvan
May 11th, 2013, 08:17 AM
The thing is that there are two versions out there. One has a German nib, the other has a Chinese nib. Which one do you have?

ardgedee
May 11th, 2013, 10:18 AM
Having both the EF and the F myself, I wonder could this be an ink issue? You say the F isn't writing as well as the EF...maybe try a different ink in the F?

Just flushed it out last night and let it dry. I'm going to try a Pelikan 4001 blue-black today. If a straight-up ink change doesn't do it, I'm going to monkey with the nib tomorrow and try again.

After trying both on various papers, I'm certain the F nib is a little rougher than the EF. If the Pelikan ink doesn't improve that, I might try smoothing it out when my Micro-Mesh sampler set comes in.

I'm not averse to exchanging it. It's a surprisingly nice and handsome pen (even the clear-bodied demonstrator, and I'm not usually a big fan of how demonstrators look) but this is a good opportunity to experiment a little, while the stakes are low.


The thing is that there are two versions out there. One has a German nib, the other has a Chinese nib. Which one do you have?

They're Iridium-tipped steel nibs marked "Made in Germany". Identical aside from the sizes of the tips.

Sailor Kenshin
May 11th, 2013, 01:19 PM
Pel BB, is, I think, dry. I'm interested to see how it'll work in the Nemo F. If it doesn't go well, there's a vid somewhere on how to 'Waverly-ize' a nib to make it run wetter. I used the technique on a dry Pilot 78g with great results.

KI, I thought all the Nemos from xfountainpens had the german nibs?

ardgedee
May 11th, 2013, 05:22 PM
Pel BB, is, I think, dry. I'm interested to see how it'll work in the Nemo F. If it doesn't go well, there's a vid somewhere on how to 'Waverly-ize' a nib to make it run wetter. I used the technique on a dry Pilot 78g with great results.

KI, I thought all the Nemos from xfountainpens had the german nibs?

Hm. The pen need a more lubricating ink, if anything, and my partner really wants a blue-black. The only blue-blacks in the house right now are the Pelikan 4001 and the Chesterfield that we got with the pens. Suggestions? I might try filling it with the Chesterfield Archival; it will oxidize blacker than she likes, but bluer than anything else I've got at hand, and the ink works really well with my own Nemo.

I haven't heard of the Nemosine shipping with anything other than its own-branded nib. It looks like it's interchangeable with some of the higher-quality nibs in Xfp's store, though. Currently they're mostly selling Knox -- maybe the inventory changes over time, since I don't see the nib in KI's photos in their store right now.

Honey Mustard
May 11th, 2013, 07:11 PM
xfountainpens is great about fixing problems, I would definitely let them know what's going on because it sounds like you got a dud. If you want to make ink a bit more free-flowing add a drop of dishwashing liquid to a sample vial of ink and see how that goes.

ardgedee
May 12th, 2013, 07:12 AM
I flossed the nib with a piece of cellophane, on the chance there might have been some residue under or between the tines, and refilled the pen from her bottle of Lamy Blue. It seems to work better now. Downside: Her Safari already has a Lamy Blue cartridge in it, and having two pens with nearly-identical lines and the same ink is of limited value to her. But at least it'll let us narrow down the number of possible issues.

If the Nemo continues working for a couple days of regular use, I'm going to consider this resolved, and I'll look for a blue-black ink that lubricates better. (Suggestions, anybody?)

Sailor Kenshin
May 12th, 2013, 07:29 AM
Yes! Diamine Denim.

My Preppy with the 05 nib just loves this ink. Get samples from Goulet if you,re not sure of a certain ink.

ardgedee
May 13th, 2013, 06:34 PM
Sorry for the handwriting, still relearning how to use fountain pens...
2682
I scanned this note twice: The first time while the ink in the second paragraph was only about five minutes old, the second time a day later. The section "cures to a dark cold black) EF nib" is from the later scan.

fncll
July 31st, 2013, 02:22 PM
I was so pleased with the Ivory Nemosine w .8 mm stub nib I received from xfountainpens recently that I ordered two more, one a .8 stub and the other to hold a Knox 1.1 -- a really great value...

KrazyIvan
August 2nd, 2013, 09:20 AM
Pel BB, is, I think, dry. I'm interested to see how it'll work in the Nemo F. If it doesn't go well, there's a vid somewhere on how to 'Waverly-ize' a nib to make it run wetter. I used the technique on a dry Pilot 78g with great results.

KI, I thought all the Nemos from xfountainpens had the german nibs?

Wow, I missed this one. Sailor, it looks to me that you can get it with a German nib if you get it from Amazon (that's where I got mine) but if you go directly to xfountainpens, they can come with the Nemo nib. It is when you order the .8 or .6 stub that I got the actual Nemo nib and not a German nib. I stand corrected. It is a German nib per my own picture below.

KrazyIvan
August 2nd, 2013, 09:32 AM
Here is the .8 Nemo nib (and I guess it does say "Made in Germany"):

http://inktronics.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/8180076820_ce0cbb2c38_b-scaled1000.jpg

and a rushed writing sample:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8201/8180193017_b92227ce39_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/8180193017/)
Nemosine Italic nib (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/8180193017/) by IvanRomero (http://www.flickr.com/people/ivan_romero/), on Flickr

Sailor Kenshin
August 2nd, 2013, 10:51 AM
Mmmm, nice reload! My Nemo with the italic seems very rounded-edge cursive, and has not been at all scratchy. QC issue, y'think?

KrazyIvan
August 2nd, 2013, 04:00 PM
Mmmm, nice reload! My Nemo with the italic seems very rounded-edge cursive, and has not been at all scratchy. QC issue, y'think?

Very possible. I have read at least one other post of the nib slit being off center (on the FPN thread).

scrivelry
July 1st, 2014, 09:04 PM
I am still not entirely clear on exactly what size nib this takes if you want to change to a Knox nib - the 35, like a Jinhao 450, or some other size???

ardgedee
July 2nd, 2014, 04:35 AM
I emailed xFountainpens last year to ask just that. The Singularity can take Knox 35 nibs.

scrivelry
July 2nd, 2014, 11:50 AM
Thank you!

KrazyIvan
July 2nd, 2014, 05:43 PM
Any Number 6 nib is a direct replacement.