Fountain Pen Review: Kaweco ART Sport Lapis
Kaweco ART Sport Lapis FP Review
History (reproduced from the Kaweco web-site)
Kaweco - In 1883 the manufacturer of high-quality writing instruments was founded in Heidelberg Germany. Kaweco has been producing a wide range of fine writing pens and has been setting a great value on classy design and high standard manufacturing.
The first Kaweco Sport was founded in 1912 as a pocket fountain pen for ladies, officers and sportsmen. In 1930 the brands and models of Kaweco and Aurumia fused and the Ka We Co three part circle emerged. This circle is still used today on nearly all of it’s pens.
Even Sepp Herberger already appreciated these characteristics. It was with a Kaweco Sport that the former coach of the German national soccer team wrote on a piece of paper his winning tactics which brought the Germans to the world cup in 1954.
In 1993 H & M Gutberlet GmbH made it’s first prototypes for a relaunch of the Kaweco Sport under the name Trekking, but gained and registered the rights to rename as Kaweco in 1994.
The Kaweco Sport was newly produced as a cartridge holder in 1995, but the design remained the same as the 1935 model.
In 2000 the first Limited Sport edition was produced in green celluloid, and the AL Sport as well as the Art Sport were launched in 2003.
Kaweco's product range is perfectly described by the keywords "tradition" and “innovation"
Appearance and Design
The Kaweco ART Sport starts off like all Sport pens as a small and compact pen until you remove it’s cap, and replace it on the end of the barrel to make a good sized fountain pen in your hand.
The ART Sport range of pens are made from beautifully marbled, high-value acrylic material that is machine turned then hand polished. Each pen is unique and represents a small piece of art of its own.
The Lapis pen comes supplied with a standard 23kt gold plated steel nib unit that matches it’s Kaweco gold plated metal cap emblem.
Kaweco Lapis ART 001.JPGKaweco Lapis ART 004.JPGKaweco Lapis ART 002.JPG
Construction and quality
Although this pen is made from acrylic, it feels well made and quite substantial in your hand, and performs as well as many full sized pens. It’s lightweight, but not at all flimsy, and it has a nice size, well-shaped grip. The cap is intended to be posted on the barrel for Sport pens and the pen feels nicely balanced with it’s cap posted.
As always with Kaweco Sport pens, the cap and the barrel screw together very well for a close fit, on smoothly machined screw threads. Nothing feels rough on this pen.
Weight and Dimensions
Weight: 12grams. Measurements: Closed; 105mm, Posted; 135mm, Nib; 17mm.
Nib and Performance
23kt gold plated steel nib units for this pen come as a complete section, as opposed to the screw in nib and feed units that Kaweco make for their metal Sport pens. However, with extreme care you may be able to unscrew the nib unit and change it for a different screw in one. I managed to try this one with the gold screw in nib that I have from Kaweco.
I found this steel nib wrote straight out of the box as soon as I fitted a cartridge. I was impressed with the smoothness of the nib, that needed no adjustment at all. It gave me a writing experience that rivalled that of some gold nibs in more expensive pens.
There is no flex with these steel nibs, but I don’t mind that.
You can choose from EF, F, M, B or BB nibs
Kaweco Lapis ART 005.JPGKaweco Lapis ART 008.JPGKaweco Lapis ART 010.JPG
Filling system and Maintenance
As I’m reviewing several Kaweco pens and inks, I selected a Royal Blue cartridge for the Lapis ART Sport. The cartridges are International Short cartridge size. You can also buy a Kaweco converter that fits this pen and allows it to be filled from an ink bottle.
If you’re looking for a pen with a sophisticated piston filling system, or even a classic type of twist converter, then you might be disappointed with this pocket-sized pen. The compact converter that Kaweco make for this pen is just like a cartridge except that you squeeze it to draw up ink out of the bottle. It’s less easy, and contains less ink, than using a twist action converter, but the Kaweco twist converter doesn’t fit this pen.
It isn’t a difficult pen to clean out. I just used an ear bulb and pushed some lukewarm water through it to clean out the ink after I had used it.
Cost and Value
I found 3 colours of the ART Sport pen for sale at Hamilton Pen Company for £75.95 in the UK including free delivery. Sadly, though Lapis wasn’t one of the available colours. It’s still showing on the Kaweco web-site though.
On balance I think thats quite an expensive price to pay for this acrylic pen that comes with a standard steel nib. For the same price you could also buy the aluminium AC Sport
Overall Opinion
Kaweco Sport pens have a really good screw cap that prevents their cartridges from drying out, and I have always liked that in these pens. I also like the way they are compact pocket sized pens that extend into good size pens that are easy to write with.
If you want a clip or a converter they are available separately, but I find it as easy to refill cartridges from bottled ink with a syringe, as using the squeezy converter that is made to fit this pen.
All in all, I really like this beautiful pen. The only thing against it is it’s an expensive pen.
Kaweco loaned me this pen to review, and I really appreciate that. Thank you Kaweco.
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Originally Posted by amk
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