Today I wanted to write about a company that recently hopped to the top of my list. Esterbrook is a United States company that was founded in 1858. The company became the largest pen manufacturer in America, and eventually produced an incredible 216,000,000 pens annually! Their pens have been used by John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, well as Carl Banks from Disney. After halting production in 1971, the company passed through two purchases and was recently acquired by Kenro Industries in 2018. Their “Estie” line is meant to remodernize their fountain pens while keeping a vintage touch.
I purchased my first Esterbrook in Honeycomb from PenBoutique Ltd. I loved the writing experience so much that this purchase was followed by the Estie Lilac (Oversize) and Evergreen, respectively. I prefer the regular size and Evergreen color, and returned the Oversize and Honeycomb.
Design (4/5): The Esties are made from resin and come in 3 sizes: Slim, (regular), and Oversized. I opted for the regular and oversized, which weigh 24 g (0.8 oz) and 33g (1.2 oz), respectively. For reference, the Oversize is around the same size as a Montblanc 149. There are several colors available as well as gold or silver trim. This design sports a screw-in cap similar to Platinum’s #3776 and Wancher with an engraved logo.
Color (5/5): Honeycomb is warmer in real life than photos and has a slight orange tint. Lilac is a bright violet (and was actually named after the New York State flower!) . Evergreen is by far my favorite and resembles a darker version of Franklin Christoph’s Winter Pine—I purchased this with a gold trim. It reminds me of holidays and Christmas spirit.
Nib (5/5): These pens sport steel nibs in the standard EF, F, M, and B sizes. The slim version houses #5 Jowo nibs and the regular/oversize contain #6 Jowo nibs. The writing experience is smooth and the pen glides over the paper. I admit that this was my first time with a Jowo nib and as such I am heavily biased towards them! In fact, I actually measure these nibs against my new /customized pens. Lastly, I’m thrilled that the nibs are swappable with other #5/#6 nibs. This is an easy process and allows you to customize your writing whenever you want!
Ink Capacity (4/5): Esties can be used with standard international cartridges as well as a converter. The converter holds 1.13 mL which is average in my opinion.
Overall (4.5/5): I adore these pens (as exhibited by my rapid acquisitions) and recommend them to my readers. These are comfortable, light pens that come in all (nib) shapes and sizes.
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