Pen Review: Schneider iD Fountain Pen

I love Schneider pens. I have a huuuge stash of Schneider gel pens, fineliners, and rollerballs hoarded collected before I shifted to fountain pens. When I got my first Base pen, a black pen with smooth, wet medium nib, I was hooked. I found their simplicity charming and elegant. Through time, I have acquired more Schneider pens, mostly fountain pens: the colorful Zippis, the minimalist Base pens, and a Creativ calligraphy set. And last year, a new Schneider fountain pen caught my attention. I first saw the Schneider iD fountain pen at Cultpens, while ogling at the other Base models.

After reading about Schneider iD, I wanted one, being a Schneider fanatic and pen addict. But like so many pen and paper products, the pen isn't available in the Philippines. *Sigh.* So I did the expected, and months later, I received news that Schneider has kindly sent me an iD fountain pen to review. Hurray!

And here's my first fountain pen review: the Schneider iD fountain pen.

The Schneider iD came in two boxes, an outer box and an inner box. The outer box is made from black, thick, board paper. I like the simplicity of this box.

The inner box is made of transparent plastic with the Schneider logo on top, and the iD logo in the lower part of the box, near the bottom. Love the white artwork there. :)

A plastic pen holder keeps the iD in place inside the second box. A small brochure about the Schneider iD line of products is also included. The cover says "iD full of ideas". I like that. :)

The Schneider iD is a big pen, alright. It is huge, but not heavy. It is just right for my grip. It measures 5.75 inches when capped, and 5.25 inches uncapped. The cap does not allow posting the pen, which is just fine for me, because I rarely post my pens. It may be a problem for people who are used to posting their pens.

Here is the pen again, disassembled. On top is the cap, next line have section and barrel, bottom are feed and nib.

Did I say this pen is huge? I didn't? But it is! Look at that cap. It is huuuuuge! With a huuuuuge, oversized, wide shiny chrome clip and huuuuuge top cap.

This ring is on the top of the clip, near the top cap, and I assume this is meant for lanyards.

The Schneider logo is imprinted on the rubber material on the pen's cap. I am not so happy with this feature because the rubber is a monster lint and dirt magnet.

The iD logo is printed on the barrel, next to the wide metal ring. Because I got the chrome pen, the logo is imprinted in gray. The green and purple pens have matching logo color imprints.

Do you see the cartridge inside the barrel? The iD has a transluscent gray barrel, black plastic end cap, and the distinctive wide metal chrome ring. This photo gave me an idea about what I can do next with this pen. Read on, the surprise is at the end. :)

Like the cap, this pen's section comes with black, soft rubber that is ergonomically-designed to fit snugly to the pen user's fingers. This feature is excellent because it will help the user write comfortably even at longer periods of time.

Here is the Schneider iD's nib, which comes with a new feature: a breather hole. The breather hole is important as it promotes the exchange of air and ink in the pen's reservoir. The nibs of my Base pens do not have this feature, though.

The Schneider iD has a German (European) medium nib, which is bolder than other medium nibs. The day I got this pen, I was itching to ink it right away using the cartridge that came with it. But I waited until I got home because I wanted to use my current favorite ink: Diamine Majestic Blue. And the pen (and ink) did not disappoint. The iD wrote as soon as I inked it. The nib is softer than I thought it would be, writes smoothly, and Diamine Majestic Blue flows well on paper. (See photo of writing sample on Kokuyo paper below.)

The underside of the feed and nib shows the enormous iridium on the tip.

Schneider logo on the nib.

M is for medium. This is imprinted on the nib's left ear.

Feed and nib up close.

I have generously mentioned the Schneider Base pen in this post. I feel that I must write about it as well. But for now, I am happy to present the two pens here for comparison. Below are photos of the Schneider iD and Base nibs side by side, front and underside. Note that the Base nib does not have a breather hole and the ears (as I want to call them now - if there is a real name for these, kindly let me know) as seen on the right photo showing the feed's underside. The Base pen's feed's underside also appears to be flatter than that of the iD's.

I wrote my handwritten pen review on Kokuyo paper. The iD wrote so well on this paper, but also on a variety of papers as well, such as my Venzi journal and Rhodia Reverse notebook. If you read what I wrote below, you will know that I named this pen Kay. :)

For the large image, click here.

The Schneider iD fountain pen takes standard short or long international cartridges. In fact, my pen came with one short international cartridge. A converter may also be used, but it will have to be bought separately from independent pen sellers. Schneider surprisingly, does not make their own converters.

And here is the surprise. :)

The transluscent barrel of the Schneider iD gave me the idea that I could turn this c/c pen to an eyedropper (ED). I noticed, too, the long threaded part of the section where it joins the barrel. To test it, I filled both barrel and cap with water and observed it for a couple of hours, carefully watching it for leaks. And... no leaks! I then applied some silicone oil  to the section threads and my Schneider iD fountain pen is an instant ED-filled pen! Hurray!

Below are photos of the Schneider iD filled with J. Herbin Orange Indien.

For this writing test, I chose my Rhodia pad to match the orange ink. ;) The Orange Indien is a suggestion of my good friend and fellow blogger Tom Overfield.

For the large image, click here.

CultPens currently describes the Schneider iD products as weird and wonderful. I understand that not all fountain pen enthusiasts will like the form, but I am sure that many will agree with me that this pen's performance is more than excellent. It won't win 1st Prize in the 2009 ISPA and Innovation Award for nothing, right? I love it and I will definitely get another pen or two when it becomes available locally. In the Philippines, Schneider pens are available at all Office Warehouse branches.

The Schneider iD fountain pen in this review is from Germany, courtesy of Schneider. It is part of the series that include two more pens: a ballpoint and a rotary pencil. All three pens are available in green, purple, and black, which is my pen's color. Right now, it is filled with Orange Indien and writes like a dream. :)

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Ink Review: Diamine Woodland Green

Lost in the forest, I broke off a dark twig,

and lifted its whisper to my thirsty lips:

maybe it was the voice

of the rain crying,

a cracked bell,

or a torn heart.

- Pablo Neruda, 'Lost in the Forest'

It all started with a Vector. Then came some more. More Parkers, more Lamys, and more Sheaffers. That was followed by testing huge quantities of different notebooks for ink resistance, and scouring the streets of Recto for vintage inks. It did not end there. Not yet, for the search continued. For more inks. For more Parker Quinks, more Watermans, more Auroras, more J. Herbins. Here and there, a bottle of De Atramentis, Caran d'Ache, Iroshizuku, and Mont Blanc came around. But no Diamine. Until.

I have always wanted to try Diamine inks, but like most ink brands, it is not locally available. My current limitations dictate a moratorium on oline purchases, so I was in a bind. That's when the bright idea dawned on me. I wrote to Diamine. With fingers crossed (and hopes held high), I wrote to them and said I'd love to review their inks on my blog. Several days passed and no response came. I believed my request was turned down. But on March 1st, Diamine's Company Director Phil Davies sent me an email to say that several bottles of Diamine ink have been sent to me. Hurray!

And now, here is Woodland Green, and my first Diamine ink review.

Phil sent me six Diamine inks to try. Six! I got Majestic Blue, Royal Blue, Chocolate Brown, Orange, Poppy Red, and Woodland Green. I have tried to write and doodle with all of them, but because I'm into all things green now, I chose Woodland Green to be my first Diamine ink review.

Woodland Green is a dark, strong green ink with shades of blue. Unlike the bright Lierre Sauvage, this ink has a dark greenish-bluish shade. It has a gem-like quality when wet, and dries a beautiful dark green especially on light-colored paper.

The Diamine bottle is made of plastic, so ink easily gets off the inside surface. Here is the closest I could get to show the ink color through the bottle.

Woodland Green reminds me so much of Los Baños, especially Pili Drive – a long, narrow strip of road inside the UPLB Campus, lined with decades-old Pili trees with enormous trunks and thick canopies. The color of Woodland Green is akin to the shade provided by these huge trees.

Below is the written review of Diamine Woodland Green. I wrote on Kokuyo paper using two pens: an Osmiroid 65 with medium italic nib (black pen on the right), and my new green Wality 69TL with round medium nib.

Woodland Green is a saturated ink, as the other Diamine inks are. It flows well on both pens I used for this review. Shading is not very visible, but that could be attributed to the pens I used and not to the ink.

Here is a sampler of Diamine Woodland Green on Kokuyo paper.

Doodle was written with my Wality pen.

Here is another macro of ink smeared on paper, from the drying time test.

Note the shades of blue on the part where the ink begins to fade.

More macro shots here:

Here is Woodland Green in comparison with other green inks. It really has more blue compared to J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage (hints of yellow), Private Reserve Avacado, Penman Emerald, and Parker Super Quink Permanent Green (all with hints of black/gray).

Woodland Green takes a longer period of time to dry not only on Kokuyo paper, but also on Rhodia Reverse notebook. I also noticed that it's not very easy to take off Woodland Green ink on my fingers when I got stained while changing nibs on my Osmiroid pen.

And now, the poem. I have always loved Pablo Neruda's poems. I love his 'erotically charged love poems', especially those in his compilation book, Twenty Poems of Love and A Song of Despair; and the ones included in the soundtrack of the film Il Postino. It is only fitting to have this green ink review as a tribute to the poet who 'always wrote in green ink as it was the color of hope'.

Founded in London, Diamine has been manufacturing inks since 1864. Diamine is one of the largest producers of a large range of fountain pen ink as well as the famous Registrar's Ink for permanent records. Diamine fountain pen inks are available from the Diamine site or from the Writing Desk in the UK. In the US, they are available from the Pear Tree Pen Company. (I'm not affiliated with any of these companies.)

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Notebook Review: Reecovid Notepad

'recycled, not virgin'

 

-  reecovid (recovered) notepads, great for emergencies!

 

 

Sometime in June, I received a comment on my blog from a lady in the United Kingdom, Ingrid Savill, asking me if I am willing to write a review of one of their notepads. Hm. A notepad? Great! A month later, I received my reecovid (recovered) notepad, the first paper product made from 100% post consumer waste to join my growing collection.   

 

 

Ingrid sent me a Natalie notepad, and I just love the cover design! I love the green, blue and purple floral, mandala-like design. Natalie is one of the six beautifully-designed refillable A5 notepads of reecovid. The cover design of these notepads is based on the female symbol evolving into a flower, and all six notepads are named after environmentally-conscious women. It also has an elastic strap like most notebooks, but what keeps reecovid's elastic strap different from the rest is that it is a genuine bra strap and it has a unique bra strap adjuster! Love it! :)

 

The reecovid logo is printed on the lower left part of the cover, near the spine.

On the upper part of the cover, near the spine, is the company's slogan, 'Waste, Not Chaste.' This became their slogan after the 'Recycled, Not Virgin' thing.

 

 

The notepad opens to such a simple, but elegantly-designed inside cover page printed with the word 'notepad' at the center of the page and the reecovid logo at the bottom. 

 

A closer look at the inside cover page.

 

At the back of the inside cover page is where one can write her name in beautiful calligraphy. :) (But of course, that's just me.)

 

 

The paper used in reecovid notepads are 100% recycled, white, uncoated paper. And this raised my curiosity: can recycled paper stand up to fountain pen inks?

 

 

As a fountain pen user, pen and ink tests is a must for each and every paper product I get. In the photo above, it is quite obvious that I used a lot of pens. I used my calligraphy pens, and also most of my beloved Schneiders, Sheaffers, Walitys, and Parkers.

 

 

This photo shows the calligraphy pens I used to test reecovid's paper. From the top, beginning with the title: Lamy Vista with 1.1mm cursive italic nib inked with J. Herbin Rouille D'Ancre; Lamy Joy with 1.5mm cursive italic nib inked with Diamine Chocolate; Schenider Creativ pens with J. Herbin Poussiére de Lune; Rotring ArtPen with 1.5 crisp italic nib inked with J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage; Osmiroid 65 with a B2 nib inked with Diamine Woodland Green; and Sheaffer NoNonsense with a fine italic nib inked with Diamine Burnt Sienna.

 

 

Here are the round nibs and their inks: Schneider Base pens with J. Herbin Rouge Opera, Diamine Turquoise and  Aurora Blue; Lamy Safari with J. Herbin Diabolo Menthé; Sheaffer NoNonsense pens with Caran d'Ache Saffron, Waterman Purple and Inoxcrom Blue; Sheaffer Statesman with Waterman Havana Brown; Sheaffer TipDip with Cross Blue; Thein with Private Reserve Copper Burst; Sheaffer CP with J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage; Wality pens with Lamy Black, Lamy Blue and Woodland Green; and Inoxcrom pen with J. Herbin Poussiére de Lune.

 

 

Here are more round nibs. Parkers on parade: Rialto with Mont Blanc Bordeaux, Jotter with Diamine Royal Blue, 25 with Penman Ruby, 45 with Diamine Majestic Blue and 51 Special with Aurora Blue. Watermans: Kultur with Diamine Poppy Red and Phileas with MB Bordeaux. Haolilai with Diamine Orange, Pilot 78G and Rotring 600 with Iroshizuku Kiri-same.

 

That's a lot of pen and ink combinations! And the verdict? See photo below:

No feathering on almost all the inks used, but Kiri-same bled badly. Notice the bleed at the bottom of the page. But that's fine.

 

Now here are some more macro shots of several ink colors on reecovid paper:

 

 

Both photos above are written with the Sheaffer NN with a fine italic pen. Fantastic!

 

 

Now here is Lamy and Diamine. Chocolatey. :)

 

But wait, there's more! Here is ORANGE.

 

 

GREEN.

 

 

And BLUES.

 

 

I couldn't resist taking a photo (and posting it) of the back cover. So here it is. :)

 

reecovid notepads are excellent products. Here are the other features of these gorgeous notepads: 

• refillable hard cover binder with biodegradable laminate;
• 2DD rings metal mechanism for use with a standard hole punch;
• 216 pages of 100% recycled, white, uncoated paper;
• ruled lines; and
• available in A5 size

 

Despite all these, I still wish this notepad had a pocket somewhere. And a page marker. But, I love this product from reecovid. And I will use it because it's an excellent product. (Hint: I love the fact that the paper can take most of my fountain pen inks.)

 

reecovid notepads are available for online purchase through their website at http://www.reecovid.co.uk/. They are also on Facebook (reecovid) and Twitter (reecovid), so updates come faster if we 'like' and 'follow' them.

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