Exotic refills, the new Tombow Zoom, Acro Evo, mother of pearl Faber Castell, Majohn A2, and Asvine v126

It's been a few months since I wrote any reviews, and I'm overdue. Sadly I'm short on time these days, so I'll be keeping this quick, but if anyone wants me to expand on any particular pen, please do let me know!

Let me start by listing the pens and refills I've received over these months:

• Aurora Wagon Ballpoint refill
• Schmidt EasyFlow 9000
• Schmidt P900 B - black
• Schmidt P900 M - turquoise
• Pelikan 337B
• Faber Castell Refill
• Tombow 0.5mm/BR-ZKE33, 0.7mm/BR-ZK33 ballpoint (new models)
• Tombow 0.5mm/BN-ZKE gel refill (new model)
• Pilot Acro Evo
• Faber Castell Basic mother of pearl with GvFC Tamitio nib
• Tombow Zoom C1 (new model)
• Majohn A2
• Asvine V126

Aurora Wagon Ballpoint

Over a year ago I received a delivery of 1960s Aurora Primula ballpoint pens and a couple modern Aurora pens (which I've reviewed before). I wasn't too impressed with the modern Auroras because they felt cheap and plasticky, but the refill that came with it was very good. On the other hand, the Primula pens felt phenomenal, have one of my favorite click feels, and looked gorgeous. However, the refill size that they used in the 60s is uncommon, though I believe Schneider makes some refills in that size. But I wanted until I could order ones made by Aurora themselves, to have the full Aurora package - especially since I was impressed with their G2 refill for its dark lines.

Unfortunately this refill is a bit of a let down, and feels more like an old fashioned ballpoint refill. I think I'll try the Schneider one after all. Still adore the pen though, so if the Schneider ones are any good, I'll definitely be using these pens.

Schmidt EasyFlow 9000

Way overdue to try this refill, since people have been praising it for years. It's very dark, ultra low viscosity, and smooth. However, it does skip a fair bit, and is slow to dry. Basically the same pros & cons of the Pilot low viscosity refills. I figure it's better to use a gel pen for refills like these, because the benefits of a ballpoint (ability to write on a variety of surfaces) is more or less gone, and some modern gel pens have partially overcome this anyway.

Schmidt P900 B

This is a newer refill from Schmidt, which tries to get the balance write between low-viscosity and versatility. It actually succeeds quite nicely. I bought the turquoise one too which I'll discuss in the next post.

Pelikan 337B

This refill is under the radar, but is excellent. Ultra smooth and reliable. I'd like to do a more head-to-head comparison with the P900. The P900 seems like it's a slightly darker, richer black, but the 337 is a solid contender - very smooth, and perhaps more reliable.

Faber Castell Ballpoint Refill

This is another strong performer, and writes pretty close to a hybrid ballpoint, but not quite. I'd say it's close behind the Schmidt 900, about on par with the Pelikan.

Tombow BR-ZK33

This is the newest ballpoint refill from the latest Tombow releases. Tombow recently released a new Zoom series, with newly upgraded tech for this ballpoint and gel pen that came out a few months ago. I was tempted to buy one of the pens, but the retail prices were surprisingly high!

So I decided that I'd order one of each refill from Japan to try them before spending the money.

Tombow's press release states:

In order to ensure stable writing line width, smooth writing, and precision writing, the ball seat inside the tip has been expanded by 102%* compared to our conventional products. Because the seat is wide, the ball does not come off from the seat regardless of the writing angle, and the amount of ink discharged is stable, and a constant line width is always maintained. Since oil-based ballpoint pens are versatile, we have tuned them so that the line width does not change depending on how you write, and that the feeling of writing is not impaired.

First of all, the refill size is semi-proprietary for these pens. What I mean by that is that they use the shape of the Uni Jetstream refills! So basically they can only work in Tombow or Uni pens.

Second of all, this is a top-3 refill, up there with the Vicuna and Jetstream. Smooth & liquid, ultra black, and fast drying. And it can fit in my favourite pen body (the Uni SXN-2200) in addition to its Tombow home pen, as can its gel refill sibling.

I'm not quite decided how I'd rank this in comparison to the Vicuna and Jetstream. The Vicuna is ultra reliable, and the ink seems to stay fresh in an old refill for a long time, and it's got such a rich dark colour. The Jetstream has great performance over a variety of surfaces, including glossy ones, without ink moving to the sides of the lane. The Tombow is something in between, and the colour is maybe a more true black (less purple tint) than the others. The dry time on all 3 is very fast, but the Jetstream seems to dry a little bit faster.

Like the Vicuna, the largest width for the Tombow is 0.7mm, whereas the Jetstream offers 1.0mm. I'll definitely be the first to buy a 1.0 if Tombow releases it.

Tombow 0.5mm/BN-ZKE gel refill

Their new gel refill also claims to have some new technology, 

The press release claims:

The ball seat inside the tip has been reduced to 93%* compared to our previous model in order to ensure writing lines that have the intonation of a fountain pen. Since the seat is narrow, the ball is not on the seat surface when the writing angle is laid down, so the amount of ink discharged is increased. For this reason, you can create richly expressive writing by tilting the writing angle or slowing down the writing speed to thicken the writing line. The ink is a highly permeable water-based gel ink, and it has been tuned so that writing with both strength and beauty can be obtained by synergistic effect with the tip mechanism. It also dries quickly.

After testing this, a few things to note:

• As the press release said, the line width is dynamic (don't believe the 0.5mm on the label)
• It's fast drying indeed - maybe the fastest of any gel pen
• Generally an excellent performer, but it skips on a specific type of paper (Kokuyo), as do some Uni gel inks (Uni One)
• Beautiful navy-grey colour
• Fits in my favourite Uni pen in addition to the Tombow Zoom ballpoint body
• Permanent (waterproof) ink

Overall, these new releases from Tombow are some of the most interesting developments in the ballpoint and gel world in recent news.

Pilot Acro Evo

Not much to say about this one, it's a typical Pilot Acro with their usual ink. Not sure if they changed their formula or what, but it seems a bit more reliable than usual. On that note, I've found myself frequently using my Pilot Legno wood ballpoint pen (which also contains an Acro refill). I kind of discounted the pen a few years ago because I'm not usually a fan of Acro ink (too slow to dry, similar to the Schmidt P9000), but Pilots have a lot of character and they're growing on me.

Faber Castell Basic mother of pearl (with GvFC Tamitio nib)

I really like Faber Castell steel nibs, they're the best in their class in my opinion. I found a source for a GvFC Tamitio nib for a good price, and wanted to compare it to the regular Faber Castell nibs, but I didn't want to spend too much. I was looking for a Loom in the gunmetal brown, or an Ondoro in grey-brown, but wasn't having much luck. I stumbled across the Basic in Mother of Pearl and went for it. It was especially appealing to me, because doesn't use any rubber for the grip section, unlike other Basic models.

Somehow I can't quite get attached to this pen - for a start, the style isn't for me (mainly the colour). Also it's extremely long when posted, and I'm not a fan of the cap and clip. However, it does have a nice heavy feel. 

The GvFC nib though is incredible. Feels like it's more or less the same as the regular FC nib, but looks more beautiful and is possibly better tuned and better QC (it started writing immediately after installation, whereas the FC took some time).

Tombow Zoom C1

So I ultimately decided to buy the pen because I was impressed with the refill. It's not only the refills that had some new tech introduced, but the material on these pens was supposed to be something special, in addition to the "floating" clip.

The body is made of A2017 duralumin with high strength used for building materials and aerospace equipment parts. It is a lightweight 21.3g (ballpoint pen) that puts less strain on your writing hand. By cutting duralumin, it maintains its beautiful form for many years without compromising the strength of the material. Due to its high rigidity, this material is difficult to process and is rarely used in writing instruments. The surface is anodized to enhance corrosion resistance, and it always feels fresh and dry. The clip is made of zinc die-cast to make it less likely to break.

I'm not sure why they chose this material over say, Titanium, but it is a unique and interesting factor. It feels great in the hand, evenly weighted, and the coating feels very solid.

The pen is beautiful, but I have 2 disappointments with it:

Plastic threads - unlike the Uni SXN-2200, which I was hoping this would take first place from, this pen seems to have plastic threads. It also doesn't have the rubber gasket like the Uni.

Silent click - I love a nice click, but unfortunately this one is a silent click. Some might prefer that, but unfortunately I'm a click fan.

This pen somehow reminds me of the Lamy Accent ballpoint, with its combination of interesting materials, sleek, modern design, and the silent click.

Majohn A2

I have a Pilot Capless, and quite like it, but always had my eye on the faceted vintage versions (which are unaffordable). Majohn came to the rescue recently with the A2, which really caught my eye in green.

I think it's a great pen with a feel of comfort, and unlike many Chinese pens I use, it's been very reliable, and great for jotting notes with its extra-fine nib, with decent smoothness for such a thin line. The only thing I don't like about it, is the top of the body near the clicker somehow looks "unfinished" and feels like it should have a metal cover. I also think the plastic body should be thicker somehow, because the strong click (which I love) allows you to feel that the body is relatively thin.

Comparison to the Pilot Capless/Vanishing Point

The main difference between the Majohn and the Pilot is the nib. The Pilot nib has a beautifully bouncy sort of feel to it, and writes very smooth but is more sensitive to the angle. The click mechanism also has a little less of the 'twist' feel to it when engaging. The Majohn has a more round nib that's rock hard and a lot more fine, but it's easier to use to jot quick notes at work.

Asvine V126

This is one body that's extremely thick with a feeling of high quality. I actually think it feels a lot sturdier and thicker than the Pilots which it resembles. It's another very reliable nib, and ultra smooth, even with reverse writing. I got it in a medium but would love to compare it to a fine. The vacuum filler worked great, and screwing in the endpiece blocks the ink from leaking, making it great for traveling. It's the best pen I've used from China, and one of the better fountain pens I've used, and the nib just glides across the page without feeling dead & lifeless (which I found was the case with my Hongdian nib).