Pen Review- Nussbaum Nicholas

Nussbaum Nicholas in sapphire blue and a leather 6 pen case.



The Nussbaum is from isellpens.com (I paid $40). The only other option was the amethyst flake, but the trim on the cap and the top (finial?) of the Nicholas won.

It's an acrylic pen, with that characteristic pearlized shimmer. It looks significantly nicer in personi - the lighter areas, depending on the light, reflect back as a glittery medium to light blue. The finial (or whatever the top of the pen is) is straight (or a teeny bit off, which I think is my imagination), and the cap trip is a cool Grecian pattern on the silver band. It unscrews easily, although when you post it the cap doesn't post very securely. It's also a lighter weight acrylic than the Rosetta.

The nib is incredibly smooth - the smoothest I can recall trying (comparators - Pilot Metro, Jinhao, Goulet F and EF, Noodler's flex nibs). It starts easily (although I did have one slow start, as seen below), and lays down a wet line. Unfortunately, it's a wider nib than I like, so I will need to replace this one as well.

I have to compare it to the Rosetta pen - both are $40 acrylic fountain pens. The Rosetta "feels" of higher quality, but the nib was really dry/tight and required a lot of work. I still don't like the nib. I do love the pen's feel, the "innovative" cap that screws on to add more length than it might otherwise, and the overall feel. The Nussbaum is also elegant, although not quite as heavy and thus feels of lower quality to me (there's some external plastic as well, which the Rosetta lacks). The nib of the Nussbaum, on the other hand, writes very nicely and is smooth as anything I've tried. Plus, it comes with an Aston single pen sleeve (see next post). I'd swear that the Nussbaum nib is bigger, but it's 5 mm and looks smaller than the #6's so it may be a more flared #5 nib. I'll check with isellpens.com to see if they know the nib size.

The leather case is a style I liked more than the "book" ones for 6 pens. It's off of eBay, and is a very soft leather (tag says "Made In India"). I like it except that the leather is so soft that I struggle a bit to get the pen clips onto the leather, and the retaining strap is somewhat loose/floppy.

The Aston pen sleeve from isellpens.com that came with the Nussbaum is a much thicker, firmer leather (also nice). It feels like a higher quality sleeve. I may have to order an Aston 4 pen case in the future (I couldn't find a 6 pen Aston sleeve).

Very nice review and a very interesting pen! I'm looking forward to hearing your long-term impressions, particularly after you perform the nib swap.

Wonder form whom Todd sourced those pens. The first two NPC models were produced under the Piper brand from F-C.

sharp looking pen

As it turns out, the nib/feed is friction fit - I pulled the medium nib out, and replaced it with a Knox fine #5. It's now a fine point, acrylic fountain pen. It writes smoothly and lays down a nice, wet line. It doesn't start right away sometimes, which may well be my not having the nib seated properly. In retrospect, an all-silver nib might have looked more consistent than the 2 tone gold/silver nib, but hey . . . I like gold.

With the ability to swap nibs to your preference (and the #5's fit), I may have to order an Amethyst Flake or a John Ross in Tanzanite. Probably the Amethyst Flake. Assuming I need another pen, which I don't at this point.

I do wish that the cap posted more securely, though. My one real complaint . . .

Very shmick looking!