I received my fine point Platinum Cool today, so I inked it up after cleaning and gave it a spin. Here goes -
It comes in a simple, cheap plastic box. Mine had both a converter and a cartridge. For some reason, the converter is gold-tone even though the rest of the pen is silver-tone. There is a Platinum silver-tone converter, but that would be $7.50 extra.
The pen itself is plastic, with a snap cap (one of the major reasons I bought it - a comfortable, well writing snap cap pen would be really useful for work). The fit and finish are good, roughly equivalent to a Pilot Prera. My understanding is that the Cool is a demonstrator version of the Balance, for those of you who prefer opaque pens. i personally like mine to be somewhat flashier.
It's a "standard size" pen, to my hand at least, and posts securely.
The pen itself uncaps easily, although recapping takes a slight amount of focus due to the plastic sleeve that is supposed to prevent drying out even if unused for a prolonged period of time. At least that's what I've read. The section where you hold the pen is smooth and comfortable, with a minimum of a step-off. The converter is a standard screw-action converter.
I soaped it up to remove any machine oil traces, rinsed it, dried it (quickly), and inked it with some Private Reserve's Black Magic Blue. It starts well, although it seems a bit dry. The nib itself is smooth, with a slight sense of the underlying paper. It has a very simple, smooth look that is oddly appealing to me.
The really interesting bit is the nib - with no pressure, it's a really thin, light line. With pressure, it widens and darkens considerably. In the picture below, the crosshatching from lower left to upper right is with minimal pressure. The crosshatching from upper left to lower right (or horizontal) is with significant pressure. It actually feels like it flexes a bit. I tried this on my Prera fine point and it didn't change at all.
Overall, it's a nice pen. I am wondering if I should have ordered a medium, as the way I write it's a REALLY thin, fine line that isn't as dark as I like. It feels good in my hand, and the nib flexibility is a very pleasant surprise. i can see myself ordering another in medium to compare. I wish that they had a snap cap with rose gold trim. This also makes me want a Platinum Century 3776 soft tip in blue/red or clear with rose gold trim. Or the koi-colored celluloid if i have money to burn!
Lastly, I threw in a few pics of a hand painted ink pen cup holder from ISellPens.com, as it was on sale and I love dragons. I hope that the pictures capture the detail of the painted graphics - it's pretty darn impressive! It comes with a cheap plastic insert to protect the painted images on the inside glass (which I like, as i wouldn't want any of the graphics to rub off). I really like it!
Pics from the Internet -
My pics -
It comes in a simple, cheap plastic box. Mine had both a converter and a cartridge. For some reason, the converter is gold-tone even though the rest of the pen is silver-tone. There is a Platinum silver-tone converter, but that would be $7.50 extra.
The pen itself is plastic, with a snap cap (one of the major reasons I bought it - a comfortable, well writing snap cap pen would be really useful for work). The fit and finish are good, roughly equivalent to a Pilot Prera. My understanding is that the Cool is a demonstrator version of the Balance, for those of you who prefer opaque pens. i personally like mine to be somewhat flashier.
It's a "standard size" pen, to my hand at least, and posts securely.The pen itself uncaps easily, although recapping takes a slight amount of focus due to the plastic sleeve that is supposed to prevent drying out even if unused for a prolonged period of time. At least that's what I've read. The section where you hold the pen is smooth and comfortable, with a minimum of a step-off. The converter is a standard screw-action converter.
I soaped it up to remove any machine oil traces, rinsed it, dried it (quickly), and inked it with some Private Reserve's Black Magic Blue. It starts well, although it seems a bit dry. The nib itself is smooth, with a slight sense of the underlying paper. It has a very simple, smooth look that is oddly appealing to me.
The really interesting bit is the nib - with no pressure, it's a really thin, light line. With pressure, it widens and darkens considerably. In the picture below, the crosshatching from lower left to upper right is with minimal pressure. The crosshatching from upper left to lower right (or horizontal) is with significant pressure. It actually feels like it flexes a bit. I tried this on my Prera fine point and it didn't change at all.
Overall, it's a nice pen. I am wondering if I should have ordered a medium, as the way I write it's a REALLY thin, fine line that isn't as dark as I like. It feels good in my hand, and the nib flexibility is a very pleasant surprise. i can see myself ordering another in medium to compare. I wish that they had a snap cap with rose gold trim. This also makes me want a Platinum Century 3776 soft tip in blue/red or clear with rose gold trim. Or the koi-colored celluloid if i have money to burn!
Lastly, I threw in a few pics of a hand painted ink pen cup holder from ISellPens.com, as it was on sale and I love dragons. I hope that the pictures capture the detail of the painted graphics - it's pretty darn impressive! It comes with a cheap plastic insert to protect the painted images on the inside glass (which I like, as i wouldn't want any of the graphics to rub off). I really like it!
Pics from the Internet -
My pics -
