TWSBI Diamond 580 AL - Orange

My first TWSBI pen! It is about time! And to be honest, I like what I have experienced so far… Now onto the review.

Brand: TWSBI

Model: Diamond 580 AL

Nib: Fine

Color: Demonstrator & Orange

Material: Resin and Aluminum body parts

Cost: $60.00 (TWSBI website)

It took me forever to finally purchase this pen. I read some good reviews on the TWSBI pens, and some bad ones - mainly about the nibs. I dillied and dallied, and would get on the verge of wanting the pen, and then something else turned me away. I finally came to the conclusion that most people who have GREAT experiences with items, often do not write reviews. However, when a person has a fairly negative experience with an item or service, they are not slow to throw it all over social media and write negative reviews. So thus, I jumped on the item.  And boy what an experience it has been.

A little bit about the pen:

• Comfortable to hold

• Nice size ( about the same length - capped - as a Lamy Safari, however it is a tad bit wider than a Safari)

• Weight - Heavier than a Lamy Safari, just a tad bit heavier than  Conklin Duragraph, and about the same weight as a Lamy Studio.

• Feels very durable; thus I am not too fearful of dropping it

• Disassembles ( and re-assembles) VERY easily for easy and fast cleaning 

• Fairly smooth writer. Not butter, but pretty close. 

• Nib has some flex to it, which is nice

• It is a 7 on the scale for wetness performance (from 1 being dry to 10 being very wet)

• A very tiny bit of scratch to it depending on the type of paper you are using. Piccadilly paper is fairly absorbent so thus this pen produces a thicker line and is a tiny bit scratchy on this paper, where as Clairefontaine gets a thinner lines and much smoother performance.

Looks HORRIBLE posted! Actually, it doesn't really post well....period.

Yea, this pen does NOT post. You can try, it might stay on for a few moments. However, then the pen becomes completely imbalanced and is horrible to write with (way too long!). So I suggest just keeping the cap close by.

Cap is smokey colored... Not exactly sure why

As you can see, the cap is kind of gray or smokey colored. Not exactly sure why, as it sort of hides the nib while it is capped. Then there is one other thing that I noticed about the pen. I am not sure if this was just manufacturer error, bad quality assurance, or just maybe a trademark? Below you will see what I am talking about.

Arrow - pointing towards what looks to be a streak of orange paint on the resin part

So my only really negative complaint about this is pictured above (see arrow). It appears to be a paint streak on the resin part of the converter nob - which is not seen anywhere else and only there. As you can see, the mark is not even and looks like it might have been an error. Now I know that TWSBI was having some QA issues a while back with other TWSBI pens of theirs - cracks in the caps or other areas of the pen...and these were brand new never inked pens. My understanding is that the issue was fixed. Not sure what this one is. But it is not enough to make me want to return the pen for a new one, as it does not seem to affect how the pen works or operates. Just looks funny. More character to the pen I suppose.

 So if you are looking for a nice, sturdy, and affordable daily writer fountain pen, then this pen is a great canidate!

 From Around the Web:

•  Another Review - from Pen.Paper.Ink.Letter on a TWSBI Diamond 580AL

Via: Goulet Pens