Pilot Metropolitan Pop Review and Giveaway!

Retro Pop Crimson Wave ('F' nib),  Retro Pop Marigold Flower ('F' nib), and Retro Pop Apple Green Marble ('F' nib)

The snazzy new look of the Pilot Metropolitan - Pop! An exquisite pen that combines color, comfort, and design all in one pen for an affordable pen. Available in Fine and Medium stainless steel nibs. The pen is available in 6 different styles/colors.

Before the Metro Pop's came out, I had the pleasure of writing with a Pilot Metropolitan in Taupe. The Fine nib Pilot Met is a very well built pen that is of medium weight. It looks and feels as thought it should cost $50 or more! Thankfully, it is no where near that in cost.

Comfortable to write with posted or unposted, this pen makes for a great daily user. You can use just about any ink in these pens. With that being said, I do want to put out a disclaimer: I would not suggest using any of the Diamine Glitter inks in these pens. The Diamine Shimmering Seas that I currently have in the Taupe Metro pictured above, has severely clogged the pen and feed to where it will not write. It did this immediately after filling it up with that ink. I was able to squeeze the converter and get some ink out, however it did not solve the problem for long.

The Pilot Metropolitan Pop Fine nib throws down a nice, smooth, consistent line; a line very similar to a Lamy Extra-Fine nib. These pens are fairly easy to clean and use and are great for the beginner fountain pen collector to the experienced enthusiast!They can be purchased for $15 at Pen Chalet (Free shipping on orders of $50 or more).

**And you could be the new owner of a brand new fountain pen!!** I will be giving away a New (of your choice) Pilot Metropolitan Pop Fountain pen. Details are below.

The Giveaway

This giveaway is for ONE Pilot Metropolitan Pop (Winner's choice of available nib sizes and colors). Winner chosen at Random via Rafflecopter. This giveaway is for U.S. residents only. Winner has 7 days after contest has ended to contact me in regards to prize and to provide shipping information. If winner does not contact within the time frame, a new winner will be chosen. To enter, see below: a Rafflecopter giveaway

To come: Diamine Magical Forest vs. J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor.

To feed your hunger for shimmering inks.....

Diamine Magical Forest vs. J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor

To come in the near future. A comparison review of the Diamine Shimmer inks with J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor.

Diamine Blue Lightning Shimmer Ink

With the Lamy Joy 1.1 Italic Nib.

Ink: Diamine Blue Lighting 

(From the Shimmer Collection)

Color(s): Blue

Pens Used: (1) Lamy Joy 1.1 nib &

 (2) Edison Noveau Fine Nib

Paper used: Tomoe River

What a lovely ink this is! Ever since trying the J. Herbin 1670 inks, I have become somewhat addicted to inks with glitter or shimmer. These Diamine Shimmer inks definitely have it! This is the second ink from the collection that I have tried.  However, as the specks of shimmer are not as large as they are with the J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor 1670 ink, this ink has a nice
"glitter" effect. We could compare the J. Herbin inks to the Diamine Shimmer inks, and maybe in a future review I will do that. But the can be summed up in a few words: Price, shimmer, quantity, wetness, ease of use.

So there is a review to look forward too....maybe in the very near future (hint, hint!). Okay, moving on....

With the Lamy Joy 1.1 italic nib.

I purchased a sample vial of this ink from Goulet Pens, about a week ago and inked up two diferent brand pens with two different nib sizes; a Lamy Joy 1.1 italic nib and the Edison Noveau with a Fine nib. In short, this ink performed very well in both pens. Here is what I noticed:

In the Lamy Joy 1.1 Nib:

• The ink seemed lighter in color and appeared (at first) to have less glitter.
• This changed after the ink dried, the glitter could be seen much more visibly!
• Wrote smoothly. 
• Great Flow
• Not a whole lot of shading, but enough to be more than just a plain Jane blue.

Ink in the Edison Noveau Fine Nib:

• The ink started out fairly dark.
• This could be due to the pen and how wet of a writer it may be. 
• The more I wrote with it, the lighter the ink got and started matching what the Lamy Joy was putting out. (See image below)
• Very smooth; and fairly wet.
• More shading than what the Lamy put out.
• Glitter was also more apparent at first, than it was with the Lamy.

For both pens, I noticed that this ink does not seem to clog the pens (at least not as much as the rivals from J. Herbin may. Experiences from pen to pen and nib sizes may differ in results).

Left: Edison Noveau Fine Nib.              Right: Lamy Joy 1.1 Italic Nib

As you can see from the above image, it appears that the Noveau with a Fine nib, produced much more shimmer than the Lamy Joy did. Granted, it did take longer for the glitter to appear when using the Lamy Joy. For myself, I am glad that the ink performs very well in a fine nib since that is what I tend to write with 98% of the time.

With the Edison Noveau Fine nib.

So let's talk price. The shimmer inks are a bit higher cost than the regular Diamine inks. For a 30 ml bottle of the "Normal" Diamine inks, you are looking at approximately $7.00. For an 80ml bottle of regular Diamine ink, it costs $15.00.

If you want a bottle (50ml only option currently) of Diamine Shimmer ink, it will cost $20.00 (penchalet.com)
In price comparison to J.Herbin inks (I know, I said I wouldn't!) it will cost you between $24.00 (at Penchalet) and $26.00 (at Goulet Pens) for a 50ml bottle. So somewhat cheaper!

With the Edison Noveau Fine nib.

With the Edison Noveau fine nib - right at first start up seems to be a bit darker. Lightens up with use.

I definitely look forward to adding a bottle of this ink to my collection! Don't forget to go over to Pen Chalet and check out some of the awesome deals they have on Pens and Ink! Free shipping on orders of $50 or more!

Enter PENJOURNALPASSION to receive an Additional 10% discount!

Other Similar Ink Links:

• Gourmet Pens reviews Diamine Blue Lightning$20.00