This is my first pen review. I'll cover what I've experienced as best as I can.
Diplomat pens seem to be in the "other" category when you discuss German fountain pens. Everyone knows Pelikan and Lamy, but Diplomat? It turns out they have a decent history. They've been in business as a mom-and-pop, family-owned shop in Germany since 1922. There aren't a whole lot of reviews out there for the pens, but every one seems to be pretty good.
I entered a phase where I wanted a couple of cheap pens that I can throw in my bag without having to worry about them being scratched up too badly. I ordered this pen as one of them because the reviews of the company were good and I found what I thought was a good-enough price point on this one.
Price: I bought it as a BIN item from pensboutique on eBay for $25 shipped. They're easy to find; search for "Diplomat fountain pen" and plenty of pens will come up with this seller. The seller has excellent reviews on eBay and they answered my questions in a timely manner. They have fine, medium and broad; I picked up a fine nib.
Packaging: The pen arrived in a nicely-done plastic box. However, it became apparent to me that I wasn't getting the experience that their more expensive pens deliver. For a $25 pen I'm perfectly okay with this. I would be livid if this was their packaging for one of their $80 pens based on other reviews, unless it was specifically marked OEM or something similar.
Pen Materials/appearance: ABS Plastic (I think), except a light coated metal for the nib, the clip, and perhaps the band holding the clip to the cap. There is a hard clear plastic piece that allows you to see "Diplomat Made in Germany" on the cap end. My pen is a matte black color.
Unlike the Lamy Safari, this pen does not have interchangeable nibs. You're stuck with the nib that came with it, and I'm not sure that you can swap out any nib into this pen. I don't mind this for an inexpensive pen. The nib looks to be a #5 size if you are interested.
The pen has a pair of ink windows that are just cut-out sections of the pen body; they're well done but you can definitely put things in the window. There is no issue with the writing experience as the windows are on the top and bottom of the body as you write.
Ink/Converter: The pen takes international cartridges and the standard international converter. I used the one from my Edison Beaumont to test fit, and it works perfectly. The pen does not come with a converter (so add $5 or so if you need one), but a single cartridge (international short) is included within the pen. It looks to me like the ink cartridge is J. Herbin Eclat de Saphir, which if that's the case is a pretty decent ink. The eBay vendor sells a Diplomat-branded 30ml bottle of ink for $10, but they didn't know who makes the ink. I'm assuming that the ink is a private-label situation.
Dimensions: About 5-1/4" capped, 4-7/8" uncapped, nearly 6" posted. The pen cap weighs about 7 grams and the pen with the included cartridge and without the cap weighs 6 grams. The pen appears to be a smidgen narrower than the Pilot 78G but a hair thicker than the B&B Essential Pen, especially in the section.
Pen feel in the hand: There's no doubt about it; most people will think this is a competitor to the Lamy Safari. The section is shaped like the Lamy Safari with flat sections, but they are much narrower. While I was slightly annoyed by the Safari's section shape, I didn't mind how Diplomat proceeded with this one because the section is narrower and the flat surfaces are narrower as well. I only saw one place where the plastic moulding process was evident, but it's a single dot at the back-end of the pen; nobody's going to notice that unless you're intentionally looking for it or if you're an engineer. I can see where the clip body was attached to the ring, but again that's not going to be something completely distracting especially for the pen price.
This pen feels back-heavy when posted. Un-posted the pen feels okay but it is very light. The pen doesn't feel as cheap as a Pilot 78G; I'd probably say it's closer to a matte Safari. The cap fits onto the pen with a secure if light "click". The clip is moderately sturdy, but I wouldn't go about playing with it too much.
Generally speaking, the build quality is appropriate and commiserate with a mostly plastic $25 pen.
Writing Experience: Given that it's a light pen, it writes pretty well. The nib puts down a good line of ink using the included cartridge. I would classify it as being slightly dry but with a good German fine nib width. I'm not sure if this is a pen to write really fast with, since it does write dry, but the feed had no issues keeping up with my writing speed.
I've left the pen capped for a week or more and it started right up when I needed it to.
My only complaint is that the nib has an area where it writes scratchy; perhaps I need to take a paper bag to it to smooth the nib out. I would expect that to smoothen out over time, but if not I think any standard way to adjust the nib would be fine as long as you are mindful about the process.
Overall: Not a bad pen for the price. If people have issues (design or otherwise) with the Safari and want to try a similarly priced pen without requiring interchangeable nibs, I don't think you'll go wrong by suggesting this one. It'll be in the bag for traveling or with me when I don't want to take an expensive pen. For $25 shipped I feel pretty happy with this, though I wish it was packaged with a converter.
As utilitarian and "boring" this pen (and brand) might be to some, it has me thinking about picking up another pen in the Diplomat line sometime in the future. I do wish the brand was more accessible in the US to try out.
Pics and writing sample to come shortly.
Diplomat pens seem to be in the "other" category when you discuss German fountain pens. Everyone knows Pelikan and Lamy, but Diplomat? It turns out they have a decent history. They've been in business as a mom-and-pop, family-owned shop in Germany since 1922. There aren't a whole lot of reviews out there for the pens, but every one seems to be pretty good.
I entered a phase where I wanted a couple of cheap pens that I can throw in my bag without having to worry about them being scratched up too badly. I ordered this pen as one of them because the reviews of the company were good and I found what I thought was a good-enough price point on this one.
Price: I bought it as a BIN item from pensboutique on eBay for $25 shipped. They're easy to find; search for "Diplomat fountain pen" and plenty of pens will come up with this seller. The seller has excellent reviews on eBay and they answered my questions in a timely manner. They have fine, medium and broad; I picked up a fine nib.
Packaging: The pen arrived in a nicely-done plastic box. However, it became apparent to me that I wasn't getting the experience that their more expensive pens deliver. For a $25 pen I'm perfectly okay with this. I would be livid if this was their packaging for one of their $80 pens based on other reviews, unless it was specifically marked OEM or something similar.
Pen Materials/appearance: ABS Plastic (I think), except a light coated metal for the nib, the clip, and perhaps the band holding the clip to the cap. There is a hard clear plastic piece that allows you to see "Diplomat Made in Germany" on the cap end. My pen is a matte black color.
Unlike the Lamy Safari, this pen does not have interchangeable nibs. You're stuck with the nib that came with it, and I'm not sure that you can swap out any nib into this pen. I don't mind this for an inexpensive pen. The nib looks to be a #5 size if you are interested.
The pen has a pair of ink windows that are just cut-out sections of the pen body; they're well done but you can definitely put things in the window. There is no issue with the writing experience as the windows are on the top and bottom of the body as you write.
Ink/Converter: The pen takes international cartridges and the standard international converter. I used the one from my Edison Beaumont to test fit, and it works perfectly. The pen does not come with a converter (so add $5 or so if you need one), but a single cartridge (international short) is included within the pen. It looks to me like the ink cartridge is J. Herbin Eclat de Saphir, which if that's the case is a pretty decent ink. The eBay vendor sells a Diplomat-branded 30ml bottle of ink for $10, but they didn't know who makes the ink. I'm assuming that the ink is a private-label situation.
Dimensions: About 5-1/4" capped, 4-7/8" uncapped, nearly 6" posted. The pen cap weighs about 7 grams and the pen with the included cartridge and without the cap weighs 6 grams. The pen appears to be a smidgen narrower than the Pilot 78G but a hair thicker than the B&B Essential Pen, especially in the section.
Pen feel in the hand: There's no doubt about it; most people will think this is a competitor to the Lamy Safari. The section is shaped like the Lamy Safari with flat sections, but they are much narrower. While I was slightly annoyed by the Safari's section shape, I didn't mind how Diplomat proceeded with this one because the section is narrower and the flat surfaces are narrower as well. I only saw one place where the plastic moulding process was evident, but it's a single dot at the back-end of the pen; nobody's going to notice that unless you're intentionally looking for it or if you're an engineer. I can see where the clip body was attached to the ring, but again that's not going to be something completely distracting especially for the pen price.
This pen feels back-heavy when posted. Un-posted the pen feels okay but it is very light. The pen doesn't feel as cheap as a Pilot 78G; I'd probably say it's closer to a matte Safari. The cap fits onto the pen with a secure if light "click". The clip is moderately sturdy, but I wouldn't go about playing with it too much.
Generally speaking, the build quality is appropriate and commiserate with a mostly plastic $25 pen.
Writing Experience: Given that it's a light pen, it writes pretty well. The nib puts down a good line of ink using the included cartridge. I would classify it as being slightly dry but with a good German fine nib width. I'm not sure if this is a pen to write really fast with, since it does write dry, but the feed had no issues keeping up with my writing speed.
I've left the pen capped for a week or more and it started right up when I needed it to.
My only complaint is that the nib has an area where it writes scratchy; perhaps I need to take a paper bag to it to smooth the nib out. I would expect that to smoothen out over time, but if not I think any standard way to adjust the nib would be fine as long as you are mindful about the process.
Overall: Not a bad pen for the price. If people have issues (design or otherwise) with the Safari and want to try a similarly priced pen without requiring interchangeable nibs, I don't think you'll go wrong by suggesting this one. It'll be in the bag for traveling or with me when I don't want to take an expensive pen. For $25 shipped I feel pretty happy with this, though I wish it was packaged with a converter.
As utilitarian and "boring" this pen (and brand) might be to some, it has me thinking about picking up another pen in the Diplomat line sometime in the future. I do wish the brand was more accessible in the US to try out.
Pics and writing sample to come shortly.
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