Taking advantage of an order I was placing anyways, I grabbed this one mainly since I wanted another color of Monteverde ink, and this pen came with a free bottle, cheaper than buying the ink by itself. Now, I do say mainly, since the clear demonstrator styles have started to grab my interest, as well as turning one into an eye dropper.
Right off, the packaging the pen comes in is pretty nice for a pen in this price range ($10-$15). A nice solid plastic case, foam inserts to hold the pen and included cartridges and the piston converter (another nice plus for a pen in this range).
The pen is pretty lightweight, as one would guess it to be. The fit and finish on it is very nice, also as one would expect since it bears the Monteverde name on it. Tho, more on that part later.
Starting with an included cartridge, the pen exhibited hard starts, and just generally dry flow. Doing a bit of investigation, I noticed the nib and feed weren't well aligned, so I tweaked the nib over to sit squarely on the feed. That did (so far) correct the hard start issues, which is something many complained about in the reviews I read. Simple enough fix, but probably not exactly a beginner thing to check and do. The feed is a clear plastic as well, which is very cool on a demonstrator style pen.
Once the flow issue was resolved, I really like the writing action of the medium nib. Very smooth, minimal feedback from the paper, and fairly wet lines. The section is smooth plastic, so some potential for fingers getting slick and slipping on it during a long writing session. Not an issue I run into, but some may.
The cap is a screw type, with a 1.25 rotation to unscrew. It posts solid and easily for writing, and since the whole pen is light, it doesn't change or throw off the balance at all to write with it posted. There is an O ring at the end of the section, that helps seal the nib portion into the cap when closed, to slow down any nib drying it may have from sitting capped, which is a cool feature I've not noticed on other pens. I'd call it a great idea, too bad others haven't done similar (assuming it works to do what it's designed to).
I have now converted the pen to an eyedropper, just coated the nib/feed section with some silicone grease and filled the pen body about 3/4 with ink. There are many reports of this pen leaking when converted, since the bottom of the body has a plug, and initial versions of this pen had a tendency to crack the body around the plug. Newer ones they seem to have fixed that, and I'm on 24 hours with it as an eyedropper and no leaking issues to be found.
So, onto the slight controversy and complaints I found when researching the viability of converting this to an eyedropper. It would appear that the Monza is basically a rebranded Jinhao 922, but with a Monteverde nib and feed (or at least not a Jinhao nib/feed). Comparing pictures of the two side by side, there is pretty much no difference in any aspect of them, other than the branding and clear feed the Monza has, vs the black feed on the Jinhao. Users that own both pens have mixed and matched parts between the two models, and everything fits seamlessly when doing so. The Jinhao 922 can be picked up for about $2 a piece. I do not have one, so I can't compare how well they write vs the Monza with the different nib/feed, though. If I had paid full price for the Monza, I would have been a little bummed to find out it was a $2 pen with a minor feed/nib upgrade, and packaging upgrade that they then were charging $15 for. With the pen being basically free while the bottle of ink deal is running, that part doesn't bother me now, but it is something others should be aware of before buying the pen without a really good deal on the price.
Pros: Writes well, nice looking demonstrator pen, comes with a converter, the plastic box packaging is resuable as a pen case for carrying a few pens.
Cons: Many reports of the nib/feed needing a bit of tweaking out of the box preventing it from being great for a true beginner. Many reports (although all older) of leaking issues when converting to eyedropper. Not the best value in pens at this pricepoint unless a really good deal is going on.
(yeah, still not great at pics.. but I have upgrade plans in the works)
Right off, the packaging the pen comes in is pretty nice for a pen in this price range ($10-$15). A nice solid plastic case, foam inserts to hold the pen and included cartridges and the piston converter (another nice plus for a pen in this range).
The pen is pretty lightweight, as one would guess it to be. The fit and finish on it is very nice, also as one would expect since it bears the Monteverde name on it. Tho, more on that part later.
Starting with an included cartridge, the pen exhibited hard starts, and just generally dry flow. Doing a bit of investigation, I noticed the nib and feed weren't well aligned, so I tweaked the nib over to sit squarely on the feed. That did (so far) correct the hard start issues, which is something many complained about in the reviews I read. Simple enough fix, but probably not exactly a beginner thing to check and do. The feed is a clear plastic as well, which is very cool on a demonstrator style pen.
Once the flow issue was resolved, I really like the writing action of the medium nib. Very smooth, minimal feedback from the paper, and fairly wet lines. The section is smooth plastic, so some potential for fingers getting slick and slipping on it during a long writing session. Not an issue I run into, but some may.
The cap is a screw type, with a 1.25 rotation to unscrew. It posts solid and easily for writing, and since the whole pen is light, it doesn't change or throw off the balance at all to write with it posted. There is an O ring at the end of the section, that helps seal the nib portion into the cap when closed, to slow down any nib drying it may have from sitting capped, which is a cool feature I've not noticed on other pens. I'd call it a great idea, too bad others haven't done similar (assuming it works to do what it's designed to).
I have now converted the pen to an eyedropper, just coated the nib/feed section with some silicone grease and filled the pen body about 3/4 with ink. There are many reports of this pen leaking when converted, since the bottom of the body has a plug, and initial versions of this pen had a tendency to crack the body around the plug. Newer ones they seem to have fixed that, and I'm on 24 hours with it as an eyedropper and no leaking issues to be found.
So, onto the slight controversy and complaints I found when researching the viability of converting this to an eyedropper. It would appear that the Monza is basically a rebranded Jinhao 922, but with a Monteverde nib and feed (or at least not a Jinhao nib/feed). Comparing pictures of the two side by side, there is pretty much no difference in any aspect of them, other than the branding and clear feed the Monza has, vs the black feed on the Jinhao. Users that own both pens have mixed and matched parts between the two models, and everything fits seamlessly when doing so. The Jinhao 922 can be picked up for about $2 a piece. I do not have one, so I can't compare how well they write vs the Monza with the different nib/feed, though. If I had paid full price for the Monza, I would have been a little bummed to find out it was a $2 pen with a minor feed/nib upgrade, and packaging upgrade that they then were charging $15 for. With the pen being basically free while the bottle of ink deal is running, that part doesn't bother me now, but it is something others should be aware of before buying the pen without a really good deal on the price.
Pros: Writes well, nice looking demonstrator pen, comes with a converter, the plastic box packaging is resuable as a pen case for carrying a few pens.
Cons: Many reports of the nib/feed needing a bit of tweaking out of the box preventing it from being great for a true beginner. Many reports (although all older) of leaking issues when converting to eyedropper. Not the best value in pens at this pricepoint unless a really good deal is going on.
(yeah, still not great at pics.. but I have upgrade plans in the works)
