Review: Wancher Urushi Fountain Pen

 

I ordered the Wancher Urushi Dream Pen knowing full well that it would take 4 to 5 months to ship due to the kickstarter. Everyone that’s ever invested in kickstarter items knows that it’s months before you see the finished product. And yes sometimes those timelines are stretched. But I’ve never had one stretch out to a full year.

A YEAR!

By the time my pen actually shipped to me, this end of June, I wasn’t feeling very charitable towards it. I was seriously considering just recouping my money and calling it a loss.

Then the pen arrived, in this very unnecessarily large pretty wood box, and I figured that I really should give this pen a fair shot. Sure it took a year to get to me, sure they had to upgrade the nib from 14k to 18k due to the long wait. Sure my anger was starting to steam out of my ears every time Wancher said that it would be ready in two month, only to then tell me it would be another two month, and another two month, and another two months . . .

This pen better be prefect. That’s as much of a fair shot as I was willing to give it.

And for appearances sake, the pen is perfect. It’s beautiful. Truly a stunning piece of workmanship. The True Urushi Tamenuri really is perfection. The glossy dark red barrel is stunning. Just looking at the pen makes me drool.

But let’s be for real, no matter how beautiful a pen is, it’s the nib and how the pen writes that really matters. And that is where this pen, fails spectacularly.

I requested a broad 14K gold nib, which as I’ve said, they upgraded to 18k gold. But as far as I am concerned, it might as well not be broad at all.

If you write with this pen normally, with a very light to normal pressure on paper, it might as well be a fine nib with how thin the line is. And as far as I’m concerned that’s unacceptable.

But due to the flexible nature of the 18K gold they used, the nib does in fact flex quite a bit. Now as great as that is, and it is pretty great, it’s not what I ordered. Which is the reason I can’t give this pen any sort of passing grade. It’s a shitty nib that just happens to flex. (A writing sample of this flex is on my instagram for those who are curious)

If you’re looking for a beautiful Urushi pen, then this is it. But if you’re looking for a beautiful Urushi pen that also writes like the dream Wancher insists they’re selling you, then look elsewhere, cause this ain’t it.

Thank You For Reading!