Pen: TWSBI Diamond 540 Fountain Pen Review
Nib: Medium Franklin Christoph Nib
Ink: Noodler’s Tiananmen Red
Paper: Whitelines Graph
Scroll down for the handwritten review…
The TWSBI Diamond 540, a well built very affordable piston filler.
The ink window takes up about a quarter of the pen, proudly displaying whatever ink you choose.
The Noodler’s Tiananmen looks great sloshing around.
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I’ve got the 540 and the 700, and the 540’s nib (I think mine is of the newer variety) is pretty solid, now. The 700 is way too dry for me, though, so I’ve changed it to a Knox nib and it’s much better. I haven’t tried the Mini yet, but I think TWSBI will be stellar when they get the nibs figured out.
Good to hear that they got their act together. When I got my 540, it needed all sorts of adjusting to even get it to write without skipping. It was pretty dry, and very frustrating to have a new pen not write so right. I believe they switched suppliers from Schmidt to Bock, and people are liking them better.
I really wanted a VAC700 when they came out, but something about the TWSBI nibs kept me away from them. I’d like to save up and get a Pilot Custom 823 vac fill, where I know the nib is going to be great. I’m going to look into finding a few replacement nibs just to try out.
Also, your blog has a lot of good info, I’m going to throw a link up in my links section for you!
You know what’s weird? I didn’t get an email notification that you’d replied to me in November, but I got an email notification that you replied to another dude today. Weird.
I’m a little hesitant about TWSBI nibs. I like the nib on my 540, but the old nib that I had on my 700 was terrible. I’ve heard only good things about the nibs on the Mini, and I’ve heard almost nothing about the nibs on the Micarta. The reason that I have two TWSBI pens (and I’ll probably buy more) is that the company (Philip, really) is so willing to make it right. There have been some problems with TWSBI pens, but they have always responded in what I think is the right way. For example, Philip Wang adjusted my 700 nib for me for free through the mail and then replaced it quickly and for free a few weeks ago when the new nibs came out and I still wasn’t happy with mine. That’s the stuff that makes me a customer.
So, Breck, pull the trigger on a TWSBI if you want to. They’re generally good pens from a company run by a guy who loves pens and takes care of the community.
Weird, I have no idea why that would have happened. I guess I can chalk it up to WordPress not being perfect.
I agree with you though, I don’t think Breck should completely write TWSBI off. Their customer service really is top notch, and especially for their low prices, there isn’t much out there that comes close to what they offer at those prices. I emailed them regarding a replacement section, and they sent two of them. They were in my mailbox pretty quickly too.
I’m betting they added that metal ring to the section on the Diamond 580 like they did with the VAC700. I’m also curious if they’ve changed plastics or the manufacturing process to do something about the crackability of the old ones.
Thanks for your review. You saved me from buying one of these TWSBIs. I really cannot stand a pen that costs $50 not writing well as it comes. There are much cheaper pens from older established makers that do not write this dry at the outset. And the cracked section. Jeez!
People still love them though. I know they’re coming out with a Diamond 580 that addresses the problems. I’m interested to see if that performs better out of the box.
I still like mine, and it’s a young company trying to work out the kinks. I just think they should have done some more engineering before releasing something to the public.