Review: FPR Himalaya V2 Chrome Fountain Pen

And for my next trick, I will review a fountain pen from Fountain Pen Revolution!

At only £28 (unless you want an Ultra-Flex nib - that costs an extra £12) it is a good-looking acrylic pen reminiscent of the marbled patterns of Conway stewart and vintage Parkettes. I asked for a purple one, and methinks they delivered. The almost black shade of purple with lilac flashes is beautiful!

Shipping from the US to the UK was speedy. It has only been two weeks since it was sent, which is a very acceptable amount of time in my opinion.

It arrived in a little padded postage bag which fit through the letter box, and was nestled inside some protective wrapping.

My regular readers are now hiding behind the nearest available piece of furniture, waiting for me to explode due to the lack of a case or jewellery-type pen box.

I would, except I always say that if a pen is worth over £30 it should come in a box, tube, etc. This (minus the nib) is technically worth £28. True, it would have been nice if it came in a gift box but it was adequately wrapped and was not damaged in transit, so I am happy.

When I unwrapped the pen, the lovely marbled pattern, chrome clip, and matching band beneath it caught my eye. It is a very pretty combnation indeed, and while the pen feels light in my hand, it also feels well-made.

I unscrewed the cap to reveal the shiny, Ultra-Flex nib. It has some ornamental lines and 'FPR Flex' engraved into it. It is an attractive nib, and I tested the flex by pressing it against my finger. The tines do bend astonishingly, and spring back into place when you release the pressure on them.

Since I always disassemble pens when I recieve them, I unscrewed the barrel to get to the ink converter inside. It came apart easily so I could access the converter, which looks to have good ink capacity.

But a weird and rather unpleasant smell greeted me as I held the converter nearer to my face to get a good look. I touched the threads, and found them to be sticky. Hmm...

It seemed to be some kind of lubricant, as it was on all the threads, and inside the converter too. I wish they hadn't done that, because the grease inside caused air pockets that interrupted the flow of ink. See that bubble at the bottom? Never usually happens.

Also, it gave the black ink a yellow streak in it. Now that most of the stuff is gone, I'm not having these problems any more.

The moral of thee story is: if you want to lubricate a fountain pen, don't go insane when doing so, and use something unscented, colourless and not sticky, such as silicone grease.

Once I'd wiped off the gunk, I filled the pen with my go-to ink for testing, Black Pineider ink. Then I replaced the barrel, and posted the cap on the end of the pen. The cap posts well, It grips tightly to the barrel, and doesn't make it top-heavy either.

I decided to put the Ultra-Flex nib to the test with some cursive practice on a Tools To Liveby Hand Lettering Guide sheet.

As the nib glided effortlessly across the page, I was astonished at the line variation - Ultra-Flex is not an overstatement! It can go from a line similar to a fine or extra fine, all the way up to a broad line.

Due to the variation, lots of ink is released from the feed, making it a bit on the wet side. This, I think, goes for most flex nibs, and you'll be fine as long as you use fountain pen friendly paper. I would also avoid super wet inks!

For the calligraphers out there, this pen would be perfect. For a small price tag, I don't think you can get much better quality. I had expected scratchiness, but there is none at all. I was also afraid that the brand name might be carved everywhere, as is often the case with cheaper pens, but there is onl two pretty 'FPR' logos, on the band and the nib. As I feel that brand names spoil the look of a pen when repeated four or five times, this makes me happy.

All in all, I think this pen would be a very good choice for anybody looking to make their normal writing a bit more interesting, or for those who enjoy calligraphy. It is pleasant to use, and the acrylic barrel is beautiful. I like that you can take the clip off the pen if you want, and that the converter screws securely into the feed.

Fountain Pen Revolution have done a very good job and have produced a great product! After experiencing how well this one writes, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one in the future.

Disclaimer: The product in this review was provided by Fountain Pen Revolution for reviewing. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.