Etelburg r.feather fountain pen system

Gábor Megyeri, who has designed pens for Montblanc and Montegrappa, founded Etelburg in 2015. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to provide my thoughts and opinions about fountain pens and the pen industry to the Etelburg company as they were designing a new pen and pen system. Fast forward to today when the pen and system are in production and making a splash in the pen world. Kenro Industries is the U.S. importer for Etelburg and they asked me if I would like to review the finished product. I jumped at the chance and have been playing with… I mean reviewing the r.feather pen system for the past few months. According to the Etelburg website, “r.feather is connected to both the analog and digital worlds at several points and levels. The basic functions of writing and drawing represent the millennial past and the values ​​created during that time. The method and process of mixing inks intertwines the past and the future. The designed multi-functional r.feather digital ballast incorporates this special writing instrument into the digitized world of the present and the future.” Thanks go out to Kenro and Etelburg for lending me this amazing pen, if you would like to get one of your own, please check out Kenro’s website or Etelburg’s for more info.

Packaging: The box comes with a plain outer white sleeve. The inside box has a rainbow-colored feather on the lid with “r feather” printed in white. The Etelburg logo with a rainbow line is on two sides of the box and “Etelburg” and the company logo are on the other two sides. Inside the box, is two grey foam inserts with cutouts holding: two magnetic pen rests, five glass ink cartridges, the pen body, clip, desk pen body, and a manual. Under these two inserts is a wrench, the rollerball adapter, cartridge adapters, and long Allen wrench.

First Thoughts: The whole package is very impressive, well thought out, and clearly designed as a pen for tinkerers that like to customize their pens.

Design: The r.feather is made from Certal, which is a high-strength aerospace aluminum. The model I received came with a polished red finish which I like to call the “Iron Man” finish. The cap finial has the Etelburg logo engraved in dark grey and sits atop a small cap. The cap unscrews to reveal a very short section which is essentially just cap threads, so you hold the pen on the barrel instead of a section. The barrel has deep fluted cuts on three sides which allow you to easily see the ink cartridge inside and the ink level. I always prefer to be able to see the ink level in my pens, so this is a huge design win for me. Behind the fluting there is a barrel ring with “Etelburg” engraved in grey and a small gap where the end finial, which has a spring that holds the ink cartridge in place, screws into the body. In addition, the end finial has a three-sided design that mirrors the fluting on the barrel. This pen system gives you the option to set up the pen as a regular style fountain pen, or you can add a long-tapered end finial which makes it look like a desk pen. The desk pen finial has an adjustable weight in it as well so you can adjust where the weight sits so it balances perfectly in your hand.

Nib Performance: The nib is set back partially into the body which helps with the streamlined look. It is a stainless-steel medium Schmidt nib, which performed beautifully right out of the box and laid down a perfect line that was not too wet and not too dry. There is decorative scrollwork engraved on the tines, “M” for medium, and “Schmidt.” I normally have a preferred ink that I use to test all pens, but Etelburg has made their own inhouse inks to go with their pens, so I had to give these a try. It came with a dark blue, light blue, black, pink, and a red orange. Where most pens only include a black or blue cartridge, it was a pleasant surprise to get five different colors to choose from.

Filling System: Etelburg rethought the entire pen system and created their own inks and proprietary ink cartridges for their pens. The pens use glass ink cartridges and use the included adapter to fit into the pen. I like the use of glass cartridges as they are refillable, and I feel that these are better for the environment compared to the traditional plastic throwaway cartridges. I hope they bottle and sell their inks in the future.

Value: The pen has a U.S. retail price of $1,299

Overall: This pen is an engineer’s dream! You can adjust so many aspects of this pen and can customize it to exactly what you want in a pen. If you want a clip, add it. Do not want to carry it around with you? Replace the end finial with the desk pen body. The included inks are beautiful and vibrant and add that little extra to the pen package. While it is a bit pricey, I think that this pen is worth every penny. The entire experience is thought out start to finish and Etelburg has created a totally unique product that is like nothing else on the market.

Specs:

Name: r.feather

Design: Certal- High strength aerospace aluminum.

Length:  139.7mm (5.5in)

Posted: does not post

Diameter: 12mm (0.47in)

Weight: 40g (1.41oz)

Nib: Stainless steel Schmidt

Filling System: Proprietary glass cartridge.

Pros: Amazing and comprehensive pen system, completely customizable, truly unique and great writer, environmentally conscious glass cartridges.

Cons: A bit pricey, steel nib instead of gold, and unique cartridge system.

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