Once You Pop the Ritma Don’t Stop
It’s not uncommon, as one gets in to pens, for the average price of the pens you buy to creep upwards over time. It makes sense, after all when you are just starting out you may not really know what you like, so investing a lot of money in an expensive pen is a much bigger gamble. It’s easy to miss out on a new budget priced pen, when you have your eyes on the higher end of the market, but it’s always worth looking from time to time, so you can find a gem like the Monteverde Ritma.
The Ritma is a new pen to market this year from Monteverde. Featuring both magnetic capping and posting, this pen makes an audible “pop” sound when you pull the cap off; it is really fun to just cap and uncap its while listening. Many magnetic pens suffer from a lack of air-tightness in their caps, with nibs that dry out quickly, but so far my experience with the Ritma has been that the tighter cap which creates the amusing sound keeps the number 6 Jowo nib wet and writing.
Speaking of nibs, the entire Ritma line comes with black nibs, which go well with their gunmetal cap and trim. Each pen has a matte finished colored barrel as well. The purple color that I’ve been using just released to the market last month, and it is a really beautiful shade. I also really like the red and turquoise colors. Rounding out the available options, the pen additionally comes in white, black, or blue. I’ve paired the purple pen with Monteverde’s Birthday Cake ink from their Sweet Life collection, and they make for a perfect match.
The pen has a substantial feel in the hand, and a good bit of heft to it. The walls of the barrel are nice and thick, and the magnets additionally lend some weight; as mentioned before in addition to the cap it also posts via magnets. This does not make the pen overly heavy, but you definitely notice that you are holding it.
The one downside I found in writing with this pen is that the section is relatively short. With my larger fingers I found myself holding the pen half on the section and half on the colored barrel. Still, with no cap threads, there is barely a step at all between the cap and the body, so this was not a dealbreaker for me.
The Ritma has an MSRP of $45, which puts it in a similar price range as other entry-level metal pens like the Lamy AL-Star. With its impressive magnets and vibrant colors, it would make for the perfect first fountain pen for new entrant to the hobby, or gift for a friend or loved one who you hope to entice into the world of fountain pens. It is also a solid addition to any current pen fan’s collection. Just make sure you don’t get distracted listening to it popping over and over and forget to actually use it to write.
Both the pen and ink above were provided by Yafa Brands at no charge for review purposes, as a part of their Yafa Brands Ambassador program.
