The Pilot Custom 912 Waverly ($224) is a most unusual fountain pen. And its not unsual for its exterior. From the outside, it looks like what the Brits might call a “saloon car”. Not in a bad way. It’s an upscale 4-door black sedan in the nicest possible way but no one would look at the outside of this pen and ogle. It’s understated and refined. It has simple silver hardware withe very little ornamentation or flash. It’s not fancy.
When the cap is removed, you see beautiful etching on the 14K gold nib, a razor fine point and the letter “WA” etched on the nib. “WA”?
When turned to the side is when you see, this is not ordinary nib. Did it get dropped? Nope. It is meant to be bent at an angle like this with the tip flared up ever so slightly. According to Pen-Info.jp, it is designed this way to allow any writer to write at any angle. For a left-hander, this means that some of the issues that can sometimes confound a left handed writer with softer gold nibs, extra fine nibs or writing overhanded or at odd angles, can be avoided with a nib like this.
So, do my writing results prove it? Indeed they do. I have been writing consistently with the 912 since before Christmas (Merry Christmas to me!) and the pen performs flawlessly. My previous experience with a Pilot Custom 74 F was not as successful partially because of the softness of the nib and the angle of my writing. This is clearly a vast improvement. Do I wish I could put the beautiful nib in a sports car package? Yes. But I’m okay driving around in the saloon car sometimes too.
Check out fellow lefty and Desk-contributor Tina Koyama’s review of the Custom 912 Waverly as well.
Included an affiliate link but I purchased this pen with my own money and all opinions are my own.
Congrats on a pen that works for you ! Looks like a reason to mod some of those inexpensive import pens 🙂
They do offer the WA nib in other pens–but you may have to purchase Japanese Market pens from dealers on eBay.
It didn’t even occur to me that this nib would be great for lefties — no wonder we both like it! 😉
Tina
I just ordered one. I’m a lefty and I don’t love my Pilot Custom 74 EF nib. I think this one looks fantastic and I’m giving it a shot. Thanks for the review!
I previously bought a Pilot 912 Stub. Tried it, but could not warm up to it. The stub was kind of clunky. Not sure how to describe it, but it didn’t give me a great stub experience. It felt like the edge of the stub was too far back from the front edge of the nib, if that makes any sense. I was perfectly willing to accept a “saloon car” design if it was a great writer, but unfortunately, it wasn’t.
In addition to that, I have very small hands, and this is a very large pen. However, in spite of the large, clunky design, I would’ve kept it if it had been a fantastic writer. It just wasn’t for me.
That ink is really cool. The nib is interesting too, but to me, the ink steals the show on this post!
I have a rather unusual Pilot with one of these Waverley nibs. It’s in a red urushi Custom 845 from Tokyo Pen Shop Quill, and it’s a size 15 nib instead of the 10 you see in the Custom 912. AFAIK, Tokyo Pen Shop Quill is the only source for this pen, and it’s very difficult to get even from them, so I feel very fortunate to have one. The Waverley nib is very nice, and i enjoy writing with it as a left-handed underwriter. The width of the nib and the smoothness are similar to what you get with a Montblanc 146 fine. I have had mine inked up with Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu-kusa, which makes for a nice contrast with the red urushi. Thanks for the wonderful review!
I am a lefty with many fountain pens but still questing for perfection. I had looked at multiple reviews of this Pilot but most were about the Falcon (FA) nib and from writers who had, shall we say, a different approach to writing. I am deeply grateful for your review and the link to fellow southpaw, Tina. I will be making a purchase soon.