Both Jesi and Laura have already reviewed the Easterbrook Estie already but I was feeling left out so I wanted my chance to try this new incarnation of the Esterbrook brand. I was able to get an Esterbrook Estie Honeycomb with gold hardware and a medium nib.
I won’t talk much about the history of Esterbrook here since Jesi went into detail about it in her review or about the adapter available for the Estie which makes it possible to use vintage Esterbrook nibs with your modern Estie pen using a cartridge or converter since that’s also been covered.
One of the details that neither Jesi nor Laura mentioned was the packaging. It’s the same box that is used for the Phaeton 300R as well. The red fabric box has a sort of origami unfolding and cream interior that is inviting. It’s not as “pen coffin-y” as a lot of pen boxes. There is an elastic to hold the pen in place and it lays on a padded platform. The lid is foil stamped, in white, with the Esterbrook logo. After my comments regarding the Vertex packaging, the Esterbrook packaging is the perfect balance of protective without being “too much”. I’d always prefer boxes that can be completely recycled or can have legitimate second-use but that’s not always something that pen manufacturers are thinking about when planning their boxes. Maybe someday?
While I normally prefer silver hardware on my pens, with the warm golden tones on the Honeycomb, the gold hardware really works with the resin material creating a warm overall look.
The nib is a stock Jowo nib etched with the Esterbrook name and “1858”.
This really is a beautiful pen. I know I don’t have a ton to add about the aesthetics but the cracked, caramel resin is stunning to look at. I just kept taking pictures of this pen.
The true delight was the nib. (Ignore that I wrote “Fine” on my writing sample. It is definitely on the finer side of medium).
I haven’t used a medium Jowo nib before and it wrote beautifully. I really like it. And to be completely honest with you, I usually hate medium nibs. Both Bob and I have been picking up this pen and using it and commenting on how much we are enjoying it. That’s say A LOT. He usually writes with a fire hose and I usually write with a needle and we both like this pen and the nib. I usually like small pens and he likes oversized pens. To say that this is the perfect “in-between” sized pen that works well for larger hands and smaller hands might just jinx the magic.
To compare it to some other pens in my collection, left to right: Franklin-Christoph P45 (different model), Birmingham Pen Co. Model-A, the Esterbrook Estie (regular size), Sailor Pro Color (different model), and Pelikan M605. The Estie is a little bit longer than the ProColor but similar in width to the most of these models.
All of these pens post except the Model-A but the Estie gets a bit top heavy for me. The Estie is 6.875″ (175mm) posted which is really long for me. Uncapped, it’s only 5.25″(133mm) and capped it’s only 6″ (152mm) which is considerably more managable in hands that wear kid-sized gloves.
In terms of weight, the resin material keeps the pen light and easy to hold at only 26gms filled and capped and 17gms uncapped. You can see why this pen is so appealing.
Overall, if you have yet to consider an Esterbrook Estie, there are now several resin colors to choose from as well as the standard size and the oversize models. Being able to try out vintage nibs on the Estie (with the addition of the adapter, from Pen Chalet or Goldspot) makes this pen a no-brainer.
Tools:
- Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 18 with 7mm guide sheet
- Pen: Esterbrook Estie in Honeycomb with Gold Hardware (from Goldspot or Pen Chalet $156USD)
- Ink: stock blue cartridge included with pen
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Kenro Industries for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
Gorgeous. I recently purchased a Red Phaeton (m Nib – which I am very much enjoying) over at Anderson Pens and am still kicking myself that I didn’t also walk out with this exact pen!
I bought the same in a medium, the nib took a little coaxing as it barely wrote out of the box but I got it flowing decently well. It’s a beautiful pen. Do you know if it’s the same stock nib unit as used by Franklin-Christoph and Edison? The only info I can find about swapping the nibs is related to the vintage converter.