The Well-Appointed Desk

Do not adjust your monitor… the Monteverde Neon Pink Intima Fountain Pen and Ballpoint Set (Special Sale Price $52) are really this bright! I have previously reviewed the Neon Green version of the fountain pen and it was priced so that this deal is basically like getting the ballpoint for free. Also, while the neon green was bright, it was not nearly as eye-popping as the pink. Just saying. This color is definitely brighting my dreary February days!

Fountain Pen tech specs:
Length: capped is 5.25″
Posted: 6.375″
Unposted: 4.675″

The fountain pen comes with a converter which is excellent for the inky-inclined but the pen does take standard European cartridges if you prefer. I forgot to weigh the pen but its plastic with metal hardware so it is pretty lightweight but well-balanced.

This was my first experience with the ballpoint design. Its a twist mechanism to reveal the pen tip. While I found the clip to be placed a bit low if I didn’t get the pen placed in my hand “just so” it would poke in my hand, I did find myself grabbing for it often to quickly dash off a quick note, add an item to a list or add a to-do on my calendar. Despite my little fuss about the clip, the slightly bulbous shape was pleasing in the hand and the color is cheerful and fun.

I’ve included a visual size comparison of the Intima fountain pen with some commonly used pens above that you might be more familiar with to help place the Intima in your fountain pen cannon. Lengthwise, its about the same as the Pilot Metropolitan but widthwise, its more similar to a Lamy Safari or AL-Star. From a price standpoint, its definitely a step up from the pens shown but is not a +$100 fountain pen. It certainly looks a bit “fancier” than the other pens here though.

The material is shimmery and it will catch the light to show some interesting sparkly details. I tried to photograph it to show some of the details in my particular model below. The white is where it is catching the light.

Ignore my written header! This is the Monteverde Intima Fountain Pen and Ballpoint Set.

The 1.1mm nib on the fountain pen performed fairly similarly to my previous experience with the neon green Intima but it wasn’t until I started using it that I remembered I’d had one in the past. My almost-8-years of pen reviewing is starting to affect my memory! I knew I have an Prima with a fine nib… anyway… clearly, my nib preferences remain consistent. I tend to like either razor fine or 1.1mm and get similar results. I did notice that the Monteverde nib was a little dry. It may be this particular nib or the nib/ink combination as I haven’t had a chance to try a different ink with this pen. I did test the pen in my right hand, to see if angling it differently would have better results. It did seem to flow a bit better so there may be a slight misalignment to the tines that 75%-90% of the world would not have noticed. It hasn’t affected the overall performance, its just not as wet as some other 1.1mm nib I’ve used. Alternately, you’ll notice I did NOT manage to smear any ink this time so I should probably not be complaining.

I swapped out the ballpoint refill with a Monteverde Ceramic Rollerball refill ($8 for two refills) that fits into pen since it accepts any standard Parker-style refills. Oh, that pink color! I did discover that the ballpoint had a little feedback in the refill — it jiggled around a little bit. So, I added an extra spring to the refill. I swiped one out of a retractable pen I had laying around and stacked it on top of the one that was in the pen. The two-spring stack added stability to the refill in the pen barrel so that it didn’t shimmy around anymore and gave me a much better writing experience. Voila!

I used one of the new Monteverde inks: Purple Mist which comes in a 30ml bottle ($8). I like the size of the bottle — its one of those nice in-between sizes, not so big that I feel like I’ll never use it all up but not so small that I feel like I bought another itty bitty precious sample. And at $8, its not a break-the-bank purchase either. Anyway, about the color… its a bit lighter wet than I had expected but it dries darker. So, if you decide to try it, definitely give it time to dry before making your final decision. The color is more of a reddish purple when wet and, as it dries, the violet blue becomes more apparent. Which is interesting. It shades and I feel like I noticed some sheen as I used it but maybe I was willing it to sheen. The jury is still out there. At $8 per bottle, it might be worth adding a bottle of the Purple Mist, or your favorite color on to your next order to try out one of Monteverde’s new colors. Let me know what you think.

My conclusion is that if you are looking for a chance to get a little fancier than a Kaweco Sport or Lamy Safari but are not quite ready to go into the over-$100 fountain pens just yet, this Monteverde Set might be a nice gateway. If you love pink, it doesn’t get pinker than this either.

The good news is that Pen Boutique wants to spread the Valentine’s Day Neon Pink Monteverde Love to one lucky reader.

The Giveaway:

The winner of the giveaway will receive Monteverde Prima Neon Pink fountain pen and ballpoint set and can select one (1) bottle of the new 30ml Monteverde inks, compliments of Pen Boutique.

To enter:

Please leave one (1) message in the comment sending some love out into the world. Are you taking your mom out for Valentine’s Day? Doing something nice for your significant other? Serving food to Meal on Wheels? Leave your love in the comments to be entered to win. No love, no entry. Those are the rules. I can disqualify anyone who does not play by the rules.

The Fine Print:

All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Saturday, February 11, 2017. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Sunday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 10 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping is at the discretion of Pen Boutique. US residents only.

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DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Pen Boutique for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.