Review: @PenChalet Conklin Glider Ivory Fountain Pen - Stub

Here's another Conklin review! This resembles the Conklin Endura in size and shape, so let's see how this stub nib holds up!

ABOUT

Body Material: Resin
Trim: Rose-gold
Length (capped): 5.5"
Length (uncapped nib-end): 4.75"
Length (posted): 6.6"
Barrel Diameter: 0.56"
Section Diameter: 0.43" - 0.47"
Nib material: Iridium
Weight: 0.9 oz
Fill type: Cartridge/Converter
Price: $135.00USD Current Sale: $67.50USD
Where to buy: Pen Chalet
Coupon Code: Use "gourmetpens" at Pen Chalet for a 10% discount on any pen until the end of the year!

PACKAGING

The Conklin Glider was packaged in common Conklin packaging - a large blue hard case, with the pen nestled in a ruffled white satin bed that looks a bit like a casket - elegant and attractive, though morbid. I don't consider this box to be anything special though. There isn't much storage space, so I dispose of it. There were a pack of cartridges and a converter, but I immediately went for the converter of course.

APPEARANCE

The Glider is a good-sized pen, with blunt ends, a creamy ivory resin body, and rose coloured trim - both center band and clip. Like the Endura, the clip on the Glider extends quite far from the body on a spring. I don't like how far it protrudes, personally, but it is a very functional clip.

It looks like the coating is rippled a little - a chased effect.

The center band is slim and a little rounded. The body has a chased texture that resembles chased hard rubber vintage pens. In this case, it looks quite nice on the ivory finish, and appears to be attractive on the other colours as well (particularly the coral!). The top of the pen has the Conklin badge, which is cute.

What I find most interesting about the appearance of this Glider is that it resembles my vintage Conklin SS!

NIB & PERFORMANCE

The nib matches the size of the pen quite well, as with the Endura. It is a single tone nib that is quite simple. I think it would have been nicer with rose gold plating as it would have matched the trim of the body better.

The stub nib writes smoothly and is not scratchy, which I did find pleasing, therefore in terms of its smoothness, this nib met my expectations. However, I kept writing and found the nib ran dry. The nib tines were very tight so a little bit of tweaking fixed this and the pen wrote better - wetter, but not gushing. Before being adjusted, flow was so dry that even on Rhodia, ink would dry within five seconds. There is no flex or spring to this nib, though there is line variation already as it is a stub nib.

IN HAND

Having written with the Conklin Endura before, I was not expecting this pen to be heavy, and it isn't very heavy. It's quite comfortable to write with unposted. I don't find it spectacular to hold or use though. It doesn't warm to the touch or have any outstanding features that make me drool over it when I hold it. It isn't a bad pen to write with though, it just didn't "capture" me. 

PROS & CONS

OVERALL

The price of this Conklin Glider surprises me - it's quite expensive, given what else you can get around the same price range. If you can find it on sale, it's pretty decent, but I would recommend adjusting the stub nib yourself to open up the flow a little (which is very easy to do, but you have to be willing to do it!). If you can adjust the nib, it writes quite nicely and is a great nib size. Don't forget it's very smooth, so that's great!

Check out SBRE Brown's review of this pen!

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