Review: Conway Stewart Winston Marbled Green Fountain Pen - Broad

The Conway Stewart Winston is the modern take on the Conway Stewart Flagship model - the Churchill. It's extremely gorgeous, feels wonderful in hand, and has a wet, whopping nib. More details below!

ABOUT

Body Material: Resin
Trim: Gold
Length (capped): 5.56"
Length (uncapped nib-end): 5.36"
Length (posted): 6.95"
Barrel Diameter: 0.56"
Section Diameter: 0.43" - 0.50"
Nib material: 18K Gold
Weight: 54 g
Fill type: Twist-filler.
Price: $878USD
Where to buy: Conway Stewart is no longer in action - check eBay or forums!

PACKAGING

I didn't see the packaging for this pen, but I can tell you that Conway Stewart pens of this caliber come in crazy intense packaging - huge boxes with a bottle of ink and a cigar, and you feel like you bought a Rolls Royce. I think it's over the top and then I'm stuck deciding what to the do with the colossal box, but I appreciate the bottle of ink.

APPEARANCE

The Winston is a big, heavy, thick pen. It has a smooth, gently rounded flat cap top and a tapered barrel with rounded off end. The cap is wider than the barrel and it looks quite elgeant. The section flares slightly towards the nib and it has a gold ring right below the threaads. The material is one of the areas the pen shines - it is a gorgeous deep green, very rich and warm, flecked all over the body.

There are outlines of white that really brings out the depth of the green. The green is well complemented by the 18K gold fittings.

The barrel has details of the pen subtly engraved - the pen's model, the pen's number, and made in England.

NIB & PERFORMANCE

The nib is very attractive - a large 18K gold broad nib. It's not overly decorated and I rather like the simple appearance - it has a single slit with the Conway Stewart logo stamped on it, along with the name, 18ct gold, and the nib size (in this case, B for broad).

Upon arrival, the nib had some baby's bottom (overpolished tip) so it was skipping during writing. It still wrote, and was definitely usable, but a fountain pen should write smoothly and without issue, right? The nib was ground out a little by SBRE Brown and now works flawlessly. It's a delicious, juicy, wet nib that lays down a great broad line of ink in a smooth, precise way. The nib is smooth and a pleasure to write with now, it doesn't hard start and skip out mid-stroke, and it really highlights the shades of inks because of how wet it is. It's a great nib for testing different inks in.

Why am I willing to look past the fact that it needed nib work to make it work 100%? Conway Stewart nibs are delectably springy, so this broad nib has some nice line variation, and it doesn't take a whole lot of pressure to squeeze it out of the nib. It's soft and has some give, and their italic nibs are even better (if you're into crisper nibs).

The twist-filling system is basically just a converter system, so that's pretty disappointing, especially at this price point. It's also a bit annoying for those with larger fingers because beneath the blind cap, only a small portion of the converter knob sticks out and that can be hard to grip and turn.

IN HAND

The threads are fairly high up on the section and are smooth enough not to bother me. The clip is snug and useful, even with the weight of the pen. I use the pen unposted, because it's on the wider side, not so much that it is overly long. It has a very comfortable weight and balance when unposted, not too heavy for me at all. The weight of the body is enough on the nib when it hits the paper to make it write, so it makes writing very easy, uniform, and consistent.

Posted, the pen becomes too large and top heavy for me. It also doesn't post all that well. The pen is balanced with a solid brass liner in the barrel, so you can imagine how it can become tiresome if posted.

PROS & CONS

OVERALL

It's frustrating that a pen in this price point needs nib work, and this isn't unique to this pen - all the modern Conway Stewart pens I've used needed nib work, but when they were worked on, boy were they ever spectacular after that! Annoying though it is, I grit my teeth and bear it because of the wonderful writing experience I've ended up with - in this case, a smooth, juicy broad nib, and a gorgeous, comfortable, well-designed pen body. Even though it's just a hidden converter. It's a beautiful, substantial pen and nib.

Ink used in writing sample - Pilot Iroshizuku - Syo-Ro Dew on Pine Tree (Dark Turquoise)

One other pen in pen p0rn - Edison Collier Persimmon Swirl Fountain Pen
Paper for writing sample - Rhodia Lined Paper Pad No. 16/A5

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