The Calamus fountain pen is part of a three piece writing instrument set also featuring a ball point pen and a rollerball pen. This very distinctive pen set has been put together by the German distributor Aratrum as a leaving gesture from their outgoing head of operations, Mr Pflug.
Aratrum are one of Germany’s biggest writing product distributors and their list of prestigious companies include: Kaweco, Platinum, Recife and ACME to name but a few. So yes, this is a proper bit of kit! The look and feel of this range is the result of two decades of handling and selling pens from which Mr Pflug has attempted to incorporate all his favourite bits.
The pen is made from brass with a black chromium finish and is piston filled from the back end with the twister hidden under a small screwable section. The main barrel features two ink windows, one each side, with three engraved decorative rings. The clipless cap seamlessly pops on and off and features two engraved rings, a shallow engraved logo and a small steel stud to prevent roll (not shown). The Schmidt nib unit features a smokey grey medium nib with an iridium point.
I filled the pen with Robert Oster Midnight Sapphire and wrote on Tomoe River paper and in a Rhodia Webby with no issues what-so-ever. Very smooth to write with and even a little bit of squeaking from the iridium point for the first sentence or two.
I absolutely love the design of this pen. The look and finish is absolutely fabulous and if you’re into Kaweco, you really do have to check this out. Arguably, the pen is possibly a little bit on the small side, so if you have big hands, do be aware.
At the moment this is a German exclusive and will retail at circa €50 (ex VAT) but I have been informed that should reputable pen companies wish to import into their own territories, the door is open. This particular pen was sent to me by Anja at Papier und Stift, so if you want to check it out further, here’s the link: https://papierundstift.de/aratrum-calamus-fuellhalter-schwarz
The United Inkdom team are also going to be reviewing this pen so there will be a serious meta review comprising the opinions of eight pen enthusiasts available for you to view very soon.
HEY! If you’re interested to know more about how to use fountain pen inks in more creative ways – whether it’s simply to observe their chromatic behaviours, or, to recreate one of my swatch cards, or, to learn how to use them in watercolour painting, illustration and calligraphy, why not check out my online course or, even better, sign up for a workshop?
FOUNTAIN PEN INK ART 