A review of the Tom's Studio infinitely* refillable felt-tip pen, the Wren.
Howdy folks!
Thought I'd drop by with a small review of the latest release from Tom's Studio (some folks might know them for their Lumos pens, and they're notable for their calligraphy pens). The Wren is a more affordable spiritual successor to the Lumos, a refillable fine-liner with interchangeable nibs.
I'm no pen guru - the most expensive pen I owned prior to the Wren was a $12 Pilot Kakuno fountain pen, which I also love, but deep in my heart of hearts, in the marrow of my bones, I'm a felt-tip person. I got super excited when I saw this because although I love me a felt tip, I also love writing with brown ink, which is SO hard to find in felt-tip pens that aren't specialty artist's fineliners. The nib on this is not interchangeable, but you can buy replacements for when it invariably dulls.
Much more designed for every day writing and carrying with you, the Wren is billed as "tiny but mighty". Tiny it certainly is. Closed, I can enclose it my own itty bitty hands. Clocking in at just about 3 inches (80 mm) closed, and 4.5-ish (120 mm) inches, this thing is teensy. With the cap on the end, it's quite comfortable to write with, though I do wish it were longer. The metal isn't slippery, and I can keep a good grip. Despite the shape of the cap, it can still roll, so watch out.
And straight up? This bitch rules. Getting ink into the cartridge is easy and quick. It's smooth and it lets out the perfect amount of ink. I tried it on Midori, the old Tomoe River Paper, and Tomoe River Paper S, and it wrote phenomenally (I'm going to ruffle a few feathers, but the TRPS was my favorite to write on). It even writes well on regular copy paper and post-it notes, so it's a for-sure good every day and office pen.
I do have a few critiques:
- Size. I don't see why this can't be a regular-sized pen with a regular-sized ink cartridge. If it's an "out and about" pen, having a larger cartridge makes more sense, so users aren't caught running out of ink at work or whatever.
- No clip. I WANT ONE. I bought a clip for my Pilot Kakuno. It keeps them from rolling, allows me to clip it to things, such as the inside of my purse so it's less likely to get lost at the bottom of it. I could go on. I want a god damn clip. This, no joke, was almost a deal-breaker for me, but I finally bought it because it was getting paid for with gift certificates and also it was for my birthday so whatever.
- I don't think that I would consider Tom's Studio to be "green-washing" but it still uses disposable components. Nevertheless, it's still an better option than buying whole-ass plastic pens and throwing them fully away when they're used up, and better is all we can do.
- And finally, the "infinitely refillable" part of the pen. So here's the deal: the pen is refillable, yes, but it uses a propietary nib and cartridge. There is no universal standard for refillable felt tip pen nibs (yet! hopefully this starts a trend). Being able to use this pen in perpetuity is 100% contingent upon being able to buy both. The ones I bought will last a long time, but not forever, and what if the pen is discontinued? What if, god forbid, the company goes out of business? Let's not mention the cost of shipping and stuff, especially to other countries. I STRONGLY recommend buying extra nibs and cartridges if you decide to purchase one.
In summary, this pen rules, with a few caveats. I actually do recommend it, if you like felt tips. You can get pretty nuts with the inks, or choose a hard-to-find favorite like myself. I've included some pictures for your reference. I'm a bad photographer though sooooooo.
OH and this is unpaid, this company has no idea I exist.
Against a Hobonichi Techo Weeks