The Levenger True Writer Illuminator in its box

Because Levenger is one of my favorite places to get cool office supplies, I couldnt help but pick up one of their fountain pens to try out.  I purchased this Levenger True Writer Illuminator from them a while ago, and unfortunately its not available any longer, but I wanted to do the review anyway because I have heard a lot of really good feedback about Levenger fountain pens.

The Levenger True Writer Illuminator with the cap posted

As with everything that I’ve purchased from Levenger to date, there is a certain level of quality that you can feel as soon as you get it in your hands.  The high quality of construction, and superb quality of materials used in all of their products are assurance that your money is well spent, and all of this was evident when I opened the box for my True Writer and got my hands on it.  The brushed metal finish on the body and cap of this pen look fantastic, and I was surprised by how smooth (instead of grainy) feeling it was.  I mention this because Im sometimes hesitant of finishes like this because I dont like the way they feel when they brush against your skin, but I dont have that issue with this pen.

The cap on this pen twists on and off, and clearly from the picture you can see that the cap is postable on the back of the pen.  On occasion if you dont make sure to post the cap firmly it will wiggle a little bit and come loose, but this is not a major issue by any means.

Close up of the Levenger band on the True Writer Fountain Pen

It was hard to get a picture of the silver Levenger band that encircles the base of the cap, but I wanted to give it a shot and show it here because I think it adds a really nice but subtle accent to the pen.  Also, with all of this metal on the body and cap, one might wonder how heavy the pen is.  This is obviously a subjective measure but I dont feel like this is a very heavy pen, and it has good balance with or without the cap posted, in fact I usually only like to write with the cap posted, however even without the cap posted I still like its weight and balance.

The Levenger True Writer Converter and Nib

The converter on this Levenger True Writer Illuminator fountain pen is easy to use, and one thing that is really nice about it is that it is easy to get the air bubbles out of the ink when you fill it.  The reason that it is so easy to get the air bubbles out of the ink is that for some reason the ink does not stick to the clear inside walls of the converter, so with a small tap or shake, you can completely see all of the empty space and twist the converter to get rid of the extra air inside of it.  The medium size steel nib on this pen writes nicely, it seems like it has a slight bit of flex to it, and because I am not accustomed to writing with a wider nib, I found it interesting being able to create lines with a little more style, depth of color, and thickness.

Levenger True Writer Illuminator Fountain Pen Review and Writing Experience

Levenger True Writer Illuminator writing sample in a Jr. Size Levenger Circa Notebook

Initially I filled this pen with Noodler’s Blue Black ink which is one of my favorites by far, but it just didnt seem to flow well with the nib, so I cleaned it out and went with option two.  Option number two in this case was my Private Reserve Velvet Black ink, which is a very nice ink, and I had happened to see that someone else with a True Writer filled theirs with another color of Private Reserve and said it flowed really well.  You can see in the writing sample above, the Private Reserve ink worked out well, not much feathering, and it laid down a solid black line with a minimal amount of skipping.  The skipping might have been a function of me trying to adjust to the larger nib size because even though I’ve been using this pen for a few weeks now, the larger nib is just not my style and I know I keep trying to make it write smaller…as if thats possible.

Overall, I think this pen writes very nicely, I just now wish I could get a smaller nib for it.  Once again though, Levenger has not let me down for my latest purchase of office supplies from them.  Notice I said “purchase” of office supplies, so the standard disclaimer here, no discounts or special consideration from Levenger for this review has been given to me.  I would highly recommend picking up a Levenger True Writer Illuminator fountain pen from their website if you want a nice solid fountain pen.

©2015, Brian Greene. All rights reserved.