Galen Leather has been a staple within our community for several years now. Along the way, I've tested and reviewed a fair amount of their products. The consensus always boils down to Galen being exceptionally good at creating a well-thought-out, unique, and affordable product. Galen's Magnum Opus pen cases (which translates to "masterpiece"), feel like a step in a different direction for the Istanbul-based brand. Affordability may not have been a top priority this time around. Instead, they went all-out on creating a beautifully made and highly practical means to store and carry yo ..read more

To say that the Platinum Curidas had a bit of a false start would be the understatement of the century. Platinum's "Capless-killer" was extremely hyped when it was first announced in early 2020. But Covid hit hard, and the launch of the Curidas suffered -like almost every other product back then-  from supply issues.  The initial hype had already slightly dissipated by the time the Curidas actually hit the market.. But then came reports of feeds cracking randomly, and despite Platinum fixing the issue rather swiftly, that totally killed the momentum for the Curidas. Admittedly, ev ..read more

I'm excited because I have an entirely new (to me) brand in front of me for review today! This bright and cheerful orange pen came from Istanbul in Turkey, made by the brand Kilk. I first encountered Kilk pens on the table of Fontoplumo at last year's Dutch pen show, but it took me until this year when Frank (from Fontoplumo) encouraged me to try one out. I'm a sucker for orange pens, so obviously, I couldn't resist their newest model: the Kilk Orient!  A single glance at the Orient was all it took to be intrigued by the Orient. It has a couple design features that make it stand out qui ..read more

Several years ago I reviewed (HERE) a then-Kickstarter project for what was - and continues to be - arguably the most overengineered mechanical pencil I've ever seen, by US-based brand Modern Fuel. The precise machining and meticulous details of the Modern Fuel Pencil got me hooked. While their products aren't exactly cheap, I do feel confident that they are as close to heirloom quality as they get. I was really curious to find out if the same would hold true for their newer products, in particular the Modern Fuel Bolt Action pen. (Spoiler alert: it does!) Designwise, Modern Fuel has a ..read more

I'm a total sucker for Gravitas pens if you hadn't noticed yet, an addiction fueled by the fact that Ben Walsh (founder of Gravitas Pens) always seems to know exactly what I want in a pen! The last Gravitas pen I reviewed was the Entry, quite a while ago: a well-rounded design, tough construction, great ergonomics, all at a reasonably wallet-friendly price point.  One of the unique things about the Entry is its slender form factor, something you don't often see on metal fountain pens. Though with my personal preference for oversized pens, I imagined how cool it would be to have a slight ..read more

The first half of 2022 has been a hectic one for me. Between ramping up the pace on my PhD project, teaching courses, grading papers, guiding student interns, and preparing for my first scientific conference last month, little time (and energy, to be honest) remained to direct towards new reviews - sorry!  Anyway, I decided to pick up again with a review of a product that I really, REALLY like. Somewhat contradictory, for someone who keeps telling himself that he doesn't like pocket pens, I do find myself -surprisingly often- enjoying the heck out of them! Over the last few years, there ..read more

From the UK comes Wingback, a small and relatively young EDC-focused brand with a strong focus on creating sustainable, durable products that last, manufactured on UK soil!  Wingback's commitment to sustainability and durability is immediately noticeable when unpacking their flagship writing products: the Wingback Mechanical Pen and Mechanical Pencil. No materials are wasted on packaging, as the pens come wrapped in a simple but durable Wingback-branded cloth sleeve - ecological, saves on shipping, and practical too. I like it!  In the hand, the solid metal construction of both pe ..read more

For as long as I can remember, the Pilot Capless and I have had quite a love-hate relationship. They're fantastic pens, bombproof, great writers - sure! But, as I highlighted in my re-review of the Capless, none of the Caplesses (Caplessi?) that have gone through my hands managed to captivate me. So I sold mine a long time ago, and never really looked back... Until Pilot released the Capless LS! While the new Capless LS is quite an interesting pen, I doubt that it made the splash that Pilot was hoping for when it came out. After all, it banks on the vast success of their evergreen Pilot ..read more

A short update on the pen sale:  I've updated the sale page to reflect the pens that are currently still available. PRICES HAVE BEEN LOWERED to sell. I think they represent a great value, especially since all these pens are in absolute 'Mint' condition (that is: you'll find no difference between a brand new pen)!  For those that are interested, here are some PACKAGE DEALS to make the deal even better: Buy all pens (pens #1-7) for 1000€ instead of 1145€ (retail price of 1855€). Buy the second tray (pens #3-7) for 450€ instead of 495€ (retail price 835€) Prices are listed i ..read more

If you're a long-time reader of The Pencilcase Blog, you may remember a review I did about five years ago, of a product from a new South African company called Frara Road. Back then, I reviewed their Pen Roll (find the original review HERE): a cleanly-executed, well-thought-out leather pen roll made from a beautifully soft brown distressed leather.  In the years that followed, it remained a bit silent from the people at Frara Road, and the brand, unfortunately, remained in the background, despite having an - IMHO at least- excellent product on their hands with the Pen Roll! So you could ..read more