(all photos by Maja ~ please click on images to enlarge)
"Puny pen!"
But seriously.....
This recent acquisition was prompted by my pandemic-era goal to buy a pen from at least one online pen store in each Canadian
province (if the province has an online pen store). When the opportunity arose to buy something from a store in Alberta that
was having a big sale, I jumped at the opportunity...
Ink & Implements is an online-only shop operating out of Calgary that calls itself "an online store for lovers of stationery". I'd checked out their website a few months beforehand, but it had a limited range of fountain pen brands, so I didn't buy anything at that time. I almost bought a Cross pen from Reid's (a brick & mortar/online store also in Calgary), but I waited too long and it sold out.
Anyway, there weren't a lot of fountain pens left in the Ink & Implements Spring Sale by the time I checked out their website, but I did see a fountain pen model that I'd been ruminating on lately, so I quickly placed my order...
My purchases came in a white bubble envelope (with the store's logo neatly stamped on it), and were wrapped in teal tissue paper with a little "Thank you" sticker on it. Inside the tissue paper was a larger sticker (photo below) with the store's logo--- nice little touches.
I chose the brass version because I wanted the pen --which is tiny-- to have some weight to it; it weighs about 21 grams empty, whereas the aluminum versions weigh only 8 grams. I could have bought the stainless steel version (which is around 22 grams), but I already owned a stainless steel Kaweco (my beloved Kaweco 'Steel Sport') and wanted a Kaweco made of either brass or copper. The copper version (24 grams empty) had already sold out on the site, so I ordered the brass 'Liliput'.
About the material used: "The fountain pen made from brass is particularly sustainable. It is made entirely from the well-known Eco brass in Germany and must go through very short transport routes. The brass used is lead-free and, since it is untreated, develops an individual patina over time." (from the official Kaweco website). An interesting fact about brass is that it's inherently anti-microbial. There's no patina on my pen yet--I just got it three weeks ago -- but it'll be interesting to see how it changes over time.
The 'Liliput' model is actually a very old design; according to Kaweco's site, "The Liliput is one of the oldest Kaweco models. In 1908 it already fascinated with its simple design, which was made of ebonite back then. The Kaweco Liliput still consists of only three parts: cap, barrel and front part." I didn't realize it had been around that long, probably because its design is timeless --- very simple but elegant and, at the same time, ruggedly "no-nonsense" in that pocket EDC kind of way.
It's also very narrow (the narrowest part of the section is a mere 8mm in diameter) -- Stuart and I both brought our examples to the March meeting for the "Skinny/Slim Fountain Pens" topic. The pen's design is minimalist --aside from the Kaweco logo engraved on the cap top (which I forgot to photograph, oops) there are no other engravings on the body of the pen. Side note: there is a brass 'Liliput' model with a wavy design called the 'Liliput' "Brass Waves".
The steel nib is tiny, but it's actually the same nib unit that's found on Kaweco's popular 'Sport' fountain pens. I've been toying with swapping it out for a gold-plated steel Kaweco nib I have on one of my 'Sport' pens, just because of the nib colour. The original Fine nib on my 'Liliput' writes very well and lays down a true Fine line. Mine has a wee bit of feedback, but I like that.
As for the filling mechanism, it's a (you guessed it) cartridge/converter.
Remember that 80's song by The Pretenders?
"I got brass in pocket I got bottle, I'm gonna use it"
Well, unfortunately, filling *this* brass pocket pen from a bottle isn't very practical---the only Kaweco converter that can fit is their "Squeeze" converter...which looks terrible, and holds very little ink ☹️.
"No squeezie!! Not squeeze!!"
The pen did come with one short international ink cartridge (which was hiding in the barrel--I thought they'd forgotten to include it lol). As the pen's body is made of metal, converting it an eyedropper-filler isn't recommended.
Here's a closeup of the black leather Kaweco pouch that was specially made for the 'Liliput' model (it's too narrow for a Kaweco 'Sport'). The leather is supple and nicely debossed with the Kaweco name on it. It doesn't come with the pen ---you have to buy it separately---but I thought it'd be nice to have a little pouch for it, to make the pen more visible if it's in a bag.
I love using the pen and am curious to see how it looks as it starts to develop a patina-- the only other brass fountain pen I own (a Delike 'Alpha') has a coating on it to prevent the brass from changing colour (the company has since removed this coating). Altogether, my brass 'Liliput' fountain pen ($57.50 CAD, on sale) + pouch ($9, also on sale) + shipping ($7) + taxes cost me a grand total of $77.18 CAD --a savings of $66.50! Many thanks to Ink & Implements for this great little pen and matching pouch, and also to Janice of the Calgary Pen Club for the heads-up about the sale.
(~ blog post by Maja~)
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