Tombow Zoom 101

July 31, 2007

If you've seen my reivew on the Ferrari Pole Position, then you already know I have a fondness for carbon fibre. Enter the Tombow Zoom 101 - touted as the world's lightest fountain pen at 14.5g. I never was interested in owning the world's lightest fountain pen, but I was drooling on my computer looking at the all carbon and aluminum construction. While the Pole Position used carbon fibre as an aesthetic effect, Tombow used it for actual construction of the pen. How does the world's lightest fountain pen check out? Find out below!

--- Packaging ---

The Zoom 101 arrived neatly packaged in a blacked-out paperboard box with the company logo printed in silver trim in the center. A black steel pencil case slides out of the paperboard box, also bearing the Tombow logo. Opening the case, we see the treasure itself, gently nestled in a foam cutout, complete with a small foldout congratulating you on your new pen. The Zoom came with a dummy cartridge installed and a spare filled with black ink behind it. I guess the dummy cart was to act as a spacer to prevent the filled cart from jostling about too much in transit.

I rather like the matte black finish of the pencil case. It is compact and has a solid closure. I'd be tempted to remove the foam and line the insides with a bit of velvet or some other cloth to use as a pen case for a few of my usual writers. Most other cases that came with my other pens were too large and bulky or had some overly fancy design that I'd rather not take out to school with me.

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--- Design, Fit and Finish ---

The Zoom 101 is a real work of art. It takes the latest modern materials and forms them into a sleek shape the reminds me of a piece of industrial machinery (it looks more like a section of some sort of tubing). It has an unrefined, yet elegant feel to it. The carbon fibre that makes up the majority of the pen has a matte finish, and the aluminum accents are brushed, giving it a soft sheen. All parts fit together perfectly without any wiggles or creaking. The pen is 14cm long capped, 16cm posted, and just over 1cm in diameter. With the converter filled and installed, the Zoom weighed in at 15.2g - amazingly close to Tombow's claimed 14.5g. Tombow's claimed weight was taken with an ink cart instead of the converter, so naturally, mine weighed a tiny bit more. But still, this is an incredibly light pen!

The clip on the cap is a spring-loaded piece of solid aluminum that ends in a circular bit with a small hole drilled thru it. On one side, "Tombow Japan" is engraved. Aside from that external marking, there is none other to identify the pen. The cap gives a loud and positive snap upon capping and fits flush with the rest of the body. Posting has a less authoratative feel to it. The end of the pen is a turned nub of aluminum with a black o-ring. The o-ring serves as a friction-fit device to capture the cap when posting. Probably since my pen is new, posting takes a bit of effort. I have to give the cap a little twist to get it to slide over the o-ring smoothly. One good thing about that is the strong grip of the posting - you won't worry about losing the cap.

The Zoom uses carbon fiber as its main constituent, not as an aesthetic veneer. Unscrewing the body and peering inside shows the same carbon fibre we see on the oustide. The same goes for the cap, except there is aluminum hardware within to provide the retention for capping and for the spring-loaded action of the clip. The nib section is fairly small and also turned from aluminum. Really, this pen is very simple in terms of the number of materials it is constructed from.

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--- Nib and Writing ---

The business end of the Zoom is a stainless fine point with the "Tombow" logo and a letter "F" engraved upon it. Upon examining the nib, I felt like something was missing, but couldn't think of what. A few minutes later, I realized it lacked a breather hole. Not an important point becasue it writes just fine as it is. (Actually, it would be really cool if the first "O" in Tombow was the breather hole. Look in the photos to see what I mean.) Beneath the stainless nib resides a black resin feed that is quite thin and occupies little real estate to make the side profile as minimalist as possible.

Loading the converter with Noodler's black, the fine point lays down a medium-wet line approx. 0.5-0.6mm wide. Vertical strokes are silky smooth and horizontal strokes have just a hint of tooth. Doodling in fast swooping strokes lays down a drier line, but there was never any skipping once I got the feed primed. The pen writes immediately upon touching paper and there have not been any dry starts thru-out a day's worth of note writing, with the exception of leaving the pen uncapped for a couple minutes. Flipping the nib over produces a similarly wide line, thanks to the uniformly spherical tipping on top and bottom.

Writers who grip closely to the nib may find the Zoom a tad uncomfortable due to the stepped aluminum section. While it isn't sharp, it doesn't provide the most positive of gripping surfaces. Keep your grip pressure on the lighter side and you'll come away without any marks on your fingers. Since the pen is so light, you'll find yourself adopting a softer grip anyways. Posting makes no difference in balance, and with it being somewhat cumbersome to post, it's easier to just put the cap down of hold it in your other hand.

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--- Filling ---

International Standard ink carts are used in the Zoom 101. As stated earlier, the pen comes with a dummy cart installed and a filled one right behind it in the barrel. I purchased my pen from CyberPens and Richie was kind enough to include a free converter. The twist-type Tombow-branded converter takes up the same amount of space as 2 carts, so while you are given the convenience of using bottled ink, you lose the ability to store a spare cart. I found the converter to rattle slightly in the barrel if tapped in the right position. It has a snug fit onto the feed nipple, but isn't supported by the feed section by much, due to the minimalist design. A minor annoyance that can easily be rememdied by switching to ink carts and filling them with a syringe.

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--- Final Thoughts ---

Wow. That was the first thing that went thru my mind when I opened the box and lifted it out of the foam cutout. I was totally blown away by its light weight and cool techno-geek appearance. I feel like this is the pen the astronauts should be using and not those Space Pens. The Zoom 101 looks like it is an actual component of the space shuttle. Perhaps some sort of really fancy drinking straw with a clip so you don't lose it in zero-G. I think it is really too bad Tombow does not offer this fantastic writing instrument in the US. I had to purchase mine from CyberPens in the UK for about $150USD. There is actually a story that goes with my purchasing this pen. I discovered it while perusing thru the website and saw the price to be 75GBP. I had mistaken the Pound symbol for Euros and thought the pen was a steal, so I placed an order. It was not until the conversion had come thru and I had paid when I noticed my mistake. After receiving the Zoom and seeing such quality workmanship, I felt the cost was duly justified. Though it took some time for the fine point version to be back in stock, Richie from CyberPens was very helpful and offered excellent customer service. I have no affiliation with the retailer, but I would highly recommend them due to said service. Above all, I am quite impressed with the pen. Those of you with a "techno-geek" inside who loves carbon fibre will absolutely love this pen. I do!

July 31, 2007

As usual, nice review. Great pics too.

July 31, 2007

Thanks for the review. If the barrel were a little wider, I'd probably buy one. I have a Tombow RB and MP set that I bought about 10 years ago. They both look and write like new. They haven't received much use lately, now that I've discovered fountain pens.