Bexley Sheherazade

[AndyHayes]

First Impressions

I had been looking for a stub nib on a decent pen, but as much as my list grew of possible pens seemed to grow I just couldn’t make a decision. The problem was that half of my choices had cartridge/convertor systems. This is the least favourite of my systems. A fellow FPN’r had pointed me towards Bexley Poseidon. I had all but decided to buy one despite the filling system and then whilst trawling through the FPN Marketplace I came across the Bexley Sheherazade, which is a piston filler.

 

Appearance

Dennis at Parkville Pens shipped the package to me which took about ten days to get over here to the UK from over there in the US using the USPS as carriers and the good old Royal Mail for the last leg of the journey. The pen was well packed in its dark blue Bexley box with a white card sleeve over that, surrounded in bubble wrap and then placed in a bag. Inside the Bexley box was the pen and a registration slip. I fell into the same trap as others on here when I first looked at the pen believing that it was damaged. Initial panic proved to be unfounded. The “damage” merely glints of light from the silver bits within the black bits within the plastic. Yes, I am on commission for using the word within! The pen is best described as a grey demonstrator with black swirls in the plastic. There is a silver coloured knurled (?) ring about the middle of the pen and a silver coloured clip.

 

Design/Size/Weight

The length is 135 mm capped, 160 mm posted and 125 mm uncapped. The weight is 22 grammes when just under half full of ink. It is therefore about the same size as a standard Parker 51 or a Pelikan 605. The body tapers from the middle to both ends, more so away from the nib to the piston knob.

 

Nib

18kt gold makes this the sort of nib that I like to own. I was so impressed with the steel 1.1 stub nibs on a couple of my Lamy pens that I had to get a better quality, or perhaps that is more costly, pen with a stub nib. This has not disappointed at all. The nib is two tone, which I think looks better on the type of pens that I tend to buy: modern. The nib looks much larger than that on the 605, it is actually the same size as the Danitrio Densho. Even someone who knew little about nibs would very quickly see that this is a stub. It looks wide enough to shovel snow with! It equates best in line width to the 1.5i Lamy nib, a broad stub. The nib is surprisingly smooth for a stub and I have not managed to dig the corner in yet. Having just looked at it under a loupe I can see why, there are no corners, it is perfectly smoothed off into a nice tight rad. It really does look like excellent workmanship. With the pen filled with Mont Blanc black ink the flow is wet, not as wet as a Danitrio, but certainly moist. It doesn’t run through the page on cheap legal pads, but it’s very close. On better paper like Rhodia pads, picked up from The Writing Desk in the UK (TWDPens), it writes like a dream

 

Filling System

Piston filler. My personal favourite. All pens should be filled this way. The mechanism is smooth and it was not necessary to completely dip the nib to get a good draw on the little bit of ink that was left in the Mont Blanc bottle that was the only ink to hand when the pen turned up.

 

Cost and Value

I have decided to go and stand next to The Noble Savage in the queue when it comes to buying a pen as he seems to always get his at half what mine cost. To be fair my comparison is not a fair one. In my comparisons he has bought used whereas I tend to have bought new. This one came from Dennis at Parkville Pens. An easy transaction and a source of pens that I can recommend to us on this side of the pond.

 

Conclusion

I wasn’t entirely sure about this pen. To me Bexley was an unknown quantity, although it came highly recommended. I was concerned about the large step-down in diameter in the pen making where I hold it thinner than I would normally choose. The price was OK, but not stunning and the look was a little off beat. What it had was the magic ingredient, a stub nib. There are many other pens with stub nibs that I would have liked, but all too expensive to take a risk on sight unseen at the moment. In the end I was pleasantly surprised and I can now see why the person singing the praises of Bexley, especially their nibs, was doing so in such glowing terms. I have written an 8 page letter with the pen this evening and it has been perfect.

 

Photos below:

 

The pen is full of Visconti black ink and it looks different partially full.

 

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb177/shetlink/BexleySheherazade1.jpg

Boxed Bexley

 

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb177/shetlink/BexleySheherazade2.jpg

Uncapped Bexley

 

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb177/shetlink/BexleySheherazade3.jpg

Nib close-up

 

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb177/shetlink/BexleySheherazade4.jpg

Rear of nib

 

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb177/shetlink/BexleySheherazade5.jpg

Piston mechanism

 

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb177/shetlink/BexleySheherazade6.jpg

Cap and body

Edited October 25, 2008 by MYU

[Doug C]

I'm sad to see that they seem to have discontinued the Sheherazade (it is no longer on their website). I had planned on getting one, and may still as there are a number on the open market. I had heard that their might be a Sheherazade II, and was waiting for that.

I love the piston fill, the shape of the pen, and the clear blue color with the flecks in it, but was hoping that they might update it with the rolling ball clip.

 

No matter; glad to hear you love yours.

[RyanL27]

Great review of a great pen. I love the Sheherazade's shape - perfect for daily carrying.

 

Doug - you might want to note that www.apenloversparadise.com has one more blue Sheherazade for sale at a discounted price. Just saw it the other day.

 

 

[Johnson]

Nice review!

 

FYI to Doug C, the new Sheherezade (the II as you call it) is a C/C filler.

[Doug C]

And that is disappointing to me. I did see them at Richards pens, but 1) like the piston fill and 2) I love the translucent colors. I just wanted the neat new clip...thanks.

[Bill]

I have the gray and a prototype and like everything about them except the clip. It's the same clip that was used on the button-filler Celebration. I try to avoid carrying them in pockets for fear of ripping the fabric. But they certainly won't fall out by accident.

 

Bill

[AndyHayes]

You're right Bill. It is a point that I meant to mention.

 

It's odd that companies like Lamy can put a hinge on the clip, whereas Bexley can't. They are far from alone then.

[Shelley]

it looks like a nice pen exceot for that cap...too high at the top, looks funny to me, if the clip was different it may be ok though.

[AndyHayes]

... 5 years on.

 

The pen has had little use over the past 5 years after the initial honeymoon period. In the end the BB stub was just too wide to be sensible. I kept kicking myself for not buying the Poseidon, but I didn't want to give up on this pen so I had fellow member Oxonian thin the nib down to about 0.6mm. John has done a great job on this and I would be happy to recommend his nib services to anyone who hasn't tried him yet, especially if you are in the UK and want to avoid getting hammered by duties and the royal mail's ransom demands.

 

The pen is a much more subtle beast now. From BB down to medium is a long way to go, but this is still so obviously a stub. It is what this pen needed and I can see it getting back into the rotation.

Edited December 3, 2012 by AndyHayes

[jde]

... 5 years on.

 

It always comes back to the nib, doesn't it? The Sheherazade is a cool pen, IMHO. The gray version very classy. Glad you got the nib into working order to use it!

 

Question for you, Andy, you say in your original review "it is actually the same size as the Danitrio Densho." Do you mean the nibs are the same size, or the pens?

 

Cheers,

Julie