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The Diplomat Aero is the third pen from the Diplomat range that I’ve added to my collection in recent times – and definitely the most interesting of the three, in terms of design! I wasn’t keen on it at first glance, but given my positive experiences with two of its stablemates – the Esteem (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/271382-the-diplomat-esteem-conservative-german-styling-great-writing-experience/) and the Excellence A (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/296585-the-diplomat-excellence-a-another-great-german-fountain-pen/) – I decided to take the plunge. So I contacted Kevin of JustWrite Pens (www.JustWrite.com.au), and asked if he had any left in stock. The answer came back in the affirmative – and in due course, yet another pen had made its way to my door. As with the Excellence A, the Aero is not an inexpensive pen – the recommended retail (with stainless steel nib) is up around US$195, though (once again) I was able to get a significant discount, with a site-wide 25% discount on offer during June 2015. The Diplomat Aero is not a perfect pen – it has a couple of drawbacks that I’ll outline in the review below – but it’s such a striking pen to look at, and writes so wonderfully smoothly, that I’m happy to overlook them. ______________________________________________________________________ 1. Appearance & Design (9.5/10)The Aero comes in exactly the same kind of box as the Excellence A – a generously-sized box with aluminium wrap-around lid. Inside the box I found the pen itself – a brown cigar-shaped object that tapers sharply at both ends. The barrel and cap are both deeply scored with “groove-like depressions” along their length that give the pen its distinctive look – according to Diplomat’s advertising materials, it’s designed to resemble a Zeppelin airship. http://i.imgur.com/Fp77kci.jpg http://i.imgur.com/mt6j03u.jpg I love the look of the pen when capped – the chocolate brown colour of the bulk of the pen, topped and tailed with brushed aluminium ‘finials’. It *does* look a bit like a(n elongated) Zeppelin airship – a very unusual shape, but it’s really grown on me! Uncapping the pen reveals a brushed aluminium grip section, with a fairly severe step-down from the barrel – but the length of the grip is sufficient to ensure this doesn’t create any issues in terms of comfort. 2. Construction & Quality (8/10)The Aero is a robust pen, very well made, with a full aluminium casing, and anodised surfaces – in this case, a matte brown finish. With two caveats (see below) this is a pen I’d expect to cop a lot of abuse without trouble (though if you want to retain the finish, you’ll need to take all due care!). The pen barrel appears to be quite thick, the cap a little less so – but both are extremely sturdy. The grip section threads securely into the barrel, and the cap snaps on to ensure an airtight seal, ensuring the ink won’t dry out in the nib. Be warned: at least initially, a bit of firm pressure is required to get the cap to fit snugly. http://i.imgur.com/aM7dn24.jpg http://i.imgur.com/3P4X3Wz.jpg I only have two real concerns with the quality of the construction: first, there’s the aluminium clip. I’ve read a couple of comments online that suggest it’s a little fragile. It’s certainly quite stiff and inflexible – like the rest of the pen, I believe it’s made of anodised (matte silver finish) aluminium, which I suspect may have a lower tolerance to bending and springing. The clip itself is also made of two parts – a smaller, bent section that attaches to the pen under the cap finial, and the ‘body’ of the clip itself, which runs the length of the cap. The two parts are either soldered or screwed together (or both – it’s hard to say which!). The consequence of this is that it feels a little flimsy to me – I can see how it might fairly easily snap off if it got snagged on something (at least one online review has reported this problem). http://i.imgur.com/d7Ul107.jpg http://i.imgur.com/EYwQUSU.jpg [Forgive the poor focus - my setup isn't the best!] A second, smaller concern is the ‘paintwork’ on the pen – the words ‘Diplomat’ and ‘Made in Germany’ are painted (in white) onto the anodised surface of the cap (near the base), while the logo is painted in black onto the finial. With extended usage about half the logos has worn away, and it looks likely the remainder will follow, leaving the finial a bare brushed aluminium dome. Similarly, the white text on the brown anodised aluminium has begun to wear off in places. Neither of these greatly concern me – they’re cosmetic details. What’s more, to be honest, I didn’t find the logo very attractive – if anything I think the pen looks better without it! 3. Weight & Dimensions (10/10)Like its more conservative ‘cousin’ (the Excellence A), the Aero is a substantial pen – if you prefer a lightweight pen, you should look elsewhere. It weighs 41.5g capped, and 30.5g uncapped – unlike the Excellence, the bulk of the weight is in the barrel, not the cap. http://i.imgur.com/XgmBDxs.jpg The pen is 140mm capped, and 129mm uncapped; ‘posted’ (i.e., with the cap sitting loosely on the back of the pen), it’s somewhere around the 160mm mark (my calipers max out at 155). At the join between cap and barrel (the widest point), the pen’s diameter is 15mm. The grip section is nearly 30mm long (from ‘step’ to nib), and tapers gently from a maxmimum diameter of ~12.3mm down to 10mm. http://i.imgur.com/UX9dHAM.jpg 4. Nib & Performance (9/10)The Aero takes exactly the same nib as the Excellence A –#6 size, made of stainless steel (though gold nib options are also available). Once again, I was only able to obtain the pen with a M nib – which I found to be a wonderfully smooth writer, laying down a generous amount of ink with hardly any feedback. These two pens (the Excellence A and the Aero) are among the smoothest writers in my collection – though the Esteem is not far behind (once I’d sorted out its skipping issues). The one thing that differentiates these two higher-end pens, in terms of writing experience, is the slight slipperiness of the aluminium grip section – at least in winter, when my hands are dry. I find I have to grip the pen just a little tighter than is ideal. I would have expected this to be a deal-breaker – but surprisingly, it isn’t. It takes a couple of minutes to adjust… then off I go. http://i.imgur.com/D3kH279.jpg I should also mention, for the sake of completeness: I don’t find these nibs to be very ‘flexible’. They’re not quite nails – you can gain some line variation by exerting pressure – but they’re at their best when they’re gliding across the page rather than being forced down into it. I haven’t tried the gold nibs – but my understanding is that for the additional price they’re not significantly softer. The stainless steel nibs are probably be the best value option for most users. http://i.imgur.com/BLfBikp.jpg 5. Filling System & Maintenance (9.5/10)Diplomat pens take standard international cartridges and converters. The lower-priced Esteem did not come with a converter included in the price; thankfully, both the Aero and the Excellence A do. The Diplomat-branded converters are well-made, sturdy… and will hold about 0.7-0.8mm of ink. This is not a particularly innovative system – but it makes refilling the pen as straightforward as can be. http://i.imgur.com/rjQaXaW.jpg 6. Cost & Value (9/10)The RRP of this pen is around US$195 – I’ve seen it for sale at AU$195 in various Australian stores, which is pretty good given the current exchange rate. This wasn’t available on the JustWrite website at the time I enquired about it, and still hasn’t been returned to his listings – but at my request he was happy to send it out. 7. Conclusion (Final score [sUM/6]: 9.17)I like the Aero almost as much as I like my Excellence A – they’re both wonderfully classy looking pens. The Aero is the more striking / interesting of the two in terms of appearance, but is shaded by the Excellence A because of (a) the writing experience (i.e. the slight slipperiness of the Aero’s grip), and ( concerns over the clip and the disappearing text and logo. Those are very small concerns, though – I’m really glad I invested in this pen. It won’t be everyone’s preference, aesthetically or practically – but it’s a real winner in my books.

Having dawdled and dithered, I finally acquired one of the so-called "granite" finish Diplomat Esteems from a certain well-known Virginian-based pen dealer. Boy, am I glad I did. I'm already familiar with the Esteem. I'm in the book trade and I work with a pen in my hand. For the last several months, I've been using an Esteem on an almost daily basis. I find it lightweight, nimble, and equipped with a spry steel nib. My current favorite has a smooth matte finish that seems to be both fingerprint and scratch resistant (tempting fate, I know). And at 26g, including the cap, it suits me down to the ground. I keep my Excellences for the evening. My hesitation over the "granite" was that I feared it would be too "plastic-y" to the touch. It's not. It offers a curious feel, almost like that of a sugared almond. That's the best comparison I can think of. It's pleasant to the touch not slick. Still cool but less cool than the usual lacquer. But here's the thing. The cap carries the word "Diplomat" in a straight line, without the famous (for some, beloved) "ink flower" logo. And the clip is plain and tapered, without the telltale drip-lomat cut-out. I am curious to know if these are "old-style" pens, "new style" pens or some other off-piste variant. I have looked at a few European sites and not seen any. I have not pored over old trade catalogs because I don't have any. Performance is 100% perfection (as one would expect). Appearance is 98% classic and 2% different. I'm intrigued and wonder if other Diplomateurs have found comparable variations in other parts of the world.