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Pen Pit Stop : Gazing Far tm2 Welcome to the Pen Pit Stop. Here you will find reviews of pens that already have some mileage on them. More specifically, these reviews are of pens that are in my personal collection, and that have been in use for at least a year. I thought it would be fun to do it this way – no new & shiny pens here but battered vehicles that have been put to work for at least a year. Let’s find out how they have withstood the ravages of time. The fountain pen entering the pit stop today is the Gazing Far model tm2. These are wood-barreled pens designed and manufactured by the Taiwanense stationary brand Gazing Far, situated in Taipei. In their own words: “Wood stationery are our main items, we design and produce Fountain pen, rollerball pen, propelling pencil and ballpoint pen, also other accessories such as the homemade inks, pen stand, pen pouch and pocket notebook.” I love the warmth and natural look of wooden pens, so I just had to get me some of these. Gazing Far produces several pen types. This tm2 model is a slender fountain pen, comparable in girth to a Lamy CP1 (but just a little bit thicker). The defining feature of this pen is the wood barrel. The tm2 models are produced with a variety of finishes: in this review I present the Zebrawood and Rosewood versions that I have in my pen collection. Beautiful pens that are created with lots of love and attention to detail. I really like writing with them. I bought my tm2 pens in July 2022, so they have been in use for some time now. Let’s take a closer look at them. Pen Look & Feel The star of the show is the wood barrel of the pen: Gazing Far made a great selection of some beautiful wood-types that just look so beautiful. The finish is excellent: you get to admire the natural grain of the wood, and the barrel is smoothly polished to perfection. My pens are complemented with gunmetal bodies, that work together nicely with the wood barrel. The result are great-looking pens that are a joy to write with. Branding of the pens is minimal: at the top of the grip section, the words “Gazing Far” are engraved in the metal, and that’s it. These pens come with well-tuned steel Schmidt nibs. I got an F and M version, and they wrote fantastic right out of the box. The craftsmen of Gazing Far added some nice touches to these pens. There are some red colour accents just above the nib unit and at the underside of the clip. In Taiwan, the colour red transcends mere aesthetics; it is an emblem of festivity, good fortune, and tradition. While Western countries often associate red with Christmas due to Santa's iconic outfit, Taiwan's cultural roots trace back to China, where red symbolises happiness and prosperity. Another nice touch are the threads at the end of the body, which allow you to post the cap by screwing it on the end of the pen – Kaweco-style. This works quite well because you only need about half a rotation to screw on the cap. There's one little detail that the craftsmen at Gazing Far missed however: when screw-posting the cap, the clip and nib don't align. Depending on your level of OCD, this might annoy you tremendously. Anyhow... the pens are large enough to use unposted, which is how I use them myself. The tm2 is a cartridge-convertor pen that uses standard international cartridges. My pens came with a convertor added, which is a nice touch. The pictures above illustrate the size of the Gazing Far tm2 in comparison with a standard Lamy Safari. Both pens are of comparable size, capped and uncapped, but the tm2 is a much more slender pen. Despite its slender nature, the tm2 feels quite comfortable in the hand. The pen also has some weight to it due to the metal parts used in its construction. Pen Characteristics Build Quality : the pen is very well build, and polished to perfection. My pens are 18 months old by now, and still look good as new. I really admire the care that Gazing Far took in the pen’s construction: all parts are machined with great care and align perfectly without any sharp edges. Weight & Dimensions : a fairly large pen but a slender one. Lengthwise almost an exact match for the Safari (capped and uncapped). The pen is based on a metal body, giving it some decent weight. The weight is distributed evenly across the body, resulting in a well-balanced feel. This is definitely a pen that can be used for long writing sessions. Filling System : this is a cartridge convertor pen, that uses standard international ink cartridges. To use bottled ink, I simply syringe-fill used cartridges. Nib & Performance : the Schmidt steel nib is well-proportioned for the size of this pen. On the nib, there is some nice scrollwork with the nib-size indicated in cursive script. The nibs arrived tuned to perfection: they wrote great right out of the box. Price : I paid 62 EUR for the Rosewood and 74 EUR for the Zebrawood version. So these are fairly inexpensive pens, and you definitely get excellent value for money. Conclusion With the tm2 wooden pens, Gazing Far has done an excellent job. These are good quality products that look great and write well. If you like wooden pens, you should definitely take a closer look at this brand – you will get excellent value for money. I really like the looks of my Zebrawood and Rosewood tm2, and love writing with them. They are without any doubt a worthy addition to my collection.