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A few months ago, when Kevin from the JustWrite Pen Company (www.JustWrite.com.au) gave me the opportunity to review some of the pens in his line-up, I was expecting to receive a shipment of mostly inexpensive (but hopefully good value!) Chinese and Indian fountain pens – and to be sure, most of the pens I received fit that category precisely. Not this one, though: to my surprise, included in with the Jinhaos, Walitys etc, came the Diplomat Esteem. Compared to its stablemates, the Aero and (especially) the Excellence A range, you might call the Esteem a ‘midrange’ pen. Be that as it may, it’s the most expensive pen I own, and I was (very pleasantly) surprised to be receiving it free in return for an impartial review. A little harder to do, when your jaw is dropping at the price tag(!) – but I’ll do my best to live up to my side of the bargain. It’s a beautiful looking pen – nicely weighted, comfortable in the hand – and provides a great writing experience, BUT… I’ve had a few issues with the stock nib, which took me some time to diagnose. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, I’ve sent the original nib back – but agreed with Kevin (who’s been very helpful along the way!) that I’d present this review, ‘warts and all’ – and give an update down the track, when the dust has settled re warranty issues. ______________________________________________________________________ 1. Appearance & Design (9/10) –Black-and-Chrome Finish, Beautifully Styled With the exception of the two TWSBI pens I purchased last year, most of the pens I’ve obtained over the past 12 months have come in a factory-issue plastic sleeve – so forgive me if I take a moment to comment on the packaging. The Diplomat arrived in a brushed-aluminium case – roughly the size of a glasses case, though not quite as deep. Inside the case sits a felt-covered ‘tray’ of moulded plastic, with a groove just large enough to house the pen. I’d describe the case as ‘business-like’ rather than luxurious – but I like it that way. http://i.imgur.com/HoqFcdt.jpg?1http://i.imgur.com/DiKWo0q.jpg?1 As for the pen itself? I think you’d have to say it was ‘conservatively styled’ – long, sleek and slender (but still comfortable to hold); with a glossy black lacquer finish on the cap and body, and shiny chrome-coloured trim. On the finial of the pen you’ll find the black-and-white Diplomat logo prominently displayed; the bottom of the pen has a grooved chrome ending that also serves a very useful function (see below). If you’re not keen on glossy black, this pen also comes in an ‘easy grip’ matte black finish – or, if you want to live even more dangerously (!), you can go for pastel colours (also ‘easy grip’ matte finish): turquoise, lime green, pink, or lilac…. Oh, there’s also a straight (brushed) stainless steel option, for . Me, I’m not into pastels (they don’t suit my complexion?!) – so the glossy black lacquer was right up my alley. http://i.imgur.com/tLXku9X.jpg?1 No matter which colour you choose, the trim is the same – shiny chrome – while the grip section is a sturdy black plastic. Diplomat do sell gold-plated and/or two-tone stainless steel nibs in some of their other models – but the only option for the Esteem is chrome-coloured stainless steel. More on that below. 2. Construction & Quality (10/10) – A beautifully-constructed penI know 10/10 seems excessive, but really, I can’t fault the pen. Though not overly heavy, it’s made primarily of metal, and has a satisfying ‘heft’ to it; it feels well-balanced in the hand; there are no obvious blemishes anywhere on the pen – it’s well-designed, and flawlessly executed. After three months of continuous usage, the lacquer has held up well. The lid comes on and off with a satisfying ‘click’… And maybe here is where it’s appropriate to talk about the purpose of that stainless steel ending to the barrel. The cap is designed to post on the end of the pen – and it posts securely, settling over the stainless steel ending with another satisfying ‘click’. More often than not I write with my pens unposted, (unless I’m writing with a Kaweco Sport or TWSBI Mini – you get the idea) – but the pen remains comfortable and well-balanced, either way. http://i.imgur.com/fhi4TId.jpg?1 3. Weight & Dimensions (9/10) – A comfortable, mid-sized penIn terms of size (and cost), the Esteem sits in between two of the Diplomat’s better known pens – the Diplomat Traveller (which I’d considered purchasing before this arrived in the mail), and the much higher end, much more substantial Excellence A Series. I think I’d like to try the Excellence A sometime – I quite enjoy writing with heftier pens – but the Esteem, although I’d class it a ‘Medium’ size pen, punches well above its weight (so to speak). Weighing in at 26.2g capped, or 15.7g uncapped (you’ll need to add another 3 mL for a full Diplomat converter), and with a diameter of 10.5mm for the grip section, the pen just feels substantial in my hand. The pen is 136mm capped, and 125mm uncapped – which I think most hands will find quite comfortable to write with – but again, this pen is designed to post, in which case you’re wielding a 158mm writing implement. The diameter of the pen barrel at its widest point (the barrel and cap both taper towards the end) is around 12.5mm – as I say, a medium-sized pen, rather than a ‘monster’. The grip section tapers from 10mm near the ‘step-up’ to the barrel, down to 8mm near the nib – I tend to hold it towards the step, and find that pretty comfortable. 4. Nib & Performance (7/10) – A surprisingly pleasant experience to write withI’m a firm believer in the concept that a pen is only as good as its nib – and unfortunately, the Diplomat nib that came with this pen was problematic from the moment it arrived. It came with a Medium nib – which I’m OK with, though I tend to prefer Fine or Stub nibs (the latter is not an option, incidentally)… but that wasn’t my problem. http://i.imgur.com/hNOiflJ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/zCr9A1y.jpg On the upside, first of all, the Diplomat nib was pretty ‘springy’ – you could get a decent amount of line variation without a great deal of pressure. And it was so smooth, it wrote like a dream… until, that is, it began ‘skipping’, seemingly at random, as I wrote. Pressing down harder on the nib was usually sufficient to get the flow started again – but it made for a very “stop-start” writing experience. At first, I thought the problem might be the ink I was using (Pelikan Royal Blue)… or the home-made ‘bulb converter’ I’d whacked in (more on this below)… But when I obtained a Diplomat cartridge converter and swapped in about 5 different inks, it became clear that wasn’t the problem. I also noticed a slight misalignment between the underside of the nib and the feed, which was fairly rectified – but that didn’t solve the problem either. I suspect either that the tines are too close together, or (possibly) a ‘baby’s bottom’ problem. Eventually, in consultation with Kevin (from JustWrite), I decided it was better to return the nib under warranty, rather than try to adjust it myself. Within a week of receiving the pen – and unrelated to the skipping problem – I decided to order a replacement nib unit, a Fine. The writing sample below was mostly written with this nib. Like the Medium, the Fine nib writes beautifully smoothly, and is relatively springy – though I wouldn’t recommend overdoing it, it’s not a flex pen! The Fine writes a noticeably narrower line than the Medium – though it’s definitely not the finest Fine I have in my collection (if you get my meaning!). I had a couple of issues with this nib as well – I had to adjust the nib relative to the feed to get the alignment of the tines just right – but once that was done, I’ve found this pen an absolute pleasure to write with! http://i.imgur.com/t0LwncM.jpg?1 5. Filling System & Maintenance (4/10) – Why no cartridge converter?!?!I’ve deliberately scored the pen very low on this point, for two reasons. In the first instance, I cannot understand why a $100+ pen would not come with a cartridge converter included. All I got with the pen was a single lousy cartridge, plus a ‘dummy’ cartridge (as in, empty and with the bottom cut off)… and a note in the included warranty material that the pen should have two cartridges in the barrel at all times (one as a spare). Every single (cheap) Chinese pen I’ve purchased that takes cartridges, comes with a (cheap) cartridge converter installed – why do these higher-end European name-brands have to be so stingy?! To make matters worse, I quickly found that the cheap Chinese converters I had ready to hand would not fit this pen – around the ‘nipple’ the cartridge fits onto, Diplomat have incorporated a ‘cuff’ or ‘ring’, which I suppose is meant to create a snugger fit for the cartridges – but it also had the effect of preventing me using any converter that doesn’t have an appreciable taper below the nozzle. My only remaining options were to use cartridges (and refill them if necessary)… or to obtain a compatible converter. Once again, Kevin came to the rescue – sourcing a Diplomat-branded (Schmidt-style) converter for me, at a cost of another $10. http://i.imgur.com/u6MM6uK.jpg To be fair, Diplomat are not the only culprits when it comes to shipping pens without converters – and standard international cartridges work perfectly well – but still, on principle, I feel compelled to mark them down for doing this with a premium-priced pen, and to mark them down further for designing the pen so that only a more expensive converter. 6. Cost & Value (9/10) – It’s not cheap – but why should it be?I’m genuinely puzzled as to why Diplomat seems to have such a low profile in the fountain pen community – they’ve been around since 1922; their pens are great quality (my nib problems notwithstanding); and though they’re not cheap to purchase, you really do get what you pay for. This is the most expensive pen in my collection – and honestly, I would have thought twice about purchasing it (full disclosure, though: I was seriously considering setting aside some birthday money to place an order on the matte black version). But for all its conservative styling, this really is a lovely pen – so I’d have no hesitation recommending it. 7. Conclusion (Final score [sUM/6]: 8.5)I know, I know, add up my scores and divide by 6, and you’ll only get 8 – but I think the pen deserves more than that. I had to score the pen down for the nib, because of my problems with the Medium (which I believe will be sorted out by warranty) – and I can’t blame the pen for the manufacturers’ decision to ship it without a converter. So I’ve bumped it up to 8.5. These scores are really subjective – but this pen offers one of the most pleasant writing experiences I’ve experienced, when the ink is in full flow. I said a little earlier that I don’t know why Diplomat doesn’t have a higher profile – let me add to that, I don’t know why the Esteem seems so lowly esteemed, if you’ll pardon the pun! It’s a more substantial pen than the Traveller – which I’m told is a great pen, just a little small for sustained writing – and it’s significantly cheaper than the Aero and the Excellence. I’m happy to recommend this pen to anyone who’s interested in a good quality, serious-looking pen – and will keep you posted on developments with the Medium nib.