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Showing results for tags 'herbin tempest'.
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Few weeks ago I was surprised to see a J. Herbin “Tempest “ (“Tempête”) fountain pen in a big store in Paris. I could not resist to the temptation of buying one. It is an eyedropper crystal fountain pen. It is available in 5 colors (black, blue, red, orange and transparent) in a box with 4 inks (10 ml bottles) or alone. The user manual is available here: http://www.mobile-lavigne.fr/Tempete-Herbin/#en Packaging The fountain pain is packaged in a black box with the logo of J. Herbin drawn on it. It’s a pretty cardboard box. Appearance Length capped: 153 mm / 6.02 inLength without cap: 137 mm / 5.39 inCap length: 68 mm / 2.68 inWeight capped and filled with ink: 20 g / 0.7 ozInk capacity : 2.2 ml The Tempest is a light fountain pen. When I take it in my hand, it gives me a feeling of “It’s too much plastic”. Personally I like heavy pen, and I would have appreciated a metal ring on the body to make it heavier. Nevertheless, the Tempest is an elegant and pleasant looking pen with its oblong tail. The cap screws on the pen. Nib The Tempest has an iridium nib with the ship / logo of Herbin engraved on it. The nib is shiny and looks beautiful. As far I as know only a medium size is available. Filling The eyedropper included in the box to fill the pen is made of glass. I didn’t use it. I prefer to use a syringe. There is no marking on the body of the pen, so you have to guess when to stop the filling. Nothing special to say about the filling, just drop ink in the fountain pen. I added some silicone grease on the threads. Writing test The Tempest was difficult to start. It took some effort before the ink flowed through the nib. The ink flow was very wet before becoming more and more dry and finally stopped after 2 or 3 lines. Sometime new pens act like that, but after several days and having filled 2 pages of my notebook, the Tempest was still a rebel and it was a pain to use it. I tried to wash the nib: with a big syringe I pushed water through the nib a few times. That helped. Now, the Tempest starts writing immediately. The ink flow is regular but a little bit dry (compared to my TWSBI 580 for example). Conclusion I like the shape of the Tempest. It’s a fun pen. But writing with it is a little bit disappointing (maybe I should wash the nib better). For 90 € (122 $), I find it to be rather expensive and I was expecting a better pen.