Monteverde Invincia Stealth Black Review

[Arfien]

Monteverde Invincia Stealth Black Review

 

Introduction

I am fairly new to fountain pens, and the invincia was my first fountain pen, which I got for Christmas last year (2012). The reason I am reviewing this fountain pen today is because I used it continuously for 2 months as my only pen, writing 3+ hours a day with it, 6 days a week. As a result, I have a pretty good understanding of its pros and cons. I recently purchased a noodlers Ahab and a Visconti homo sapiens, so I have something to compare it to in this review now, which I have wanted to write for a while. Please forgive me if my terminology is a bit off, and feel free to correct me if I say something wrong.

 

Appearance

While very subjective, I thought I might offer my thoughts on the appearance. The pen is of a tapered design, bulging in the centre and slowly decreasing in radius towards the end of the cap and the barrel. It is brass, coated in shiny black paint or lacquer. The cap screws off to reveal a black metal grip section and large, dark grey (think of graphite) nib. On the base of the cap, Monteverde invincia is printed, and the logo is also printed on the top of the cap.

 

Personally I really like the look of the pen. It is not gaudy, and will not catch the eye of those around you like some other pens, but this is perhaps a good thing, and it will not attract thieves either. I love the look of the nib; the slightly lighter colour contrasts well with the rest of the pen. Mine is a little scratched in places, revealing the metal under the paint, but this is not a flaw of the pen, but rather a fault of mine for carrying it in my pocket for two months.

 

The pen is 43g with the cap and 31g without. I think it is a little back heavy due to the thick barrel but overall I like the weight of the pen.

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3801/9234845525_d979f39676.jpg
P8140234 by arfien1, on Flickr

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3724/9237621638_67727d4a9e.jpg
P8140238 by arfien1, on Flickr

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7319/9237617218_85cc7d8e18.jpg
P8140241 (2) by arfien1, on Flickr

 

 

Construction: 15.5/25 (combined score)

 

Disassembly :4.5/5

The pen can be disassembled; the section, barrel, the nib unit and the converter can all be removed. The nib and feed seem to be inseparable, though you can screw them out of the pen together for cleaning. I would've liked it of the nib and feed could be separated entirely so the feed could be cleaned better.

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7325/9237610682_7b8fb1dbd6.jpg
P8140243 by arfien1, on Flickr

 

 

Barrel:5/5

The barrel seems to be solid brass. It has metal threading for both the section and the cap, which work wonderfully and don't seem to wear at all, even when people like me repetitively screw and unscrew the section during a boring class or lecture. It is very thick and heavy, and would probably survive even the most brutal treatment.

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5480/9237619544_b3e4f29716.jpg
P8140239 by arfien1, on Flickr

 

 

Cap:3/5

The cap, like the barrel, is solid brass, meaning it is very durable. It has a plastic lining inside where the nib sits, and screws on snugly. The clip is stiff but still functional, and like the rest of the pen, it appears to be very durable. The biggest problem for the cap is that you cannot post it at all; it will fly off when writing, and could get lost. Personally, I find this to be very poor design.

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2846/9237612800_715ac1f5f9.jpg
P8140242 by arfien1, on Flickr

 

 

Section: 2/5

The section is made of metal like the rest of the pen. It is functional, but very slippery and during exams or long period of writing, it can become a pain. I find that it tapers too fast, and is far too thin just before the nib, which can become uncomfortable after a time. The rim just before the nib is a welcome touch, as it stops your fingers sliding down to the nib. The threads connecting the section to the barrel are well designed and durable; the section never becomes loose.

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2838/9234843413_2089140532.jpg
P8140236 by arfien1, on Flickr

 

 

Converter: 1/5

The converter that comes with the pen is just awful. It holds about 0.5mL of ink, which is not nearly sufficient for me. I was refilling it about 3 or 4 times a day when I was using the converter. The converter also comes loose of the feed really easily. Several times each day, I would have to open the pen and reconnect the converter to the feed, as the ink would stop flowing. I started using large cartridges which held much more ink and did not come loose.

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2860/9237615016_a5a1b63613.jpg
P8140241 by arfien1, on Flickr

 

Writing experience: 22/30

 

Medium nib

The nib is very smooth when writing at a moderate pace. The amount of friction seems to increase exponentially as you write faster however, though I didn't really find this much of a problem, and didn't even really notice until I purchased my homo sapiens. This is a relatively cheap pen, so I suppose it is to be expected. This lessened by switching from pelikan Edelstein to Visconti ink.

 

Skipping is a real issue for this pen. It often skips when quickly crossing "t" or very quick downstrokes on "L". More frustratingly, it almost always skips or railroads on the downstrokes of right brackets. For most, this wouldn't be much of an issue, but in a math exam when writing 3 pages of matrices very quickly, it became a serious issue for me. Because of this, I found myself applying a lot more pressure than should be necessary to try to eliminate the frequent skipping.

 

A strange effect of this pen is that it seems to write with a very faded line. My black inks look very grey and somewhat "soft" around the edges rather than well defined. My blue ink seems lighter too. There is no feathering or bleed though, so this is not necessarily a bad feature, but it may not be what some people are looking for.

 

The pen has a little bit of line variation, but certainly can't flex well. I can make it flex on the downstroke with enormous amounts of pressure, which can be useful when writing integral signs, or to add a bit of flare to a capital letter, but the amount of pressure required for the flex is beyond what would be comfortable for everyday writing. The small amount of line variation makes my writing look quite nice, and it is far more legible than when using a ballpoint pen.

 

Writing Sample

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2892/9234841297_960a7f4bcf_o.jpg
P8140238 (2) by arfien1, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7441/9234850009_6714c5bf6c_o.jpg
P8140234 (2) by arfien1, on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3750/9234826273_a32d6a566d_o.jpg
P8140245 by arfien1, on Flickr

 

 

Conclusion

 

Final score: 37.5/55 (68%)

 

The invincia black is not a bad pen. It looks great, most of the components are very sturdy and the pen is almost indestructible. It wears very well; only a bit of chipped paint over 2 months of solid use. There are a few problems however. The converter does not work, you cannot post the cap and the nib sometimes skips. It also writes with a very faint line and has a bit of friction when writing very fast. I'm not sure if I would recommend this pen to someone. For me, its down sides became too much to bear, and after using it for 4 exams, I went out and bought my Visconti which is almost flawless except for a small ink capacity. For others who do not write so much, it would probably be fine. I would suggest trying it out before buying it, and see if the skipping or the grip is an issue for you.

 

[lahlahlaw]

Great Review! I have thought about getting this pen, it looks very muscular and almost like one of those self-defense pens - definitely a contrast to the usual delicate nature of fountain pens...

[humsin]

I pretty much agree. The pen is decent, just not great

[Crashspeeder]

I got this pen just under a month ago. I haven't used it nearly as much as you have, maybe twice a week or so. I got it with a 1.1mm stub.

 

A few observations that seem to be different from yours:

• The pen writes incredibly smoothly for me. I've never needed to apply pressure. I'm using Noodler's Blue-Black successfully without any skipping, though I tend to write slowly.
• I've also found I have no issues posting the cap. It stays just fine.
• Your converter also seems different from mine. Mine is threaded so it stays put.
• My barrel seems to be loose when I go to use the pen sometimes. It's a little annoying to have to screw it back in securely before starting to write.
• The nib and feed do come apart because the nibs are sold separately. They're interchangeable.

There are a few points I definitely agree with you on:

• My fingers slide down the section, but it's definitely not an uncomfortable pen. I just find that I need to readjust my grip every so often.
• I have to refill quite often.

 

Replacing the nib:

Edited July 16, 2013 by Crashspeeder

[terminal]

It kind of looks like some of the finish is rubbing off on the ends of the pen... is the paint actually rubbing off??

[inotrym]

Yes, I thought that too. That's why I'm not all that into "stealthy" pens.

I like the looks though. I would consider a rosegold invincia. Or maybe the deluxe version.

Now, if only someone could give us a writing sample of the 1.1 nib.... I would love to make this a "signing" pen!

[Crashspeeder]

Yes, I thought that too. That's why I'm not all that into "stealthy" pens.

I like the looks though. I would consider a rosegold invincia. Or maybe the deluxe version.

Now, if only someone could give us a writing sample of the 1.1 nib.... I would love to make this a "signing" pen!

I can write something up and post it tonight.

[kenmc]

An option for the ink capacity is the Monteverde long cartridges now available. I clean and refill the cartridges so I can use other inks. Mine has a different converter than yours, but the last Monteverdes I have bought had that type.

Mine has a small spot that the paint rubbed off. I kind of figured that was going to happen when I got it - paint over metal - it's bound to happen. Seems it would be cool if they made the model with no paint - just brass (but send it with a vial of brasso ) .

[inotrym]

I can write something up and post it tonight.

 

That would be cool! Thanks!

[terminal]

It annoys me the paint rubs off. It actually might be a deal breaker for me even though I like the idea of the pen.

[Crashspeeder]

Here's something I wrote yesterday. I haven't wanted to write anything today due to my Konrad having peeved me off.

 

[terminal]

 

Here's something I wrote yesterday. I haven't wanted to write anything today due to my Konrad having peeved me off.

 

 

Man I can't tell you how many times that's happened to me with my Konrad.

[Crashspeeder]

Man I can't tell you how many times that's happened to me with my Konrad.

 

I think I got it sorted. It's running a tad dry now and now merely threatens to drip ink on the paper instead of actually doing so.

 

In any case, I apologize for my handwriting. I've been working on it. I'm also no stub nib master. Hopefully it gets the point across, though.

[inotrym]

Thanks for the writing sample. It seems nice.

 

I'm not really into broad or stub nibs (most of my pens are F/EF) but I found out that signatures look better in bold and wet pens. Matching a bold nib with a good looking heavy pen and a fair price is quite tempting. I think invincia rose gold just made it to my "wanna buy" list...

 

(well of course I'm too yound to "need" a proper signing pen, but it would make a good graduating gift for future use)

[Crashspeeder]

Thanks for the writing sample. It seems nice.

 

I'm not really into broad or stub nibs (most of my pens are F/EF) but I found out that signatures look better in bold and wet pens. Matching a bold nib with a good looking heavy pen and a fair price is quite tempting. I think invincia rose gold just made it to my "wanna buy" list...

 

(well of course I'm too yound to "need" a proper signing pen, but it would make a good graduating gift for future use)

 

I hear you. I do have to say, though, that I just wrote a page using the 1.1mm stub and it's very close to my Lamy Safari fine, except with a little more character due to the slight variation. I've been working on my penmanship for the last week or so, so I wrote this page to test my consistency. I think it's coming along. It will double as another writing sample for you to see the 1.1mm nib in action.

[Subscript]

The Goulet Pen stealth Matte black carbon fiber version has enough texture to provide a sure grip on the section.

[inotrym]

It looks beautiful! It doesn't seem fine to my eyes. Of course a picture can always be misleading, so I'll take your word for that.

 

Doesn't this pen take the stardard No5 nibs? If so, I could change it in case I wanted sth broader.

God, that rose gold finish is so beautiful...!!

 

 

Thx for your time, in any case. Enjoy your pen.

[Crashspeeder]

You're right in that it may not look like a fine. I was comparing it to how my Lamy Safari fine writes, which on most paper is like a western medium (it feathers a bit with the inks I've tried so far). On Clairefontaine paper the difference is a little more pronounced, with the Safari writing finer since the ink isn't running, and the Invincia being noticeably broader on the downstrokes, but similar to the Safari on the upstrokes.

 

The Invincia takes a #6 nib, so you could switch it out if you want to.

Edited July 21, 2013 by Crashspeeder

[zhryj]

beautiful handwriting

[Arfien]

@terminal Yes, some of the paint has rubbed off unfortunatley. The end of the barrel has a great deal of paint missing along the rim, and there are many other scratches on the pen. It seems to scratch very easily, though I did carry it in my pocket with other pens for a while.

 

@crashspeeder I do apologize about the nib. I could not get mine out so I assumed it was stuck in place. I'll edit my review when I can. Also, when I first get the pen, i found the barrel and section were a little use as I went to use it. The trick is to twist them on really tight. Also, a little bit of ink in the threads can help if you let it dry out, it will add a little more friction and stop it coming loose.