The Diplomat Traveller

[Jamerelbe]

It’s been several years now since I received my first Diplomat pen – the Diplomat Esteem – followed a couple of years later by the excellent Excellence A (Marrakesh finish) and the Aero in brown. I’d always wanted to round out my ‘collection’ with a Traveller, but couldn’t’ justify the expense – especially since I expected it would be a bit thin to use comfortably for extended writing sessions. I had the opportunity, though, to pick one up on a recent visit to Melbourne – at a reduced price, due to a slight blemish I’ll point out in due course.

I think my instincts about the pen were right: it’s a bit small for my taste, at least as a ‘regular writer’ – but it’s a really nice pen nonetheless, and I’m glad to have it in my collection. For anyone interested, my review will aim to provide a comparison with Diplomat’s larger, more expensive options – for anyone who’s tossing up which option to go with for themselves.

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Appearance & Design

The version of the Traveller that was available instore (at least at the cheaper price!) had a brushed chrome finish. There’s a slightly discoloured ‘ring’ towards the bottom of the barrel – probably caused by aggressive posting of the cap – that explained the reduced price, but it wasn’t enough of a blemish to put me off.

I like the simplicity of the design: a long, slim pen, ramrod straight, with the classic Diplomat clip and, and a clear-plastic-coated logo on the finial. It looks and feels a little heftier than the stainless steel Parker Jotter that was my main (if not only) fountain pen for many years – even though the finish of the metal is similar.

I terms of comparison, the Diplomat looks like a “shrunk down” version of the Esteem – as opposed to the Excellence A, which has more of a taper towards the top and bottom of the pen.

 

Construction & Quality

Like the Diplomat Esteem and Excellence A, the Traveller is solidly constructed and well executed. Its design is not intended to ‘fire the emotions’ so much as to communicate simplicity and reliability – and it certainly does that! The cap and body are made of metal, with a brushed finish; the plastic grip section is sturdy, with a matte finish that makes it pleasant to hold.

Posting the pen makes it very long – but given its light weight, causes no problems in terms of balance. Unlike the Esteem, which has a nice positive ‘click’ at the end of its travel, it’s not clear when the Traveller Cap has reached the end of its travel along the barrel – which probably explains the marring on the pen I bought! As long as you don’t ram the thing on, though, it seems happy to be posted, and writes equally well either way.

 

Weight & Dimensions

The Traveller is a lightweight pen, especially given its metal construction: 19.7g capped, or 11.5g uncapped (including converter and ink). The diameter of the grip section tapers down from 9mm at its widest, to 7.5mm towards the nib – which is about the diameter of a pencil, but fairly skinny for a pen. By comparison the diameters of the Esteem and Excellence A grip sections (at their widest) were 10.5mm and 12mm respectively.

The pen is 136mm capped, and 117mm uncapped; posted, it measures154mm. The diameter of the pen (along its entire length) is 10mm. This is a long(ish), skinny pen.

Nib & Performance

Diplomat is renowned (rightly, in my view) for the performance of its nib. The M nibs on my Excellence A and Aero are beautifully, buttery smooth, as is the F on my Esteem (though the latter required some work!).

The nib on the Traveller is great too – very smooth, especially for a Fine nib. It lays down a *very* fine line –which was a bit of a surprise given the much more generous flow of the F on the Esteem. As you can see from the photos, the Traveller nib is smaller in size than the Esteem nib – which likewise is smaller than the (#6) nib on the Excellence A.

 

Filling System & Maintenance

The pen takes standard international cartridges, or a full sized (Schmidt K5?) standard international cartridge converter. It’s disappointing that Diplomat don’t include a converter as standard with the Traveller – but I knew to expect it.

Cost & Value

The RRP of this pen is around AU$60 (I think) – though I was able to buy mine for about AU$45 (~US$30 on current exchange rates!). For the build quality, that’s very reasonable – though it’s not hard to find cheaper pens to do the job!

Conclusion

I said at the start that I’m not really a big user of ultrathin pens, but they do have their place. The ‘Traveller’ is aptly named, given its primary use (for me anyway) will be to take it on the road with me, especially when visiting places I wouldn’t want to risk taking my more expensive pens to. I wouldn’t want to use it for extended writing sessions, but it’s a good, high quality pen that I’m happy to have in my collection.

Edited June 17, 2019 by Jamerelbe

[Honeybadgers]

I have the steel and gold trim model. It's a darn great pen. I actually find it extremely comfortable for lots of writing due to being so thin and agile with a nice modest weight.

 

Only complaint I had was that it did not like most SI converters. I didn't have any spare schmidt at the time, but what I had could dislodge in the barrel with a decent tap on a table.

 

Diplomat sent me a new converter and it was perfect.

Edited June 17, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[Jamerelbe]

I have the steel and gold trim model. It's a darn great pen. I actually find it extremely comfortable for lots of writing due to being so thin and agile with a nice modest weight.

 

Only complaint I had was that it did not like most SI converters. I didn't have any spare schmidt at the time, but what I had could dislodge in the barrel with a decent tap on a table.

 

Diplomat sent me a new converter and it was perfect.

 

I don't disagree that it's a great pen, and very sturdy, perfect for taking on the road! It's just that for me, the thinner the pen, the harder I tend to instinctively grip it - which can lead to cramping if I don't notice what I'm doing...

 

Diplomat converters look identical (apart from the branding) to Schmidt K5s, so that's what I have in my Traveller right now - but I have a 'branded' converter on the way with an End-of-Financial-Year stationery sale order...

[Jamerelbe]

And just while I remember, here are links to my earlier reviews (dating back to 2014/15...):

 

The Esteem (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/271382-the-diplomat-esteem-conservative-german-styling-great-writing-experience/)

The Excellence A (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/296585-the-diplomat-excellence-a-another-great-german-fountain-pen/)

The Aero (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/296623-the-diplomat-aero-aka-the-zeppelin-pen/)

[1nkulus]

I enjoy the Excellence A, the heft and girth is great. The nib is sublime.

 

Diplomat takes standard converters and the K5 work flawless.

[Honeybadgers]

I would suggest that anyone using a non-k5 converter, insert the converter, put on the barrel, and give it 5-10 firm taps bottom first on a fairly hard surface. You definitely don't want to make the mistake I did and have it dislodge full of ink!

 

I only have two diplomats, this and a magnum, and I really hate the magnum. This one is a peach though. I especially love the clip design and the finial.

[Jamerelbe]

I only have two diplomats, this and a magnum, and I really hate the magnum. This one is a peach though. I especially love the clip design and the finial.

 

Interesting to hear that: I've been tempted to jump on a Magnum a few times, when I've seen them on sale, but decided against it, then wondered if I'd missed out on something. Sounds like I made the right decision...

 

I waited about 3-4 years to finally commit to the Traveller - not sorry I finally got around to it!

Edited June 17, 2019 by Jamerelbe

[Honeybadgers]

the magnum just felt cheap. It squeaked, the F nib was not tuned properly (there was huge tine gap and the F was a firehose of a and it just wasn't nice in the hand.

 

The traveler does feel like a premium product, the nib is completely different from the magnum, being a little soft and bouncy.

[Antenociticus]

Pleased to find this comparison, as I've been looking at substantially discounted Diplomats on a UK site: a Traveller and an Excellence.

 

Both are available (at the price) only with M nibs, and as someone who mostly prefers something finer than the usual western medium, I'm wondering if these tend to fat or thin lines.

[MyDarnSnakeLegs]

We've had several of these in our family, and they're great pens aside from the section. I think we've had as many broken sections as we've had Travellers. It was easy to get replacements back when Points of Distinction was the distributor, but I haven't had to get a replacement in a while, so perhaps it was an issue that was fixed in-house at Diplomat.

[Jamerelbe]

I had the opportunity to purchase another brushed chrome Traveller recently - at half the normal asking price, from outlet.milligram.com (they seem to be clearing them out?). I had the choice of another 'F', or to purchase a Medium nib - so I went for the latter. Here's a comparison of the two nibs, both inked up with Blackstone Sydney Harbour Blue:

 

 

The M nib is definitely both broader and wetter than the F - though I'd say it's not much different from a Lamy Safari 'F' nib, and definitely a fair bit finer than the 'M' nibs on my larger Diplomat pens (as per Excellence A comparison above).

 

Just posting, for the benefit of anyone who might be contemplating a Traveller, and wants to know the difference between these two options - personally, I'm glad to have both!

[Caeruleum]

I had the opportunity to purchase another brushed chrome Traveller recently - at half the normal asking price, from outlet.milligram.com (they seem to be clearing them out?). I had the choice of another 'F', or to purchase a Medium nib - so I went for the latter. Here's a comparison of the two nibs, both inked up with Blackstone Sydney Harbour Blue:

 

 

The M nib is definitely both broader and wetter than the F - though I'd say it's not much different from a Lamy Safari 'F' nib, and definitely a fair bit finer than the 'M' nibs on my larger Diplomat pens (as per Excellence A comparison above).

 

Just posting, for the benefit of anyone who might be contemplating a Traveller, and wants to know the difference between these two options - personally, I'm glad to have both!

Thanks, Jamerelbe. I wouldn't have expected the difference to be this big.

Maybe my search was too shallow, but I didn't find much information on how the Traveller's or Esteem's nibs compare to Diplomat's 6# sized nibs. Praise for the Aero and the Excellence models is abundant and there are reviews, like yours, on the smaller pens. I know your experience with the Esteem hasn't been pure joy from the beginning. Could you compare the writing experience between the Aero and Excellence on the one hand to the Esteem on the other hand?

[Jamerelbe]

Thanks, Jamerelbe. I wouldn't have expected the difference to be this big.

Maybe my search was too shallow, but I didn't find much information on how the Traveller's or Esteem's nibs compare to Diplomat's 6# sized nibs. Praise for the Aero and the Excellence models is abundant and there are reviews, like yours, on the smaller pens. I know your experience with the Esteem hasn't been pure joy from the beginning. Could you compare the writing experience between the Aero and Excellence on the one hand to the Esteem on the other hand?

 

Sure thing: writing with the Aero and/or the Excellence A is an absolute delight - the nibs are beautifully smooth, and just glide across the page. The Esteem is great when I can get it to write - but when I first received it, it was constantly hard starting and skipping. With a bit of TLC it now writes a lot better, but I still get the occasional 'slow start'. I've toyed with the idea of doing some further nib work of my own (or paying someone else to do it), but it hasn't gotten to the top of my priority list... It really is a lovely pen, I just find myself gravitating to my other Diplomats (and other brands!) in preference...

 

Having read around the internet, I suspect my experience with the Esteem is not common - I just got a dud nib. Unfortunately, the Australian distributor for Diplomat (I've since discovered) has a strange aversion to honouring warranty claims, unless there's no way he can get out of it - so the retailer I got the Esteem from had enormous difficulty getting a replacement nib, so (if I recall correctly?) we ended up not bothering with it. I've since had similar difficulties getting the faulty cap on my Aero replaced - as I write this, I've been waiting several weeks to hear anything back on my warranty claim for that pen.

[Caeruleum]

Thank you for the insight provided!

It's a pity the australian distributor doesn't provide much service.

[Jamerelbe]

Thank you for the insight provided!

It's a pity the australian distributor doesn't provide much service.

 

Yep, it's a real pity, especially given Diplomat's recent resurgence. I don't see a lot of retailers carrying their stock in Australia - and I don't see that changing any time soon, if purchasers and/or retailers don't have confidence that their legitimate warranty issues will be dealt with promptly and fairly.

[Caeruleum]

 

Yep, it's a real pity, especially given Diplomat's recent resurgence. I don't see a lot of retailers carrying their stock in Australia - and I don't see that changing any time soon, if purchasers and/or retailers don't have confidence that their legitimate warranty issues will be dealt with promptly and fairly.

Well, maybe it helps to address this situation here or in direct contact with Diplomat. You flag it up, maybe it's seen.

Thanks for your help!