Wancher Dream Pen True Urushi Midori With House Branded Nib

[jandrese]

This is my new Wancher Dream Pen True Urushi in midori or green gloss urushi. The Japanese pen with the German (?) sounding name. I ordered this pen in January so it took about 6 months to complete and ship to me. The original promise was for 3-4 months, which seemed unreasonably fast for an urushi pen so I was not surprised or disappointed to be asked to wait another few months. It was worth the wait. The pen started on Kickstarter but I did not back that launch. The options I chose were 18k gold nib (thought gold would go well with the green) in broad size and black ebonite feed, both of which were both modestly priced upgrades. At some point during the wait I was asked if I might like to receive the brand new Wancher branded nib. Of course, I said yes. This may be one of the first looks at this new nib.

 

The presentation box is a typical Japanese Paulownia wood affair painted with an image of Mt. Fuji, the Wancher logo, and some text. My Google translator app does not recognize the characters as Japanese, which is odd but the one on the left at least reads something like "fountain pen".

 

Inside the box is a continuation of the nice packaging including a letter from the Wancher president and letter of authenticity that this is hand-made urushi pen lacquered by experts in Wajima, Japan using the finest quality urushi. Also included is a cute envelope of a penguin holding some ink cartridges, a bookmark, a card with a QR code for product instructions, and the pen itself in a nice bag with loop closure. Someday it will catch on that these are bags, bukuro, not kimono but I digress. 

 

The pen is very attractive and much darker to the eye than official photos led me to expect. Urushi is mixed by the craftsmen so color varies so I'm not surprised to see a different shade of green than what I expected. Actually, it really depends on the lighting and as the urushi continues to cure and age it will change somewhat in shade over time.

 

In bright light you can capture a photo like this, at least against a black background. Context matters.

 

The pen feeds via cartridge converter and writes a wet line. When it arrived the nib needed work. The tipping on one of the tines was longer than the other. This made the nib scratchy. I fixed that with 12,000 grit sand paper, and now it writes beautifully, but that was a little bit disappointing, especially since it is their new house branded nib. While it appears that my photos are a bit fuzzy the nib imprint/laser etching is itself a bit fuzzy. I reckon it's a #6 Jowo nib that writes between a Western medium and broad. That is, it writes a bit wider than a typical Japanese eg Platinum broad nib. It's a pretty stiff nib so no softness or flex. There is also Wancher branding on the flange that encircles the cartridge, just a laser loge etch but a nice touch. Pardon the ink, it's Yama-budo, but I ought to mention that the nib had a tiny amount of ink dried on it between the tines when it arrived suggesting it had been tested. Don't know how it passed inspection unless used at a low angle. 

 

If you look closely you can see the slightly offset tines in this picture.

There are large bare ebonite threads like on a Taccia and also a strongly sprung slip n' seal cap mechanism. The former nicely has only 1.5 turns to release the cap. Take that AP Limited, Danitrio, and Sailor to name a few. The latter should keep the nib from drying out. 

 

Lastly, it's a big pen, but not heavy or unbalanced because of the ebonite body. I did not opt for a roll stopper as I wanted the pen to have the cleanest lines possible. I like it quite a bit and more and more the more I use it. All things considered it's a great value for the money. I'll probably get some more!

[samasry]

Very Nice pen, Congratulations after the long patience.

 

How much did this pen cost with the gold nib?

[jandrese]

Very Nice pen, Congratulations after the long patience.

 

How much did this pen cost with the gold nib?

450 for the pen. 30 for ebonite feed. 10 for gold nib. 490 all in

[samasry]

450 for the pen. 30 for ebonite feed. 10 for gold nib. 490 all in

 

Congrats again.

Oh wow, just $10 for Gold nib upgrade, this would be a no brainer, if it is an upgrade from steel.

Edited June 29, 2019 by salmasry

[XYZZY]

450 for the pen. 30 for ebonite feed. 10 for gold nib. 490 all in

Was that $10 upgrade from steel to gold? Or from generic gold to Wancher etched gold?

[jandrese]

Was that $10 upgrade from steel to gold? Or from generic gold to Wancher etched gold?

The website is a bit different now so it's hard for me to reconstruct the order. I believe $10 was to get a broad 18k nib in yellow gold. The Wancher etched nib only became available sometime after I ordered and I was offered a no cost swap to that nib.

[darazs]

Thanks for the review - it’s not going to help resisting though

[gerigo]

I have one too from the original Kickstarter program. I opted for a fine nib which wrote beautifully out of the box and about similar to a Japanese Medium Fine. The pen is just really well finished and is a wonderful writer.

 

FYI in case most people did not know, it is exactly the same pen as the one Kenro is using for their Esterbrook line. I thought I recognized the shape. The Esterbrook adapter for the original nibs screws on like it was the same pen. Probably the R&D was done by some OEM Taiwanese company, and other companies are buying the chassis to do what they want with the pen and branding.

[XYZZY]

FYI in case most people did not know, it is exactly the same pen as the one Kenro is using for their Esterbrook line. I thought I recognized the shape. The Esterbrook adapter for the original nibs screws on like it was the same pen. Probably the R&D was done by some OEM Taiwanese company, and other companies are buying the chassis to do what they want with the pen and branding.

 

Are you sure? The Estie is acrylic. The Wancher True Urushi is urishi over ebonite. Or am I thinking of a different model?

[jandrese]

I have one too from the original Kickstarter program. I opted for a fine nib which wrote beautifully out of the box and about similar to a Japanese Medium Fine. The pen is just really well finished and is a wonderful writer.

 

FYI in case most people did not know, it is exactly the same pen as the one Kenro is using for their Esterbrook line. I thought I recognized the shape. The Esterbrook adapter for the original nibs screws on like it was the same pen. Probably the R&D was done by some OEM Taiwanese company, and other companies are buying the chassis to do what they want with the pen and branding.

 

From a distance there are similarities in the design. The measurements don't match up. The cap threads are different. I don't know enough about either companies operations to refute or substantiate that claim. I have seen a singular example of a remarkably similar ebonite/urushi pen from xxxx, that is, I forgot. Could have been a Kenro product but maybe not. If it's still at my AD next month I'll check on it and bring my Wancher for comparison.

[dapprman]

Think he means the Wancher nib is the same as the Kenroe Esterbrook nib - pen wise they are completely different aside from being cigar shaped.,

[mongrelnomad]

Is this Taizo from Engeika's outfit? If so, they've sure come a long way from the nasty budget stuff they used to market.

[roger3]

Is this Taizo from Engeika's outfit? If so, they've sure come a long way from the nasty budget stuff they used to market.

 

Wancher is Taizo's operation. The very same person that operated Engeika.

[roger3]

Thanks for the review and the pix. I haven't yet freed my wallet for a dream pen but will be doing so shortly. The green is on my list...indeed, all of the colors are on my list

[JonSzanto]

There is one thing I can't get over, and it is a trend now on a few pens: the laser etching on the nib. To my eyes, it is hideious.

 

Compared to virtually any stamped nib, it looks low rent and a sign that corners had to be cut. It kills me that this type of 'adornment' shows up on the otherwise magnificent Wahl-Evershap pens, and - if I'm not mistaken - on the Arco Simoni nibs as well. Those are two high-end examples but it seems to be on more and more pens. This is most likely an individual taste issue, but I'll not be plopping down a premium for a gold-nibbed pen when that scratchy-looking manner of embellishment is in use.

Edited July 19, 2019 by JonSzanto

[Lloyd]

There is one thing I can't get over, and it is a trend now on a few pens: the laser etching on the nib. To my eyes, it is hideious.

 

Compared to virtually any stamped nib, it looks low rent and a sign that corners had to be cut. It kills me that this type of 'adornment' shows up one the otherwise magnificent Wahl-Evershap pens, and - if I'm not mistaken - on the Arco Simoni nibs as well. This is most likely an individual taste issue, but I'll not be plopping down a premium for a gold-nibbed pen when that scratchy-looking manner of embellishment is in use.

I totally agree. I'd much rather a plain nib or one that stated the nib manufacturer to a scratched in label.

[XYZZY]

There is one thing I can't get over, and it is a trend now on a few pens: the laser etching on the nib. To my eyes, it is hideious.

 

Amen! I think a nice crisp stamped logo from Jowo or Bock would be much classier than a craptastic rasterized image. Being able to see the pixels of the laser etcher is just so... cheap? Low-tech? 70s?

 

I'm not asking for perfection. A 3-4X improvement in resolution might be enough that I could only see the pixels when aided by a loupe. I'm anal enough that things I can see only under a loupe will bother me when I have a loupe out. But I'm also just chill enough that I forget about them when I put the loupe away.

 

I don't know where the etching happens in the product chain, though. I have assumed that Bock and Jowo do that etching themselves, offering it as a cheaper alternative to a custom stamp. But that would also mean that the cost of a better etcher could be amortized across all the small orders from all the small companies.

[Intensity]

I feel exactly the same -- seeing the generic Bock and JoWo steel and gold nibs with this or that brand's addition of laser etching over the default engraving makes me automatically not interested in that pen. It's much less forgivable for the gold-nib options that usually are, relatively speaking, very expensive writing utensils. As a luxury product, it should be more custom-made and not reek of being stamped out from subcontracted parts of generic quality.

[mongrelnomad]

Conid, after a very brief flirtation with laser-etched nibs, quickly reverted to the stamped Bock logo. I feel they made the right choice.

[freakman]

Their laser etched nib is an in-house nib made in Osaka area. And I believe their stamps are not ready yet...