Kenro Estie

[jhataway]

I have recently purchased the Kenro Estie pen, and find it to be a very reliable pen with an attractive acrylic body.  The JoWo SS nib is smooth, and there are no cold starts because of the excellent capping system.  I have a couple of vintage Esterbrook pens, but I prefer using this Estie over the older pens.  I own some far more expensive pens (Montblanc, Onoto, Pelican), but I can't say they write any better than the Estie.  I also later bought a stub nib for the pen, and to performs very well also.  At $175 I fell this pen is fairly priced and makes me wonder why other pens are priced so much higher.  Have others experienced the Estie, and what are your thoughts?

[Carguy]

I have 3 of these and have bought all with stub nibs. Love the colors and all are great writers.

 

This price point seems fair and while there are many less expensive pens with great color, I find this to be a well made pen.

[es9]

I was pretty disappointed in mine and thought it was overpriced. At the end of the day, it’s a CC pen with a steel nib. It also felt very light in my hand. I was extremely excited for the MV adapter, but I could never get it to work consistently. 
 

You can get a lot more pen at/around that price point — a Lamy 2000, for example. Or probably a restored Parker 51 and a restored vintage Esterbrook J. 

[jchch1950]

I had been thinking to buy one of the new Esterbrooks. The colours are nice. I have doubts about the size and the long-term quality. Also, I have questions about the guarantee. Any comments will be welcome.

[gweimer1]

I have the Estie JR, and it's a good pen, but I wouldn't call it great.   After seeing it done elsewhere, I decided to buy the Esterbrook MV section to accomodate the old nibs, and I'm having a couple custom pens turned to accommodate the section.

I also have an earlier Kenro Esterbrook Nostalgia, which I don't think lasted long.

[Carguy]

15 hours ago, jchch1950 said:

I had been thinking to buy one of the new Esterbrooks. The colours are nice. I have doubts about the size and the long-term quality. Also, I have questions about the guarantee. Any comments will be welcome.

To be fair, these pens don’t see much usage by me, so please don’t take my comments as an implied endorsement. I like them, but my vintage 51’s and vintage Esterbrooks see far more usage.

[jchch1950]

Carguyand and gweimer1 : Thank you for your comments, they are useful for me.

[Glenn-SC]

I have 13 of the new Esties.  All but one bought new.  The dozen are all great writers and have never skipped or hard started.  They all write with a consistent Fine line with equal width in every direction (of the stroke). Wonderful pens.

The thirteenth pen was bought used and has hard starting problems.  I should have paid the extra $15 and got a new one.  
The colors are great and the size/weight work well for me. 
I was happy to buy the new Estie at $150. The latest price increase has pushed them out of my value limit. (Although there are some great new colors I’d like to have.)

[P.S. I have/had a number of vintage Esties and never really liked how they felt or wrote.]

[Ron Z]

The nibs are Jowo.  You could get an unmarked nib for the pen from Brian Gray through meisternibs.com  They're about $25 for steel nibs.