Initial Review: Conway Stewart Series 100 "The Commander" Fountain Pen

[donnweinberg]

This is a review of a brand new Conway Stewart Series 100 - The Commander, in a Navy Blue color with Gold trim and an 18K CS Broad Nib.  It fills either with an included screw-in converter or International Standard cartridges.  Here are ten photos of the pen and its packaging, from the CS site, as the CS photos are far superior to the ones I took:

          

 

I filled the pen with Birmingham Pen Co. "Cold-Steel" ink, a blue-black, by injecting the ink into the converter with a hypodermic needle, screwing the converter into the section, and moving some ink into the section with the screw converter.  Then, I dipped the nib in some Fountain Pen Flush to get the flow going.  After writing with the pen for a few lines, the ink began to darken.  This process is cleaner than dipping the nib and part of the section in the ink and then wiping off the excess.  Here's my initial writing sample:

 

 

I am very impressed with this pen.  It is beautiful to look at, wonderful to hold because of its relative lightness and balance (I never post the cap on the barrel), and has a springy nib that writes a wet, broad line.  The objective measurements of the pen, supplied by Conway Stewart, are as follows:

 

LENGTH:  Capped 5.42"/137.8mm ; Posted 6.70"/170mm ; Barrel/Section/Nib only 5.08"/129mm ; Cap only 2.48"/63mm.

BARREL DIAMETER: 0.52"/13.2mm

CAP DIAMETER: 0.61"/15.5mm

WEIGHT: 20g/0.71oz

 

I got the pen with a broad nib, but also available for no extra cost are EF, F, M.  The 18K gold CS nib was $70.  The pen also is available as a Rollerball, with either fine or medium point.  The cost of the pen as a RB is $514, so if you get the FP, the cost is $584 (i.e., the extra $70 for the 18K nib).

 

Options I didn't get are as follows:

Special Nib Options ($56), such as stub, italic, oblique.

Special Engraving ($25) (name or initials)

 

After putting this nice pen through the paces some more, I'll report back on its longer-term performance.  So far, so very good.

 

 

 

 

 

[Boston Brian]

Don,

 

Love yr review, love Conway Stewarts and think the Commander is classy and am very tempted.  My problem is that I have a 100 with  a broad nib, dating from early 2000,s . The nibs from that period were much better, much wetter and a proper broad.  My experience of the more recent CS is that the current broad nib is more a medium.  That is what holds me back from buying a Commander! 

[donnweinberg]

13 hours ago, Boston Brian said:

Love yr review, love Conway Stewarts and think the Commander is classy and am very tempted.  My problem is that I have a 100 with  a broad nib, dating from early 2000,s . The nibs from that period were much better, much wetter and a proper broad.  My experience of the more recent CS is that the current broad nib is more a medium.  That is what holds me back from buying a Commander! 

 

Hi, Brian.  Here's another writing sample (to supplement the one above) using my Commander with broad nib:

 

 

 

 

 

[Boston Brian]

To me that is medium, and I can assure you that the Conway Stewart pens from about 20 years ago were true broads. All of them, the Churchill's and the various other many models they produced when they brought CS back from the dead, before the Bespoke Pen take over.

 

At last years Birmingham show I bought a gorgeous Ocean Blue 58 with a BB nib, which is a joy to use.

Still very tempted by The Commander,  wondering if I bought one could I swop nibs?  Do you think the older nibs would fit the new 100's? 

[Shanghai Knife Dude]

Current CS is adopting JOWO nibs, right? 

[donnweinberg]

10 hours ago, Boston Brian said:

Do you think the older nibs would fit the new 100's? 

 

I don't have any of the older CS 100 pens, so I don't know.  It would be nice if they did.  Perhaps an email to CS customer service would get you an answer.

[donnweinberg]

An update on my experience with this pen:  I store my pens in a horizontal position.  Left overnight in a cool, dry house (mid-Atlantic, USA), I have experienced some "hard starts" when starting to write.  The issue resolves after a little bit of priming -- holding the pen downward for a few seconds, plus trying to get it going.  The issue sometimes occurs after several hours in the same day, but sometimes not.