Faber-Castell 342020 Neo Slim Stainless Steel Ballpoint Pen

This pen is a modern smooth touch for the writer who wants both sophistication and high performance. The size, feel, balance and ink lines are masterful

I prefer black ink for writing and signing (and drawing), so I was a bit put off that I installed the cartridge of ink that came with this pen without realizing it was blue ink! Aside from that (which was my own fault for not paying closer attention), I am in LOVE with this fountain pen! I got the extra-fine nib because I have what my teacher used to refer to as a "small hand" (she also used to call it "microscopic writing"!), and it is great! The lines are fine and crisp and easy to read. I like the slimness of the pen, and the way the cap posts with a positive click. The stainless steel finish looks very attractive (and matches the majority of the other pens and pencils in my collection).I really have nothing bad to say about this fine writing instrument! For it's price point, it is just outstanding!

Somewhere in my reading of reviews of this pen either the internet's wires got crossed or mine did: it is a lovely pen but it does not take Pilot G2 refills. Rather, it takes Parker G2 refills. Very frustrating for me, as I prefer the Pilot refills in general and the Frixion refills in particular. Sigh. I can't fault the pen for that. It is otherwise everything I prefer in a pen: a lightweight, metal body with a reliable retracting mechanism.

The media could not be loaded. What a beautiful pen. I carry this one specifically for signatures and writing in my hobonichi cousin.Shipping took a solid month but it arrived here via Amazon Japan

I ordered this pen because I needed a slim pen for a notebook with a small pen loop and my experience with Faber Castell pens had been strongly positive. I got a pen that was almost excellent. It fits nicely in my hand, it is well made, the nib writes smoothly, and it lays down a nice, wet line of ink. Unfortunately, the pen will dry out after a day or two if it hasn't been used. I checked other reviews and apparently, this is not an uncommon issue with this model. It's too bad because, otherwise, it is a real pleasure to use. However, anyone who buys it should be aware that it may have this problem.

Very, very, very fine EF nib. Not an easily interchangable one either since it has a strong downward turn, kind of PO nib like.Cap seal is pretty good, clip is really nice.It was kind of unusably dry and skippy until I removed the included cartridge and replace it with a FC converter (the pen is very slim and some normal converters don't fit the barrel, so pick up a faber castell one) and some normal ink - and things got a lot better. Even dry ink like pelikan 4001 works well, so who knows what junk was in that cartridge.The cap seal isn't amazing, but it's not bad. The pen should be used regularly, leaving it for a week unused will make it a little dry and need a bit of tapping to start going.Overall, I think I'd probably recommend the lamy CP-1 a bit over this, since it takes the easily swappable Z50 nib and the cap seal is more solid, but if you need something really extra fine (something the lamy EF nibs suck at) then this is a much better option. The EF is pretty borderline japanese EF.

There’s a slot between clip and cap that lets air through. Needless to say the seal is not great and the nib dries out in less than a day.

It is a great pen and writes smoothly.