Kaweco Special Ballpoint
Posted by Lois Ho on
I’ve been interested in the Kaweco Special series for a while and when this beautiful red and gold (coloured) edition came out at the end of 2021, I knew it was time to dive in.
The Special Red is made from aluminium (although they have a standard brass edition) so its really light weight but still very sturdy feeling. I’ve seen some reviews of the Fountain Pen that have mentioned that it’s a bit long and unwieldy, and my own experiences with their nibs meant that I stayed away from the fountain pen edition of this collection, despite its beauty, so I picked up the ballpoint instead.
I’ve seen product listings that indicate the pen uses a D1 refill and another that says it uses a Parker G2. I can confirm here that the special ballpoint uses a Parker G2 and not a D1. When I opened it up to swap the ballpoint refill out, I got really excited – the pen body is quite wide on the inside so I thought it might take a Schmidt P8126 (of Retro 51 fame). But sadly, while the refill physically fits within the pen body, the tip design doesn’t allow it to come out, so unfortunately it doesn’t work with this popular refill. If it had, it would have made this pen perfect.
The pen body is really long – longer than perhaps it needs to be for the refill of choice – but it will mean that it will suit larger hands than mine comfortably. Being aluminium the pen remains comfortable to use despite the length. The pen has hexagonal facets on the body, but if you thought it would stop it from rolling, think again, the sides are slightly rounded and while it won’t roll when stationery, a subtle jolt will mean it can roll off the table.
The best thing about this is the extremely satisfying clicking mechanism. Not only does it make a good click noise, but the spring is also nice and responsive. Its really nice to use.
All up, I’m very happy with my purchase. It’s a reasonably priced ballpoint that takes a good (readily available) refill that’s comfortable to use. If you find one in a colour you like and the looks take your fancy, its definitely worth picking one up.
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