REVIEW – As an avid journaler, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I also like pens and pencils. When it comes to pens, my favorites are Pilot G-2 gel pens, but I’m always ready to try something new. As luck would have it, the folks at Galen Leather offered to send me a Scrikss 419 fountain pen. Let’s take a closer look.
What is it?
Scrikss is a pen company in Turkey that has been been making writing instruments since 1964 and the 419 is a fountain pen that features a piston ink filler system.
Design and features
The Scrikss 419 fountain pen is available 7 different colors including the Indigo version that was sent to me. The body of the pen is made of a lightweight acrylic resin that is resistant to scratches.
The specs of the 419 pen are:
- Pen Length closed: 4.95 in. / 124.8 mm
- Pen Length open, cap posted: 5.8 in. / 148 mm
- Pen Diameter, barrel: 12mm
- Pen Total Weight: 0.42oz. / 12 g
The color of the Indigo version of this pen in real life isn’t quite as vibrant as the color in the pictures above.
The fountain pen has stainless steel 23K gold plated accents with the pocket clip, edging on the cap, and…
…the No. 5 gold plated stainless steel, European Medium point nib.
You will notice that there’s a window in the barrel of the pen. This is the ink level window so you can see if the fountain pen needs to be re-filled.
The Scrikss 419 fountain pen does not use an ink cartridge or a removable converter. Instead, it uses a piston filler system to suck ink into the pen. To do this, you just twist the knob on the back of the pen to push the piston forward, and then while the nib is submerged in the ink bottle, you twist the knob to draw the piston up to pull the ink into the reservoir.
In the image above, you can see that the piston is halfway pushed out. To better understand how to fill this fountain pen with ink, watch the short video below:
Easy!
The Scrikss 419 writes smoothly with good ink flow. I didn’t notice the nib scratching the paper. I also didn’t notice any bounce or flex/separation of the nib halves. It’s very sturdy and firm.
You might be wondering how you can change between different inks. All you have to do is twist the piston knob while you’re holding the pen over the bottle of ink. This will cause any extra ink to be pushed out of the pen. Then you can use warm water to rinse out the pen until it’s clean so that you can use a new ink.
What I like
- Smooth nib
- Easy to fill
What I’d change
- Include instructions on how to clean between using different colored inks
Final thoughts
Is it the Scrikss 419 fountain pen the best pen I’ve ever tried? No, but it’s an affordable fountain pen that has a cool piston ink filling system, is easy to write with, and won’t make your wallet cry.
Price: $35.00
Where to buy: Galen Leather
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Galen Leather.
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Looks like the video didn’t embed. I am not using an ad blocker on your site, but I do not see the video.
Chris, that was my fault. I forgot to add it. ARGH. It’s there now. Sorry about that!
Thanks!
It’s Galen Leather Co. Great leather notebook and pen case products and a growing inventory for the fountain pen and notebooks for all our Búho needs!
I use fountain pens all the time and have quite a collection, some as inexpensive as this one and others that cost 300 to 500 dollars. This pen for $35 doesn’t look bad. If it writes rather smoothly and doesn’t have a problem with hard starts, then it’s a bargain. So, Julie, do you plan on obtaining more fountain pens?
Sue, I may try others just as a comparison with the Scrikss since I don’t have a lot of experience. But in all honesty, I really think I’ll continue to prefer the ease and affordability of gel pens like my favorite Pilot G2s.