PEN REVIEW: Diplomat Ballpoint

A quickie review of the Diplomat Excellence A Guilloch Rhomb Ballpoint Pen.

Visually, it's quite appealing. Matte black finish with gleaming chrome accents. (Can you make out my reflection in the chrome?)

Isn't that inlaid grid (how'd they do that?) incredible? So unique.

I love the lines this pen creates. 

It's the combination of masculinity (the hardness of the metal barrel, the solid lines, dark color) and femininity (the rounded clip, the softness of the logo) that sold me on this pen.

Twist Mechanism

I bought this last year at the SF Pen Show. It's hard to believe it's been almost a year!

I have no idea what I paid for this pen. It's a ballpoint, so I'm guessing I wasn't keen on spending too much for it, but I see that it's listed all over the place for around $200 and that seems like a lot, doesn't it?

When I got this pen out of its box to take photos, Jeff (the kind, patient, loving man of my dreams - hi, Jeff!) asked, "Hey, isn't that the pen you gave me?"

Yeah. Right. Me. Give away a pen. Ridiculous! (Actually, I think he might be right - at the time, he was not at all into fountain pens and I wanted him to have something from the show - mostly to assuage my guilt for spending so much!)

This year, Jeff suggested we take cash to the show. "You know, so we don't overspend." I looked at him like he had three heads and he didn't say another word.

Pretty, Pretty

So. The Diplomat Excellence A Guilloch Rhomb Ballpoint Pen (what a mouthful!) is a beauty. But. It's not without flaws. It feels heavy and poorly balanced in my girly hand. It is also hard and cold - the whole thing is metal - and my hand feels fatigued after writing a bit.

And this: even though everything is well-seated in the pen, it makes a bit of a click-click noise when I'm writing. It's almost as if the refill is tapping around inside the pen - inside the $200 pen. Unacceptable.

Ballpoints. Love 'em or hate 'em?