Hand Over That Pen

Hand Over That Pen, please!

Katherine: I think clear pens are pretty cool looking — and the Nemosine Singularity is no exception. I love demonstrators and this is a pretty straightforward and clean looking one, though I’m particularly fond of the tinted versions. That being said, while I like the way this pen looks, I don’t think it could pass as a high-end pen… But, I’m totally fine with that!

Pamela:  I bought the Nemosine on a whim because the 0.6 mm stub interested me.  Most other pen brands have a 1.1 mm or 1.5 mm stub.  It’s a great looking demonstrator pen.  I currently have a converter in the pen, but it does appear that the pen can be converted to an eyedropper for the free-flowing look.  Interestingly, the threads to the cap is on the section itself, rather than the body.  My only complaint about the pen is that the cap has small cracks under the silver ring, likely from the stress of being tightened on the threads.  It’s a good looking pen for the price, particularly, a demonstrator model.

Franz: The Nemosine Singularity pen has been on my list for the longest time. I finally got to use Pam’s pen and I like this clear demonstrator a lot. I do like the width of the grip section and is totally comfortable. For some reason though, I thought that this pen would be larger than it actually is. Unposted, the pen seems too small but the cap posts deeply and becomes a nice pen to hold with my larger hands.

Note: This is where we usually post our hand comparisons while holding the pen in review but unfortunately we were not able to get this in our queue. When we get the chance, we will take that photo and post it here. Thanks for your understanding! 🙂

The Business End

Katherine: The nib on the Nemosine I tried was the 0.6mm stub. This is one of the first broad stubs I’d used — and while not quite wide enough for calligraphy, it was plenty wide for visible line variation. I enjoyed writing with it and found that it was smooth and the feed kept up quite well.

Pamela:  I really enjoy the 0.6 mm stub.  The line is reminiscent of the Pilot Plumix nib.  It’s wide enough to provide line variation, yet thin enough to be work friendly.  I found this nib to be just right, not too wet, not too dry.  I prefer this stub nib over the Pilot Plumix as I find it be more fun and smoother to write with.

Franz: The nib has a smooth feel to it and a middle of the road ink flow. If you’ve written with a TWSBI mini 1.1mm stub nib, you’ll know the smoothness I’m talking about but it just has a narrower line width. Having it in a 0.6mm width is rather nice and perfect as I use a cursive italic nib at work with a similar width except that the horizontal line is less crisp.

And c’mon! That nib design is absolutely cool to look at.

Write It Up

Katherine: This pen was easy for me to use for 20 minutes. It’s comfortable, and I prefer it unposted. It was comfortable in hand and while I had to think about writing a little bigger than usual, the pen itself posed no issues.

Pamela:  One of my favorite aspect of this pen is how comfortable it is to write with.  The threads are not noticeable to me as I write. I have no problem journaling with this pen for an extended period of time.  The width of the pen was comfortable to hold in the traditional tripod position and I didn’t notice any particular issues with slippage.  I really enjoy the line variation and taking the time to get the lines crisp and clean. My handwriting is required to be bigger and I prefer to savor the writing experiences with my stub and cursive italic nibs.

Franz: I used the Singularity with its cap posted as I wrote on my journal for 20 minutes. Normally, as long as the pen is long enough and section thick enough, I would enjoy writing with it. But for some reason, this pen was “too light” for me to write with it comfortably. I loved the writing that the nib laid down on paper and I wrote a lot but I kept on thinking of its lightness which kinda interrupted my train of thought.

EDC-ness (Every Day Carry)

Katherine: The nib on the particular pen I used made it an impractical EDC. I have to write a little bit too big for it to be a good pen for me to grab and take fast notes with. However, nib aside, it was a reasonable EDC pen that I wasn’t afraid to carry around and use. The clip on this pen is surprisingly solid and I was very comfortable clipping it to a notebook, then letting them float around together in the vast expanse of my backpack. (Sorry Pam. I promise there were no keys in my backpack!)

Pamela:  The screw cap is surprisingly solid and I haven’t had any issues with leakage despite throwing it into my white coat or being floated in Katherine’s backpack.  Some people do report that they have accidentally unscrewed the section from the nib due to the odd placement of the threads for the cap.  I haven’t had that issue either.  Due to the screw cap, this isn’t my choice EDC pen.  It does take about 1.5-2 rotations which just isn’t as convenient as a snap cap.

Franz: I actually liked using this pen at my work setting and I had it in my shirt pocket for two days. The stub nib wrote surprisingly well on the copy paper we use. My co-worker got to try the pen and commented that it’s easier to write with than my usual pens (cursive italic nibs). I think my co-worker wanted it for herself. haha!

Anyway, yes, I would recommend this as an EDC pen as it seems to be a durable and versatile pen.

Final Grip-ping Impressions

Katherine: Overall, I thought this was a solid pen. It’s an interesting nib with a solid body for a very fair price. However, nothing about the pen really made me fall in love. I enjoyed writing with it, but in a world where I’ve limited myself to owning fifteen pens (more about that another day) — this pen (like many others) simply doesn’t make the cut. The nib is interesting, but for not much more money, I found the TWSBI Eco much more satisfying to hold (and it’s a piston filler that looks cool!). But, if your goal is to try a stub around the size of the Nemosine, it’s not a bad deal at all.

Pamela:  The Nemosine is a good pen if you are looking for a 0.6 mm stub and a pen body that comes in a large variety of colors, including demonstrator hues, at a relatively low introductory price. The company also sells spare nibs for the Nemosine.  So given that it’s around the same price as the Pilot Metropolitan, it’s a versatile introductory pen at a good price.  Given my preference for snap caps for quick deployment at work and finer nibs for daily note taking, I would recommend the Metropolitan over the Nemosine.  Although, I do prefer the Nemosine’s 0.6 mm stub over the Pilot Plumix, both in body and nib.

Franz: To echo the two ladies’ impressions, The Nemosine Singularity is a nice pen especially when you’re just starting out your fountain pen craziness… er… adventures. I like that they have an array of nib choices to choose from. The Singularity also has a nice selection of pen body colors and have colored demonstrators. I actually fancy the Black Marble version and I won’t be surprised if I get that for myself down the line.

However, the Singularity pen is priced similarly to the Pilot Metropolitan which seems to have a better build quality. And this Singularity looks like the TWSBI Eco to me and makes me want to just put in another $10 or so to have a piston filler pen instead.

That being said, this is a good pen to have especially that 0.6mm stub. Cheers!

Pen Comparisons

Pen Photos (click to enlarge)