Conklin Duragraph Review

[@Ray57Bookman]

I bought an Amber last May. It was my 16th pen and one of the least expensive. But from day one it has been my every-day-carry. I love the way it looks, the way it feels in my hand, the way it writes. I have an Edison Collier Persimmon Swirl Acrylic, and it's starting to get jealous. When I leave the house my Duragraph is almost always the pen clipped to my shirt pocket. Yes, the clip was a problem. For about a day. I worked with it a bit, just tugging on it with my thumb, and pretty soon it could slip on and off my shirt pocket like any of my other pens. I've liked mine so much I bought one for a young student I know. Before I sent the pen off I tested the nib unit and wound up opening the slit a little with a .003 shim to bring the flow up to where it was and is in my own Duragraph. This pen is an incredible bargain.

[@carolhoover-whippy2580]

I own 2 Duragraph fountain pens both with 1.1 mm nibs. I have had the orange one for over a year and the blue ice one for a few months. As I watched your video I got out my magnifying glass to see what you were talking about the gap up by the top of the clip. I only can see a gap under the clip and I expect that is there so that they didn't crack the cap when assembling. My pens both write very smooth with no hard starts or skipping. I really do like these pens. I also felt my pens all over to see if they had bumps. I couldn't find any. Maybe you were sent a bad pen?

[@Dartreger]

I got a Cracked Ice and a Ice Blue version of the Duragraph. Both kinda of wrote exactly as you said in that they had poor flow. For me as a tinker type of person I explored this and have found that there is a number that is stamped in the bottom of the feed, on which both were #4. It also is the standard feed thats used in many pens of varying quality so I decided to pull a feed out of my Jinhao which had a #7 stamped in it and most problems were fixed with dryness. I haven't looked yet but I think that number corresponds to the amount of flow a nib has. As for the clip if you slowly stretch it it'll loosen up because yes out of the box its unusable in my opinion. I also remember doing the same thing with the feed in my Monteverde Invincia. Both are owned by the same company. I think they just put in way too dry of feeds for the pens they make. The innovation that I haven't really seen on any other pens that I wish all did is the screw type international converter. Thats a really good idea in my opinion.

[@badassbassist]

I feel there are issues with the feed....the nib is ink starved very soon

[@geoffreywascher2007]

Well, unlike Rob P. and others, I am not a snob about fountain pens. After 50 or so years collecting and using them I got over that childish phase decades ago. I did like your review which, like all your reviews, seems frank, honest, complete and accurate which is really all any reasonable non-ideologue can ask of a review. I expect a pen to do a job, not change my life. So, with these expectations set I purchased a couple from the same source you used, Goulet, and found them to be just as you described with one exception...the tolerances were just fine in both pens (I bought the lapis blue and the green). I suspect the issue you found is more a quality control issue than a design or system issue and I am confident that Yafa would gladly make it right for you if you asked them. Thank you for the excellent tip, I like my Conklins...all of them...very much, indeed.

[@kencur9690]

It’s always “childish” when someone stops doing and gets over what others do.

[@jyeox]

it seems very duofold centennial like. My centennial has almost the same proportions and similar gold bands. If i remember correctly, the first centennial has black finnials and a black grip section

[@phillipdelaney2989]

Hm, I got mine earlier this year and it came with a different box. My nib was scratchy but I replaced it with an EF Goblet nib which is working well. I got the amber color too, I think it is really nice looking for forty dollars. the clip is a little tight in my opinion but I have to admit that it is a reliable writer.

[@webbdelasteve]

Have the Cracked Ice. Looks nice, but I barely pick it up because it feels...blah...to write with. Going to work on it a bit and see what I can do...someday.

[@Kurazaybo]

I got the purple nights. I agree the proportions on the pen give it a weird look, albeit for different reasons. It is also a 1.1 stub, i like the size and solid construction. Wish te purple in mine was not so dark, it does have a nice marbled and shimmering effect when the light strikes it just right, but you need a really bright light. The amber color looks pretty nice. It is very reasonably priced and I enjoy it, althought in the the end it may not be a very special pen.

[@MrTrashcan1]

I won't go so far to say that the pen is a Jinhao, but it uses the same feed--and the tight clip and tolerance issues are typical of Chinese pens, especially Jinhaos. And you see it in Monteverdes, too. I suspect Yafa either assembles the parts or just imports the whole pen, marks up the price, adds a fancy name and puts it in a fancy box. Of course, this review is from 2015, so Yafa probably had a head start on Chinese pen market back then. Now the rest of us are much more the wiser.

[@mukeshasdeo]

Please review Conklin Heritage Sleeve Filler Fountain Pen

[@TheRealJanKafka]

I bought one of those, a Conklin Heritage Sleeve Filler, this week. Received it on Thursday March 2. A lovely pen but...It started out a wet writer, then stopped working almost immediately. I drained the ink (Waterman Serenity) , flushed the pen, and refilled it with Parker Quink. It still would not write. Then I removed the nib and feed and cleaned them with a water/ammonia solution. Still no luck...The thing would produce a line occasionally but more often then not railroad or make no mark at all. I emailed Conklin about the problem. According to them, I can either make arrangements to return the pen to the seller or ship it to Conklin at my expense for examination and repair. While debating my options, I remembered a tip I had read or seen somewhere: I removed the nib and feed again. Instead of returning the two as a pair, I pushed the feed in first (it only goes one way due to shape of hole in grip section) then followed with the nib, taking care to not seat it fully in the section but pushing only to where it fit securely. The idea being that too tight a fit impedes ink flow. The pen is now filled with J. Herbin Perle Noire and works pretty well if not what I would call perfectly. In my uncultured opinion, this is too damned much work to have to go through to get a $200 MSRP pen to write correctly, let alone write at all. It should work perfectly right out of the box. My wife had received a Bexley Stalwart the day before I got my Conklin in the mail. The Stalwart is a beautiful pen that works perfectly. On the other hand, my wife also owns two Monteverde pens, an Artista Crystal and a Prima, (from Yafa, Conklin's parent company) and their performance leaves a lot to be desired. SBRE Brown gave high marks to the Artista Crystal. It was his review that decided the purchase for my wife. Both Monteverdes suffer scratchy nibs, poor ink flow...Not reliable everyday writers. Her experience with those pens made me shy away from Conklin for a long time but I ran into a price on the sleeve filler I couldn't resist. I should have gone with the much more expensive Bexley sleeve filler to satisfy my irrational desire to own such a beast. As far as other manufacturers go, I recently had to mess with a Nemosine Singularity (another pen which has gotten good reviews from KZbin reviewers) for a day before I could get it to write and the Karas Kustoms Fountain K caused me a great deal of frustration (with both a medium and stub nib) after I received it as a Christmas gift two months back. Repeated cleanings seem to have solved the Nemosine problem. I never have figured out why the Karas Kustoms suddenly started working after a month of frustrating tinkering. My Platinum Preppy and TWSBI ECO pens have never failed me yet...Maybe I should just have stuck with them instead of acquiring a pen habit.

[@KallyJones]

I never post my pens so I prefer a long body. I've got cartridge route on many of my reasonably priced pens since I can just give the cartridge a light squeeze to make sure it's inking and not blocked. It's a great pen for the price and I won't completely freak out if I have to replace the nib because this is a daily use pen for me.

[@ianboard544]

My $0.10 worth - I just bought one (F). With a bit of smoothing with some micro-mesh (I do that with all), it is one of the smoothest and best writing pens I have. I paid $49 dollars for it ('cracked ice' version). Am using Diamine Majestic Blue ink. It is a fantastic value. Whatever issue there were with the nibs seem to have been straightened out completely.

[@jisa39]

Writing sample 8:59

[@rodrigomunoz4261]

Gracias amigo. Acabo de comprar la versión Black Matte/ Rose Gold Limited Edition en Goulet Pens y aproveché de comprar la pera de goma que me recomendaste. Saludos

[@TheAmericanStranger1]

Great review as always! Would you prefer this pen or a Twsbi 580 with a stub nib?

[@geoffreywascher2007]

I b ought two more duragraphs, making a total of four, all with different colors (amber, cracked ice, lapis blue and forest green) and none of the ones I purchased had any of the quality issues you saw in the one you were given. The nobs (two 1,1mm stubs and two fine) also had no issues. And, like yours, mine came from Goulet Pens which did an amazing job shipping in terrible weather. Just the luck pf the draw, I guess but it looks like Conklin dealt with the manufacturing quality control issues.

[@johnodonohue2436]

You should really do a review on the Conklin crescent filler.

[@marcgladden5321]

Roach runner at 5:00 over africa?

[@MrPiggy102]

Hi Mr. Brown, do you think the clip of this pen will eventually crack the cap? Because everytime I take it out of my shirt pocket the clip snap back and hit the cap and since it's so tight I usually hear a loud "tick". Perhaps I should not clip in my shirt pocket anymore? - Thank you

[@sbrebrown]

I don't expect it to be a problem, but you never know, of course.

[@MrPiggy102]

Thank you Mr. Brown!

[@johnodak735]

Michael Tran I can't speak for this pen, as it is still shipping to me, but the clip on my Monteverde Regatta Rose Gold and Carbon Fiber Limited Edition did Crack the barrel on that pen. Monteverde Replaced it with a new pen, but the nib on the new one is atrocious. Alternatively, on my Invincia Carbon Fiber Deluxe, the nib is quite possibly the best writer I have. (Can't decide if that or my Kaweco Sport writes better.) Ok, sorry about the tangent I went off on. Got a little long in the nib there. Haha pen puns.

[@jeko32]

Perhaps the body band is there to keep you from posting the cap too deeply? There is a fair amount of material on the cap below the cap band and I guess it could crack if pushed too far on to the body.

[@countdowntoshow]

I've had my Duragraph since May and find it to be a smooth writer with a surprising amount of spring in its Fine steel nib. The only 'issue' I've run into is that, after writing for a while, the ink flow will stop and I will need to unscrew the body and twist the converter piston to manually prime the feed, a minor inconvenience, but it doesn't really bother me.

[@sbrebrown]

Sounds like a problem with air replacement.

[@countdowntoshow]

Thanks for the response, I had thought that it was forming a vacuum in the converter as the ink flowed out since I never saw an air bubble build up inside; any suggestions that won't void the warranty?

[@ianhowlett4682]

Exactly the same happens to me. I love my Conklin Duragraph 1.1 stub in green, usually a nice wet writer, then all of a sudden it will just stop writing, with no warning, and I have to force ink down it.

[@ebrente]

Ian Howlett replaced my Conklin nib with a Goulet- cleared these issues right up. Over heard of some people actually seeking out alternative feeds as well, but for mine the nib was the only issue.

[@paullambert7840]

I'm so happy to have found these comments. I've only recently purchased my Conklin Victoria in the Cinnamon color and I really like it overall, but I'm having the exact same issue. As Ian Howlett stated in a reply to this comment (a year ago) that it's usually a fairly wet writer but then all of a sudden the flow dries up and I have to open the pen up and twist the plunger a few times until I see a bead of ink well up on the feed, then I twist it back the other way and it's all fine again...until the next time it happens. I guess I can live with it if it's a common experience. I just wasn't sure if this was out of the ordinary for this pen or not. Thanks to all who responded to CountdownToShow's comment.

[@andyrobinson5829]

as always great pen review. I did not know that the Conklin was that affordable. I will be looking into a Duragraph as a New Year's present for Moi! By the Way. . . Do I detect a new "FADE" haircut on sbrebrown? I certainly do. Looks quite good. Well Done.

[@sbrebrown]

Thank you!

[@jehovahuponyou]

DOES THE LEAD BREAK EASILY IN THIS PEN?!!

[@feanaaro8652]

I don't get how everyone seems to like the orange version... the green looks so much better on this pen...

[@marysmithmarysmith736]

+Feanaaro I have the Cracked Ice finish and think it's lovely

[@Judah98]

I have the green one. Was given to me by my boss as a promotion gift. It's very classy!

[@techtruth9077]

I really like the orange version.

[@forkhole]

I've been eyeing the cracked ice one for a while.

[@diogeneslantern18]

Reminds them of the Mont Blanc Hemingway I suppose

[@christophermckellar1352]

Thanks for the review! Two things. Isn't there some connection between Jafa and Monteverde? I wrote Monteverde about a couple of Jafa pens and they seemed willing to give info if I gave more info on the pens. Therefore, some connection between Conklin and Monteverde? Second, the proportions on the pen looked a little familiar. I measured it on the screen as you held it up. I tried to find the Golden Section (1.618) ratio between cap, rest of the body, and the capped pen, and although it was ball park close, it wasn't close enough to count. Alas. Your aesthetic self must be more sensitive to have the pen's proportions a bit of an annoyance. Well done!

[@sbrebrown]

I thought the owner of Yafa was also the owner of Monteverde, so I think you're right. I'm also glad my aesthetic self is up to scratch :-).

[@christophermckellar1352]

+sbrebrown So, is the new Conklin owned by Yafa?

[@christophermckellar1352]

+lesslighter Thanks!

[@albertopedoneanchora4492]

Conklin Duragraph Amber in my opinion is a great looking pen but the nib is very disappointing. I bought a F one wich is very dry and prone to skip. No comparison with (for example) to a less expensive Pilot Metropolitan or even a Platinum Preppy

[@SabotPottery]

Good review again, thanks. It might be me, but the design and colours all seem a bit dated. They're quite nice in their own way, but lack what I'd expect from a company going into the 21st century. Thanks again, Paul from Adelaide, South Australia.

[@GalleryOfChameleon]

I'm no expert on genders of American pen brands in German but I'm pretty sure that you should have used the masculine article "der" instead of the neuter article "das" because the gender of the German word for pen in German is masculine, but now I'm just nitpicking :)

[@BlueJon1975]

Is it just me or does this video loop?

[@Waipaak]

A fly in December? You moved to Australia? :D

[@HJKelley47]

My Conklin Duragraph does not have a gap at all.

[@SLAPSTICK2011]

Since 1978 when the American company was bought by Yair (Jerry) Greenberg of Yafa (Israeli company) the so called Conklin USA is priced high for its miserable quality. Poor Roy Conklin, the 1897 inventor of first workin automatic filling mechanism, turns in his grave as if cursed, seeing his once internationally applauded company and wonderful writing instruments turn into shit. And Yafa has the audacity to use Mark Twain’s comments who once honored the _real_ USA Conklin as if brought forward keeping past top standards, not yafa’s inferior quality. As with everything taken over by others, this company too suffers a historical setback. Buy a German made or an Italian made pen. Or a quality Japanese fountain pen. This is expensive for its poor quality. It should cost no more than $4.99 retail.

[@msshaffer5]

SLAPSTICK2011🙌🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@Dawn24Michele]

absolutely agree 100%.

[@SabotPottery]

I blame the USA for still using imperial measurements (feet and inches) instead of using metric. Metric is so much more precise and accurate in the modern era where tolerances are needed. It's also interesting that all the leading manufacturers (Germany, Italy & Japan) of writing instruments use metric.

[@pmeuree]

To me it looks really like the Rosetta Magellan... Strange ! The Rosetta seems to write better, I own a 1.1 stub as well.

[@sbrebrown]

Interesting point: it does.

[@pmeuree]

+sbrebrown Finally I bought a Conklin Duragraph 1.1 stub too and mine is very wet and doesn't railroad that much. Reviews are always useful but when you buy the fountain pen, you can have a good or a bad experience with exactly the same fountain pen as in the review. Fountain pens are that unpredictable.

[@johnodonohue2436]

Conklin still makes crescent fillers.

[@andresisthename]

Easily the best pen you can buy for the price!

[@andresisthename]

Gordon Nguyen It's really good, but I like the Duragraph better because it uses #6 nibs, which are easier to replace. I also like the look of the Duragraph better. However the Loom would have better nibs. Which means that for someone who doesn't know how to tune a nib, and will rely on how the pen comes with, the Loom may be a better choice. For a guy that knows how to tune nibs, and/or may want to try different nibs on the pen, the Duragraph is better.

[@robp.7769]

I am generally not one to be negative but I must say that I loathe these pens. As you stated early in the video, Conklin was established in the 1800s and was a proud American company that made some really stunning pens. That company went out of business and was later bought by the conglomerate that makes the current Conklin products. It's not that there's anything wrong with them but that's kind of my issue, there is nothing special about them either. And for a once proud American brand that prided itself on innovation and style, the current company releases a set of fairly generic pen blanks with spotty nibs and tries to pass itself off as the same powerhouse that coined the crescent filler and produced pens with one of a kind unique materials (google vintage conklin ultra red green or mottled hard rubber). Anyway, enough of my rant. Nothing against the Goulets or the pen itself but I find it depressing that this is what such a great name has fallen to -- though I suppose one could argue it is better than being out of business (I would disagree). Hopefully you know me well enough by now to know I am not a troll and appreciate your review, but felt I had to share my thoughts on this one. I mean just look at those vintage models, the attention to detail, the incredible materials, the innovation, and the simplistic beauty -- that is (was) american craftsmanship!!

[@sbrebrown]

I know what you mean!

[@sonvfave]

+Rob P. I understand.. seems you want it to be the US version of .. company X pick a great Italian name and place here... I get the great company that is not what it was Pyrex etc... Could you make a suggestion to a company that you do like?

[@robp.7769]

+Matthew White My gripe is actually based more on what the current owners try to pass the brand off as rather than what they produce. On the box it says Conklin Pens 1898, and it is true that in 1898 a wonderful pen US pen manufacturer called Conklin began producing some exquisite works of craftsmanship. That company invented a number of new and interesting filling systems and offered some pens hand crafted made out of truly incredible materials. That company closed down around 1948. In 2000, a conglomerate bought the name. The current Conklin pens are fine -- they seem to write relatively well, they look nice enough, and they are priced fairly. But, at the end of the day, they are mass produced pens using standard blanks you can find anywhere online and fitted with outsourced steel nibs that have been known for suffering some qc issues. Now, the new owner has every legal right to do what he's doing -- I just find it very sad. The pen in this video is not, at least in my view, something that deserves to be called a Conklin. In terms of companies I do like. If we are talking about US pen brands, I would say Franklin Christoph and Edison Pens. Both companies have blazed a unique path, offer quality products made to last a lifetime, and run their companies with integrity. I'll also add Noodler's into the mix, not because I particularly like the quality of their merchandise (quite spotty quality control), but because Nathan doesn't parce words when it comes to his pens. They are cheap, they have a flex nib, they require work, they are the best value he can offer. I can't argue with that and they have certainly revolutionized the industry, especially for artists. If we are talking outside the US -- Omas, Visconti, Pelikan, Faber Castell, Nakaya, Sailor, even Pilot -- some of these may not be the most innovative pen designers but they all do something inventive and make high quality products.

[@Estereos]

this is not Conklin. this is a chinese pen made for "Conklin USA". it must be terrible to figure it out.

[@morna45]

It's a huge nope for me.

[@Dawn24Michele]

There is no way this pen is worth the price. It dried out in mid sentence. It skips. It railroads. It's a five dollar pen at best. I've used to Dollar pens that wrote better and were more reliable. Folks, do yourselves a favor and but several cheapo pens that work rather than one of these. The Cross Bailey is more reliable than this pen. Hell, even a jinhao is a better pen than this.

[@morna45]

Hell yes.

[@davidoof1826]

I picked one up in a sale here in the U.K. and was able to try it out in the store with a dip test. It was a lovely, fine writer. Took it home and primed it with ink. Deeply disappointing. I’ve never had a pen with such awful flow. Constantly failing to deliver ink altogether, skipping, and even when delivering ink is an unusually dry writer. Nothing nice about it at all. Worse than a 5 quid Chinese pen or a kiddy’s school pen. But dipped it’s great. It’s all about poor flow. I did manage to get more flow by reseating the converter a few times and screwing down on the wheel a bit after filling. But I feel that, considering I have old Waterman pens from the 40s with lever-fill mechanisms that work fine I shouldn’t have to mess with a £50 pen in 2019. I could work on the nib but there seems little reason given that it works great dipped. It’s a shame as it looks exactly how I like my fountain pens. Maybe I’ll play with it some more to see if I can do anything to improve it.

[@sonvfave]

well its a nice cheap pen ...

[@HJKelley47]

+Matthew White "Cheap?" People consider the Jinhao X450 & X750 as cheap, yet both of them write very well. I would not consider this $45 pen to be 'cheap', unless you are use to writing with $1,000 pens. I have the green Duragraph with a 1.1 stub, and I have had no nib problems whatsoever. I also did not have the tolerance issue that Stephen experienced in this video, nor any 'bumps' on my cap. I have to agree with Geoffrey Wascher, that this was probably a QC issue and not a design issue. I do agree that the clip is extremely tight on my pen, however, I do not clip my pen to a shirt of pant's pocket.

[@sonvfave]

perspective

[@HJKelley47]

Matthew White Cheap implies: Not of good quality or without value. I would not say the Conklin Duragraph fits in that category.

[@sonvfave]

ok.. for me, cheap means inexpensive and thats a good thing.. just a difference of meaning, cheap is good.. less money and lower quality.. ie not gold nib... but not BAD... remember especially with Engwish we find meaning in context.. for your definition then I would agree, not cheap, greeat value and low cost

[@HJKelley47]

Matthew White I guess mine was more of a dictionary meaning vs. a cultural contextual meaning.