A little bit of history: Kaweco has a long association with fountain pens. Originally established in the German town of Heidelberg in 1883 as a manufacturer of wooden dip pens, it first introduced a pen called the Perkeo back in the 1920s. The design has evolved since then, of course…
How it looks: While retaining the easily recognisable octagonal Kaweco shape in the cap, this pen is quite a departure from the look of their existing lines with some natty new bright colour combos, and is a goodly size rather than a pocket pen. It’s available with a Fine or Medium nib.
How it feels: It has a triangular grip, so if you like a Safari then you’ll like this grip too. It’s really light to hold, and perfectly suited for endless hours of essay-writing.
How it fills: The pen comes with three Kaweco cartridges and you can even stash a spare ink cartridge within the main body for emergency refills – or you can use a standard fountain pen converter filled with the ink of your choice.
Crucially, how it writes: The pen itself gives a little scratchy feedback but can also deliver some line variation with that Kaweco nib, but you do need to give it some pressure.
Pen! What is it good for?: Students, pupils, or anyone who just wants a lightweight, different-looking fun pen, really.
VFM: Sure, you can get less expensive pens from the far east, but this is a real German-made pen and you can have all that history and fountain pen experience for about £15. It represents very good value for a European pen.
If this isn’t quite your cup of tea … you could try a Lamy Nexx fountain pen, which is at a similar price point and comes in a wide variety of fun colours (although it will only accommodate proprietary cartridges and converters, so bear that in mind).
Where to get hold of one: Most good on-line fountain pen retailers stock the Perkeo; see Kaweco’s own site for a list of retailers.
This meta-review references:
- Scribble’s review, written using both nibs so you can clearly see whether Fine or Medium is for you (and for a spot of purple ink, of course!)
- Ant’s review at UK Fountain Pens.
- Mathias’s Bleistift blog, which reveals the mysterious link between the Perkeo and BBC TV’s cult comedy classic Red Dwarf.
- Alison’s historical investigations to find out who the heck Perkeo was in the first place, at Her Nibs.
Thanks to Kaweco for the samples that Alison and Scribble tested.
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