Review 5: Kaweco Liliput Brass Wave

Kaweco are well known for their Sport and Al-Sport line of classic pocket pens, but they've pushed portability to the extreme and come up with the Kaweco Liliput (only one "L" despite being named in homage to the tiny country of Lilliput in Swift's 'Gulliver's Travels'). The Liliput is available in a variety of finishes; black or silver aluminium, copper, steel, fireblued steel, smooth brass, or the version I have here, ribbed brass.

First Impression

It's so tiny! The pen arrived in Kaweco's diminutive gift tin, and is honestly the smallest pen I've ever seen. Even the Kaweco Sport looks chunky by comparison. Now, I'm no great fan of mini pens, I must confess; I prefer chunky, thicker ones for anything but the shortest of writing sessions. Certainly, this is not a pen one would use to, say, write a letter or an essay. it's designed as a portable pocket pen, there when you need it but unobtrusive when you don't.

In the hand, the Liliput feels very solid indeed. The brass has some serious heft to it, with the whole pen weighing in at 25g inked (compare this to just 9g for the aluminium version!). The ribbed brass is a wonderful sensation, and gives the pen a great tactility and helps provide grip on what is otherwise a very small writing instrument! The rounded ends make the capped pen look vaguely like an oversized pill or capsule, but do make it very easy to pop in and out of pockets.

The only branding on the pen, barring the nib imprints, is a laser engraved Kaweco logo on the dome of the cap. Otherwise, it's a very sleek, minimalist finish that I like greatly.

Weight:

- Capped: 25 g

- Uncapped: 19g

- Cap: 6g

Dimensions:

- Length capped: 9.7cm

- Length uncapped: 8.8cm

- Length posted: 12.5cm

- Barrel diameter: 9mm at the widest point

- Section diameter: 7.5mm in the middle of the taper

Construction

The pen is turned from solid lead-free brass. Brand-new, the pen is polished to a high shine, but as can be seen fron the photos, with wear and time a matte patina develops. A bit of brass polish and some concerted effort will bring back the shine, but I rather like the worn look!

The cap unscrews in a little under 4 rotations; this feels very solid, and I have no hesitations about keeping this pen in a pocket or bag without fear of accidental uncapping. The threads are smooth and don't feel sharp on the fingers when writing.

The pen also has a second set of threads at the rear end; the intention, of course, is that the cap csn be screwed on in order to turn the pen into a usable length. Again, a little under 4 full rotations are needed to attach or remove the cap. This does add an extra stage to writing with the pen, something that can be irritating - especially for a pocket pen designed for quick notes! I sometimes have trouble aligning the cap and barrel when posting, and it can take a few turns for the threads to engage in the right orientation. No doubt this is a skill that will improve with further familiarity with the pen!

The Liliput is a clipless pen. Whilst not a deal-breaker, the option of a clip (as is available with the Sport models) would be appreciated, as with a pen the size of a tie-pin, I'd love to be able to use it as one! Even just to stop the pen from vanishing into the depths of a bag or pocket (as it is wont to do, being small, rounded and dense) or to prevent it from rolling off a table, it would have been nice to have. I did however read that the clip from a Fisher Space Pen can be transplanted; anyone with experience on this front, please let me know!

Filling is by short international cartridge only. Seriously, there isn't room for a converter, even if you tried; Kaweco make a squeezy sac converter but the reviews aren't fantastic. Either find an ink you like in cartridges, or get used to refilling with a syringe. Eyedropper conversion is not advisable as this is a metal pen.

Overall, build quality is excellent. The pen feels absolutely solid (as in you could probably fight off a mugger with this thing...!) and I have no doubts that it will stand up to many years of use. It's a material that will only develop more and more character from being held, handled, worn by being carried in a pocket...

Nib and Feed

The nib is Kaweco's standard stainless steel offering. This one is a fine. I believe all the Kaweco nibs are interchangeable, and there are replacemnts available relatively inexpensively should the pen take a tumble (or if you simply fancy a change!). In fact, I may purchase a medium, as the fine is a little too dry and fine for my tastes.

The feed seems to run very dry on this pen; this is a complaint I have had with the two Sports I have owned as well. I cleaned everything well when I first got the pen, but still it runs very dry. It's a shame that it doesn't show off the inks very much, but looking on the bright side it will help prevent smearing, say, diary entries.

Writing

I've inked the Liliput with Mont Blanc Permanent Black, my go-to ink for jotted notes and diary work. Although it's usually a rather wet ink, it still runs dry in the Liliput, coming out almost grey at times!

Nonetheless, the nib is smooth for a fine, and has a generous sweet spot (helpful, as some degree of rotation is difficult to avoid)

Thoughts and Opinions

As I mentioned earlier, I prefer big pens. The Liliput however is a good little pen; for a "pocket rocket" I do like it. But, and it's a big but, writing geets uncomfortable after a few sentences. That's fine by me, as I rarely use it for writing more than that, but the combination of the thin section and short body mean this isn't a pen I'll reach for if I'm writing anything big.

The build quality is wonderful, but comes with a price premium. The Liliput Brass Wave retails at around £63, versus £42 for the aluminium (bear in mind that the copper is nearly £90 and the fireblue £120!). It's ahefty price to pay for what is ultimately a special-use pen. Would I buy another? No. Will I use this one? Definitely! It's small and unobtrusive, fits nicely into an organiser or diary, or sits happily in a pocket until needed.

I hope you've enjoyed this little review; do ask if you have any questions!

Cheers,

Alex