The User Experience

The TWSBI 580AL Silver stands as a quintessential everyday carry pen, with its reasonable price point, large ink capacity, and allowance for user experience. With a focus on the future, TWSBI seeks to usher in a sense of youthful modernity to the fountain pen community. Many of TWSBI's pens have been designed in consultation with input from fountain pen users. The young company (in comparison to many of the decades-old manufacturers) strives to be transparent in its R&D process, often releasing in-progress projects to social media. This philosophy of allowing the customers control, extends beyond the design process, since each pen can be serviced by the user with the included wrench and manual which diagrams the steps to disassemble and reassemble the pen. Unlike most brands which asks for issues to be resolved by nibmeisters or the company itself, TWSBI allows each writer to be in control of repairing and maintaining their own pen.

The 580AL is the first fountain pen I bought online without having tried it in person. Although TWSBI is a Taiwanese company, the JoWo nib is ground to European widths. The nib wrote extremely well even out of the box, and it usually writes with a medium wetness. The demonstrator body and piston-filling mechanism leads to the large ink capacity, allowing for colorful inks to coat and swish around the inside of the barrel. The barrel has faceted faces, allowing for a textured body and preventing the pen from rolling. Even though the cap does not post, the body's length is considerably long so the weight is evenly distributed when used. The 580AL Silver has an aluminum trim and various parts, accenting the clear resin with a sleek finish. Thus, this pen has found its way into my daily routine, becoming my de facto writing utensil. Whether I'm taking notes or planing my week, I find pleasure in using my TWSBI 580AL.