Hinze Pen Co. Bifrost fountain pen review

Or why rainbow snow would be awesome

The Bifrost by Hinze Pen Co. was the first fountain pen that made me pause, tilt my head, and reach for before I even asked for permission. As someone who gets overwhelmed easily, the number of new and old pen makers in one big ballroom was intimidating at first, and that was until I saw the sparkly rainbow awesomeness that is this pen.

Yes, yes, yes, everyone and their grandma knows that I love rainbow stuff, and yes, I am partial to clever acrylics in fountain pens (although I also have a substantial collection of black-and-rhodium pens which honestly all kinda look alike and I can see why I got side eyed by some family members). However, the specific detail that caught my attention was the end of the pen. I knew from first sight that the cap would be postable — or, rather, it would screw to post, and I have exactly three pens that do the same (TWSBI Mini, Schon DSGN P6, and another one that I cannot remember but I’m sure I will add later), and although I don’t care to post pens to the point I use the Pocket Six as if it’s a regular sized pen and it totally doesn’t get lost in my palm… my interest was piqued.

And then I saw the end finial.

Now, everyone who knows me also knows I am a sucker for stamped nibs and cool finials (Sailor Manyo Nuts, for example, sports an ugly colorway that I overlooked just for the damn acorn, and then Wisteria, that I am still hoping I will get from Endless Pens if it ever comes back in stock); I just love the TWSBIs with their cool little red cap butts, the Kawecos’ helmets, the… but y’all — Bifrost has scales.

You heard me right. Scales. They were subtle at first sight, but as soon as I took the pen in my hand, I was done. My wallet was about to land on the table. That’s it. A dragon pen? Sign me right the heck up.

It might not have transpired like that, but I was absolutely intrigued, I got it, I posted about it as soon as I sat down to eat (yes, I took photos while trying to grab conveyer belt sushi, and I think that was pretty neat all things considered), and I fell in love with it.

Onto the pen!

Bifrost is not a small pen, but it’s not stupidly girthy either. It is long, and if you decide to actually screw on the cap over the end finial, you’ll end up with a comically long pen that just throws off the balance. Plus, no one will see the scales, and that just defeats the purpose. If you go by its name, you might think that the pen should look all icy, with light blues and whites, but that wouldn’t be fun. Snow and frost can be rainbow too (but for real, wouldn’t it be awesome?) From my understanding, the beautiful shimmer is diamond cast, and as someone who knows nothing about diamonds, it at least sounds cool. Would gold shimmer work better (you know, wealth grabbing dragons… anyone? No? Fine) — eh, I feel like it might, in theory, but it wouldn’t pop on the pen itself. The colors are distinct enough to make the pen very obviously rainbow themed; there are no swirls that make one color gradually morph into another, and I appreciate that too.

The good people of Hinze offer nibs that match the color of their pens, which sucks for them as I am the world’s slowest decision-maker. They were also patient and great to talk to, and at their advice, I tried all of the nibs while uncapping the pen for the “wow” moment. The “wow” ended up being the turquoise nib. A Jowo #6, it comes in a regular screw in Jowo nib unit, so you mix and match with other pens (FC, Schon DSGN, Esterbrook to name a few). Not sure why you would want to do that, since their nib is pretty wow. Hinze Pens engrave their own nibs, as far as I know. I admit it took me a while to decipher the symbol, but it is super awesome. The nib was tuned to my taste in front of me. That was a great touch.

Left to right: Benu Euphoria White Christmas, Hinze Bifrost, Franklin Christoph 02, Pilot Cocoon that kept rolling away

Compared to a banana, Bifrost is definitely smaller. As you can see from the picture, it’s a bit longer than a Metropolitan, and about the size of a Benu Euphoria and just a tad longer than the Franklin-Christoph model 02. It is not a weighty pen, as most acrylic pens, but as stated previously, it’s well balanced until you pretend you have a light saber and screw the cap to the back of the pen. One thing I will say is that the threads could’ve used a tad of silicone grease just to ease the actual screwing of the cap. Otherwise, the pros are: comfortable grip size and length, excellent balance despite the size, and amazing finish with fantastic attention to detail.

Speaking of attention, this pen definitely draws it. I don’t believe it would work for most office settings, but corporate world is boring anyway. If this pen was a human, it would have long hair and a beard to put Jason Momoa to shame.

Bifrost is on a more expensive side, but with how it looks and feels, I feel like the price was appropriate and the pen was worth it. The diamond stuff is absolutely a show stopper. The fact I got to pick the color of the nib is a great detail that I appreciate; I could have gone for a pink or orange or red or green or navy nib if I hadn’t chosen the turquoise. I mean, would I have loved all of them? Hell yes. I’m pretty sure I am not the only one who thought of that, but I am fine with my choice. I wonder how hard would it be to make a nib that is rainbow too?

Would it be an overkill? Eh. Very likely. A single color makes most sense.

But will I experiment with nibs until I find a rainbow nib I like? Pft, if you have to ask…

Disclaimer: I purchased the pen with my own funds and all the opinions are my own. Especially the one about the banana. No affiliation with Hinze, sadly.