Pen review: Tailored Pen Co Honeycomb (but it’s not what you think)

It’s a rave I’m telling you :glow sticks:

Once upon a time when I was counting down the days until the Orlando Pen show, i.e. the Friday before the Saturday when I was going to come, Vanessa Langton aka the person after whom my debt collectors should really chase penabling queen, walked around the ballroom and showed the pen makers’ tables on her IG livestream. As any other sane individual, I did not, in fact, frantically rewind the video until my eyes hurt. I took screenshots, like the boomer that I am not. That was going to be my guide, or rather my shopping list, you see. I would only buy what caught my eye in her video, and that was it.

Yeah, right.

Anyway, after spending about 150% more than what my budget was and came home, realizing that I had simply ran out of time, I went into doom scrolling mode, watched another few videos and reels, and very patiently waited until the next paycheck to buy a bee themed pen. Pen addict math says that I would be basically donating to the bees.

Because I am that nice. Save the bees!

Enter: Tailored Pen Co (Churchill model I believe) in the Psychedelic Honeycomb, or how I call it, the Rave in the Honeycomb.

Rave in the Honeycomb with a super cool halo :insert whatever music is played at a rave as I have never been to one: :treble: :flashing lights:

Just look at it. Look at the colors.

Of course, at the pen show, the original/real Honeycomb caught my eyes immediately, and Cicily Lesher’s nails absolutely matched the pen and that was the best marketing I’ve ever seen. The Honeycomb is their signature finish, and it’s a striking piece of craftsmanship. I even picked the pen up, and it fit like it was made for my hand, and I was absolutely, undoubtedly tempted… but here’s the deal. I am absolutely terrified of insects. I love bees because I am not a monster, but if I tell you that Tailored Pen Co offered a matching Rickshaw pen sleeve with bees for free with the purchase of the premium Honeycomb model and I still could not pick the sleeve up nor look at the bee rollstop… you get the idea.

So the bee pen was out of the question, but hey, the other finish that lived in my head rent free since I took a screenshot of during Vanessa’s livestream… I knew I had to have it. Bonus points for me: it had no bees on it. Of course, no bees were hurt while making either of the pens, which is another point.

The pen is also called a glow stick, which makes sense, as the pen indeed glows in the dark, albeit slightly. You can’t make it glow under a lamp, but sunlight does “charge it” and if you were to write in your bed after dark, you will miss the paper and make a mess¹, but at least the experience will look sick. Woo!

I believe that most, if not all, of Tailored Pen Co pens use Jowo nib units and Jowo #6 or $8 nibs, and of course, the nib widths for the #6 go from EF to 1.1 stub (if in stock). And they come in three different finishes: rhodium plated, gold plated, and black (ruthenium?) plated. Another point for customer service: Jon Lesher was very kind to send me photos of the pen with all three nib options just so that I could figure out which one would look best to me. I opted for the gold plated nib to match the glow, although I thought that the black one would also look excellent.

The nib in question with the Tailored Pen Co logo (yes I am obsessed with logos).

The only thing that slightly bothered me when I got the pen was the fact the nib dragged just a tiny bit, which I fixed by smoothing it just a tiny bit, and now it writes perfectly. That’s it. That’s the “bad” about the pen, and it barely has anything to do with the pen. I also have horrible luck with medium nibs, and honestly… with gold plated nibs. Maybe because I am a sucker for rhodium. And — if you like to hold the pen too intimately close to the nib, the taper might dig into your index finger, which could prove to be uncomfortable for some people. But

For technical details, I would honestly urge you to check out the Tailored Pen Co website as they would know all of it better, but the TLDR would be that the cap is flush with the body (I honestly really like that feature in clipless pens, I’ve come to realize), and the pen is on the bigger side, but absolutely not uncomfortably big. The grip of the pen is not slippery, and — shocker, I know — it being made of turned acrylic makes the pen light and suitable for long writing sessions. The ends taper slightly, and the pen is perfectly rounded but has a bit of a “ledge” so it will not dance roll away off your desk if you don’t pay attention to it, unless you leave it on a slope, but that’s on you. Who ever comes to a rave and doesn’t dance?

Size comparison of pens that don’t dance, not because they’re boring but because they are not sentient beings. What did you think I would say? Anyway, left to right: Esterbrook Estie, Tailored Pen Co Churchill raving with the bees, Lamy Dialog 3, Pilot Metropolitan, and Penbbs 267

As always, I’m including size comparisons because frankly, numbers do not mean anything to me except that I know that anything under 9ish-10mm grip section is too narrow for me, except when I use a Kaweco Sport, or a Schon DSGN Pocket 6, or a Delike Element, or… several other pocket pens. This pen’s grip is absolutely fantastic for my hands. No fatigue when writing, no slipping, no gripping like mad (looking at you, Dialog 3).

How it fits in the hand plus a writing sample. Disregard my spelling error. Writes consistently. The ink is J. Herbin Diabolo Menthe.

As you can see, the pen is not a chonker although it might seem like it is at first. However, as of a few days ago, I can honestly say that if you’ve never used a Lamy Dialog 3, you don’t know what a chonker is ( a deceptively thick and weighty pen that throws the balance off).

The pen will fit in most pen cases, as it is not as long as the PENBBS 267, it’s not thick as two pens, nor does it flare or have a grippy texture to it, like, for example, a Diplomat Elox Matrix, which looks awesome, but boy does it go on my nerves when I try to push it through a pen loop. With the Honeycomb, you just have to slip it in your Galen Leather or your pen sleeve (sans bees) and you’re good to go.

I believe the pen was around $249 unless I am grossly mistaken. Tailored Pen Co offer many more finishes and models, such as Ascher, Essex, Westminster, Cambridge, and Pendelton (which is pretty neat as it’s triangular!), and they do custom made pens, and, I kid you not, you can also get something called the ENERGY BLADE for y’all Star Wars fans. Like, if Star Wars was a franchise about fountain pens… they have a pen the franchise would be about. Someone should let Drew Brown from the Goulet Pen Company know, as a Star Wars fan.

Yes you add the lightsaber to it (in the background)

Anyway, back to the actual wrap up of this review.

Overall, I love my Rave in the Honeycomb pen (except for the original name so I obviously renamed it and y’all can’t do anything about it but also please don’t sue me). It fits my style as someone who absolutely adores fun looking pens and funny looks they get in the wild. It is unique and cool and comfortable and well worth the price. From my understanding, Tailored Pen Co do not have this finish in stock, but I wouldn’t put it past them to remake it, and they definitely should (not that they don’t have other equally awesome looking finishes in their catalogue).

Usual disclaimers are: I bought the pen with my own money, and so all opinions, metaphors, and dad jokes are my own. The only compensation I got for this review is my own conviction that the good people of the Tailored Pen Company will honor the promise they had totally made to me and try dipping a banana into their morning coffee.

Trust me… it’s a rave.

1. Please do not tell my wife about the ink stains in the bedroom. They are perfectly hidden. She still hasn’t forgiven me for the permanent stains on the kitchen counters after an inkcident involving an unyielding nib unit and Kon-peki.