on saleMonteverde Ritma Gala Fountain Pen - Black

This pen was a surprise. It looked like your regular size pen but when I unboxed it, it was so cute. It has enough weight to stay balanced when you write and it's stainless finish feels just right in your hand.

I got the black one, with the "flex" nib. I get pretty much as much of a variation in thickness on the down-stroke as I want.
This pen is a bit on the heavy side, with the all-aluminum barrel, so not everyone can expect a 100% "comfortable" writing experience with it. I like it enough, though. The design is straight, no-nonsene, business-like, functional, honest, and thus attractive in its own way. I bought it on the spur of the moment, and I lucked out. If you spend your entire working day wrtiting with a fountain-pen, you might prefer something a bit lighter in your hand.

I like my pens to have a little weight to them and I wanted one small enough to carry easily. This one is perfect for that. It is a smooth writing pen and I like the omniflex nib. With the magnetic cap I haven't had any hard starts so far, even after a week of no use. I recommend this for anyone looking for a good reliable carry pen.

I love the feel of this pen in my hand and the satisfying click when the cap snaps on. I thought this might be a good everyday pen for me. Unfortunately, I didn't care for the ink flow...or rather, lack of ink flow. It felt jumpy and scratchy to me. I don't know if this is the pen's fault or my fault for going with a fine nib. For me it felt very dry. I do have a number of other fountain pens, and I guess my personal gold standard is the Lamy 2000. But even my Lamy Safari has a nicer feel and flow.

This little pen is great! At this price, it's a very good value. Writes well. Compact but a small hand can use it unposted comfortably. Like the design and materials. Great option to have the lanyard holding the cap while writing. But, the threads on the barrel loosen. This means that you can lose the barrel to the pen. Ask me how I know. Hoping that it is possible to order a replacement barrel for this pen. If I can get a replacement barrel, I will have enjoy using the lanyard much more carefully, or choosing to eliminate lanyard use. But the lanyard was the selling feature that prompted the purchase.