Fourth time’s the charm | Laban Formosa Skeleton Fountain Pen Review
Third time's the charm - well, that's what people say whenever they try something and it didn't work out the first time, or the second. I have reviewed Laban's fountain pens 3 times already and while they are good pens in their own rights, there was that 1% which they haven't achieved yet. The diminishing returns to try and perfect something from 99 to 100 is an arduous journey - and a costly one at that for any form of manufacturing - but I believe that they are getting 99.5% with this rendition of the latest model in the Skeleton line, the special release for the anniversary of Taiwan - the Formosa.
What's the deal with that name anyway? I had to do some googling before writing this and it turned out that the name "Ilha Formosa" was given to the island of Taiwan by Portuguese sailors from 1542, meaning "beautiful island". Because of the high bar set by the naming itself, I feel like Laban had a lot of expectations to meet on this new project. The goal here is to pay homage to the mountains and seas inspired from the northeast coast of Taiwan, and from my impression taking it out of the box, they nailed it pretty close. The mould for the fine brass overlay is a whole new design just for this model and the feel and finishing have improved compared to the Gunmetal model I have reviewed a while back. Instead of straight branches, the Formosa overlay has this natural feel of sea foam amidst the waves, and upon closer inspection, the pen surprised me even more.
The promotional material and the rendered images of the pen did not show off the best part of it - the swirly blue acrylic resin. There is the subtlety of the resin underneath the high gloss brass overlay, and combining both creates this sense of depth that is usually lacking in casted resin pens. The threads in the barrel and cap are also better finished compared to the Gunmetal one as they do not create too much friction while opening and closing the pen. Aside from the changes to the looks of the pen, the Formosa is pretty much the same as the other Skeleton models...or is it?
The nib is another significant change Laban made to this special edition. Instead of the Bock no.6 used for the Gunmetal version, they have decided to put a Jowo no.6 on it, and there is more. The nib design is also simplified with stylized mountains and waves replacing the number 3952 - height of Mt. Yushan. I have always had a soft spot for the tuning of Jowo nibs - they are firm while also having less feedback compared to Bock's. I am not certain if Laban had done something to the nib, but I'd have to say this particular Jowo nib has been the best one I've written with, by far. A resin fountain pen plus a brass overlay, topped up with a well tuned steel nib should appeal to a lot of users, but...yeah, there is a "but" coming.
At $280 MSRP, or even at the $230 price at some retailers, the Formosa special edition fountain pen has a lot of competitions: a generic consumer would more likely to pick this one over a typical gold nib fountain pen, as the aesthetic appeal is there and it can surely punch above its weight against a certain skeletonized fountain pen from Germany at a fraction of the cost. However, put on the table against other pens that focus more on writing experience and filling mechanism, this Laban still has a long way to go to satisfy the pickiest fountain pen collectors.
The Laban's Formosa is created to celebrate the island of Taiwan, and it did exactly that: an eye-catching writing instrument which reminds me of the clear blue ocean waves. It is not made for the ultimate writing experience of gold nibs and flex calligraphy, but it can still hold up to most of your writing needs!
Thanks to Laban for graciously providing me this pen for this review, so please check them out at laban.com or @labanpen. While we wait for the next big project, how about checking out my other reviews here on the blog? Thank you for reading and I'll see you in the next one.
