Asvine C80 - Gave In to the FOMO
Lots of people in the fountain pen community have been talking about a new release from Asvine, the C80. It's a large, cigar-shaped pen with a #8 nib, and comes in several different resins, some sparkly and glittery, others with a darker resin base and lighter chattoyant ripples or swirls (I guess somewhat the opposite for the Cobalt Blue pen).
I am a big glitter fountain pen fan, so I picked up the light blue glitter C80 with an EF nib. I'm kinda bummed the brown pen isn't a glitter style; I would've snatched that up immediately, same with the purple. I'm not quite feeling the "ripple" colorways, but I'm going to seek out more pictures and videos for them, in case they can change my mind.
I got the light blue glitter pen last night, and even in indoor lighting it was impressively sparkly. I recorded a video of it in direct, bright sunlight earlier today. Lovely! ✨
Now, I just got it yesterday, so I still need to put it through its paces, but I'm impressed so far. I ended up picking an EF nib since I mainly had experience with Jinhao X159s and 9019s with either a #8 F or M nib (I like both), so I wanted to test Asvine's #8 EF. But I kind of wish I'd gotten a F nib that would show off more ink characteristics.
The EF seems well-tuned, though, and writes pretty smoothly, even in reverse, which is a nice bonus. I filled the pen with Jacques Herbin Vert de Gris, which ends up being a decent match for the pen body color, even though I wasn't intentionally going for a match. I just wanted to use the rest of my small bottle of Vert de Gris before it completely dried up (the seal on the smaller 10 mL bottles is not very good 😕).
I've taken a liking to larger pens with big sections for their comfortable writing experience (#ImOld), so the C80 fits right in. I put together a selection of my pen collection to give you an idea of how large the C80 is:
Fountain pens from left to right:
- Lamy Lx
- TWSBI ECO
- BENU Euphoria
- Jinhao X159
- Asvine C80
- Jinhao 9019
- Mayfair Pens Noldor
- Skogsy Pens Cholla
- Kasama Una
The Jinhaos used to be my largest pens, but now the C80 takes the lead, by almost 6 mm. Despite that extra length, I don't find the pen unwieldy at all, and I have small hands. It's quite comfortable, the cap threads very smooth. The pen is so well-manufactured. The resin is also translucent in spots, so you can see the nib and converter peeking through, a lovely detail.
For my first Asvine pen, I think this is a winner. I wasn't super keen on picking up earlier Asvines because they're mainly piston- or vacuum-fillers. As an ink dilettante, I prefer the ease of using cartridge converter pens. 😀 But I may pick up one or two more Asvine pens to add to my "inexpensive workhorse, but aesthetically appealing" collection of fountain pens. It's quite impressive what you get for the price.
Thanks for reading! If you like what I write and want to support me, you can "buy me a coffee". I'd appreciate it.
