A utilitarian review of a few pen cases

PRELUDE

A search loop for the perfect ONE and then the more perfect OTHER

With great fountain pens comes an even greater responsibility of carrying them around in this mortal world, where inadvertent scratches, dents, and corrosion become inevitable. Thus begins my search for sheaths and containers to protect these fine instruments, which have earned a reputation for being mightier than the sword; at least for the past 175 years. I digress; I wonder why the keyboard was never celebrated in the same way when it emerged around the same time as the original quote.

BACKGROUND AND OPINIONATED TRUTHS

Experiments, measures and opinion 

I like to use a few fountain pens during my travels for note-taking and journaling. While I could use the original boxes for my limited collection, they tend to take up unnecessary space in my cupboard. Some of these cases are beautifully made, while others are more ordinary. That's where a storage pen case comes in handy. One advantage is that you can see multiple pens together to help with selection, or perhaps just to avoid making a choice. For example, I often tell my Opus 88 Jazz to just lie there, which has been my unfortunate treatment of that pen ever since I got it.

                    In my case, the search has usually been for a value-for-money options. It’s rare to find a case that costs as much as a pen, but this highlights the absence of worthy alternatives. Another aspect is that in India, leather goods are available at a fraction of the cost compared to the West, although there is less general understanding of the premium quality of higher-grade leather materials. By a stroke of luck, a couple of us met Michael, a leather importer based in California, who sources leather from India, China, and Thailand. He supplies leather to some well-known premium brands, with the final products ranging from premium car seat covers to women’s bags. He explained what typically gets exported versus what is consumed domestically in these countries. Michael also described the leather qualities and grades he looks for when evaluating a shipment from the tanneries. By the way, you can check out some interesting expositions on leather grades and types here, and here’s a brief write-up on leather quality if you’re short on time or patience:

1. Full Grain: The highest quality. A cut of leather consisting of the outer layer of hide, left unsanded and unbuffed to retain its natural imperfections. It has a strong and durable surface.
2. Top Grain: The top layer is sanded to remove imperfections, which reduces some of the strength and water-repellent qualities of full grain leather. It is commonly used in handbags, wallets, and shoes.
3. Corrected: A broader term often referred to as genuine leather. It can be any layer of hide that has been treated to create a uniform surface. Commonly used in belts, wallets, bags, gloves, and shoes.
4. Split Grain: A layer cut from the lower levels of top grain leather. It is not as dense, tight, or durable as full grain or top grain leather.
5. Reconstituted & Recycled: Leather scraps are bonded together using polyurethane or latex. 

Here are a list of leather finishes:

1. Aniline: Dyes allow natural surface of leather to show through. 
2. Semi-Aniline: Similar to aniline but with added pigments.
3. Faux: Also known as PU, Vegan or Vinyl leather. Is made of polyurethane and made to mimic real leather.
4. There are many more types (12+), but they may not be relevant to our search for pen cases and sleeves.

Leather tanning is the process of treating hides to clean them of dirt, blood, and hair. This process alters the protein structure of the hide to make the leather durable and less susceptible to decomposition. 

1. Vegetable tanning: This method uses natural materials or tannins derived from plants and bark, which are astringents. It’s an ancient, environmentally friendly process.
2. Chromium tanning: Chromium sulfate is used for a faster and cheaper tanning process, offering more color options than vegetable tanning. The hair and flesh are removed before the tanning process.

Leather hides are graded as 1, 2, 3, or non-tannable, depending on the imperfections in the hide. The top-of-the-line branded pen cases are made from full grain cowhide leather with an aniline or semi-aniline finish.

The case proliferation in my situation is rather proportional to the larger pen dimensions rather than the number of pens in my relatively limited collection. I found it increasingly inconvenient to carry flagship pens like the Wahl-Eversharp Decoband, Pilot Custom Urushi in the Pelikan TG32 three-pen case. While the Decoband fits inside Visconti Dreamtouch comfortably, the Custom Urushi does not. These pens could be a part of an everyday carry unlike a Namiki Emperor, unless you of course dare to carry it. In this situation, the Cross Leather Pen Box came to my rescue, but its dimensions pose a problem for my laptop bag if I want to carry two or three more standard pens.

        Given the rapid progress in design, manufacturing and evolving human desires, here are my standard set of guidelines, refined over the years, while looking for pen cases (YMMV):

OBSERVATIONS & EXPERIENCE

In Context

Here are the pen cases I have acquired over the years:

Single pen cases

1. The Black Canvas Pen Capsule: Soft case. I got the English Violet variant which is made of top-grain chrome-tanned leather. The inside of the pouch is soft and velvety.
2. Endless Companion Pen Pouch: Hard case. The company uses the term genuine leather which may indicate corrected leather. However, it seems well-made for standard pen sizes (such as a Lamy 2000, and it can stretch to fit a regular Montblanc 146) and has a matte buffed finish. The pen itself rests in a felt-like soft compartment, and the case is fastened by two buttons. They ensured that there is a felt-flap covering the exposed parts of a pen where it's buttoned.
3. Cross Men's Leather Single Pen Box-Black: Hard case. Again corrected leather, but with ample space inside to house a Custom Urushi or WE Decoband. The flap is fastened with a magnetic closure, which is a nice touch. I have noticed some leather coming out off the edge of the flap from the newer of the two boxes, but this is what it is.
4. Custom pen case for Namiki Emperor sized pen: Soft case. This was custom-made by fellow fountain pen collector Dr. Ashish Wakhlu for my Namiki Emperor pen. It’s good enough to protect the pen from minor scratches. From the texture, it seems like top grain or full grain leather with an aniline finish. It has some protection at the back.

No	Cases	Type	Weight(g)	L X W (cm)	# of Pens	Available Width/Pen(cm)	Used Since	Purchased From	Made by	Buy Price (2024 US$)
1	TBC Leather Pen Capsule	Open	15	16.5x3.8	1	3	2023	theblackcanvas.in	The Black Canvas	$6
2	Endless Companion Pen Pouch	Button,Double Flap	45	16x4.9	1	3	2024	in.madebyendless.com	Endless India	$13
3	Cross Leather Single Pen Box	Magnetic Closure	46	15.8x4	1	3.3	2019	Amazon	Cross/Torero	$7
4	Custom Namiki Emperor Case	Flap with loop	20	16.5x3.6	1	3.3	2019	ashish.wakhlu@gmail.com	Dr. Ashish Wakhlu	$8

Multi pen cases

1. Arista Leatherette Case for 6 pens: Hard case. I have two of Arista pen cases that I got from Amazon, primarily for storage. They’re lined with felt and have a partial over-layer to protect the finials from brushing against the zipper. It’s somewhat partial towards the pens in the first and last slots. Made of polyurethane, it closely mimics Saffiano leather and has a nice touch with bumpers at the base.
   
   
   
2. The Black Canvas Jotbox: Soft case. A nice box for keeping pencils, parallels, and rulers reminiscent of the good old school days. It’s made of top-grain leather, and is pretty well made.
3. Aegean Leather Case for Namiki Emperor/Pilot Custom Urushi: Hard case with pen tray. This is the most expensive case I own and it’s excellently made from Italian buttero leather. Full-grain, vegetable-tanned, aniline finish - this case checks all the boxes. I bought it to carry the Custom Urushi in my bag, may be sometimes the Emperor too.
4. Pelikan Leather 3 Pen Case: Hard case with soft flap. Top notch full-grain, vegetable-tanned leather with aniline finish, but for medium sized pens. It’s good enough for a Pelikan M800/1000 or a MB 149. 
5. Visconti Dreamtouch Case for 3/6 Pens: Hard case with zippered flap. Felt inner lining. This is my favorite case and checking all boxes for full-grain, vegetable-tanned, aniline finish leather. The one with 6 pens hasn’t seen much motion, but it’s absolutely defies ageing, even after 10 years. I occasionally use a standard neutral shoe cream to polish them.
6. Brown Bear Classic Pen Case for 2 Pens: Hard case with magnetic closure. By the looks of it, the case seems to be full-grain with an aniline finish. Its pretty sturdy and well made, with a single soft divider. The dimensions are good enough to hold a Pelikan M8XX sized pen. Their men’s wallets made of nappa leather hold well too.
7. Essart Pen Case for 10 Pens: Hard Case with magnetic button for the flap. The lid  has a transparent portion to get a quick account of pens inside. The frame is wooden and sturdy, with each pen slot lined with felt. It’s pretty & perfect for storage. 

No	Cases	Type	Weight(g)	L X W (cm)	# of Pens	Available Width/Pen(cm)	Used Since	Purchased From	Made by	Buy Price (2024 US$)
1	Arista Leatherette	Zipper,Single Flap	200+	15.5x14.2	6	2.2	2023	Amazon	Arista	$18
2	The Black Canvas Jotbox	Zipper	54	18.5x5.5	6-8	N/a	2024	theblackcanvas.in	The Black Canvas	$12
3	Aegean Leather for Namiki Emperor	Pen Tray, Single Flap	113	16x5	2	2.4	2024	Etsy	Aegean Leather Co (Turkey)	$200
4	Pelikan Leather 3 Pen Case (TG32)	Single Flap, Adjustable Dividers	36	10.5x5.1	3	1.6	2014	Martiniauctions	Pelikan	$47
5a	Visconti Dreamtouch (6)	Zipper,Single Flap	123	15x14	6	2	2015	Martiniauctions	Visconti	$100
5b	Visconti Dreamtouch (3)	Zipper,Single Flap	68	15x7.5	3	2.4	2019	Fontoplumo	Visconti	$72
6	Brown Bear Classic (2)	Single Flap, Adjustable Dividers	49	13x3.7	2	1.8	2024	Amazon	Brown Bear	$18
7	Essart Pen Case (Wood/PU)	Lid, Magnetic Buttons	400	24.5x19	10	2	2021	Amazon	Essart	$12

Methodology

The pictures below depict the way in which I have measured the inner length and available versus total width of these pen cases. 

MY TOP PICKS

If I had to pick one

It would be the Visconti Dreamtouch Pen case.

Thank you for going through the review. 

You can find other pen and paraphernalia reviews here. 

  

REFERENCES

1. Leather grade and types

Review of a TWSBI VAC 700 with a VAC 20 Travel Inkwell

Over time, I observed that the 580 did not find much use, primarily because my writing preferences have graduated towards softer and larger nibs along with time. So here comes the saviour from TWSBI - The Vac 700, with a bigger nib of #6 size, and a vacuum plunger mechanism. Personally, I prefer the concept of an ink shut off valve. 

If you are looking for a review of the 580, here it is.

TWSBI

TWSBI (pronounced Twiz-Bee) refers to San Wen Tong, i.e TWS spelled backwards and it means ‘Hall of Three Cultures’ and if you wish to know, more information is available on their website. BI at the end, refers to writing instruments. Ta Shin Precision has manufactured a range of things starting from toy lego parts to high-end writing instruments, for several luxury brands (both American & Japanese) for well over 40 years. So that’s plastic, metal & precision, precisely what’s required to make and sell a good looking writing instrument, under a brand name. Which luxury brands? They don’t reveal those due to privacy agreements. I have reasonable doubt from various reviews that one of them is Levenger. Also, the shaft mechanism inside Pilot Custom 823 seems similar to the one in the Vac 700. TWSBI sources its nibs from JoWo (earlier it was Bock & Schimdt), Germany (same as for Faber-Castell Stock Steel nibs).

PRESENTATION

Clean, clear and minimal packaging! A transparent pen lying inside a clear plastic case, encased within a brown cardboard box with adequate cushions of foam. There is an instruction sheet on filling & disassembly of the pen, highlighting the pen parts. Below the white pen-holding shelf, you will find the 7mm TWSBI wrench, couple of O-rings for the filler collar and a vial of silicone grease in two push slots. Neat!

DESIGN - TAPERED TRANSPARENCY (4/6)

The VAC 700 used to come in four transparent colours - Sapphire, Amber, Smoke & Clear. Now TWSBI has retained the production of the clear model only. I was looking for a clear model, since I already have a few other coloured demos. The build of VAC700 is sturdy and it seems that a substantial amount of acrylic has been used. Honestly, it never felt cheap nor does it feel luxurious. I think this pen endorses practical utility rather than art, with which you will probably associate a Visconti. More of an industrial look, for which I like this pen. Plastic & Acrylics economise both cost and weight of fittings. 

                  Most of it is visible engineering & the use of a steel plunger rod along with rubber piston and valve seals can be seen from the outside. The barrel and cap are made of thick polycarbonate, with a protective heat treated layer to increase resistance to scratches & abrasions, thus preserving the crystal transparence. The blind cap and the section exhibit translucence with smoky hue and I strongly fill that its takes out some beauty element out of the equation. But then, I wanted the clear one to enjoy the ink colour itself.

The cap feels substantial and unscrews with one and a half turn, revealing a nicely sized steel nib. There is a metallic collar for the nib unit, supplying necessary chrome accents for the aesthetics part of it. The smoky translucent blind cap has a rather broad ring making the mark for usage and disassembly. The barrel is smooth and rounded with a decagonally cut blind cap, which fails to prevent the open pen from rolling away. The pen rolls on the broad steel ring below the blind cap. The acrylic orchestrates light well and dazzles the ink inside the barrel.

The cap has a widish chrome band carrying a laser engraved TWSBI on one side of it and VAC 700 TAIWAN on the other. The finial carries a vibrant red & silver TWSBI logo of three pillars within a dome of transparent acrylic. The clip has a frosted aluminium feel and finish and is spring-loaded within a visible system with a chrome tassie. The cap has a geometrical decagonal cut, though the clip prevents any rolling away. The frosted look & feel of aluminium and somewhat stands out unevenly compared to the overall dazzling steel chrome trims. The cap is moderately heavy (@13g not 19g). You can also see a transparent inner cap, which prevents the nib from drying out.

FILLING SYSTEM (4/6)

As a plunger filler, it does have a good ink capacity around 1.8~2.3 mL (a full fill which is easy to do from an inverted Vac 20 bottle or repeated air removal filling). The smoky translucent blind cap unscrews with three complete turns. The rod is made of stainless steel and is resistant to most of the commonly used inks. For IG (Iron Gall) and Pigment Inks, care must be taken to clean the pen several times, to prevent clogging or deposit accumulation inside the ink passages. 

With the usual ink bottle, the pen fills to around two-thirds of its capacity, once the nib is completely dipped in ink and the plunger is pushed back in. This can give a good amount of ink inside with a comfortable volume of 1.5 - 1.8 mL. Sometimes, I have to repeat it several times to create a good vacuum, an issue I never had with the Custom 823 or the Homo Sapiens. The Custom 823 takes only a second vacuum to fill well. But YMMV.

Cleaning the pen could be a similar ritual accompanied with some shake and I suggest you do it on a regular basis, for the ink stains if left may look ugly with time, and might require a light ammonia solution to go-off. Else you could just disassemble the shaft mechanism from the barrel and clean the transparent barrel with some a light dishwashing liquid water solution.

               And as mentioned in the manual, while writing with the pen, you would need to keep the piston-knob slightly unscrewed & pulled to the first stop (at a 4 mm distance) relative to the chrome ring. This will displace the conical valve rubber seal below the piston seal, to allow passage of ink to the feed. Given the high ink capacity of these pens with plunger filling mechanism, it has been introduced to prevent ink-leakage. And this is a nice thing to have, if you intend to carry the pen by air. The feeder hole looks like a channel to enable efficient ink suction. 

                         A problem I have landed up with this piece is that while filling it from a VAC 20 bottle, there are some ink drops coming out of the rear end of the filler collar. I emailed TWSBI Customer Service and Philip asked me to replace the filler O-ring with the spare one, which is actually thinner. Steps/link in disassembly section.

However, this did not solve the issue completely and Philip was kind enough to have his factory send an immediate replacement of shaft mechanism. We both think that the inner O-ring of the shaft mechanism is the culprit.

Update One week later, the replacement mechanism arrived, and there is no leakage of ink from the opening of the filler collar now. Awesome customer service, TWSBI team! The VAC gets the new mechanism. (The defective one stays beside the pen)

FILLING WITH THE VAC 20 INKWELL (INDEPENDENT RATING - 5/6)

The VAC 20 inkwell comes within a small cardboard box. Unlike the well packaged Diamond 50 bottle, the packaging is pretty plain. It’s made of plastic and weighs around 20 grams without ink. 

Ink Capacity is 20 mL, of course (Thus VAC 20, but wait, what about VAC 700! :D). The below bottle is around two-thirds filled.

The bottle used to come in five simple variants - black, orange, red, green & blue top-caps and occupies a fraction of space taken by the Diamond 50 inkwell.

The new one however is called VAC 20A and it has an additional insert for the VAC Mini.

       You have to remove the top cap for filling the VAC 700. The base cap has the threads of the VAC 700 pen inside, so as to fit the pen precisely. 

And with an inverted configuration you can pull/push the plunger to suck the ink to full capacity of the pen. 

And there is no need of cleaning the VAC700 after filling ink, as only the feed area is exposed. Cool ! 

The outer cap has a good sealing tube and I never found any ink leakage from the bottle itself, even after keeping it inverted in my backpack for 2 days of travel.

                        Personally, I find it comfortable as a travelling inkwell since the dimensions are minimal and the base bottle offers the height of ink to completely immerse nibs of most pens with standard nib sizes. The only quibble I have is: when you fill ink in any other pen, the base cap (black) has to be unscrewed and it exposes the broader opening of the bottle. The secure bottle acting as a pen stand is now gone. The inner taper of the base cap block sections of most of the similar sized pens (except VAC 700 & a few slimmer ones). Besides it’s priced pretty decent (in US), and you do travel with 20 mL of your favourite ink. 

DISASSEMBLY (6/6)

In cases where the piston has become stiff or there is any leakage of ink from the rear, it would require you to disassemble and self-service the pen. You can find two spare O-rings with the wrench and silicone grease. You can have a look at a 700 disassembly video. I like this one. Make sure you thoroughly flush the pen with water before disassembling it.

1. Rotate the blind cap counter-clockwise, till it rotates freely. 
2. Pull out the blind cap till it comes to an end stop. The same thing you do while longer writing sessions. 
3. Fit the wrench below the blind cap on the area of the filler collar which has two parallel cuts on the otherwise circular section. 
4. Rotate counter-clockwise till the collar comes out of the inner threads. There is an O-ring on the collar (at the end of those threads ideally) that goes inside the barrel, to prevent leakage of ink. (the same ring for which spares are provided) 
5. Then you can pull off the shaft mechanism along with the blind cap from the barrel. 
6. The nib unit can be easily removed by first unscrewing the grip section from the barrel 
7. Since, nib is friction fit, you may remove the nib and feed from the unit, in case there is some heavy cleaning required (in case of a bad flow, sometimes the feed is coated with grease which restricts ink-flow). 
8. Make sure you carefully apply adequate amount of silicone grease with a earbud/toothpick to the sides of the conical frustum like rubber piston seal/lip before reassembly. Don't use any grease on the conical valve seal, else the grease may block the section slit, thereby the flow of ink. 

NIB - ALL THAT MATTERS (6/6)

This is a silver accented stainless steel nib from Jowo of size#6. It carries off the TWSBI traditional dagger-like design well. Across four stock widths - EF, F, M, B and two special widths of Stub 1.1 & Stub 1.5, this looks pretty industrial and minimalistic. The nib/feed unit can also be taken out of the sleeve after unscrewing the section.

The tail end specifies carries the nib width, while the name TWSBI along with the logo rest above the tail. There is some simple scroll within the symmetry of its tines, reflecting the rather industrial look of the pen. 

A black plastic feed with a adequate feed channel for ink suction provides the inflow of ink. The thin fins ensure an acceptable buffer capacity, although I have always found better feeds in Pilot & of course the Pelikans. The feeds are said to be a bit brittle. So suggest you take care if you are replacing the nib.

These are sourced from JoWo. Earlier, TWSBI used to source its nibs from Schmidt and then Bock, which is incidentally the nib-supplier for Faber-Castell smoothy nibs too. The nib being a medium is a juicy wet delight to write with. And it lays a line which runs a tad thicker than Japanese Medium/European Fine nibs. More of this in the last section with writing sample.

PHYSICS OF IT (6/6) – RELATIVELY SPEAKING

The pen even without ink, does have a good balance in terms of both weight and length. The pen is not meant to be posted for the likes of me. The grip is quite comfortable for me, with a girth of 1 cm for me. The weight of the pen is mainly due to the steel/aluminium metal parts along with the steel rod used in the shaft mechanism. 

• Uncapped Length ~ 13.2 cm 
• Capped Length ~ 14.4 cm 
• Nib Leverage ~ 2.4 cm #6 
• Overall Weight ~ 32 g (Cap Weight ~ 13 g) 
• Max Ink Capacity ~ 2.3 mL 

Capped and uncapped comparisons with a Pelikan m805 and a Pilot Custom 823, run below for your reference.

An uncapped vac 700 along with other.

ECONOMIC VALUE (5/6)

The VAC700 retails at around Rs 9,500 ($ 141 @ 67 INR/USD) here and I got it from Manoj (of Manoj Pen Mart) at around Rs 4500, in exchange for another sparsely used TWSBI. The pen retails at USD 65, in the US and cheaper in other countries. A major problem with ordering it from TWSBI’s website is the heavy FedEx shipping charges, and also un-calculated duties to be paid for. 

OVERALL (5.2/6)

This nib is wet and smooth with most of the inks. Since, I am used to a few large pens, I did not find a problem with either the heft or the balance of Vac 700. Many people don't find the heft/weight comfortable. There is no noticeable line variation but the #6 nib does render some spring, which can cushion your writing. The medium nib lays a line which runs a tad thicker than Japanese Medium/European Fine nibs. The pen feels balanced for my hands both with or without pressure and given the tapered profile of the section, it has a good grip. I have used single fills of Waterman Florida Blue & Sailor Yama Dori inks in rotation, and the pen nicely in the case of Sailor ink. 

Being a wet writer out of the box, the Medium nib puts up a nice juicy line, which takes around 22-25 seconds to dry a Sailor Yama Dori ink on MD Paper.

The spring and length of this steel nib reminds me of the fact that a good steel nib can always be of joy. However, if you ask me to compare the Custom 823#15 nib with this steel nib, I would say it's great but the 823-14k nib fairly wins in terms of cushion, softness and additional spring.

REFERENCES

TWSBI 580 Diamond Review

FPN TWSBI History

Disassembly - Removing ink shut off valve (Warranty may be voided)
TWSBI Nib Adjustment

Thank you for going through the review.

You can find some more pen and paraphernalia reviews here.

The Visconti Dreamtouch 6-Pen Case

I was looking for a quality pen-case for quite sometime, which could also serve as a handy storage of my fountain pens, outside their hefty boxes. Existence of nice fountain pens, necessitates invention of great fountain pen cases. I do use a Pelikan 3-pen case to carry my daily fountain pens, but I required something more secure, which can double up as a travel companion, if I ever intend to carry more than three pens at a time. The Dreamtouch leather series were launched sometime in 2012. For the leather pen cases, Visconti offers 5 variants in an ensemble of a compact and unique design, housing 1/2/3/6/12 pens.

PRESENTATION

As usual, there is a white Visconti fabric pouch, inside which the case rests once you take it out of the cardboard box. It ensures that the leather remains intact and unscathed before use.

DESIGN & BUILD (6/6)

The outside is made of aniline-calfskin with a clean and precise workmanship. Aniline leather making techniques preserve the natural surface of hide and render a soft natural feel of the same. The flip side is they do indeed carry the natural porosity of skin. When you look at the threads and feel the case you would instantly know, that you have landed upon great workmanship.

Then at the top of the flap, there is the V logo inside an ellipse, which is made of chrome plated metal. It seems minimalist aesthetically, but it does succeed in drawing your attention. The zip looks flat and compact, converging with the geometrical dimensions of the case. You will neither find the case too pliable nor you would find it too hard. A very compact case indeed!

The rear-end is plain and coveys volumes instead.

The flap converges with the overall flat design quite well.

The slider is chrome plated metal and sports the same logo which is present on finials of Visconti pens. The name VISCONTI lies within a mirrored V. 

The back-side sports an embossed VISCONTI with the name of its birthplace, the renaissance town FIRENZE. 

PHYSICS & PERFORMANCE (5/6)

The 6-pen case weighing around 150 grams and is quite light and easy to hold. It can hold a pen upto 15.5 cm of length. A thicker pen will of course displace the divider by a tiny bit. The flat design of the case, makes it a convenient storage box. I just love the compactness of this case.

• Length ~ 16 cm
• Width ~ 14 cm
• Depth ~ 2.7 cm

A 15 cm scale can completely rest inside with some additional pen-room.

You can observe that the dividers are placed at least 2.3 cm apart, which makes it capable of housing most of the pens. The inside linings are made of black velvet, a touch would reveal it's quite dense and should protect your pens well. One downside is that all the pens will not fit snugly inside these slots and there are chances of bumping inside it, in case you are travelling.

The finial of a rather large pen like an Izumo (>16 cm) can become exposed to the zipper material. Had it been a metallic finial with a flat top (say Pelikan), there are chances of scratches, due to lack of any additional protective lining on its insides. Although the zippers have plastic teeth, the slider with its metallic clasp still has to traverse along these lines.

From left to right : Pelikan m605, m805, Platinum Izumo Tagayasan, MB146, Pilot Custom 823 and a Visconti Homo Sapiens Maxi.

A dimensional comparison with a Pelikan TG32 (black/green) 3-pen case

ECONOMIC VALUE (6/6)

Although the 6-pen case retails in the market at around USD 120, I was able to win this one in an auction, at around USD 77. From time to time, I do find multiple auctions for these cases running on the bay.  I feel that's a good price for any aniline leather product.

OVERALL (5.7/6)

Overall, I do feel that the 6-Pen Dreamtouch case has been a nice buy, custom made to my requirements of compactness and aesthetics. It is subtle yet elegant at the same time. I would keep the large pens inside their boxes.

More pen and paraphernalia reviews here.