J. Herbin Refillable Rollerball Pen

So first off, I bought this pen and the Monteverde short converter (yes it works!) at the same time so I can use my favorite fountain pen inks. I filled it with Noodler's X-Feather and WOW!! It writes smooth as wet ice! You have to remember it's fountain pen ink so it will write wet. That's kind of the whole point. Use halfway decent paper and you won't have any trouble at all. That being said, I was using it at work last night on cheap copy paper and it seemed to do decently well.The pen is short, but if you post the cap it fits perfectly in my large hand. After a full night of writing, I noticed at one point that the feed had run dry and the pen acted like it had run out of ink, so I pushed more ink in from the converter and it went back to working perfectly for the rest of the night so the trick is to keep the feed system full (should be obvious, but you can't count on common sense these days). The pen doesn't actually use much ink at all compared to my fountain pens. It functioned perfectly and never skipped or was hard to start once the ink was flowing the first time. I am frankly amazed at how smoothly it glides across the page as fast as I like without ever skipping. It's not a fountain pen so obviously there is no line variation to be had. I haven't tried it with any of my inks that offer shading, but as smoothly as it lays down ink, I'm dubious about any real shading prospects. I'll try and update this if I remember once I try it with my shady inks. I'm hesitant to use shimmering inks because I don't think it will clean very nicely. I may give it a try once I buy a few more of these (which I plan to do soon!).So there you have it: A beautifully executed rollerball pen that uses fountain pen ink. It is especially useful in situations and on paper qualities where fountain pens are at a disadvantage, it doesn't stand out like a fountain pen does (I suppose if I had fancier ink in it it may since its a demonstrator) and it writes ridiculously smoothly without any skipping or hard starting. In short, it does what it's supposed to do and it does it well. If you are new to fountain pens, you may struggle slightly with inking it and cleaning it, but these are not hard to learn with a little patience and the reward is the ability to use the whole world of ink options that are only available to fountain pen users without most of the disadvantages of the fountain pen (obviously, you still have to ink it and clean it as that's the whole point of the pen).The pen is plastic but doesn't feel any cheaper than any other demonstrator pen. I wouldn't put it places where it's likely to suffer a lot of abuse (like in a pants pocket full of keys and such) as it's not likely to hold up well to that. Think of it as a more expensive pen that you want to take care of and it won't let you down and will likely last so long you'll save money on it in the end since you're not replacing your disposable pens all the time.I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!!

Writes like a rollerball, but its ultra smooth and takes very little pressure to put ink on paper. Interesting little pen.Overall (What I think of the product):For someone who already uses a fountain pen, ask first. This pen is a downgrade from a fountain pen.For someone who's never used a fountain pen, or someone who write pages of text (i.e. journal or diary) using a regular pen, this would be a very nice gift/upgrade from a regular pen.If you buy this as a gift, buy one of the J. Herbin Ink Cartridges in the little metal tin. It's the ink they recommend and it comes in a few colors. This way you don't have to worry about getting the right ink converter or buying bottled ink (or the wrong kind of ink). The pen plus the ink cartridges make a complete gift.Picture:First line is a Pilot Red Frixion ball point pen; used as a reference since everyone can get one.Second line is from the J. Herbin pen, using Monteverde Ruby Red ink (a "wet" ink), and an ink converter.Third line is from a regular fountain pen, EF (extra fine) nib.Most interesting part of the picture is the color difference between the rollerball tip and the EF nib fountain pen. Exact same ink, but the rollerball is less intense. If I go over the same line a second time, the rollerball will match the red from the fountain pen. That means the rollerball is putting down *less* ink than my EF nib pen; ink doesn't feel or look thin on paper.Expected (stuff I knew/planned on before buying):No replacement rollerball tip available. Take care of the rollerball tip you get.Shorter and skinnier than most fountain pens, so easy to carry everywhere.Its $10 for the pen; this pen is all about function, and not even a little bit about fashion and it shows (there is a nicer metal version).Its $10 for the pen, the least expensive on Amazon for this type of pen.Short barrel means you can only use the Monteverde mini ink converter for bottled ink. Regular converters are too long.They recommend their own ink cartridges. No stars taken off for not working with standard cartridges --> **Standard international cartridges seemed to fit** I used the Jinhao blue cartridges which work fine with other pen brands. When I kept the pen pointing down for a few days, I saw blue ink leaking inside the barrel (one of the benefits of clear pens). Apparently the cartridge doesn't fit anymore; its used to be friction fit for the sides of the cartridges near the opening and now it's not. Not even sure how that happens. Added a thin layer of rubber cement to the cartridge, now it fits fine. It may due to size tolerance between the brand of cartridge and the pen. I'll try again with a different brand ink cartridge and will update the review (may be a while, this isn't a high priority).Writes like a rollerball; no variation is line width. This is expected because... it's a rollerball.Writes smooth like a rollerball. This is expected because... it's a rollerball.No fancy inks that shimmer and glitter since they *will* clog up inside the rollerball tip. And there is no was to clean a blockage out from behind the rollerball tip.Limiting myself to Monteverde inks (they lubricate), Noodler Eel line of inks (they also lubricate), and Pelikan 4001 to prevent issue with dried ink.Pros (good stuff I found out after I got the pen):Writes with very little pressure like a fountain pen--really wasn't expecting that. Even rollerballs require some downward pressure; on this pen the tip just needs to touch the paper like a fountain pen which is just odd because I keep pressing down by habit.You can write with hard pressure when writing to make carbon copies, like a typical rollerball.Writing pressure doesn't make any difference in amount of ink on paper. Lingering the pen tip in one spot will cause bleeding, same as a fountain pen.*should* work with International standard cartridges (2.6mm bore size, I use a JINHAO cartridge), although they recommend the J. Herbin cartridges. Had an issue, not sure if its the pen or the cartridge; will update review later.Only maintenance is flushing the feed and changing inks, so easy to care for.Rollerball tip is stingy with ink. Not so stingy that it skips, but compared to a fountain pen EF nib, the rollerball tip saves ink and will last a *long* time.Rollerball tip is stingy with ink. Allows you to write on almost any paper with minimal or no bleeding (depending on if you use "wet" or "dry" inks)Cons (negative stuff I found out after receiving the pen):Metal spacer ring between barrel body and rollerball tip is easy to lose, Watch for it when inking up the pen.Rollerball tip is stingy with ink. Colors may not be as intense. See picture. For some people, this isn't a negative thing.No way to clean ink out of the feed/rollerball. You don't want to force water into the feed since the pressure may pop out the ball tip.Switching from the Ruby Red to a blue cartridge, it took a page of dense scribbling to clear out the red from the feed and rollerball. This is *after* I washed the rollerball tip under tepid running water until it was clear.