[Pen/Pencil Review] LS Arts Milano Art Glass Ball Point
Today’s been weirdly busy. But, it’s a pen blog day, and I’m going to have to spend some time taking pictures. I’m behind on all of it – yet, there’s still one pen left photographed to review. Today I’m featuring a novelty pen, The LS Arts Milano Art Glass Pen. It was a gift from my friend and co-worker, Marie.
This pen is a lovely item for gift giving. I believe Marie bought these as gifts for her wedding back in 2007 (it was a good year for weddings). This one is light yellow blown art glass with blue and gold line accents on the grip. The pattern is a fluted, oil lamp type design. It holds a basic medium point BIC style ink refill.
This particular pen is sturdy for looking very delicate. It looks like you might be able to break it if you grip too hard, but you can’t. It’s a little over-balanced, it’s about 7.5″ long and has no cap. The diameter is good. However, the first bump in the fluting hits me a bit short. I would prefer that bump to hit above the knuckle and the tapered part to hit the webbing, but it doesn’t. And that could be my hand size. I’ve still used it quite a bit without too much fatigue.
Let’s see the numbers…
1. How does it work? – 1 – It’s designed to be a novelty not a fine writing instrument. The ballpoint ink that came with the pen is suitable.
2. Grip and feel – 0.5 – Though the colored glass lines give the pen some texture and something to hold onto, the grip is too short to be completely comfortable for me. I would prefer a longer grip with this type of pen.
3. Material – 1 – It’s pretty. The blown glass is charming. The detailing is nice. It’s simple but elegant and not as delicate as it looks. It can take a bit of a beating – but don’t go TRY to break it.
4. Overall Design – 0.5 This is not mean to be an all day everyday pen. Given that, it’s a good design. It’s designed to be used if you want to – just not as well as I would like. I do like my fun pens to be useful.
5. Price Point – 0. 5 Not sure what these pens go for. The LSArts website is designed for retailers, and I couldn’t find a similar item on line. And you get these in sets – not individually. If you’re buying them for gifts, they’re probably okay, but I can’t tell you what the price is, so that’s a knock.
That’s 3.5 bronze pencils out of 5.
