Lately, my style has been running less towards bright, poppy colors and more toward a vintage sensibility – browns, kraft, muted colors and non-shiny metallics. This is inspired by two things: one, the changing colors and the crisp air in New England, where I live, and two, the Instagram feed and website of Eunice Roe.

Recently, she did a blog post on her favorite writing instruments. Now, if you know anything about me (or if you don’t), I am a great lover of beautiful pens, and it’s always been my quest to find pens that are gorgeous and take the super-fine-point refills of the pens I love to write with, pens which are normally cheap-looking, plastic-bodied pieces from Japan.

Imagine my joy, then, when I saw this: the brass pen from ATELEIA.

*Cue angels singing*

This pen holds refills from some of my favorite plastic pens, which allows me to make the very fine (0.3 mm) lines I like AND do it using a beautiful, conversation-starting piece of craftsmanship.

HEAVEN.

The pen has what seems to be the perfect weight – enough that it’s very material in the hand, but not so heavy that it’s tiring to write with. It seems to give just enough weight to help even the finest point glide across the page – which is saying something, especially since I’m a lefty, and unlike right-handers who pull the pen across the page, lefties often have to push, at least some of the time. When you’re pushing an 0.3 mm-point pen across paper and you can still say it glides, that’s pretty significant. (I will share that I’m an under-writer; I don’t know what the experience would be like for an over-writer or “hooker”. I imagine more difficult.)

There are two cons and one thing that’s not a con but is slightly annoying.

Con 1

The cap is a screw-off cap and cannot be posted. Not a deal-breaker for me, but for some it might be.

Con 2

It makes your hands smell metallic when your body heat/oils/whatever react with the surface of the metal. Again, not a deal-breaker, but something to be aware of.

Annoyance

You need a flat-planed tool – I use an adjustable wrench – to change out the refills. You need to grip the flat sides of the nib housing and unscrew the body of the pen; you can’t do it with just your fingers and you REALLY shouldn’t use a pair of pliers because you’ll damage the metal. Not really a big deal unless you’re changing refills all the time, but definitely something you should know if you plan to put your own refill in rather than use the one it comes with (which for me was a Pilot Hi-Tec-C in 0.5).

It’s also worth noting that there is no clip on this pen; it’s cylindrical, which means (a) it’s a roller, so (b) you should probably get a sleeve to protect it and keep it in one place when it’s not in your hand. I happened to have a leather pen sleeve but ATELEIA sells them if you don’t.

This brass pen is fantastic for fall (and all the time), and I’m looking forward to many, many years of enjoyment. It’s definitely helping me make my notes for my current WIP, Siren: Bride of the Broken King, look super cool!