I’m not sure why but there was just something about the M600S that caught my eye, I’d seen some pictures online but generally speaking I’m not really a fan of either brown or teal acrylics or gold trim.
However, something about this pen struck me as being a bit different so I decided to take a chance and ordered one from the eBay seller esybuy. It arrived in just over a week and whilst I was waiting, I had the fun of following its progress around the world as the tracking data rolled in.
I opted for the no box version and the pen arrived very safely wrapped in bubble wrap with a converter, a velvet pouch and the Moonman Fine nib.
The pen is clearly “inspired” by Parker designs even down to the arrow clip but ultimately this is not a Parker, what it is is a very nicely made homage to a classic Parker design.
After unpacking my pen, the first thing I noticed was the acrylic; it is a wonderful dark amber with flecks of complimentary coloured acrylics in it and when the light catches it just right it the acrylic has a warm glow about it.
Now, as I said above, I’m not a fan of gold trim but I have to admit on this pen it works; what Moonman have done is to go for a softer gold colour rather than a harsh yellow and this blends in well with the amber acrylic.
This pen has six gold bands in total, including the clip; one separating the barrel from its black finial and a matching one separating the cap from its black finial, one at either end of the section and lastly two on the cap in the same area as the threads.
It might sound like a lot of gold trim, but it isn’t, they complement the both the brown and black acrylics that have been used and help to demonstrate the level of thought and attention to detail that has gone into producing this pen.
Both finials are made from black acrylic and are tapered with flat tops; the section is also made from the same black acrylic and tapers towards the nib with a flared end just above the nib giving you somewhere to rest your finger and making the whole experience of writing with the pen very comfortable. The section has metal fittings and just above the threads for the barrel you will find ‘MOONMAN’ etched; it is the only company branding other than the nib that I could find.
Just before I move on to talk about the nib the converter deserves a few words; it appears to be well made and very similar to the Schmidt K5 except this one has a spring type agitator to break the surface tension of the ink. The twist action was very smooth, and the pen filled very easily.
Moving on to the nib, when I ordered the pen, I assumed it would arrive with a Moonman Medium nib, instead, it comes with a very nice two tone Jin Hao nib.
Curious to know how this Medium would compare to a western sized Medium I put it nose to nose with a TWSBI Medium nib and as you can see other than the Jin Hao being a size 6 and the TWSBI being a size 5 the Jin Hao is a comparable Medium nib.
So, having satisfied myself it was a medium nib I decided to take it apart. The nib unit is easy to remove, it unscrews, and replace and I do believe with a little care nib swapping should be very straightforward.
After putting it back together I loaded it with Diamine Oxford Blue and tested it out; there was very little feedback and it is a smooth nib to use. I have now been using it for over a week and so far, it has performed very well. I’ve not experienced any skipping or hard starts even after leaving it unused for two days or taking a break in use and not recapping it for a few minutes.
Overall, this is a very nice pen. It’s well designed and built using good quality materials and it is obvious that a lot of thought went into it; it’s a pen you could use anywhere from a business meeting to making a few quick notes in a coffee shop and it will stand out from the mass of everyday pens as being something a bit special.
Would I recommend that you buy one of these pens, absolutely. It’s a wonderful pen and I like it so much I now own two of them, so go ahead and treat yourself while they’re still in stock.
Disclaimer: This pen was purchased with my own funds at retail price. The opinions expressed in this review are my own; and I am not connected with either the retailers or manufacturers in any way.
The Indian Marmalade Company 