Last week I reviewed the Kaweco Perkeo in the All Clear colour and concluded that it was a great entry-level fountain. The same day I posted that review, I took a trip into Manchester with my fiancé, and we stumbled upon a really cool craft and stationery store called Fred Aldous. Across the three floors of notebooks, art and craft supplies and stationery goodies, I stumbled upon something very exciting: a Kaweco Perkeo calligraphy set. It came with a Kaweco Perkeo pen body and cap (in a dark navy blue), plus three black Kaweco ink cartridges and three different stub nibs in 1.1, 1.5 and 1.9. 

Stub nibs had intrigued me for a while, and I’d been considering either purchasing a 1.1 nib for my Lamy Safari, or buying a stub nib TWSBI Eco. But both of these would only give me one size of nib to try out (unless I spent more money buying more), and so when I spotted this set, it seemed perfect. I already knew I loved the Kaweco Perkeo, and since the base price of the pen is £16, getting three different nibs and ink in addition for £29 seemed like a great deal (and you can actually buy this slightly cheaper from some online retailers). In short, I bought it!

The set comes in a nice plastic box, although it might have been helpful if it has come in sturdier packaging, like a tin, so you could have somewhere to story the extra nibs when not in use (although I imagine that would inflate the price).

The first thing I noticed upon taking it all out of the box was that the nib sections were all a slightly different shade of blue, ranging from pale, pastel blue, to a darker, not quite navy shade. This is super useful, as it means you can easily identify the different nibs without having to try and read the tiny number on the nib itself (the 1.1 is the lightest blue, whilst 1.9 is the darkest). 

It comes with a generous three cartridges of black ink, but since it also fits international ink cartridges, I decided to use one of my Diamine Golden Honey cartridges instead to try it out.

I started with the 1.1 nib. One of the reasons I’d been curious about stub nibs was because I’d heard that they are a good way to give even your normal handwriting a bit more flair. I’d love to learn proper calligraphy at some point, but for now I just wanted to experiment. So I really enjoyed the effect of the 1.1 nib! It was subtle, but the slight line variation made my regular handwriting look fancier. However, the 1.1 nib is definitely narrow enough that I would still happily use it in my regular writing.

The 1.5 nib definitely had a much more exaggerated effect, but there was something really satisfying about writing with it, and the way the line width noticeably changed depending on the direction of the pen stroke. With the down strokes being quite thick, it also meant you could admire the ink itself more, and the shading. It’s made me really want to experiment with some shimmer and sheening inks, which is something I’ve been avoiding for fear of clogging my pens. 

The 1.9 nib was probably the most fun of all the nibs to write with, as the effect was incredibly pronounced, and even managed to turn my messy handwriting into something vaguely resembling calligraphy. It was still incredibly smooth to write with, but I had to write quite slowly and try to be neat to get the effect I wanted. This nib, and the 1.5, probably aren’t ones I’d be using for everyday writing, but for beautiful headings, greetings cards, or writing down quotes and practicing penmanship, they are perfect! 

This was such a fun way for me to dip my toe into the world of stub nibs and calligraphy, as it used a base pen I already loved and enjoyed using, but gave me a nice variety of nib sizes to try. And because I already own a Kaweco Perkeo, I could technically have two nibs in use at once, since they will all fit my original Kaweco Perkeo pen. 

If you’re looking into trying out stub nibs, or want to start calligraphy, this little set is absolutely perfect. It might be a little more expensive than some other ‘try calligraphy’ sets you can get and doesn’t include any instructions or paper. But since the Kaweco Perkeo alone is a great pen, you’re getting a significant jump in quality for your money!

So are you a fan of stub nibs? What are your thoughts on calligraphy sets?