I have a few Asvine fountain pens now, and have generally been really impressed by the quality for the price (the C80, in particular, I love!). The V126 has therefore been on my pen wishlist for a while, and I’m excited to have finally got my hands on one. 

As with a lot of Asvine pen models, it clearly takes inspiration from a more famous pen, in this case the Pilot Custom 823. I have never written with an 823, and I imagine this inexpensive steel nib pen in no way compares, but it certainly gives you the same classic, cigar-shaped profile for a fraction of the cost. Asvine also offers some significantly more interesting colour options, ranging from transparent red, to frosted blue and transparent with gold swirls. 

I went for one of the less out-there options (for once!), and chose this clear one, since I always love a demonstrator pen! I did go a bit wilder with my nib option for this pen though, as I chose the 1.1 stub nib. I’ve always really liked Asvine’s nibs, and so was interested to experiment with their stub option, and so far, I really like it! 

It’s a smooth, wet writer, and the subtle stub gives my handwriting a bit of extra flair. I have had the odd problem with the nib skipping, which is a little disappointing, but it generally sorts itself out pretty quickly. And if this is anything like my other Asvine pens, I presume I can swap the nibs, so I could always replace it if this becomes a consistent problem. 

The V126 is a vacuum-fill pen, which is a first for me, so I was a little worried about filling it up. Thankfully I found it to be nice and easy, but I did find it a little tricky to get a good fill. This isn’t too much of a problem for me, as I like to swap out my ink colours regularly, but is definitely something to bear in mind. 

Overall, as with my other Asvine pens, the V126 seems like great quality for the price (I paid £28.99). I am slightly disappointed with the nib issues on this particular pen, especially as I otherwise really like the stub, but I don’t think it will stop me using it. It looks great, feels great in the hand, and (most of the time!) writes very smoothly.

So have you tried the Asvine V126? What do you think?