Review: Pilot Custom 74 Fountain Pen

The Pilot Custom 74 fountain pen to me is one of the most beautiful pens Pilot has ever made.

For the demonstrators, besides the transparent bodies, there are smoke black, blue tint, clear, orange and violet colours to choose from. All look great.

For me, it was love at first sight when I saw my friends blue Custom 74. Lovely.

The downside is it's quite a pricy pen at around USD $160. There's a non-demonstrator black body that cost only USD $80. Having the demonstrator body really bumped up the price. A CON-70 converter is included.

This pen has very nice curves. The top and end are rounded off nicely. It's mainly blue with several small black portions and then there are the silver trimmings. I love the colour combination.

At the end of the cap is a nice round ball. The cap's the screw on type and makes the pen look beautiful when posted as well.

At the top black portion, there's an intention air pocket. It's interesting to put one there, as if there's a bubble at the top of the cap.

This pen is big, measuring 14cm with the cap on. It has a nice weight, not too heavy or light. I've small hands and it fits and handles well in hand.

It has a huge body that can take the largest Pilot converter, the CON-70 which is included with the pen. With the CON-70, you can refill by pressing the button at the back of the converter.

The nib can be detached by twisting the nib and feed together, then pulling out.

The Custom 74 uses 14K solid gold rhodium-plated nib with a beautiful carving design on the surface. The nib comes in Fine, Medium and Broad only.

Mine's the Fine point and it's rather smooth. Ink flow is great. The lines come out dark.

This is the end of the body. The black end when pair with the black top of the cap gives the pen a sense of symmetry. Overall, this is the most aesthetically pleasing pen I've ever seen.

Below are some sketches with the pen.

There's nothing too surprising from the Fine nib. It's a decent performer that smooth on paper. Lines are uniform, predictable, and does not skip.

Lines come out quite dark because of the good ink flow. That's great for drawing.

It's not a flex pen, but you can get darker lines if you apply slight pressure.

Conclusion

This is one of the finest fountain pens I've used. It's beautiful and it writes and draws well. I love how it feels in hand.

Highly recommended if you have the budget.

Availability

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