Pilot Custom 823 Collection Fountain Pens Reviews

The Custom 823 is one of those legendary pens that people rave and rave about. After finally getting this one (Amber, with a fine nib) in hand, I can see why.

The vacuum-filling mechanism is fun, and this thing holds a huge amount of ink. (It's going to take me forever to write it dry with this fine nib.) I like that the ink chamber seals off - I've already done a bit of traveling with it, and I've had no problems whatsoever. It feels sturdy and substantial in the hand, with a good amount of heft but not too much. (Unposted, the balance for me is perfect; posted, it's a little back-heavy, and I can take it or leave it.) The brown and gold are very pleasant to my eye and make every session with them a little more enjoyable.

The real star of this show, though, is the big no. 15 gold nib. This thing writes perfectly, every single time, from the very first fill. I just never have to worry about it. I don't have to adjust my writing angle for a "sweet spot" or anything like that. It almost feels, well, custom-made for me. It's a Japanese fine, for sure, very thin, which means there's a bit of feedback, but that's to be expected - this is about as smooth as a nib this fine can be.

In terms of writing performance and aesthetic quality, the 823 is pretty darn close to perfect in my view. If you can swing it, I highly recommend it.

The Pilot Custom 823 meets all of my expectations. I purchased the Amber with a fine nib. Initially had some feedback, but has gotten smoother over a short period of time. It has already reached the "must be replaced" status if it is every broken, lost or stolen!

The best of the lot, perfect weight profile, stunner in looks and design and smooth writer with a satisfying feedback.

Absolutely the best nib of any pen I own. The fine nib is the standard I use for all Japanese nibs and nobody has come close. Huge ink capacity. Balance and feel are perfect. You may not think it's as beautiful as other pens but you will love writing with it.

I ordered the smoke with a Fine nib and it is NOT scratchy at all! no negative feedback either. The body of the pen is thicker and much sturdier than that of an average pen mainly because its a vacuum filler, in order to withstand the pressure. And guys, this pen is RIDICULOUSLY GOOD FOR DRAWING, the fine nib on mine allows me to draw/write with wet yet thin and SMOOOOOTH lines of ink. I've had the pleasure of testing mont blanc pens and this pen writes/draws smoother than they do and I'm not kidding about that, if you purchase this pen you will indeed be getting a high quality/classy looking pen for a fraction of the cost. Italian pens are pretty and german pens are neat but......japanese pens are EXTREMELY high quality for a fraction of the price! Awesome! I wrote a review on the pilot custom 912 and I said "if writing/drawing with the 912 feels like financial security combined with riding in a rolls royce than.....I bet writing/drawing with the custom 823 must feel like riding/driving in an Aston Martin with Jessica Rabbit in the passengers seat! lol!" and I was Absolutely right! lol! Dude this pen is so awesome that I ordered a 10 pen Aston leather case and a 2nd 823 in amber fine nib color/size to go along with it! Plus, with a pen this fancy and classy looking I feel soo financially secure and super rad. I can see it now, I'm in a room with the coolest people to have ever existed and there all high fiving me on having such a rad pen collection, Carl from aqua teen hunger force, christopher lambert, dave carradine, luci from disenchantment, brock sampson from venture brothers, bruce campbell, roger smith from big O, and were all just sitting in a room hanging out and watching outlaw star and eating mcdonalds and drawing cool stuff with our fountain pens, niccccce. :)

Unfortunately I have not been happy with my Custom 823 fine nib pen. While the pen looks and feels great, the fine nib is finer than other fine nibs and ink does not flow well. For a gold nib it is surprisingly scratchy. It is my first Pilot in this price range and has soured my enthusiasm for the brand. By comparison, the Lamy 2000 writes much better. My Waterman and Shaeffer pens also provide a better experience. I don’t know if the medium nib would suit me better. One of the perils of ordering online is the inability to test the pen in a real world setting before purchasing. Hopefully this review will be helpful to other enthusiasts.

Outstanding price for a high quality / high value fountain pen. Great writer for a Japanese Fine plus good heft to the pen.

Wonderful seller as well--I appreciate the military discount!

I received my Custom 823 ~ medium nib, "Smoke" this morning. I did not realize that it came with a 70ml bottle of Pilot Blue ink! As this being my first Pilot "823", I read the instructions twice and inked it up. It's such a smooth writer :-) Wow! What a joy to use. I've got a Pilot 742 ~ Waverly nib, Pilot 74 ~ Broad, and another 74 ~ Music, but the medium on this pen is just so good! I'm really at a loss for words.
Thank you P.C. :-)

This pen holds a massive amount of ink and writes incredibly smooth. For the money, the quality of this pen tops numerous high end pens, hands down. Pen Chalet was also superlative in their prompt shipment and quality control of the pen. Highly recommended.

Used up all my rewards and I had a great price with the sale! This has been my absolute favorite pen and is likely one of my grail pens. Writes perfectly out of the box and has not once ever run dry despite lots of drawing and feels very balanced and robust.