Pilot Custom 823 Collection Fountain Pens Reviews

I love Pilot pens and this beauty has captured my heart. I love the nib and flow. The ink capacity as an EDC would last me over 2 weeks. After filling if you screw the piston all the way in you’ll run dry quickly because you’ve sealed off the ink from the section, so this would be helpful with rapidly changing barometric pressure. But if you leave the piston cap pulled back a little bit the nib remains wet and I can write immediately even with the pen unused for (so far) two weeks.

The fine nib writes smoothly. Very thin line, without being scratchy. My best writing pen so far.

This was a grail pen for me and I have not been disappointed with any aspect of the pen. It has been in continuous use for the past 9 months and I have not put it away since I received it. I ordered the amber in the fine nib which is relatively smooth, has good flow with some slight feedback which I enjoy. The vac filler is convenient to use and it holds a large volume of ink over 2 ml. I am now considering the smoke with a medium nib to add to my collection. Great pen and no regrets with my purchase.

This pen is awesome. I wish I would have bought this sooner. It writes like a dream. It is one of the smoothest writing pens I own - very smooth. And I've only tried it with the ink that came with it. This will definitely be in the daily rotation. I may be buying another one I like this so much.

I absolutely love it. I cannot give technical reasons but it feels great in the hand. So comfortable to write with. I want the black one now.

Bought this pen for my wife to add to her large pen collection. She absolutely loves the way it writes so smoothly.

One of the best pens ever made, what else can I say? Mine is Broad, perfect for 7mm lined paper. Only thing is you need write with the cap off to prevent starvation. I would rather have one of these than multiple cheap feeling and poorly made TWSBI's.

Lovely pen, classic style. Good weight and balance (unposted) in the hand. The only gripe I have is forgetting the Japanese pen widths are narrower than elsewhere. I could happily have used a broad.

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!