Kaweco’s sharp little Fox runs away

I mentioned the Kaweco Skyline Sport Fox in a previous post. I mailed it to its new owner today, but before I did I took some final photos and I wanted to review it briefly for anyone considering this hot new release (did you know coral is the Pantone colour of the year?!)

The Fox is a pretty colour — a dull soft orange, almost coral. It really does look like a fox. It probably looks a bit brighter in my photos than in reality.

As a design, the Sport needs little introduction. It’s a super lightweight, super small pocket pen, with a hexagonal screw cap and optional clip. The section unscrews to take a standard international cartridge or a micro converter. In the Skyline or Classic Sport ranges, like the Fox, the nib unit is fixed (in the more expensive Sports it’s a screw-out unit).

Some sports have gold trim, but Kaweco has chosen to pair the fox orange with silver for the nib and cap coin, and for the painted Kaweco Sport branding. It’s a good choice.

The nib, after some more use, is definitely on the narrow side for a B.

For a broad, this is pretty narrow.

It’s very firm, and not particularly wet. But it’s even and well polished, and looks good under a loupe — something I haven’t been able to say about all Kaweco nibs in the past.

I’ve owned a few Sports — a pink ice, guilloche Classic, AL Sport, ART Sport, and more. For some reason, the Fox felt cheaper than the others. Lighter, more brittle, and much sharper. The mold lines are crisp and obvious, all over the pen.

The injection points stand out a mile. Zoom in and there’s a nice circular protrusion.

The cap threads are sharp, freshly cut.

Sharp transitions abound.

For me, this made the Fox not a keeper — instead, I ordered the new Coral ART Sport. I expect the colour to be a bit pinker, less attractive, but I know from experience that the ART has impeccable finishing and polish.

The Fox is around £20, so for most pen addicts it’s an impulse purchase to round out the collection. If you like the colour (and you probably will), go for it. But remember that it’s built to a price.