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The Onoto Scholar was worth the wait

UPDATE: The Scholar is live on the Onoto website to order.

I’ve been singing the praises of the Onoto Magna for at least three or four years now (Flanders, Shakespeare, Sequoyah, Mammoth…), and still I find that people don’t see the value proposition until they’ve held one. A plastic converter filler with steel nib for £400? Sure it has sterling silver trim and comes in a nice box, but where’s the money going?

These questions only intensify when you tot up the cost of upgrading to a gold nib, or look at Onoto’s more, ahem, premium designs.

The answer to these price concerns has always been, in my eyes, that with Onoto you get a sublime nib, excellent customer service, a pen that’s made in England, and most importantly, a design that’s close to perfect in terms of size, weight and proportions. You also get a huge degree of customisation control, in terms of nib, barrel weight, etc.

I might be convinced by these answers, but the questions keep coming, and it’s no surprise that Onoto has been working for a long time on how to tackle a lower price point. An ‘entry level’ Onoto would give first-time customers a gateway into full-blown Onoto ‘custodianship’, and furthermore help this small business tap into the huge pool of pen addicts who will never spend £400+ on a pen.

But the challenge is formidable. How do you make a ‘cheap’ pen that still feels premium enough to uphold your brand? How do you bring across all the qualities that make your product special, on a shoestring? And more significantly, what changes (not just compromises) do you make to your approach to fit the needs of a different group of customers, one that you’ve never reached before?

It seems that Onoto really took their time to think about these questions, because the Onoto Scholar, the ‘budget’ Onoto that’s just launching, has turned out to be a very sure-footed move into the sub-£200 category.

Here’s what’s different.

The first thing that’s changed is the packaging. There’s no option for a big plush wooden gift box with hand-written card; instead by default the Scholar ships with Onoto’s leather pen roll — itself a £40 product. This is a smart move; no excess, no waste, and in fact added value for the Scholar’s intended audience, for whom this might be a first fountain pen, in need of protection in a schoolbag or work bag.

Gone too is the sterling silver clip, finial, cap coin and trim rings. This is totally understandable. But Onoto has kept the same visual design of clip and of cap coin, which is an important point of continuity with the wider range.

The cap coin lacks the crispness of the frosted sterling coin from the Magna, and in general shows the slightly plasticky shine you get from plating, but there’s plenty of definition and an even finish.

The cap band is big, simple, and has VERY LARGE TEXT, but it’s by no means offensive.

The Scholar is also noticeably smaller than the Magna, but it doesn’t feel small.

The presence in the hand is down to two things: a long section, and a weighted barrel courtesy of a brass tube inserted inside the plastic.

This is an all-new design, with no parts in common with the Magna, but it has a clear familial resemblance (especially when capped) and has the same high level of comfort.

There’s a weight and solidity that just feels great. But don’t try to post the cap — it does post, but not deeply, and it throws the balance right out.

While the Magna is available in a wide range of resins and barrel chasing patterns, the Scholar is available in five colours at launch (black, navy blue, red, yellow, and the ‘highlander’ patterned plastic), with all five colours available with silver and gold trim. I got the red and the blue, both with silver trim; the blue is undeniably attractive, but I found the red looked a little translucent and pinkish under hotel lights at the pen show. An impression that hasn’t recurred. This choice of five resins is I think plenty for an entry-level design and they’re timeless colours.

I have moaned over the years about the long, stately cap threads on the Magna. While that has improved in recent years, at least in part due to my feedback, the Scholar was designed from the outset with ultra-fast triple-start threads. The cap comes off in a single turn, maybe even less.

And now what’s not different.

Most importantly, the nib. The Scholar has a fully Onoto-branded, bi-colour plated steel nib, which as far as I can tell is identical to the one on the Magna (embarrassingly, I don’t have a #7 steel Magna to hand to do a direct comparison, so I’m just going from memory). This is a very smart move by Onoto. It’s resisted the temptation to hamstring the performance of the Scholar just to keep the Magna feeling special. Whatever Onoto you choose, you’ll get the same great nib performance (and the same branded converter feeding it). And the nibs on the Scholar are great, at least in my small sample size. I have a fine and a medium, and both write with the effortless flow I’ve come to expect from Onoto, perfect out of the box. If I was a first-time Onoto customer buying a Scholar, the nib experience would be what brought me back for my second.

I was really nervous about trying the Scholar, after tracking its development for years. It’s an important release for Onoto, with the potential to win new customers and boost the brand into mainstream awareness. And I think the team has nailed it. My first impressions were a little mixed: Sure, it’s an Onoto, but I looked at the plated trim and the slightly translucent red resin and I had a little wobble. But then I (quickly) uncapped the Scholar and held it in a writing grip, and it felt solid and balanced. Then I inked it up and tried out the two nibs on my samples, and they were brilliant. This is really what counts in a pen, whether it’s your first or your hundredth. So if you’ve been wanting an Onoto but £400 is way out of reach, I can honestly say the Scholar will serve you well.

In my mind, the question will be about the price and how that lines up against the competition. At the London pen show, where I picked up my two samples, Onoto was offering the Scholar for an introductory price of £129 — at that price it’s a no-brainer, great price indeed, and there’s been a bit of a feeding frenzy.

Now I understand the retail price might be nearer £200, which reaches a step above quality £150 midrange pens like the Esterbrook Estie, and even the Lamy 2000 (with its gold nib and piston filler) and various other gold-nibbed Lamys, Pelikan M400, Platinum 3776, Sailor 1911… wow, there’s a lot of global competition at this price point, and every tenner matters.

I can’t tell you how to spend your money. So I’ll close with this. I like the Scholar a lot. As Yard-o-Led moves even more high-end, and Manuscript plumbs the blister-pack realm, I like the path that Onoto is beating… and I respect the thought it’s put into this design. I hope it succeeds — and I hope you give it a try.

Keep an eye on onoto.com for release.

In case you missed it, here’s my first impressions video.

7 Comments

  1. jomatthews

    Lovely review and one I agree with, as I received my Highland Scholar a couple of days ago and I love it. It looks really nice, the finish is pretty flawless and the nib (medium) is superb. I’m very glad I jumped on the bandwagon. I’m definitely eyeing their more premium pens.

  2. Andrew Chorley

    There is the making of a successful pen here, but I found the initial colour ways a tad boring. Hopefully when they come to release more interesting choices, I’ll certainly pick one up! As for the cap ring, I don’t like how large the onoto font is. I’d rather it be etched into the barrel and just use a pattern on the ring. But the price point is much better! And I like the fact the barrel is weighted.

    Congratulations to onoto on this release!

  3. Penfriendsuk

    There certainly is a lot to love about this pen! The weighted barrel, the price range and the number 7 nib!

    But, I can’t help but feel that they missed out on a trick with the initial colour releases. Whilst there is nothing fundamentally wrong with black, blue, red, yellow and highlander. I can’t help but feel they needed a pearlised finish in the initial run as well.

    As for the cap ring, I have to disagree I feel that the logo is far to large. A simple barrel engraving would be far smarter and then a nice pattern on the cap ring would elevate the elegance of the design. Of course, these are personal perspectives and I’m sure many don’t mind or care about the logo!

    Still, I will reiterate that the price point is exceptional and I love the fact it comes with the leather pouch! However, if the price is closer to £200 than the initial London pension price of £129 I’d rather forgo the leather pouch and have a simple box. A £40 saving would go a long way to cementing this as a sale for many! Especially if they own carrying cases!

    I know I might have been a bit critical but my observations, but I’m honestly impressed with Onoto! This has the potential to help booster themselves in a very competitive market.

  4. William B Anderson

    Thank you for such a great review. I have an Onoto Oxford blue with a broad nib and it has become the pen which I love most. I am thrilled to hear about this new Onoto Scholar and I will be watching to purchase one. The new Scholar might be very similar in size to the Oxford Blue, which is a little shorter and less robust than the Magna. As the blue in the scholar looks so similar to ,my Oxford, looks like I would ordering the black in the Scolar

  5. rupertarzeian

    A great review of this new model, thank you. I am yet to take the plunge with an Onoto although I have long been admiring the Magna. An entry to the same excellent no.7 steel nib at £129 would be great. A price of £200 is a harder decision although it sounds not excessive and comparable to a Montegrappa Fortuna or Visconti Van Gogh, to name just two. Personally I would rather dispense with a leather pouch and have a £40 reduction but I appreciate that it is about presentation and making a good lasting impression, which is important too.

  6. Ian

    I was excited to see the Scholar after your Pen Show comments and then reading your review. However I have now seen that they have set the price at just under £200 which is quite a hike from the £129! I won’t be buying one and agree with other comments that I would forego the leather pouch for a £40 saving.

  7. David

    You said:”At the London pen show, where I picked up my two samples, Onoto was offering the Scholar for an introductory price of £129…”

    I just visited the ONOTO SCHOLAR web page. The price is now €210.98 = $230.53 = £162.50. A whopping 26% increase over £129.00. It still comes with the pen roll though. The version in mandarin yellow with the black section and finial, gold plated furniture, and a two-tone nib is unique to the collection and carries a vintage Parker Duofold aire. But for me the price is far too high for a steel-nibbed pen, especially one that is unbalanced when posted (I always post). Thanks for the great review. David in S.E. Florida

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