The one pocket pen I have stayed faithful to

Regular readers from back in my ukfountainpens.com days will remember that, in addition to my main pen collection, I kept a sneaky little tray of half a dozen pocket pens that absolutely DID NOT COUNT towards my total. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Well, pocket pens have come and gone since then. A few Schons, quite a lot of Gravitas, the odd Montegrappa, some Kawecos, Mayfair, Traveler’s Company, Titan Pens, and plenty more I’m sure.

For my money, Gravitas makes several of the best pocket pens in existence, in some of the most stunning metals. So you might not be surprised to learn that after stripping my pocket pen collection viciously back, I’m left with one survivor: a Gravitas Quark in zirconium, with a copper section and gold nib.

Over the years my philosophy of pocket pens has evolved. I want the smallest possible pen: it has to be truly pocketable. It has to be tough, so I’m looking for something metal, of course. And I want the best possible writing experience, so I don’t feel like I’m compromising. That means I want a decent section and a full-size nib. Also, because your pocket pen may sit unused for any amount of time, it absolutely must NOT dry out, or leak in your pocket even worse.

The Quark ticks all my boxes, and charms with a couple of little extra touches.

First, it’s fucking tiny. It really is mindblowingly small: it makes a Kaweco Sport look like a giant. And not only is it small, it is really unobtrusive. It has flat ends, no clip, no giant steps or protrusions or facets or buttons. Just a little bit of subtle laser engraving. It is designed purposefully to be small, and it achieves in spades.

Remove the cap in one and a quarter turns and you see a subtle o-ring, which is enough to stop the cap coming loose, and prevents drying out and leakage.

Then there’s the section: slim at around 9mm, but grippy with ribbing and a flare to stop your fingers slipping. There’s no step and the threads are well out of the way.

Now you can screw the cap on the rear of the pen in one and three quarter turns — no scratchy friction posting — and you end up with a near-seamless full-length pen… complete with #6 nib.

In my case, the nib is gold coloured, gold metal, nicked from my Gravitas Kakari. It is an EF, and writes just wonderfully. I normally keep it inked with a cartridge of Diamine Blue-Black.

Unscrew the section and you find another o-ring, again guarding against looseness and leaks. I guess you could eyedropper this bad boy if you want to.

Now the party trick. Zirconium rings like a bell when you tap it. This stonewash satin finish is a deep charcoal grey-black and feels soft and smooth in your hand, especially when warmed in your pocket. It is tough and rugged, perfect for a pocket pen.

The end result is a pen that takes up zero room in my pocket, and weighs only 24g stock (more with my copper section), but transforms into a comfortable writer at a moment’s notice — one that is always wet, and will never show damage (despite the super thin walls).

At around 125 euros with a steel nib, this is not the cheapest pocket pen out there. But it is great. And since I bought mine a couple of years ago, Gravitas keeps improving it, most recently with new acme threads that are even faster and eliminate the o-ring.

I don’t need a pocket fountain pen a lot of the time, and I don’t use one every day. But when I carry one, this is the one I carry. I don’t see that changing any time soon. And so here I am, in my local pub on a dark rainy night, with a battered leather notebook cover, and my trusty Gravitas Quark. Perfect.