Retro 1951 Tornado™ Classic Lacquer Rollerball Pen - Peacock

This is one of the best pens you’ll ever use, and the price simply can’t be beat. It writes smoothly, feels great in the hand, and quickly became my go-to pen. Once you use it, you’ll be hooked — I can’t recommend it enough. For the cost, the quality is outstanding, making it a must-have for everyday writing. TL;DR: Smooth, comfortable, and affordable. Easily one of the best pens out there.

Context: My Bic clicker of some years was finally running out of ink and I decided to get an upscale replacement to serve writing duty at my desk. I wanted a thicker pen for better comfort that didn't have a click mechanism or a cap. I have somewhat large hands (roughly 4" by 8" with my palm outstretched and fingers kept together). The Retro 51 Tornado is surprisingly well-weighted and balanced for its size. At just under 5", it's the shortest writing utensil I have in my possession, 1/4" smaller than my Cross Century mechanical pencil. It weighs more than my aluminum and brass lead holder, and that weight is centered right before the end of the clip. The base of the cone protecting the rollerball is roughly 9mm across, and the barrel widens from that point up to the other end of the pen. All of the properties listed above make the usage of this pen one of the most comfortable writing experiences I've yet to find in any writing utensil. The center of gravity is placed right at the base of my index finger where I pivot the pen, making it easy to maneuver despite its weight. The taper allows me to hold the pen with minimal force without worry of sliding. The fit and finish is excellent. Nothing rattles and the twist action is smooth and well-weighted. The barrel is quite stiff and doesn't flex when I try to bend it. It takes roughly 2 pounds of force deflect the clip 1mm. The included rollerball cartridge delivers ink much like how I would expect a fountain pen to do so. The ink flows freely and a small amount of pressure is enough to produce a full-bodied stroke. In a 100 letter writing test, all of the characters came out plainly legible and I did not have to redo any strokes. Some strokes outside of that writing test did appear thin, though I'm not sure if that was simply the result of bad writing angle or an actual hiccup from the rollerball. I wouldn't recommend this pen for use with thin paper. At least with my example, the ink often bled through common college-ruled stuff. I like this pen a lot. All the features and properties seem to fit my use case and I look forward to writing more with it. The overall workmanship of the pen points to it lasting a very long time in my possession. I'll update this review when I reach a milestone or if anything changes with the pen. 07/09/2020 Update: I recently tried writing a page with this pen on some softer, heavier weight acid-free paper, but I found the rollerball struggling to consistently deliver ink, especially over areas on the page where I've rested my hand. The pen still writes fine over thin paper, however. It seems the ball is getting caught on the thicker paper, preventing the cartridge from dispensing ink properly. Writing lighter and at a more perpendicular angle seems to help, but I cannot in good conscience recommend this pen for use with soft, thick paper. I still like this pen a lot, but if I am to exhaust the cartridge, I will have to reconsider what cases I will use this pen for. No big deal. It's about time I got a fountain pen anyhow. Post-script: Besides being immediately less fiddly, the twist-action prevents the coil spring from ever decompressing at its maximum return speed. Only time will tell how long the mechanism will last, though I felt this would at least be more reliable than some click mechanism designs. In researching and selecting a pen I was more concerned about the quality of the enclosure and cartridge compatibility than the included cartridge itself (actually, the fact that it appears to be functioning so well is a little bittersweet. I wanted to try filling it with fountain pen ink, but I guess that'll have to wait some months). For everyday carry, I probably wouldn't take this pen—or any pen that doesn't have a solid cap for that matter. Ball pen cartridges in general don't seem as reliable as fountain pen reservoirs. I don't think failure will happen anytime soon with my example, but I'm not going to take any chances on my favorite dress shirt, at least not yet.

This is a really nice pen that fits well in the hand. The writing quality is excellent, and so far the ink cartridge has lasted a long time. It is a good value for the cost. Recommended.

Yeah. When I thought the perfect pen didn’t exist, I hadn’t held this one yet. It has a very nice weight to it that makes it feel substantial but not too heavy to hold and right with for an extended period of time. The ink is amazing. It flows so smooth and looks Very pigmented. The most amazing thing is though, it doesn’t smear. I was amazed. We were buying a car, and the car salesman had one of these. We got to talking about pens and how very different each pen is to each other. He told me to wait and went into his office and got this for me to try. It changed my right wife. I immediately went to Amazon that moment and purchase this. Now I have one for my desk, and one to take around with so that I can share it with other people. This pen would make a lovely gift, because as the brand says, life is too short to carry an ugly pen. The brand has lots of cool designs, although they can be pretty pricey. I would highly highly recommend this pen.

This is a Beautiful Pen!! I needed a Rollerball to join my Fountain Pens to make my Everyday Carry Pen Case complete. The pen feels good in the hand. Writing for long periods of time does not strain my hand using this pen. I Love this pen!.. and it’s very easy to get refills for the pen!

I ordered the pen because I wanted something solid and substantial, yet still good looking. I had big reservations at first because I've become accustomed to gel pens. It had been a while since I'd used a rollerball and never cared for them as I remember. The pen I received was well-packaged and most importantly exactly as I wanted: solid, substantial (yet not too heavy) and very good looking. I'm not a "pen guy" or any thing like that, but several people have asked me about the pen since I started using it. It stands out, is very comfortable, and I love the rollerball. I actually like it far more than the gel since it doesn't smudge at all. The clip is very sturdy so I don't worry about losing it, and it's not so tight that it bothers my clothing. Finally, I really like the twist-to-open feature. I had reservations about this too, because I have to be ready to take notes from clients whenever they start talking. For that reason, I've always used a click pen (cap pens should be lost to history as far as I'm concerned - lack convenience and way too easy to lose). But this pen opens in a second, can be opened with one hand, and protects my clothing from accidental openings. I really love this pen and will likely gift it to clients and folks I work with. Considering the quality, I'm also very happy with the price.

A solid pen design and manufacturing. Gave it four stars only because of the refill. It is not as smooth in writing as the other similar or just a plain ballpoint. Luckily it is easily replaceable as it is the Parker compliant, however the best in my view is Schmidt.

Hold this pen and you instantly feel like its built to last - from the excellent paint quality to the overall weight and build quality and the mechanism to push out the nib.. everything seems well made and engineered. Also the pen looks stunning, in near any colour, but personally in this shade of blue especially so. The refills supplied work well and its a smooth writer, and near effortless. All in all an excellent pen. Just be careful to not lend it, you are unlikely to ever get it back. P.s. If you want to try other options on refills, Monteverde refills works as well, so you can try those if you want more colour options.

Molto maneggevole

Good solid little pen too small for my big hands my wife loves it she has'nt try it with a parker refill yet

Great looking pen and writes well. Love the looks and receive compliments frequently.