12 Apr 2013

pental energel alloy... and two others!

I'm a loyal user of the Pentel Energel 0.5mm pens but my collection of them had decreased dramatically over the years as I've found that the plastic barrels crack too easily. This is an annoyance because it means the pen unscrews itself when in use and due to this, I was on the lookout for a barrel that was more sturdy. This is how I found Stationery Art and the Pentel Energel alloy barrels.

I'd used this company before and was aware that they ship from Hong Kong, so I had to be patient after placing the order. However, prices are much cheaper than other UK based companies so it was a compromise I was willing to make. Both this order and my previous order were not charged any customs fees but that may be because I was just lucky.

Service was quick and efficient. I placed the order in the morning and later that day, I received an email to say that my order had been dispatched. On the website, it states that it could take between nine and fourteen days for an order to arrive (to the UK) and I am pleased to say that it arrived within this time frame (ten days to be exact).

Here were the two Pentel pens I had ordered:


And Stationery Art were kind enough to slip these goodies in as well:

Stationery Art kindly gifted me these items: a Pentel Slicci 0.4mm gel, a Sakura Souffle gel and a roll of thin deco tape (I don't think it is washi tape as it doesn't appear to be made of the same material as genuine washi tape I have). Thank you, Stationery Art! :)

Anyway, moving onto the Pentel Energel alloy barrel. Here is how it looks alongside the plastic barrel ones I own:

Top to bottom: Pentel Energel Alloy Blue, Pentel Energel Needletip 0.5mm, Pentel Energel Alloy Pink and Pentel Energel Metal Tip 0.7mm.

With the barrel being metal, it can be quite cool to touch when the weather is cold and for me, I don't really mind this but for others, it could be a deal breaker. The one difference between this one and the plastic barrel is that there is no rubber grip and sometimes I find this a bit problematic because my fingers can end up slipping, although the indentations do help a little. 


This was how my handwriting looked with this pen. I replaced the ink refill (it was originally a black 0.7mm one) with a blue 0.5mm one instead:


Aesthetically, I love how it looks. Both the blue and pink are cute and they both look lovely when in the pen loop of my Smythson. Comparing it to the plastic barrel, it is slightly heavier and the button at the top that retracts the nib feels sturdy. This is definitely a pen that makes me feel more grown up and it wouldn't be an exagerration to use the word 'professional' to describe it. It also comes in other colours (black and silver spring to mind but I'm not sure what other colour variations there are).


Although the alloy barrel is priced higher than the plastic barrels, I feel it is actually more economical and green to use the metal version. Firstly, refills can be easily found for the Energel range and secondly, the barrel is less likely to crack in comparison to the plastic version so there is no need to go through pen barrels like crazy.

Onto the second part of this post now. This is quite a brief section as I test out the Pentel Slicci  0.4mm gel pen and also the Sakura Souffle gel pen.


It's as if they knew that orange was my favourite colour! I love how the Slicci wrote and the barrel is super cute. If the ink stands the test of time and doesn't leak. this is definitely a pen I wouldn't hesitate in purchasing again in the future.

Onto the Sakura...


I remember using Sakura fineliners a few years ago for an art project and they were decent. I'd also tried these gel pens before but had a bad experience with one as it leaked in my pencil case. However, if you have a high throughput when it comes to gel pen use, these gels might be ok for you as that reduces the risk of a leakage occurring (i.e. you're not giving them enough time to leak!).

Overall, I am super impressed with the service and speed at which I received my order (this time, and the last time) and also with the pens (which were the main reason for my order... along with some other little bits!). I don't get commission for saying this but Stationery Art have definitely impressed me to date - prices are always the best (especially if you're in the UK) and order despatch is efficient. Thumbs up from me!

NB: I paid for the items featured, unless otherwise stated and I was not paid to write this blog post.

9 comments

  1. they have it in blue?! i have the pink energel... off to buy it thanks..

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    1. Hehe, yes, they have it in blue. It is a lovely electric blue (kinda) colour. Currently using the pink one as it goes so well with my Smythson :-) xxx

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  2. I was looking at the Pentel Energel alloy pens the other day. They look so nice and I prefer the .05 over the .07. I was thinking about buying the pink or silver one. The website I saw them on did not have the blue one. I think it might also fit in my Filofax pen loop cause it doesn't look that big. I came up with a pen loop solution for my Filofax since many pens don't fit in the loop. I already had an elastic pen loop attached to a notebook cover. I cut the part of the cover that had the pen loop to business card size and inserted it into a business card holder. Now I have an elastic pen loop in my planner. Thanks for showing how the pens write.

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    1. I think you should get both pink and silver ;D that's why I got both blue and pink - so I can use either depending on my mood :) The barrel is smaller than say a Lamy (I think!) but not as slim as a Muji gel. It fits fine in my Smythson one and that isn't elasticated x

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  3. Thanks so much for sharing this, Angela! EnerGels are among my all-time favourite pens, but I'd never heard of the alloy model before. I really like the way these ones look, so now I'm going to have to find some for myself!

    I'm also curious about the Pentel Slicci pen you have. I haven't seen one before with the flowers printed on the barrel. The Sliccis that I have are plain, so I'm wondering if this one is some kind of special limited edition?

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    1. The Energels are great pens, right?! I've never seen the alloy ones in the UK (or maybe I'm not looking hard enough) so was chuffed to find these on a website at a decent price too.

      With regards to the Slicci pen - I'm not actually sure! They kindly slipped that into my order so it was kind of a bonus item for me! Judging by a quick Google search, it appears it is a limited edition one: I found it on JetPens x

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  4. The Sakura pens look nice - i looked on amazon at the different colours and they look really cute - I like the pastel combination. Have you tried any of the colours? I'm think of buying a few so want to make the right decision! xx

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    1. p.s. do you think they are for everyday writing/underlying etc or more for special crafting/papers?

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    2. Hi! I remember trying one when I was in high school and I didn't really like how thick my writing was with it. I think they'd be great pens for decorating text (like drawing bubbles around text or underlining) but not sure they'd be so good for writing big chunks of text with. The green one I got had quite feint ink but the blue or black ones might be different? xxx

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