The Monami Olika is a new budget-friendly Fountain Pen in the Jetpens catalog. These pens are available in 10 colors, and ship with three matching ink cartridges. With a sticker price of $5.50, I had to see how this pen for myself.
Let’s start with the barrel and cap. The Olika is a plastic pen with a rubber grip. The barrel is translucent, and fully sealed, so using an eyedropper-fill is an option. The cap and clip are also one solid piece of the same plastic as the body. While the clip does flex a bit, if you’ve ever been frustrated by the experience of a broken G2 clip, you may want to be a little careful with this one.
The barrel is slightly concave in the middle, creating a comfortable and ergonomic shape to hold the pen while writing. And the rubber grip is firm, but comfortable enough to use for longer writing sessions or for taking class notes. The grip is a similar texture to your standard over-the-counter clicker.
The Olika is available exclusively in a Fine nib. In my tests, I found that the line it produces is more comparable to Twsbi and Bock extra fine nibs than my Lamy fine. The nib is very similar to the Pilot Varsity’s, in that it is shorter that standard nibs and lacks any sort of ventilation other than the split in the tines. Under the nib, in place of a standard plastic feed, sits the pen’s fiber wick. Basically, rather than the feed sending ink through the nib directly, it feeds into what is essentially the same as a brush pen’s tip.
Each Monami Olika includes three matching ink cartridges of some pretty vibrant ink. While they have made a variety of beautiful colors available, Jetpens does advise that transitioning between colors may take some intense cleaning due to the fiber wick system. They also indicate that the Olika is compatible with Lamy cartridges and converters, so using your favorite ink brands is also an option.
The Monami Olika is great if you’re looking to try out a fountain pen, or you want something you can hand over when someone asks to borrow a pen. But if you want something that would do that AND still be useful and enjoyable once you’re committed to the Fountain Pen Life, I would go with a Metropolitan or Perkeo. This one isn’t making it into my daily rotation, but it’ll be just fine in the pen cup on my desk at work.
Monami Olika at JetPens
Metropolitan at JetPens
Perkeo at JetPens
Disclaimer: The product discussed in this article was purchased by the author at full retail price. All opinions stated are my own.
The Poor Penman 
As good as those upmarket brand, cheap and good plus high quality fountain pen. I bought 3 of them
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I’ve found that, posted, the pen feels a bit unbalanced. However, I really like the smooth writing of this pen. Thanks for the review.
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