When a Fountain Pen Isn’t a Fountain Pen: Tom's Studios' Lumos & Wren - The Outpost Edit

Editor's Note: The Outpost Edit series takes a closer look at the products we choose to carry and why they earned their place on our shelves. In this edition, Santiago takes a look at the Lumos Pro Duo Tip and Joveth evaluates the Wren.  

Tom’s Studio has been making pens since 2016 out of the UK. They were founded out of a desire to make beautiful, eco-friendly tools for creative people. Their latest products, the Lumos Pro and the Wren, are beautiful pens that use a unique refillable ink reservoir made of fibers that you use with most fountain pen inks. After trying them out, we decided to carry the pens at The Outpost, and we think you’ll love them. We believe that these pens are a great fit for people that like to explore different types of fountain ink pens while keeping a familiar type of tip. We also love the industrial design of Tom’s Studio pens. 

The Lumos Pro Duo Tip, flagship with lots of extra functionality and refined looks. Perfect for note-takers. 

This is the flagship of the range, effectively combining two independent barrel/tip combinations into a single unit via a centralized threaded union. This enables multiple combinations to set up your Lumos Pro Duo Tip and also facilitates storage by using one barrel as the cap of the second.

The Lumos Pro uses a fiber base ink reservoir, if you have opened a marker in the past out of curiosity (and who hasn’t) you know what we’re talking about. A filter-like tube that uses the magic of capillary to suck ink from your bottle. The process to fill out the pen is described in its packaging and it’s fairly simple; they provide a silicone tip protector to unscrew the pen and get to the reservoir, afterwards you dip the reservoir in your favorite ink and once the ink reaches the tip, you are good to go!

You can purchase more ink reservoirs or wash the one that comes with the pen to add other inks. The second option may risk some possible leftovers from the older ink so beware of inks getting mixed. 

You also have the ability to change the tip: the Lumos Pro Duo comes with a set of tips so you can exchange as needed, just be careful if you decide to do it while the pen is fully inked. The tips are great for note taking and also for other creative endeavors. We tested the brush tip with a red pilot ink and we tested the second tip with a blue sailor ink. The pens were ready to go in seconds and the ink flowed really well; a bit wetter on the felt tip and a bit drier with the brush tip.

The Lumos Pro quickly became a companion throughout the week, especially when taking notes. I use color codes to keep track of things so keeping a red brush tip was quite handy for me. Another benefit is that I'm looking forward to testing more inks. I see this pen becoming a vehicle to use more of my fountain pen ink collection because some of those bottles need more attention. 

Our final thought on the Lumos Pro is how it closes into a beautiful rod. Its industrial engineering is one of our favorites these days. The pen comes with one cap and you can use one of the barrels as the cap for the second. You can also purchase a separate cap if you prefer two tips looking in opposite directions.

The Wren, perfect for people on the move.

The Wren is portable and beautiful. It’s made out of aluminum that you can use with your favorite fountain pen ink and not have to worry about fountain pen maintenance. Just fill the reservoir with ink, throw it in your pocket, and you’re good to go with enough ink for 50 A-4 sized pages. With its consistent ink flow and steady .3mm-.5mm lines, this is a dependable travel buddy to take with you for your journaling needs.   

This slimmed down version is the pocket version of the Lumos Pro with an emphasis on portability and a hassle-free writing experience. It weighs 20g and is incredibly tiny at only a little over 3 inches long when closed. Post the cap and it becomes a much more comfortable 4.7 inches. It's made out of aluminum which means that it’s rugged enough to be tossed into a backpack without having to worry about it getting damaged. 

The Wren comes with a single Japanese-made felt-tip nib that lays down down a line between .3mm-.5mm, depending on how much pressure you put on it. You can’t swap out to a different style of nib like you can with the Lumos Pro, but there is a finer version of the nib that you can get that lays down a fine line between 0.2-.3mm. A refillable ink reservoir made up of fibers is included with the pen as well.

So how does this thing work and what’s so special about it? The Wren allows you to write with your favorite fountain pen ink on the go without the hassle of maintaining a fountain pen. Dip the ink reservoir into the bottle of ink for 5 seconds and you are good to go.

We chose Colorverse’s Gravity Wave for ink mostly because we love the color, but also because it sort of matched the dark forest green of the Ivy-colored Wren. The process to set up was very easy and we soon found ourselves writing with it on an A5-sized Tomoe River Paper notepad. 

If you’re used to writing with a felt-tip pen, the Wren won’t feel any different. There’s that little bit of resistance with each stroke as the felt rubs against the paper. If you're not used to writing with felt-tip pens, it will take a bit to get used to the texture and feeling of the nib on paper. Once you do, however, you'll notice that the ink flow is very consistent and smooth. You can create slight line variations based on the pressure and overall, we think that it's a solid, consistent writing experience using one of our favorite fountain pen inks.

Its portable size and aluminum body makes it easy to slip into your pocket until the next writing session, which makes this a great pen to take whenever you’re traveling or just out and about. Be sure to purchase extra ink reservoirs If you plan on swapping inks often. The included reservoir could be rinsed and swapped out with another ink but only a max of 3-5 times before it loses its capillary functions.

So who is this pen for? For one, journalers that need a portable everyday carry and want to add variety to their writing with specific fountain pen ink colors. And of course, it also makes for a great companion for travelers as they don’t need to worry about things like fountain pen leaks on airplanes or losing an expensive pen somewhere along their travels.