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Video-Review: Diplomat Excellence A (Guilloche) & Gold- vs. Steel-Nib Comparison

To the more regular readers of this blog, it is no secret that I am quite a fan of Diplomat. I have already reviewed the Diplomat Aero and the Diplomat Excellence A plus – and they’re both, at least to me, nothing short of perfect pens. I can’t say more than: I really like them.

So, it didn’t come as a surprise to me that at some point I felt the itch to have a look at another Diplomat pen. Since the Excellence A plus was a bit more down my alley than the Aero, I felt like it would make sense to have a look at the A plus’ little brother, the Excellence A (without a “plus” – I explain the difference between the two in the video review below). The Excellence A comes in a variety of finishes, but it is the Guilloche-finish that really caught my eye. Or shall I rather say “the Guilloches”, as there is a chiseled and a fluted Guilloche. Since they are both really beautiful, I thought it would make sense to actually shoot a comparative review, and as we are already at a comparison, to get one of them in a steel nib and the other one in the corresponding gold nib, as many people over the past months have inquired about the difference in between these two. And there you have it: a comparative review of the chiseled 14k gold nibbed-Guilloche vs. the fluted steel nibbed one.

But before we dive straight into things in the video-review below, as always, we check out the quick facts. Again, I hope the review is helpful and that you enjoy watching it!

Quick Facts

  • Diplomat Excellence A (fountain pen)
  • Available in different finishes and trims
  • Metal barrel, lacquered section, chrome trims
  • Cartridge/converter filler (standard international, converter included)
  • Available nib options: Fine (F), Medium (M) and Broad (B) / steel and 14k-gold nib options
  • Price: around 150 € (steel nib) / 250 € (14k gold nib)

Video Review

Picture Gallery

Click on the photos to enlarge.

4 Comments

  1. Michael Simon Michael Simon

    It is great to see a comparison like this. When reading/viewing a review there are usually questions about variables that cannot be covered completely. By having the two finishes and especially the two nibs, both in the same width, one gets a real sense of what they would find preferable. Thanks for doing this.

    • Scrively Scrively

      Thanks for your feedback. Much appreciated and glad that the review was somewhat useful.

  2. inkybenny inkybenny

    thank you for the very very very nice video. In case of the different lines between gold and steel I can say my Excellence A Lack-coated with also a fine “steel” nib has the same width like your gold nip. I think there is a bit of range between one steel nib to a other one.

    • Scrively Scrively

      Thanks for your kind comment. Well, while I am not sure on the large scale, but I have three Diplomat steel nibs, and they are all quite consistent in nib width. It’s just the gold nib that runs finer. But as said, I can’t really say if that is ‘generally’ the case as well.

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