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Then something popped out, something that caught my attention. A mid sized pen, four color choices, a unique shape. Maybe it wasn't there on the first 5 passes by Total Office's table, but I stopped to take a closer look. I picked up one that most attracted my attention, and that's the pen I'm writing this review with. The new Conway Stewart Duro takes elements from the current CS line, but puts them together in a new way. The pen is a traditional looking flat top design, midway in size between the very large Churchill, and the smaller sized Dandy. The pen is exactly the same length as a Parker Duofold Centennial (the larger size), and slightly shorter then a Pelikan M800. It's very slightly thinner than either pen. The top is perfectly flat, but the blind cap at the bottom is slightly rounded.
The cap has a wide gold cap band at the bottom, and a narrow band at the top. The pen body has two thin gold rings, one below the blind cap, and one separating the section from the pen body. According to Don, all four bands are solid 18c gold, not plated. The wide cap band is hallmarked 18c gold to indicate the U.K. Assay Office has approved it. There were four colors available, the one I picked was a very attractive red and burgundy mottled. The pen body and section are acrylic with some nice color variations and attractive eye catching depth. Unlike many pens, the section isn't black but matches the body. The pen shares the same plated clip as the Churchill and the Dandy, gold with a nice large ball at the end. The body is stamped "Conway Stewart Duro" and is numbered, indicating that this is a limited edition of 200 in each color (or colour, according to Don).
The pen also shares a nib with the Churchill, a large solid gold nib 18c with no vent holes. The nib has no white metal plating which I think has a more "vintage" look, and is more attractive than more elaborate nibs. Because of the smaller size of the Duro compared to the Churchill, the large nib really stands out. The nibs should be available in the same nib widths as the Churchill and Dandy, with fine, medium, and broad. Hopefully, some additional sizes will also be available, extra fine, and maybe an italic, but we shall have to wait and see what shows up!
The fill mechanism requires some pressure, but works great. Be patient when you fill the pen, and wait for a nice 10 count before you pull the nib out of the ink bottle, and you will be rewarded with a good ink capacity. If I pull the pen out in a second or two when the button returns, I can hear the swish of the sac filling with air. In my completely nonscientific test, a full pen released about 30 drops of ink - a sizable capacity. A standard international converter delivers about 20 drops.
And how does it write? Quite nicely. My pen came properly adjusted with a very smooth nib. The ink flow was nicely high giving a dense black line. The fine nib is fine, or very slightly wider than fine. No skips or hard starting. The physical design of the pen also contributes to the nice, easy writing qualities. The large nib is long, and holds you fingers further from the page. For me, this distance increases nib movement for the same finger motion, resulting in more legible writing with less work.
My (early) pen came by itself, with no packaging at all. But according to Don Yendle, the pen will have a box with a bottle of ink. Nothing as elaborate as the Churchill, and no free cigar. In summary, I really like the pen. Good looks, a medium size, and it write nice. The pen is comfortable for long stretches of scribbling, always a key test.
In the email I exchanged with Conway
Stewart, Don indicated stated "the button fill is the only option
at the moment, but we will have a new clip for it in January, as well
as some ebonite finishes." Maybe a second pen is in order? copyright 2002 Mark Helfrin |
I
was cruising around the San Francisco Pen Show last month, searching
for a pen I couldn't live without. Or at least the pen I could most
not live without. After a couple of hours looking over thousands of
pens, almost any one of which I couldn't live without, my eyes start
to blur and the pens begin to all merge together. 
The
pen is distinguished from many other flat tops by being very slightly
tapered at both ends, giving the pen a somewhat smaller look than
its actual size. A little on-line research found images of vintage
CS Duro pens with the same basic body shape. According to Don Yendle,
Conway Stewart's president, the pen is the same size and shape as
the vintage Duro. 
I
mentioned that there is a blind cap on the back end. Unlike some modern
pens (not to speak ill of the Parker Duofold, which is a very nice
pen), this blind cap really works. I was quite surprised when I first
picked up the pen and realized that this is a button fill sacked pen!
The
pen posts securely if somewhat high. When the pen is posted, it's
slightly longer than the M800, and slightly shorter than the Duofold.
The balance is OK and the pen can be used posted. But I use most pens
unposted and the Duro body is more than long enough to be comfortable
this way, even when held toward the top of the section. The cap screws
on with just about exactly one full revolution. 
The
section is longer, the threads don't feel particularly prominent to
my fingers and there are no steps or edges on the pen, meaning I can
comfortably hold the pen just about anywhere - for me, that's a prescription
for comfortable writing. The nib is slightly flexible, typical of
most modern pens.