Pilot Custom 823 Black Fountain pen

Author: Ed T

Review Title: Pilot custom 823

• Review Add on: 03-05-2026
• Average Rating: (5)

What can I say? Pound for pound the best fountain pen of all! It is a dream to write with (thanks Joost and the team for a brilliant tuning service) and it is a pen I never tire of using. The ink capacity is brilliant and the ink flow is very consistent. I cannot rate this pen highly enough - I would give it ten stars if I could!

Author: Iris N.

Review Title: Classic Pilot

• Review Add on: 08-02-2026
• Average Rating: (5)

Beautifully made Pilot. Good balance. Such a smooth writer. Love that it is transparent, but not completely see through. My now "Go-to" pen.

Author: Karoline Resch

Review Title: Grail pen

• Review Add on: 28-12-2025
• Average Rating: (5)

Best pen ever, smooth, perfectly balanced.
Excellent service.

Author: David Martin

Review Title: Pilot Custom 823

• Review Add on: 27-08-2025
• Average Rating: (5)

The Pilot Custom 823 in black, also called smoke, is a stunningly beautiful pen.. Mine came with a bottle of Pilot black ink, and although it is essentially a grey demonstrator, when filled it appears as a classic solid black pen with gold trim and nib. The wonderful difference is that the entire barrel is an ink window. The craftsmanship is superb. This pen is balanced and elegant, comfortable in the hand posted or not. The nib writes smooth with a touch of feedback that varies more or less depending on the paper. It's hard to imagine a better value for the dollar, favorably comparable to pens costing much more. Pilot has hit it out of the park with this pen!

Author: Paul

• Review Add on: 17-03-2025
• Average Rating: (5)

Received my new Pilot pen and I’m very happy with this pen. Writes very good and is also very smooth.

Author: Matthew Dobinson

Review Title: An excellent pen

• Review Add on: 30-03-2024
• Average Rating: (5)

I ordered a Fine nib and was extremely happy with this pen.
I was surprised to find that the Pilot Custom 823 competes with pens like the Pelikan M800 in terms of quality for price.

The overall build quality is excellent, with great feeling material for the body - I have written with other more expensive Japanese pens which have significantly lower quality material for the body.

The nib is wonderful. Perfectly tuned, very smooth and with a lovely Fine nib which does seem to write a touch finer than some of my Western Fine nibs.

The only minor irritation is in cleaning the pen, but it is a vacuum filling mechanism, so it is to be expected.

I would absolutely recommend this pen.

Author: Linesbylou

• Review Add on: 24-11-2023
• Average Rating: (5)

In 1 woord fantastisch, dit model en deze penpunt zijn met afstand mijn favorieten. De balans en grip zijn voor mijn handen precies goed, en samen met de Iroshizuku Shin Kai inkt is het helemaal super. Als ik wil schrijven met een mooie kleur zonder glitter kies ik deze combinatie. Want dat is het enige 'minpunt', ik zou er zelf niet voor kiezen hier shimmer inkt in te gebruiken omdat de barrel niet geopend kan/mag worden ivm garantie.

Author: Raj

Review Title: Love

• Review Add on: 28-03-2023
• Average Rating: (5)

Absolutely in love with the pen. Going to pick up a second with a M nib size to have one with me at all times.

Author: Julian

Review Title: Custom 823 in black (M)

• Review Add on: 03-12-2022
• Average Rating: (5)

I had my eye on this pen for some time having heard a lot of great things and preferring a larger pen and the cigar form factor. I finally pulled the trigger and wish I had done it years ago. It feels great in the hand - well balanced and feels 'substantial' with a great weight. But the nib it just amazing to write with. I opted for tune and smooth and can't say how much this may have changed the writing experience but I'm really blown away with this pen. I have heard people refer to the 823 as a 'one pen collection's and now can understand why. I'm now saving for a fine...

Author: Thomas Hostettler

Review Title: Grosse Klasse

• Review Add on: 14-08-2022
• Average Rating: (4)

Ich habe den 823er mit der F-Feder nun seit einigen Wochen im Einsatz, und ich bin sehr zufrieden damit! Nur an das Design den Clips habe ich mich noch nicht gewöhnt, das dürfte nach meiner Ansicht überarbeitet werden.

Author: Åsa Bergendal

Review Title: Pilot Custom 823

• Review Add on: 16-06-2022
• Average Rating: (4)

The Pilot Custom 823, black colour, with a broad nib, which I recently bought from Appelboom, has a classical cigarformed shape with an elegant black layer finish and a 14 carat gold nib. The barrel is translucent. The vacuumfiller system effeciently fills the pen with a big amount of ink. I have tested the Pilot Custom 823 with different ink brands including the original Pilot Black ink delivered together with the pen. A minor skipping issue with a momentary stop in the ink flow occurred sporadically when using the pen together with all the ink brands except the Pilot Black ink. The writing is generally exceptionally smooth and the pen feels comfortable. The broad japanese nib seems to approximately correspond to a western medium nib. The nib feels a bit bouncy and flexy but is not a pure flexible nib.

The overall impression is that the Pilot Custom 823 is a high quality fountain pen, well suited for fine writing, especially with wet japanese original ink.

Author: Dora_M

Review Title: Excellent pen

• Review Add on: 03-03-2022
• Average Rating: (5)

I finally took the plunge and bought this pen - reading all the other reviews and all I can say is that the nib blew me away! I ordered a fine nib and it is by far the smoothest nib, and I have a number of other great fine nib fountain pens. This has become my favourite pen and I almost feel that I don't need more pens for now....apart from perhaps the amber coloured Custom 823.......Appelboom was great with communication, the nib was tested as requested and it arrived in NZ within 5 days. Thank you very much for a very enjoyable experience and wonderful pen.

Author: Samuel  Roth

• Review Add on: 31-08-2021
• Average Rating: (4)

I've ordered this pen last week and it's just an awesome pen. A black ink bottle comes with the pen and appelboom's kind enough to include a mini writing book ( with excellent paper quality ) I really like the pen pared with purple/violet ink ( Doodlers la couleur royale ) ^^
My only problem's the price ... kinda expensive but awesome nonetheless

Author: Lisa Pottinger

• Review Add on: 06-07-2021
• Average Rating: (5)

This Pilot Custom 823 is a classic, understated cigar shaped pen. It is also a grail pen for many fountain pen enthusiasts, and for good reason. The gold nib is very smooth, wet and responsive. It is well balanced and extremely comfortable in the hand. It glides across the page with very little feedback and is an absolute joy to write with. The vacuum filling mechanism means the pen holds a lot of ink and it is always nice to see the ink rushing into the barrel when you fill it.

Appelboom tested the pen before posting out to me, which is always appreciated. The extra care and attention to detail that is taken in their packaging of products to their customers is always a pleasure to see.

The only issue for me is how long the pen took to be despatched. From the date of ordering the pen took over 8 weeks to arrive. So be prepared to wait a while before you get it in your hand. That being said, this pen is so amazing it was definitely worth the wait.

Author: Albert

• Review Add on: 01-05-2021
• Average Rating: (5)

Mijn dagelijkse pen. De custom 823 heeft een grote inkt capaciteit. De brede penpunt is soepel en legt een royale hoeveelheid inkt neer, “Sheen” en “shade” komen goed tot z’n recht op goede kwaliteit papier.

Brede penpunt is breder dan je zou verwachten van een Japanse pen.

Ik schrijf er met gemak een week mee zonder hem te moeten bijvullen.
Mooi slank design waar het kwaliteit vanaf straalt

Het geld meer dan waard!