Ajoto Black Aluminium Rollerball

A few years ago I reviewed the Ajoto Rose Plated Rollerball, which I loved but was crazily heavy. Since then, I’ve picked up the Aluminium edition in Matte black.

The Matte Black is 25 grams, compared to the 55 grams found in the Rose plated edition (which is plated over solid brass) so its significantly lighter and therefore much more usable for my small hands. The rest of the features and looks is identical to the rose edition.

The matte black is coated, I believe, the current edition is called “Northern Coal” which is anodised. This might be a better overall solution as the matte black coating is very slippery. Its fine when the refill is new and there’s less friction, but when its running out or close to running out, there’s a bit more friction which makes it harder to hold on to without a death grip.

I think the Ajoto is my favourite of the “Schmidt P8126/7” pen holders – its much better balanced (in my opinion) than the Retro 51 which I find top heavy and comfortable in hand than the Studio Neat mark one. Its significantly more expensive than either of these options though and the range is more limited than the broad styles available in Retro 51. If you’re up for spending the money though, it is really a very lovely pen.