I Finally Found My Ultimate Fountain Pen: The Opus 88 Demonstrator

Published on October 20, 2025

A few months ago, I told you about my struggles with high-end fountain pens — Lamy, Esterbrook, Visconti — all failing despite their outrageous prices. After these successive disappointments, I had resigned myself to using my trusty TWSBI Eco, excellent value for money but nothing more.

And then I discovered the Opus 88 Demonstrator. And there, it was love at first sight. Finally, a fountain pen that works perfectly AND brings real added value compared to my TWSBI.

All inks flow perfectly

With my TWSBI, I already had a good experience — no leaks, good overall flow. But some inks remained a bit weak, especially when the reservoir was emptying. With the Opus 88, it's over. All my inks flow perfectly, from the beginning to the end of the reservoir — the flow is constant and regular. No surprises.

The 1.5 stub nib: my new standard

I had been using a 1.1 stub nib until now, but the Opus 88 introduced me to the 1.5 stub. It's even more pronounced and I love it.

Stub nibs have this huge advantage of hiding writing imperfections. To have beautiful handwriting with a classic nib, you need to write perfectly well — which is not my case — and especially it forces you to write slowly. But in daily use, at work, to take notes quickly, it's not possible. You need to be able to be relatively fast.

The stub nib hides these imperfections thanks to the irregularity of its shape and immediately gives style to the writing. Even when writing fast and badly, it looks good. It's exactly what I needed.

A JOWO #6 interchangeable nib

The Opus 88 uses a standard JOWO #6 nib. I don't plan to change it for now since it suits me so well, but if one day I feel like testing another nib, I can do it without any problem. No need to buy a complete new pen like with most brands.

This modularity is smart. You buy the body once and you can experiment with different nibs according to your desires.

A gigantic reservoir

This is THE problem with fountain pens: most are more decorative objects than useful ones. They have small reservoirs that force you to refill constantly. This was exactly my problem with the Esterbrook and Visconti — when they worked.

My TWSBI already had a big reservoir, which was good. But the Opus 88 is twice as big again. You fill it with ink and you can write for two weeks intensively without worrying about it. No more stress wondering if there's enough ink left to finish the day.

This is particularly appreciated with beautiful opaque pens where you never see the remaining ink level. Here, since the storage is immense, no worries! And it also exists in transparent version for those who want to monitor the level.

The eyedropper system: a revelation

I didn't know this filling system before the Opus 88, but I don't understand why it's not more widespread. You unscrew the body, fill it with ink using a pipette, and you're done. So much simpler and faster than all those complicated piston mechanisms.

And for cleaning, it's a joy: you run the pen under water and voila, it's clean. I can't see myself going back to another system now.

The safety valve: no more leaks

The Opus 88 has a small valve that allows you to completely block the ink flow. Even with my excellent TWSBI, I sometimes had leaks when writing in the sun — the heat made the ink expand and it leaked, especially when the reservoir was almost empty.

With the Opus 88, no risk. The valve blocks everything and you're at peace. No stress either for transport, whether by plane or in a bag. You close the valve and no risk of leakage.

A finally reasonable price

€100 is expensive for writing with a pen. But compared to other fountain pens that go up to several hundred euros — my faulty Visconti cost €745 — it's more than seven times cheaper.

This price difference changes everything. It makes the purchase less dramatic if I lose it or if it gets stolen. And especially, it allows me to have several.

Since it became my ultimate fountain pen, I now have three with different colors. This allows me to switch inks without having to empty and refill the reservoir each time. I couldn't afford this flexibility with €300 per unit pens.

Conclusion

After three resounding failures with prestigious brands, I finally found my ultimate fountain pen with the Opus 88. It doesn't have the prestige of a Visconti made in Florence, but it does exactly what you expect from a fountain pen: it writes perfectly, reliably, with great ink capacity.

Sometimes, simplicity and efficiency are worth more than prestige and marketing. My wallet and my wrist thank me.