Penteo Samurai Longsword Review: A Handmade Urushi Fountain Pen with Real Character

Introduction

The Samurai Longsword is a custom fountain pen from Penteo, a small workshop run by Teodor Oniata, a Romanian based in the Czech Republic. Teo came to pen making through calligraphy, and after seeing a handmade pen from a local artisan he bought the tools and taught himself the craft. While he still works in resin, his recent focus has shifted toward urushi techniques, and the Samurai Longsword is one of those pieces.

Penteo provided this pen for review. It is a one-of-a-kind creation rather than a production model, which shapes both the experience of using it and the price you should expect to pay.

First Impressions and Presentation

The pen arrives in a wooden box with a magnetic closure, topped with the bird that serves as the Penteo logo. Inside there is a matching leather pouch, also bearing the bird, and nested within it sits the pen itself. It is a considered unboxing that feels appropriate for a pen that took months to finish.

Design and the Sakurakawa Mori Finish

The body is black Nikko ebonite finished in urushi lacquer using a technique called sakurakawa mori. The inspiration is the Asian cherry tree: a dark burgundy red bark with lighter striped accents, reproduced here across the barrel with impressive fidelity. The urushi work takes up to four months to complete.

Out of the box the finish reads as a deep brownish red, but the color is expected to shift over time, with the reds becoming more prominent. Lighting also changes the look considerably; under warmer light the pen appears noticeably more red. Since urushi is a natural material, sunlight and humidity will continue to alter its appearance over the years.

The cap is clipless and bandless, with no external branding. The flat top with a rounded edge transitions into a body that angles up slightly for the first half inch before straightening out. There is a fairly steep step down to the barrel, which runs straight until the final inch and a half, where it tapers gently to a flat, rounded blind cap. The cap twists off in one and a half rotations. If you want a pen stand, Teo can make one at additional cost, optionally with a matching urushi treatment.

Filling System: A Vintage-Style Button Filler

Under the blind cap sits a button filler that uses the same parts as the vintage Duofold Lucky Curve mechanism. Ink is drawn by submerging the nib in a bottle and pumping the button, and the system works well in practice. Replacing the inner sac is said to be straightforward enough that even a novice could handle it.

Two small gripes: the button feels like it could be a little taller, and cleaning is best done by flushing water through the system or removing the nib unit. Leave the section alone unless you are servicing the sac.

Nib and Writing Performance

The pen ships with a Bock 380 titanium nib, what many would call a number-eight size, engraved with the Penteo bird. Custom buyers can choose anything from a JoWo number six stainless steel nib up to a 380 in gold or titanium, with custom grinds available. This particular unit is a broad ground into a cursive italic.

The cursive italic produces wide up-and-down strokes and narrow cross strokes with a crisp, pleasant feel. The feed keeps up easily with fast writing, and ink flow is decent. There is a sweet spot to respect: miss it and some edges can catch or feel slightly sharp. Reverse writing is not really its purpose, though it is smoother when held slightly upside down than in a normal reverse grip. The low profile ebonite feed also looks great, with ink from the first fill nicely outlining the nib engraving.

Comfort and Handling

This is a large, bulky pen, but ebonite is a light material, so it never feels overly cumbersome. The cap is not designed to post, which is fine given the overall uncapped length. The one minor complaint is the raised band at the start of the section; a slight flare would be preferable. It is a very small issue in an otherwise comfortable pen.

For scale, the Samurai Longsword sits comfortably alongside other large urushi pens such as the Nakaya Dorsal Fin 2, Danitrio Genkai, Wancher Dream Pen, Namiki Emperor, and Pilot Custom Urushi.

Who This Pen Is For

The Samurai Longsword suits someone who wants a handmade, one-of-a-kind pen built to their taste rather than another mass-produced flagship. Pricing for Penteo’s work runs from around $200 for plainer ebonite pens to over $1,000 for complicated urushi work with a gold nib. This model, with the titanium nib, falls in the $950 to $1,000 range. That is a lot for a pen, but you are commissioning a custom creation with a process that can take four to five months. If you are interested, the practical route is to contact Penteo directly through his website or Instagram to discuss what he can make for you.

Conclusion

The Penteo Samurai Longsword delivers on what custom pens promise: a distinctive sakurakawa mori urushi finish inspired by cherry bark, a comfortable oversized ebonite body, a characterful vintage-style button filler, and a large titanium cursive italic nib that is a pleasure to write with once you find its sweet spot. The minor quibbles, a short button feel and a raised section band, do little to diminish a genuinely special pen. If handmade urushi work appeals to you, Penteo’s catalogue is well worth a look.