Vazir Lizard Skin Dark Blue: A Textured Celluloid Fountain Pen With Real Character

Introduction

Vazir has quietly built one of the more interesting fountain pen lineups of the past year. The Indian brand keeps delivering designs that feel unique and distinct while staying genuinely affordable for what you get, and the Lizard Skin line is a good example of why the brand keeps earning attention.

This pen is not a new model. It is a new colorway of the Lizard Skin, previously seen in green, now offered in a deep blue finish. At $110 on the Vazir website, it sits in a spot that feels reasonable for a high-quality celluloid pen with a well-tuned steel nib.

What Makes the Lizard Skin Finish Special

The defining feature is the material itself. Vazir uses a high-quality celluloid with a checkerboard cube patterning, each cube edged with fine gold lines that almost give it the look of cloisonne work, though it is not cloisonne. The green version reads more as a solid color, while this dark blue has a subtle chatoyance: in the right light it shifts between darker and brighter shades, which gives the pen real depth.

Trim options include chrome or gold. On this blue variant, chrome looks the better match, whereas the earlier green version suited gold trim nicely. It is a small choice, but it changes the character of the pen noticeably.

Design and Build

The pen has a flat-ended cap that angles up, with the widest point near the front of the cap. A sturdy flat clip carries the engraved Vazir name, and the company logo is engraved at the barrel end. The barrel steps down slightly and then tapers at a steeper angle toward a second flat end, which is narrower than the cap.

The cap unscrews in about one and a quarter rotations. The grip section has a decent girth, starting with a fairly steep flare and angling up slightly before a medium-sized step to the barrel. Even where the step is noticeable, it is rounded off enough that it does not impede your grip, and the pen feels comfortable in hand. Posting is a weak point: the cap does not post securely and needs real pressure to stay on, so most owners will prefer to use it unposted.

Nib Options and Engraving

Under the cap sits a number six JoWo stainless steel nib, engraved with Vazir’s chess piece logo, a queen. Vazir offers it in fine, medium, broad, double broad, or a 1.1 stub.

The standout option is the hand-engraved nib line. These engraved nibs are decorated by hand and look exceptional; they add a genuine touch of artistry and elevate the pen well beyond its price class.

Size, Posting and Filling

The Lizard Skin is a medium to large pen. It sits comfortably among other larger writing instruments, smaller than something like the Vazir Horizon but with a similar confident presence.

It is a cartridge-converter pen accepting standard international cartridges, and a converter is included. Because of the solid construction, with silicone grease as a precaution, it should be possible to eye-dropper the pen without issues, which is a nice option for heavy users.

Writing Performance

The test unit came with a medium JoWo stainless steel nib, paired with Diamine 1864 Blue Black, a very dark ink with a hint of royal blue that suits the pen well.

Out of the box, the nib is nicely tuned. It offers noticeable line variation while staying true to its medium designation, and it produces an extra-fine line in reverse writing, though the reverse stroke feels a little scratchy. Ink flow sits on the medium side, and the feed keeps up very well during fast writing, which is where many pens in this price class stumble.

Buying Advice

At $110, the Lizard Skin Dark Blue is a solid value: a high-quality celluloid barrel with a distinctive finish, a well-tuned JoWo nib with generous size options, and the option of hand-engraved nibs that would cost far more elsewhere. The main compromises are the insecure posting and a reverse-writing scratchiness, neither of which affects everyday writing.

Vazir’s website is also worth a browse beyond this model, with several other distinctive and reasonably priced pens in the lineup.

Conclusion

The Lizard Skin Dark Blue builds on an already appealing design with a finish that genuinely changes how the pen looks in the hand. If you want an affordable celluloid pen with character and a dependable JoWo nib, this is an easy recommendation.