Asvine C80: A Pen Worth Waiting For

Grass Padrique | The Fabulous Scientist

Some fountain pens enter our lives by chance. Others arrive after a long season of quiet wanting.

The Asvine C80 belongs to the second kind.

I started reading and watching about this pen last year on Reddit, YoutTube, and in fountain pen groups, where people described it as a surprisingly good writer for the price and also for the beautiful resin body.

From that point on, I kept an eye out for it locally, hoping it would eventually appear in Philippine shops or in online listings. But for months, it simply wasn’t available in the country.

At one point, I even asked a friend who lives in Canada if she could buy one for me, just in case someone in her circle might be flying home for the holidays. We tried, but the timing never worked out. The pen remained, quite literally, out of reach.

So when a fellow member of Fountain Pen Network Philippines posted that she was streamlining her collection and letting go of her Asvine C80, it felt like one of those quiet, serendipitous moments the hobby sometimes gives you. I didn’t hesitate.

Buying it secondhand also felt fitting. This pen had already been part of someone else’s writing life, and now it was finding its way into mine—less about owning something new, and more about continuing the journey of a well-made object.

Design, Feel, and Writing Experience

The variant I got is the chatoyant brown, and I was instantly drawn to it. The shifting shimmer of the resin reminds me so much of tiger’s eye, a gemstone I also happen to have in my collection as a geologist. That familiar play of light—where color seems to move beneath the surface—gave the pen a quiet, mineral-like beauty that felt oddly personal to me. Watch the Intagram reel I made recently featuring this pen below:

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Although the body is made of resin, the pen is surprisingly light, which makes it very comfortable for long writing sessions. It has a cigar-shaped body and is slightly girthier than a regular gel pen, giving it a substantial feel without being heavy or tiring in the hand. That balance between presence and lightness is, I think, one of its best features. I also like that this one comes with a converter as I’m not particularly fond of vacuum or piston filler pens.

The Asvine C80 is fitted with a size 8 nib, and it writes smoothly across different types of paper—yes, even the humble copy paper pads I use at the office. The ink flow is consistent and forgiving, which makes it easy to enjoy regardless of where I happen to be writing.

It’s currently inked with Diamine Kopi O Kaw, a rich brown ink a colleague brought back for me from Malaysia last year. Paired with the chatoyant brown body, the whole writing experience feels warm and cohesive—like everything is speaking the same visual language. And not to mention that the ink also smells a bit like coffee.

When You Can’t Go to the Pen Show But the Pen Show Comes to You

The combination of the cigar shape, comfortable grip, and lightweight body is probably the reason I was able to take so many notes at work today without feeling any strain in my hand. It’s the kind of pen that quietly encourages you to keep writing.

To say that I love it would be an understatement.

And yes—I’m already planning to get the other colors when I get the chance. Probably the blue one in EF nib. I’ll update you with another post when I do. 😉

Thanks for reading.

xoxo,

Grass