by Grass Padrique | The Fabulous Scientist
There are fountain pens you buy after hours of research, careful comparisons, and deep contemplation over nib sizes.
And then there are fountain pens you buy because your brain immediately goes: “Oh no… it’s tiny and adorable. I need it.”
That was exactly my experience with the Wancher PuChiCo Arctic Blue, which I got from PenGrafik and LMK, owned by a fellow fountain pen enthusiast who fully understands the dangerous combination of curiosity and enabling.
The main reason I bought this pen was honestly simple: I wanted to know if something this small could actually function as a proper fountain pen. Around that same time, I also saw a friend wearing a tiny fountain pen as a pendant necklace, and if you’ve known me long enough, you already know I like making my own fashion accessories.
Plus, the pen is cute. Dangerously cute.
I got this pen in November last year as advanced Christmas gift to myself, and after using it for several months, I can confidently say this: surprisingly, the PuChiCo is not just a novelty pen. It is a genuinely functional writing instrument.
So… Can You Actually Write With It?
Yes. Amazingly, yes.
Despite its comically small size, the pen becomes usable once posted. The entire design philosophy of the PuChiCo revolves around becoming a “real” fountain pen while remaining absurdly tiny, and somehow Wancher actually pulled it off. The pen measures only around 65 mm capped and roughly 87 mm when posted.
The first time I wrote with it, I expected discomfort, cramped fingers, and maybe mild regret.
Instead, I found myself pleasantly surprised.
The nib writes smoothly, quite similar to my beloved Majohn Wancai Mini Fountain Pen, which remains one of my favorite pocket pens. The PuChiCo uses a stainless steel nib with an iridium point and gold-colored trim, giving it a more elegant appearance than its playful size would suggest.
And while it is undeniably tiny, it does not feel like a toy.
It feels like a real fountain pen that accidentally got hit by a shrink ray.
The Arctic Blue Finish: Tiny but Fancy
The particular model I got is the Arctic Blue variant, and aesthetically, it scratches exactly the same itch as many of the pens in my collection.
The body appears to be made from acrylic resin, and it exhibits that lovely chatoyant luster I’m always weak against that shifting, almost glowing depth you see when light hits the material just right. The blue body paired with the white cap and gold-colored trim gives the pen a soft, icy elegance that feels somewhere between “cute stationery” and “tiny magical artifact.”
According to Wancher’s official page, the acrylic body is manufactured through a process similar to gemstone cutting, which honestly makes sense once you see how the material catches light.
The gold-tone clip also adds a surprisingly refined touch. It looks fancy enough that wearing it as a pendant necklace somehow doesn’t feel ridiculous.
Well… maybe only slightly ridiculous.
One of the more impressive things about the PuChiCo is that it’s an eyedropper-filled pen. Instead of cartridges or converters, you fill the barrel directly with bottled ink using the included dropper.
For such a small pen, this actually gives it a relatively generous ink capacity — reportedly larger than standard cartridges.
The pen also uses a full-sized nib rather than a mini nib, which likely explains why the writing experience feels more “normal” than expected.
This is also my very first pen from Wancher, and I’ll admit that this tiny little pen ended up opening the floodgates. Because of the PuChiCo, I got curious about the brand and eventually bought two more Wancher models.
But that’s a story for another blog post.
The Caveats of Writing with a Tiny Fountain Pen
Now, as much as I adore this pen, the PuChiCo is definitely not for everyone.
Its biggest strength — being tiny — is also its biggest compromise.
While the pen can be used comfortably posted, the cap doesn’t post very securely on my unit. During longer writing sessions, the cap occasionally loosens or uncaps itself while I write, which can become mildly annoying.
And because the Arctic Blue version I own is opaque rather than translucent, there’s also no easy way to monitor the remaining ink level inside the barrel. That’s one downside of eyedropper pens with solid-colored bodies: at some point, you simply discover you’re out of ink but then that’s why your EDC pens should be more than one, preferably at least five (winks).
Also, if you have larger hands or strongly prefer full-sized pens, this might feel more like a novelty than a daily writer.
But honestly? I think that’s part of the PuChiCo’s charm.
This pen was clearly designed to make people smile first — and impress them second by actually being functional.
Final Thoughts
The Wancher PuChiCo Arctic Blue feels like the kind of pen created by people who genuinely love fountain pens and thought:
“What if we made something absurdly small… but still properly usable?”
And somehow, against all odds, they succeeded.
It’s quirky, elegant, impractical in some ways, surprisingly functional in others, and dangerously collectible. More importantly, it reminds me why I enjoy fountain pens in the first place. Sometimes the hobby is not about efficiency or practicality.
Sometimes it’s simply about delight.
And this tiny little pen delivers plenty of that.
Have you tried this pen before? Do share in the comments. 🙂
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