Pilot Custom 823 vs TWSBI Vac700R

I also have the Custom 74 which is also a fantastic pen in its own right. I have developed a lot of respect for Pilot and realize that their pens are every bit as good as many of the pricier brands. This is my opinion but after reading many many reviews, other seem to agree. The quality of construction is superb

And then small company hand made pens start at least at 100, so from there on we're going for excellent design or at-least-its-gold (regardless of whether the gold nib is intrinsically better than the steel nib--it's subjective at best). And then, if I push my 100 budget jussssst a little more, something like the Pilot E95s or decimo comes in my reach.

I Think a lot of people consider it to be a workhorse pen. We've even seen celebrities like Neil Gaiman are fans of using this pen on a regular basis ...

I recently bought a TWSBI Vac700R in EF, and found that the TWSBI #6 EF nib is not as fine as the #5 EF. I was unhappy with it for a while but now I'm used to it. I can write finer lines if I focus on keeping the contact with the paper lighter, but it's still not as consistently fine as my Eco EF.

This design is known as the plunger or vacuum filler, while Visconti refers to their design as the double reservoir power filler, it's the same thing ...

I will say that it clearly asks to have the end cracked open to let air into the ink chamber - there’s no wondering - what’s going on here with ink flow? That’s how vacs work though so I’m ok with it - it writes smoothly and evenly, just wet enough with that ink and nib combination.