Since I began this blog four months ago, there’s been one pen I’ve picked up more than any other: the Retro 51 Tornado. It looks good, feels good, and writes great, and at 20 to 30 dollars, it manages to be a really nice pen without being too expensive. Retro 51 also offers the Tornado in a lot of different colors and designs that can give the pen a nice personal flair. One of these designs that stuck me immediately was the Albert.

It’s technically part of Retro 51’s Vintage Metalsmith series, but the construction of the Albert Tornado is identical to their Classic Lacquers with a special design wrapped around the barrel. It’s meant to look like a chalkboard, and written on it is a proof for the famous equation E = mc². As far as I can see, the proof is accurately depicted, and the science nerd inside of me really loves this design.

As for the innards of the pen, it comes with the standard 0.7mm Retro 1951 rollerball refill. It’s a good refill – smooth and dark – but I tend to prefer a tip that’s a bit finer. One popular refill that fits the Retro 51 Tornado is the Schmidt P8126. From what I understand, the standard Retro 51 refill is a re-branded Schmdt, and the P8126 is the 0.6mm version of that same refill.

Like the branded version, the Schmidt p8126 is a great refill, and while there is definitely a difference in line width, it is far from substantial to my eye. At the end of the day, I’ll still go for the finer 0.6mm refill, but I’d really be happy with either.

No matter what, I’m looking forward to playing around with other Retro 51 pens, and I’ll be sure to write about it when I do.