A while back I reviewed the Kaweco Allrounder fountain pen, and wasn't overly enthusiastic. While I loved the looks of Kaweco's full-size fountain pen offerings, the fact that Kaweco used the same nib as the smaller Sport and Lilliput pens made the design look awkward. The Allrounder in particular was a disappointment because other than the nib, I loved the design of the pen. The shape made the pen extremely comfortable to hold. Since it was aluminum, it was lightweight, and above-all, it was red!
The Allrounder is a fairly large ballpoint pen. It's a comfortable size to use for extended periods of time, which I can't say for most ballpoints.
Enter the Kaweco Allrounder ballpoint. I've taken to carrying at least one ballpoint pen in my bag at all times. For work, it serves various purposes: signing receipts, filling out forms with carbon slips (yes, that still happens), and just having a general quick-deployment writing solution that works for whatever paper might be in front of me. Depending on where I am, my EDC ballpoint option typically is either my Tactile Turn Mover with a .38mm Uniball Jetstream refill, a Pilot Acroball, my "Wood with a Story" olivewood ballpoint, or more recently, the Kaweco Allrounder.
The Allrounder ballpoint has the same trim as the fountain pen, including the Kaweco "medallion" on the cap.
My Allrounder is made from red aluminum with chrome trim, the same as the fountain pen that I tested over a year ago. Instead of a cap, however, the ballpoint has a convenient twist mechanism to deploy the refill, which is a medium Parker-style refill branded as the Kaweco "Soul." I don't know whether this is a proprietary refill Kaweco, or a rebranded Quink or Schmidt refill. It doesn't really matter: I suspect it's the latter, but whatever it is, it's nice. The medium point isn't too wide, and the ink dries fairly quickly and doesn't smear.
Thanks to Kaweco for sending this pen to me as a promotional gift this Christmas. The Allrounder ballpoint is somewhat difficult to find, and those sellers that stock it have the pen listed at a high price point. Fahrney's Pens has this pen listed at a whopping $90, which is too much. Cultpens sells it for £54 (excluding VAT), which is roughly $76 (still too high). The price point is probably one reason why this otherwise very nice pen doesn't get much attention. In the $30-50 range, this pen would probably sell quite well. While I can't recommend that someone purchase this pen as currently priced, I can recommend the Kaweco Soul refill for any Parker-style ballpoints you may have. It leaves a smooth line and doesn't skip. I don't know the official line width, but it writes like a .7mm (though it could be a well-behaved 1.0mm).
The Kaweco Allrounder ballpoint (bottom) compared to the Baron Fig Squire (middle) and the Tactile Turn Mover (top).
DISCLAIMER: Kaweco provided me with the pen featured in this review free of charge. This post contains affiliate links, through which I may be compensated a small amount if you purchase something from any of the sites linked to in this article. While I'd greatly appreciate it if you use these links to purchase an item you are interested in, you are, of course, under no obligation to do so. Many thanks!