A collaboration between Zebra and Japanese design studio Nendo, the Blen is designed to reduce writing stress by removing vibrations.

From the outside, you can see a pen that looks a bit different - a beautiful minimalist design. When you pick it up, the feel is a bit different, too. Its rubber grip is actually grippy, and a little wider than most, making it very comfortable to hold. The shape gently transitions from round to oval.

The important differences are on the inside, though. The tip has an insert that grips the refill close to the end, so it doesn't have that little tap as it moves against the inside of the pen. There's a small brass weight near the tip, to bring the centre of gravity down lower, making the pen more controlable. An extra spring in the retract mechanism reduced rattle.

The result of all this attention to detail is a pen that writes smoothly, and feels solid. All those intricate little movements used when writing, especially when writing small (or Japanese characters!) feel just a little easier to do.

The difference isn't huge, but it's there. It's a problem you never knew you had, but Zebra and Nendo are both Japanese, and there's something very Japanese about solving a problem people never knew they had.

143mm long, 11mm wide at grip. Weighs 12g.

Available in white barrel with black, blue or red ink, or black ink only in the grey and black barrels. Also available with 0.7mm tip.