Bic Triumph 537R 0.5 mm Rollerball or The Tommy Turquoise Show

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, friends and foes, it is my pleasure to introduce to you Tommy Turquoise! What do you have for us today, Tommy?

"Thank you, Geezer, for that rousing introduction! Well, Geezer, today we have the BIC Triumph 537R 0.5 mm Rollerball!"

Of course, Tommy, you have reviewed the Triumph so why don't you tell us all about it!?

"Certainly, Geezer, I'd be happy too! A short time ago a gentleman by the name of Kirk sent The Old Geezer a request to for a review of one of the new BIC Triumphs. Unfortunately before I could get around to the review Kirk bought his own BIC Triumph! But since Geezer already had the pen, I decided to do a review of it anyway!"

"There are 4 versions of the Triumph the 730R and the 537R both in 0.5 mm and 0.7 mm. Geezer was able to find the 537R 0.5 mm Triumph at a local 24 hour CVS Pharmacy, the only version they sell, but Staples is supposed to carry all 4, but Geezer was unable to find any at his local Staples recently. The major difference between the 537R and the 730R is the outside case. As the pens are refillable they use the same core which incorporates the ink reservoir, grip, baffles and needle point. The 537 features a chromed metal clip and a metallic wrapped barrel. The 730R features a Zinc Cobalt clip and metal accents. It also has a more tapered end to the barrel but a more squared off end to the cap."

"The 537R is an attractive pen being made of gray, black translucent and white plastic as well as a chromed metal pocket clip and silver metallic foil wrap on the barrel. The lower body has a window that is designed to allow you to see the ink reserve but since there is no window on the opposite side of the barrel it may be difficult to see the status of the ink reserve without shinning a flashlight directly into the window. The upper body of the refill has a translucent clear plastic grip covering the baffles which has a slightly roughened surface. The needle point is approximately 3.5 mm long making is adequately long enough to maneuver around drawing equipment such as templates and triangles."



"Now, as The Old Geezer is fond of writing, for the stats! The 537R is 137.8 mm long capped, 127 mm uncapped and 165 mm posted. The balanced point is 53 mm from the tail end of the pen when unposted and 73mm from the end of the cap when posted. So unposted the pen is bottom heavy, posted, top heavy. The barrel is 11.2 mm in diameter and the pen weighs 10 grams. When compared to most other rollerballs it appears to have a large ink supply. The stated point size is 0.5 mm but the measured line width is 0.4 mm. The ink, which in this example is black, is nice and opaque, not at all watery or thin. BTW the Triumph is available in Black, Red and Blue ink."

"Posted or unposted the BIC Triumph is a pleasure to write with. The pen writes very smoothly especially for a 0.5 mm tip, which is unusual. There is only a hint of the usual scratchiness associated with 0.5 mm pens. The plastic grip, with it's light texturing, is well designed and easily held for long periods of writing or drawing. When the Triumph is refilled not only do you get a fresh new ink supply and a new tip but you also get a new grip as well as all three are an intergal part of the same unit."


"The pen test is Geezers usual: On a standard 7" x 5" lined note pad (AMP brand "efficiency" pad) a line of text was written followed by a drawn line which is used for the waterproof test. A single drop of water is placed on the line to see if the ink will run. Following the line is the bleed through test. This is where the pen tip is held to the paper, using normal writing pressure, for a period of 10 seconds. Just added is the smudge test. A word or two is written and as quickly as possible the finger is run across the ink to see if it smudges (oops, I guess The Old Geezer can't spell!)" Hey, watch it there, Tommy! It could have happened to anyone! " Eh, yea, sure Geezer, anything you say!... The results of the test were that the pen wrote smoothly, almost effortlessly. The ink is not waterproof as the ink ran and feathered when a drop of water was placed on it. The ink bled through 3 sheets of the paper, the top sheet plus 2 more. The ink dries fast enough to make it sufficiently smudge-proof. Good news for left handers."

"The BIC Triumph appears to be the non-refillable Z4+ in a nice new refillable package. The Triumph writes the same as my BIC Z4+ only it's packaged in a nicer, more sophisticated form. The BIC Triumph 537R gets 5 out of 5 stars for it's good looks, good feel, refillability and smoothness of writing. I'm deducting a half point for the ink not being weatherproof and another half point for bleed through. All in all a good quality rollerball packaged in an attractive dressing. My rating, 4 out of 5 stars."

Well thank you, Tommy for that in depth review! Tommy Turquoise, everybody! That's it for the Tommy Turquoise Show! Tune in next time for another exciting review!