A pen clip is a must for me especially for such a high quality planer. However, I am a bit disappointed with this one. The gold color is not matching the gold of the rings and the corners of my planer. It is less shiny and less yellow but has more of a matt gold tone with a shade of bronze. It is just a clearly different material. Also the clip does not stay in place but I often readjust it after taking the pen out. My pen is not very thick and not stretching the band but it has a clip on the cap. This is not much force on the band when I take the pen off but it already moves the clip. The clip is very rounded and touches the planer only on a small area. A flatter clip design would maybe stay in place better - and look better, too.