For a long time I have collected fountain pens. Most people see that I have “nice” pens, but they don’t really understand the difference between a fountain pen and a pen that “looks expensive”. In a nutshell, there are two things that make a fountain pen special.
- The writing tip has to last the life of the pen, not just the ink in the pen. When a ball point runs out of ink, you throw away the cartridge AND the writing tip and put in a new one. With a fountain pen, the actual writing tip stays and you simply add more ink, whether via bottle or cartridge. It stays FOREVER. Therefore it must be of very high quality.
- The other major difference is the feel. A really good fountain pen should pass the “Zero Weight” test, holding the pen while applying zero pressure – only the weight of the pen itself – and drawing it across the page should produce a smooth effortless flow of ink.
It is the second reason that I am passionate about fountain pens. Being able to lay down a smooth, bold stroke with no pressing, no effort means I can write for hours with little to no hand fatigue. I also like the look of the line on the page, it’s very satisfying to see the pages fill up with strong bold strokes.
But that’s not really why I’m writing. The real reason I am writing is that there appears to be a major shift in the Fountain Pen Market.
Great Pens. Great Value.
For years good fountain pens were insanely expensive. A “decent” pen cost over $100 and to get a great pen you were spending $300 to $400. My Parker Duo Fold for example is an absolutely magnificent pen and cost around $450 a decade ago. Well, when the economy tanked, people stopped buying things they didn’t need. I believe fountain pens were already in decline by 2008, but the extra kick in the teeth didn’t help. What that meant was that many stores stopped carrying pens and the selection of pens started to dry up.
Of course for the $500 and up crowd there was no recession so you still see some of those around – like Rolex watches. Fine Jewelry for executives and diplomats I’m sure. But for those of us who enjoy a great writing experience the market evaporated. There was plastic or platinum and nothing in between.
To put it in perspective the best “low price” quality fountain pen I found was a Cross Townsend on sale for $80.
This past year however, something changed. It might have started sooner, but in the last two months I uncovered an amazing array of fantastic quality pens that retail in the $20-$60 range. Some of these pens write better than most of my high end pens. And they are inexpensive enough to feel confident in carrying them around and not worrying too much about losing one. Given that a decent roller ball at staples now costs $9, is it really that stressful to carry a $20 fountain pen?
Here is a hit list of my recent favorites that have impressed me with their writing and price point:
Lamy Safari Medium Nib:
This is just an amazingly robust pen. You can find them on line for as little as $26, or for $35 at a stationer. This plastic pen feels rugged and robust, and it is flawless with converter or cartridge. One of my favorite pens I own 3 – one yellow, one clear, and one black. They are all consistent performers. You can leave them for a week, pick them up and they write like you’d never stopped. They never skip, and the ink flow is even and smooth leaving a rich bold line on the page. If you’ve never owned a fountain pen before I highly recommend this pen. I use the Medium Nib. I bought my pens from the stockroom in Phoenix, Arizona for around $35.
Kaweco Sport Classic Medium and Fine Nib:
I recently discovered this German manufactured pen on http://jetpens.com. I’d never heard of Kaweco before, but after ordering one I ordered two more. I own a medium and a fine nib pen. They start 98% of the time and once flowing never stop. While they are small and compact, they are absolutely a joy to write with. The fine is not that much narrower than the medium and both of these pens retail for $22, a great bargain. They are too short to take the long ink cartridges and converter, but there is an example of converting a Kaweco into a dropper fill pen. If you do this I recommend getting the “ice” version so you can keep you eye on how much ink is left in the cartridge.
Aurora Style
Aurora is an Italian pen manufacturer I’d never heard of until a month ago. I ordered two pens from them and both were two of the best most consistent writing fountain pens I’ve ever owned. They instantly rivaled the Lamy and both look much more classy. The Style is a bit pricey compared to the Lamy at $64, but it rivals and exceeds pens costing hundreds of dollars more. I purchased my Aurora Style through penboutique on Amazon.com.
Retro 51 Tornado
The Retro’s were recommended to me when I bought a high end Lamy that failed. (I had to send it back for service. More money does not always equal a better pen). The Retro 51 writes wet, and starts 99% of the time, but on the whole it is an amazingly consistent pen, comfortable and has a real quality feel. Like the Aurora it is made out of resin so it doesn’t feel like plastic and the metal appointments (clip, cap ring, and base) all make this pen look like it should cost a lot more. You can find them from $32 to $50. It’s interesting that this pen looks very similar to my Delta which cost $100 and it writes about the same.
The Rest…
Over the holiday I purchased a number of other fountain pens, including several Platinum Preppy’s and a Sailor Clear Candy. Platinum and Sailor are both Japanese pen manufacturers. The Preppy’s are interesting because they cost <$4 each but they have proven to be inconsistent. Some write great, others have ink flow trouble. I bought them because they are super easy to convert to a dropper fill. There is a great blog on this at (http://blog.jetpens.com).
The Sailor is a tad scratchy being a fine point, but otherwise it is a decently servicable pen. The real disappointment were the pilots. The first pilot pen I bought was an inexpensive F-78. It was a joy to write with and matched my Lamy except that it was a tad light and thin for my taste. It was an inexpensive pen that felt cheap. So I bought a Prera. At $56 it was a disaster. I had to return it. Then I got a Pilot Lucina ($67) expecting it to be closer to my F-78 but a much nicer, heavier pen. It is much nicer looking, and more comfortable to hold. In the end however, it also struggled with ink flow. It looks fantastic, I just wish that it wrote as well as it looked.
Close but no cigar
Final mention goes to Noodlers. I really like their inks and they recently produced the Ahab Fountain Pen. This is a big fat pen with an enormous reserve. It is designed to be user serviceable and comes with an o-ring suitable to convert the pen to dropper fill. For $20 these are fun Celluloid pens, but they often struggle with spotty ink flow. They’ll flood the paper then dry up suddenly, then return to gushing. You feel like you’re writing with a small hose at times.
Many Great Options
As a result however I have never had so many great pens to write with. And as you may have noticed all of these pens were under $100. It seems like combination of things have made a wide range of great, low cost fountain pens available. More than I can ever remember. If you have never used a fountain pen before the time has never been better to try one out.
For my money the best result has to be the Kaweco’s. For $25 or less, they are simple to put in your pocket, they always seem to work, and they are just fun to carry around. Second place goes to the Aurora Style. While they are a little on the pricey side they never once disappointed me.
– Scott
Some links:
http://jetpens.com
http://shopwritersblock.com
and of course Amazon.
