Why Buy Expensive Pens?

[Ego Id Veto]

I've only got one pen that would be classified as expensive. It's a Waterman Expert with 24k gold trim, that I got as an 18th birthday present from my grandparents.

 

I used it exclusively at university for taking notes until one fateful day when it rolled off a desk and fell nib first on the floor.

Now whilst it was easy to get fixed, the moral of the story is that expensive pens have their place. I'm a forensics student, so I'm standing up a lot, moving around, taking notes in labs etc. So I now have a bunch of cheaper fountain pens that either have replaceable parts or are easily replaced if they are dropped, and the expensive one is on my desk at home.

 

If you're an office worker, then by all means have a fancy pen on your desk where it's unlikely to get damaged. That's the difference between expensive and cheap fountain pens.

[Jadie]

They have the prettiest designs (in my opinion). Yes I am shallow like that. But only about pens.

 

In my case, I'm talking about urushi/maki-e pens, where the more intricate, varied, 3-D designs can be found on more expensive pens.

 

I also like how you have more customization options with some expensive pens---not just picking your nib size or body material, but actually designing the pattern that will go on the pen, or designing the shape of the pen itself, etc...

 

For me, going expensive is not only to pay for a prettier product, but a more personalized one as well.

 

^_______^

[HandLikeAFist]

$400.

 

Very expensive, for me. I researched for months. Totally pleased with my decision to buy.

 

1. Writes better than any other pen I have used, including my stolen MB 149.

2. Really handsome (Italian) design.

3. Solid sterling silver.

4. Makes me happy, as a retirement present to myself; never even shown it anyone else.

 

Oddly, this one expensive pen is enough for me. I need my money to fulfill my real addiction, books on Roman ecclesiastical architecture.

[raffaele from turin - italy]

May i use a metaphor?

 

a Ferrari and Nissan have the same utility to get around...

 

but i prefer a Ferrari

[warblerick]

In my mind, expensive mostly equates with quality (though certainly not for hot clothing items), frequently hand made items that will last a really long time given proper care. I purchased an expensive (for me, at the time) garden spade (hand-forged in England) over 30 years ago, and am still using it to this day. I have replaced the ash handle once (just last summer), and so for me, even though it was initially an expensive item, it has been a good investment. I own very expensive Austrian binoculars, and as a birder, I use them every day. Expensive initially, but again, a good investment over the long haul. No problems, no breakage, nothing to worry about coming apart, as with less expensive bins. Same for me (mostly) with pens. I like expensive pens because they are usually better made, with much hands on at the factory, will usually, again with proper care and maintenance, last a lifetime and beyond. Not many things these days can say the same.

 

And, frankly, because I can.

[Mister John]

From an economist's perspective, this is a simple question to answer: A person buys a more expensive pen since she will derive more happiness from the purchase than any other use of these funds. This is something called "revealed preference."

 

But this answer is, in a way, tautological. It does not ask what aspects of the pen "caused" the increase in happiness. These causes (or instrumental factors) will, of course, differ from person to person. For me, it amounts to:

 

1. I really enjoy the beauty of fountain pens. I have a number of Namiki maki-e designs, and I consider myself supremely lucky to get to write with a work of art whenever I wish.

2. Some of these expensive pens have superior writing qualities. For instance, the ergonomics and writing line of my MB Schiller are simply the best writing experience I have.

3. Some expensive pens offer a sense of history or a connection to some past triumph. For instance, I bought my Parker 51 since I wanted to experience what many consider the greatest engineering triumph in the history of fountain pen manufacture. It turns out that this belief is likely true. No pen is more reliable or better at performing under whatever conditions are thrown at it than this pen. I own a Snorkel simply to experience the engineering marvel of that filling system.

 

I'm sure there are many other causes of happiness, but the three above are the main ones for me.

[flatline]

Having given this a little more thought and consideration, I think the honest answer, for me at least, is that I buy toys (expensive or otherwise) when I have the disposable income and my curiosity gets the better of me.

 

Tools, on the other hand, especially tools that I expect to use over and over, I'll buy the expensive version if it has a particular feature or set of features that I can't find at a lower price point. In fact, I'll often purchase 2 or 3 different expensive versions that offer slightly different feature sets so that I have options when I need a tool of that sort. Drafting pencils are an excellent example of this.

 

Fountain pens are still in the "toy" category for me, but I'm quite confident that one of two will become workhorses for me along with my space pens and drafting pencils.

 

--flatline

[queenofpens]

 

I actually prefer the Bic! And I've been burned (or chosen poorly) with the more expensive pens I've bought (still under $100, though, so perhaps not high-end enough to really hit the better-craftsmanship mark?). So, for my own happiness, cheap (even disposable) pens are usually best.

 

But there are lots of things I'm willing to spend some extra money on in order to get the aesthetics I like better. If you've got the money and it makes you smile, then I see why you'd do it!

 

ETA: I've never seen a Bic fountain pen before. Clearly a trip to Europe is required...

 

 

I bought my Bic disposable fountain pens in Staples, in the US, so they may be fairly widely distributed.

 

I have to say that until I started actively looking, the pens available in a ten mile range were not jumping off the shelf at me.

 

 

Bic also makes - under its own name, that is brand-name - Bic, fountain pens that are not meant to be disposable and are refillable.

 

But they are not available in the US. You don't have to go to Europe though, unless you just want to, for a different kind of fun!

 

When I originally started collecting them, and also some German student pens that were generally unavailable in the US, the difficulty of acquiring them was part of the fun - even though they were inexpensive by some standards. But definitely fun to have as well as fun to try to acquire.

 

Now, I have an easier solution - but this is still a fun part of my collection.

 

You can get the Bic's and some comparable competitors at Amazon UK.

 

And an excellent selection of German school pens at Amazon Deutschland - although I admit Amazon Deutschland is easier to use if you read and write German (fortunately I was a German lit major my first trip through school). This is the only place I could find Online's Werewolf pen which is currently my favorite "fun" pen.

 

If you have a standing account with Amazon (any version of Amazon), they charge to whatever you told them was the default credit card for your account and they automatically translate the price - before you finish checking out - to the currency that matches your default credit card. So you know how much it is really costing you in your own money. If you have Prime, you don't get the 2-day shipping but you do get a significant discount on shipping that makes shipping cheap pens from Europe very affordable (before I discovered the wonders of international shopping at Amazon, I had to pay twice as much for shipping as some of my inexpensive "fun" pens cost).

 

Wandering a bit from the topic, but I thought I would share this experience. And it is not so much of a wander, because the point is the pleasure and the fun - which sometimes for me is in the luxury market and sometimes in the fun market, depending on my mood.

Edited August 9, 2013 by queenofpens

[vanyieck]

Why buy expensive fountain pens? Because it's cheaper than therapy and gets me into less trouble than other illicit ways of spending my money.

[CoolFool]

I buy expensive pens because it keeps me from retiring early... Ya know, now that I've written it out, it doesn't seem like such a great idea any more.

[Nashten]

Would you buy an expensive pen as a treat for yourself as you would when you finally get your $60,000 Mustang? Self-indulgence, love for the craft and aspects, or even ego? All sorts of questions and answers. Each to their own indeed!

 

I buy expensive pens as a treat for myself once a year or so. "I did well in the areas I was supposed to do, and am improving in others. I need a treat for myself, as a symbol and landmark for what I have accomplished, and as a memento to keep me going."

 

I also buy expensive computer parts or computers. Are they the same as pens? No. If I were to render a scene in Maya or 3Ds Max, or build a large building in Revit or Sketchup, which I do regularly, that $300 computer will take hours to render a scene or would not be able to progress past a certain amount of structural parts in a building due to lagg. The $2000 dollar computer can render the same scene in 10 minutes, and handle a Burj Khalifa down to the weld seam. This stuff aside...

 

Expensive pens depend on the person. My pen collection is from $40 (Duofold Lucky Curve) to $125 (Waterman 52) currently. $125 is quite a lot to me. And that was a treat to myself for constantly improving my penmanship, and getting out and navigating Vancouver for my first Pen Club meeting. My Duofold was a treat to myself for finally grasping fountain pens and finishing school.

 

And from using fountain pens, while I am not fond of Bics or other cheapie ballpoints/rollerballs anymore, I have learned that as long as I get the chance to write and make a work of art in words, the pen doesn't matter in the end result. The only thing that changes is hand cramps, line widths and colours, and the chance to boast that "Hey, I did all this with a fountain pen!"

 

Would the words change if an expensive pen was used? Depends. If you thought about your hand cramps, would you write that your character has cramps from doing an activity? If you wrote effortlessly with your fountain pen, would you write your prose in a similar fashion? Effortless, free flowing and as beautiful as the pen?

 

And as said, each to their own. We all buy for different reasons. We all use them for different reasons too.

 

[elysee]

Purchasing an expensive pen ($100 or more) is a personal choice and has a lot to do with one's taste or preference in pens. My favorite pens are my namesake Elysee pens, three models for which are included in my avatar. In addition to several models of Elysee pens, I own pens from a variety of pen makers including Caran D'Ache, Parker, Montblanc, S.T. Dupont, Cartier, Waterman, Pelikan, Waterford, Dunhill, and Cross to name a few. My pen-tastes are for models made during the late 1980's through the near present (2010) with particular fondness for those pens which I visited at Bromfield Pen Shop (in Boston) during my years in graduate school. eBay has been very kind to me by allowing me to buy the discontinued pens that I have loved from afar. They are a joy with which to write, and they make my writing a true pleasure. So, my best answer to your question is that these pens are what I like and what I enjoy. Since I use all of the pens that I have purchased and since I take care of them, I am getting my moneys worth out of them, making them a good value, at least for me.

 

During the years when I could not afford to own such nice pens, I used many disposable pens. I found these disposable pens to be poorly balanced and, due to their lack of weight and substance, I experienced discomfort when writing for an extended period of time. I have found that pens with a solid feel and good weight eliminate all discomfort and enable me to write for extended periods of time. Of course, this has made me appreciate my expensive pens all the more.

[rudyhou]

generally speaking, the higher the price means a better nib performance. that is, when one compares stainless steel nib fps versus gold nib fps. however, i think anything over $300 in price basically means you are paying for aesthetic.

[Opooh]

Another reason to buy expensive pens, see the price evolution of early MB LE.

Like the man who took all his savings and bought a Ferrari. " It is surely a greater sight than a suitcase of greenbacks " he said.

[Sasha Royale]

Because i can.

 

Wish you the same.

[penrivers]

Man needs perspective said Henry Miller in the last paragraph of Tropic of Cancer.

What makes a good writer?, good teachers, and over all good Reading, good lectures, lots.

What makes a fine cursive or print hand writer?, good cursive stub or italic nibs in whatever fountain pen. Thats what I think.

Edited August 14, 2013 by penrivers

[Tberry010]

Over the last several years after becoming re-aquainted with FP's I have probably spent nearly a thousand dollars on pens, maybe a little more if you add in ink and parts and nibs, only one of which cost as much as $150 and most of which cost an average of maybe $25. That is an average and includes lots of $3 pens up to a few $75 pens.

 

The most expensive, and it was expensive to me, has the distinction of being a custom made pen, essentially designed by me and executed so close to flawlessly as to be perfect by one of our resident pen makers. (JEB)

 

Why a custom? Because I knew what I wanted and there was no other way to get it. It is my dailyy edc pocket pen and has been since I received it.

 

If I could do it over I would skip many, not all, but maybe most of the ones I bought and spring for something I think I would cherish as both a writing instrument and piece of art-a Japanese pen such as a Nakaya or Danitrio.

 

Until I had a chance to actually hold one of these, thanks to Ethernautrix, and write with it, I could not see the pen being worth the expense. Now I do. Will it be expensive? Yes. Will it be worth it? To me of course it will. To someone else, maybe not. But then I have no desire for a MB, or a top line Visconti, or a (here you can name most of the pens selling for several hureds of dollars).

 

I look at this hobby as I do all others: there is a learning curve and education, even if each lesson is fairly inexpensive, can end up being quite expensive.

 

We will probably never agree here on what the word "expensive" means since, as has been pointed out several times, it is a relative term and can mean almost anything.

 

But the answer to your question is that there is no answer, at least no one-size fits-all answer. So, stop worrying about it. Buy what you want and enjoy what you have.

 

Who knows, one day you may decide to buy what is to you an 'expensive' pen, and if you like it you will have your answer.

[bethesdachick]

Funny, you have me questioning my own motivations!

 

I have bought only one "expensive" pen. When I reconsider what I was thinking, it was something like: it's handcrafted, made in the U.S., soooo pretty to look at. But I had never held one by this particular pen maker, I had no idea how it would balance in my hand. My choice appears now to be an emotional one, not a logical one.

 

I haven't seen any analogies posted by others that ring true for me. I have pens that cost half as much that write just as smoothly (there goes the Mustang analogy). No one notices or cares that I own it, and it's not a status-symbol type of brand (so it's not like high-fashion clothing). Other cheaper pens are as comfortable, as durable. I don't keep it inked up all the time. It's in rotation with my mid-range ones and my cheapies.

 

The only other items I have that are like this are pieces of fine jewelry. I don't think there's any logical reasoning behind those either. I'd love for that appeal to be explained to me too!

[TubeampChuck]

For me expensive pens generally hit the sweet spot of aesthetic beauty and quality. You can live quite nicely in a relatively unadorned dwelling, or you can live in one that has architectural details, handcrafted finishing and other 'extras' that do absolutely nothing for its functionality but have been known to stir the soul in more than a few people. So a beautiful writing instrument is a way to stir your soul each day, at least in my humble opinion.

[seacritasianman]

I don't have that many expensive pens, but I do have a MB149, Delta Dolcevita Oversize, and a Visconti Homosapiens. I don't use them all the time though, tbh. In fact, their nibs are sometimes too smooth. I prefer the slight feedback of my Parker 51 much of the time when i take notes in class. but sometimes, when I'm writing reminders or something, that buttery nib of an expensive pen is hard to beat. Besides, they're great for showing off. P: