Pentel, the Japanese company specialising in felt tip pens and markers, has released a set of pens with medieval themes:

http://www.pentel.co.uk/catalogue/catalogu...d=65&page=0

There are three fountain pens in the Exclaibur range: the Chivalresque, the Camelot and the Dozmary. All with 18k nibs.

Pretty interesting! I am really surprised, because Pentel is not a company with a reputation for high-end writing instruments in the UK, where I live. They mainly sell cheap pens for offices and schools.

David, part of the motivation for Pentel might be a recent surge in populatity of FP's in Japanese society. I have understood that there is a novel, and a subsequent movie, that focus on FP's. The star of the movie is something of a trend setter in Japan, and she has set off a renewed interest in FP's. If this background is accurate, then like all fads there will be a time limit on the interest. This is only a personal observation. Others with more insight into Pentel's marketing need to speak up.

Yes, it's possible that Pentel has simply decided to jump on the fountain pen bandwagon. In which case, it's possible that the Mitsubishi Pen company (which has an excellent reputation for rollers) will do likewise.

I am now really curious to find out the prices for these pens and also how they write. If they write anywhere as well as a Pilot or Sailor then they should be well worth looking at.

So many pens, so little money!

Anyone know where to look/ask to learn more about pricing and availability? They appear to be aimed at a price point that would make buying one on a whim unlikely (for me, anyway), but I'd rather know than assume.

This news release is from January 2006, when they added fountain pens to the Excalibur series. EXF11M (the first one on the page in David's link) is US$1650 or 189000 Japanese yen. It says the pen (Chivalresque FP) is an LE of 300 pens.

http://www.pentel.co.jp/news-release/2006/060112_05.html

I just found Excalibur page. It has not been updated since June 2006, though. Sorry but I have no idea whether pens are currently available or not.
http://excalibur-pen.com/

Hmmmm......too rich for my blood.

Nice looking pens but not for that price.

I have a stainless steel rollerball from Pentel which I bought more than twenty years ago. I think the name of the model was something like "Pentel Rolling Writer". It looks as shiny and bright as the first day, and I have used it a lot. The steel quality is superb. (My wife has a golden version of the same pen and is also in excellent condition)

It writes a broad wet line. Its refill includes the section of the pen... which is kind of weird, because I am not used to "discarding" the section every time I change the refill.

Bottom line, great quality roller ball, I love it and is my favourite non-FP writing instrument.

Best regards.

Tito

Yikes! That takes care of that.

I seen nothing really impressive. But like others have said, I didn't know they made pens of this quality.

My assumption is that they are dedicated to the Japanese market. They are not on the US website and it surprises me that they appear on the UK one. But they don't quote prices on the UK site. Strange.

I don't know about Chivalrous, but you definitely have to be Courageous to pay for one of those pens!