Xmas is coming, and I watn to get my parents something that they will enjoy. My mom is an accountant, and my dad is a police officer and pilot. I want to get them a FP so I can share the experience. I hope they can appreciate and enjoy the experience as much as I do. Now.... on to my question. I want to get them both sets. Probably 1 pen each 1 masculine 1 feminine, 1 ink well, a nice sopisticated one, and maybe a afew colors of ink. My requirements are a very masculine pen, dad brute type, and a nice super refined clean elegant simple simple simple pen for mom. She is a CPA soo they are anti gaudy x4. The important thing is they have excellent preceived quality without look at me styling. The perfect set would be a MB 146 and 149 with the inkwell and all, buuutt thats probably 1500 worth of stuff and i kinda have a mortgage. Sorry for the long post but its important and I really want them to appreciate it not jsut because its from me.

That's not long. I've read posts that would make that look like a full-stop.

If Montblanc is too expensive for a present (and it probably is. That damned ink-well, pretty as it is, is bloody expensive...), then might I suggest a pair of Parker Duofolds? Vintage or modern, doesn't really matter. They're good-sized, look pretty and old-fashioned and they're good-quality from a famous pen-manufacturer. And are considerably cheaper than Mr. Montblanc there.

How about a couple of Vanishing Points? A regular/carbonesque one for Dad and a Decimo for Mum. Simple elegant styling, definitely not gaudy, with a nice large barrel on the regular and a slightly slimmer style for the Decimo. The Decimo is more expensive, but check ebay for deals. Its about $130 with shipping looking at current offerings, while the VP can be had for $100 including shipping.

How about a Parker 51 for your dad? That seems to me like a fairly masculine pen. How'd your dad wind up as a police officer and a pilot? That's really cool! Those are 2 professions that I've been interested in & seriously considered, but I ended up a graphic designer instead.

You know your parents ... but on first reading I can't help but think you may be making Fundamental Gift Giving Mistake #1: Instead of thinking about what the recipients would like to receive, you're giving a gift _you_ would like to receive.

Just a thought.