Montegrappa Miya And 1930 Extra

January 6, 2013

It's called a captive converter in the sense that it has a cartridge converter permanently installed.

In this situation can't be removed in order to put in a cartridge. Since it can't be removed, it is a 'captive of the pen'. Hence, the term 'captive converter' as opposed to the more common situation where the converter can be removed by opening up the pen.

While in this situation, it appears as if it has a piston filler mechanism, as you turn the blind cap the same as on pens with a piston filler, it has a different mechanism inside, the converter.

In the end, don't think filling mechanism type matters much, at least to me. Main thing for me is how does the pen write, how does it feel in the hand, and do I like the way it looks and feels to the touch.

Both the converter and piston filler mechanisms, both fill the pens with ink. Only real difference is that in some cases, one might hold a bit more ink than the other. There are examples of each type that are of larger and smaller capacities. So, no hard and fast rule about this.

Hope this clarifies......and of course YMMV......