What's Your Quintessential Fountain Pen?

[max dog]

Not necessarily your best, most expensive or even your grail.

 

Mine is the Pelikan M200 because it is:

• Affordable
• Well crafted and reliable
• A classic from an established fountain pen maker.
• A direct descendant of the early great Pelikans from decades ago.
• A Piston filler and a smooth responsive writer

...M200 writing sample and on the lost art of hand writing

Edited June 8, 2015 by max dog

[ernestcow]

Possibly the Waterman Hemisphere or FC Ambition, fits my hand great.

[Keyless Works]

Parker 51 for me.

[whichwatch]

Pelikan M800

[deepak23]

A handmade large ebonite eyedropper with a fine to medium nib.

 

Tons of ink, good section profile, nice feed.

 

A few pens fit the bill.

- Deccan Advocate

- Gama Revolution

- Mohi Black beauty

[Lam1]

Pelikan M800

+1

[Sailor Kenshin]

Not necessarily your best, most expensive or even your grail.

 

Mine is the Pelikan M200 because it is:

[*]Affordable

[*]Well crafted and reliable

[*]A classic from an established fountain pen maker.

[*]A direct descendant of the early great Pelikans from decades ago.

[*]A Piston filler and a smooth responsive writer

 

 

 

The Hero 616, because I had longed for a pen with that hooded nib, and this was my first. To this day I almost always have one loaded. Not bad for a bunch of three-dollar pens I bought more 'n' a decade ago.

[BookCat]

I couldn't choose the pen, but I know what it must have:

 

- a smooth medium nib

- to be light in the hand

- pretty

- neither tiny nor large

- no leakage

 

Those are the essential qualities. As to the pen, I don't have one with all of these qualities; the closest is my Baoer 388; unfortunately, the nib occasionally lets me down (skips, has a little too much bounce for fast writing).

For daily writing, my favourite is the Hero 616: feels great in the hand, is light, has a nib which I successfully worked into a smooth med-broad, but falls down on prettiness.

[thatotherguy1]

I'm seriously considering cutting back on the pen shopping after receiving my Lamy 2000. It's a bit dry (I plan on fixing that) but it's a beautiful pen that is supremely functional and fits my personality great.

 

However, my Gama also is one of those pens that made me stop looking at other pens for a while.

[cadfael_tex]

Well since you took my answer of the M200, I'll go with the Platinum 3776 Century. Comfortable writer that just works - even if it's been sitting for a while. Honorable mention to the Sailor Pro Gear/1911.

[______Zaphod_Beeblebrox]

Onoto "The Aviator" with Broad Nib.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

Probably the Pilot Custom Heritage 92. High quality piston filler that just works (and very well).

[The Blue Knight]

I'm going to say Parker Sonnet

 

I've been aware of it's existance since I was about 8 or 9 I wanted one back then and it wasn't until 10 years I got my first one, So I've been aware of it's existence for 13 ish years longer then most other pens and it fits nicely in the hand my current one probably has the smoothest nib I own on it. I consider it to be a benchmark pen.

[Manalto]

First, let me offer sincere thanks for not using that threadbare word, "iconic." (Although I did appreciate the person who asked about the penultimate.)

I had to look up "quintessential": representing the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class

+1 Pelikan

[starlegohunter]

Loamy Safari or Al-Star.

Nib options

Work horse qualities

Utilitarian

Affordable

[Hector67]

Mmmm. nop, I don't have just one. Most of my pens fit the profile for me. I guess that is why I stopped buying pens a coupple of months ago. All of my pens (the ones I kept) are piston fillers, have great nibs and are great for long writting sessions (I dont mind the weight as long as the pen has a large size). I love the style and looks of all of them, so it all comes down to which one I am in the mood of using or which one fits better to what I'm wearing or what I'm doing that particular day.

 

Have a wonderful week everyone!

[Sergio 46]

Probably the Pilot Custom Heritage 92. High quality piston filler that just works (and very well).

+1

But the Pilot Prera for one quarter of the price of the CH 92, is a pleasure to use.

[ethernautrix]

Nakaya Piccolo - functionally and aesthetically, hits all the marks for me.

[Mr. Dante]

My Pelikan M800s, which I have with F, M, B and OM nibs. I'm using two Montblanc 146s more often these days. These are recently acquired 1980's models, with F and EF nibs. Their writing experience is at least as nice as the Pelikans, and they are both comfortable. The 146s are slightly lighter in weight, due to the plastic vs. brass piston mechanisms. I haven't decided, but the 146s might replace the M800s as my quintessential pens. It's difficult to decide.

[PAKMAN]

Pelikan M800 for me!