What's Your Quintessential Fountain Pen?

[Manalto]

Love that Parker (and the expression "black as your hat").

[VivienR]

I choose Parker Sonnet, its perfectly fit to my hand, with fine nib it writes amazingly, suits for my style of handwriting, and its have a perfect balance in design to be classy and modern as well.

[ink-syringe]

Scripto pencils. Goodness. I had not thought of that once ubiquitous brand in years. That takes me back.

[Namru]

The first thing that pops into my head when I think of a fountain pen is a Parker Vacumatic. If I was a kid and you asked me to draw you a fountain pem, that's what I'd draw.

[ink-syringe]

Namru gets it.

 

As Arthur Fonzarelli would say, "exactamundo."

 

 

 

 

 

The first thing that pops into my head when I think of a fountain pen is a Parker Vacumatic. If I was a kid and you asked me to draw you a fountain pem, that's what I'd draw.

[Regulateur]

 

It took me a while before identifying my quintessential pen. My initial reaction was to say: duh! It's my M800. But then, given that I am not in love with my two nibs (EF and OBB), I felt I had to reconsider my choice.

 

So, for the way it writes, for its look, because it is a piston filler, for its in-house made nib and because you can replace nibs easily "à la Pelikan", my quintessential pen is my blue Aurora Optima with a factory-italic nib.

Edited July 31, 2015 by Regulateur

[max dog]

 

 

Edited August 1, 2015 by max dog

[Manalto]

"Strawman" is a type of faulty argument, not a form of address.

[max dog]

In that case I mis-understood. My bad.

[Manalto]

In that case I mis-understood. My bad.

 

At least he didn't say Aunt Sally!

[senzen]

My Le Man 100 is what I thought all pens should be like when I was a kid: big, with a beautiful nib, black and gold, and mostly reliable... But then I discovered pens don't have to be black and gold, plus I developed a healthy dislike of gold in general... So now the pen, ink and paper combination is what makes it beautiful for me. After many tries and almost emptying the bottle the latest combo is a Lamy Vista in M with Bleu Myosotis, on HP 32 or Tomoe River paper... What a pleasure!

[jsolares]

Parker 51 or MB 146/149, I don't have the former, but that and the cigar shaped Meisterstück is what comes to mind when thinking about fountain pens.

[Recoil Rob]

My "quintessential fountain pen" would pretty much be one of those pens that squirted ink at the Three Stooges or the Marx Bros....

 

 

 

 

Actually mine would be any Pelikan except the 1000 (too large).

[prf5]

The only quintessential pen I own is a Pilot Custom Heritage 91. The class: ratio of quality to cost. Ironically, the pen is inked and ready to go, but I rarely use it.

[Rob G]

Out of six dozen pens or so, the one I always come back to is a black "Bell System" Esterbrook J with an italicized 9668 point. Not too wet, not too dry, and smoother than a well-seasoned skillet.

[hbdk]

Dictionary.com:

1. Of the pure and essential essence of something:

the quintessential Jewish delicatessen.

2. Of or relating to the most perfect embodiment of something:

the quintessential performance of the Brandenburg Concertos.

 

If you take the first meaning, I would say that the couple of German school, piston filler, pens that I have, would be the right answer to the question. They are tools for writing, nothing more, nothing less.

 

The second meaning is more complicated and could relate to some of the luxury pens that many of us like, or the perfect pen in practical terms. Luxury is IMHO rather subjective, depending on your wallet and your taste - I would not know what to put in this category although I have many possible contestants. Talking about usability and stability, I would have to say LAMY Safari or Nemosine Singularity - pens that have never let me down - as opposed to some (a lot) more expensive pens.

[max dog]

 

 

2. Of or relating to the most perfect embodiment of something:

the quintessential performance of the Brandenburg Concertos.

 

 

 

I relate to the 2nd meaning the most when I think "quintessential".

 

If a friend asked me to suggest a good fountain pen, and it would be the one they would keep forever and never buy another one, the one I could recommend wholeheartedly would be the Pelikan M200.

 

I have other higher end Montblancs and Pelikans that I like more and use every day, but the M200 was the fountain pen for me that was the gateway into the enthusiasts pen as I delved into the world of fountain pens. It's not too expensive for one, so I wont feel guilty suggesting it to a friend, its a solid piston filler, looks and feels classy, and nib is smooth and responsive. All the qualities I find in my other higher end pens I've grown to love. Sure my MB 146 sterling solitaire is my grail, find it more comfortable and nicer, but the M200 always finds it's way into my rotation. It's got an italic nib in it today, last week a customized semi-flex, and a regular wet medium nib the week before etc....

 

As my taste and experience in fountain pens grew/matured, many lesser pens ended up stored away unused, but the M200, never. That is why it is for me "the QUINTESSENTIAL fountain pen.

Edited August 5, 2015 by max dog

[gordonhooker]

Lamy 2000 followed very closely by my MB 146. Really starting to like my brand new Pelikan M600 though... it could drop the MB 146 down a notch.

[J85909266]

The Montblanc 149.

[Moynihan]

There was a book i had (given to a young friend starting out in a design education) called, "Quintessence". each page was a product that was picked to exemplify the term's dictionary meaning. If i remember, there were 2 pens in the book, one was the standard Bic, the other a Montblanc 149. One of my pens is the 149' so i pick that one.