What Pen In Your Collection Have You Used The Longest?

[joshua.andrews59]

I have always been amazed that fountain pens can stand the test of time and abuse. My Pilot metropolitan was my first fountain pen to start with and have had it for a year and it's like brand new and sure it will last many more years.

 

What are some of the pens you have that you've used through the years?

[Morphling27]

Despite my deep love/hate relationship with Lamy, the basic charcoal one i have in a B nib, gets used with regularity. It's at least... not nearly as scratchy as the rest of the Lamy pens I own or have used and it provides a strangely very predictable line with almost any ink I've used in it.

[ac12]

Parker 45 and 51.

2 of the 45s took me thru under grad and grad school.

 

I like the Parker flighter finish, as the stainless steel resists scratching that would mar a laquer coated pen.

Actually I do NOT like laquer coated pens for that reason, easily scratched/chipped, and the scratch/chip is visible.

Edited June 29, 2016 by ac12

[joshua.andrews59]

Despite my deep love/hate relationship with Lamy, the basic charcoal one i have in a B nib, gets used with regularity. It's at least... not nearly as scratchy as the rest of the Lamy pens I own or have used and it provides a strangely very predictable line with almost any ink I've used in it.

 

Your other Lamy's are scratchy?

 

Yeah I feel those Safari's/Al-Stars are pretty solid, knock-a-round pens.

[joshua.andrews59]

Parker 45 and 51.

2 of the 45s took me thru under grad and grad school.

 

I like the Parker flighter finish, as the stainless steel resists scratching that would mar a laquer coated pen.

Actually I do NOT like laquer coated pens for that reason, easily scratched/chipped, and the scratch/chip is visible.

The old Parkers have a solid reputation, I would like to pick one up, but they run a little high now.

 

I share the same sentiment about lacquer coated pens.

[praxim]

This is easy: Waterman Expert II.

 

If I stop using it entirely then it will still take any other pen eighteen years to catch up!

 

 

Adding: no chips, no evident scratches either.

Edited June 29, 2016 by praxim

[joshua.andrews59]

This is easy: Waterman Expert II.

 

If I stop using it entirely then it will still take any other pen eighteen years to catch up!

 

 

Adding: no chips, no evident scratches either.

 

wow! 18 years and counting, very impressive. Might I ask how you maintained the condition since you said there are no chips or scratches?

[dasXFnib]

My Pilot Custom Original (Black) with EF nib.....it's my daily writer for my journal/log....my fav for ED use from my collection of 49 FP's....

Kinda like a Glock pistol....not much in the LOOKS dept. -- but.....IT JUST WORKS --- WELL!!

 

Always try to get the dibs....on fountain pens with EF nibs!!

[zaddick]

I turn over pens often, so my longest keeper is now a MB Kafka from 2004. Not long in the grand scheme of things. I have much older pens I use but I have not had them as long as the Kafka.

 

The Kafka has been out of rotation for a while but I will never sell it as it has special meaning to me.

[fplover01]

I had used my good old Pelikan M200 from about 2007 till I sold it in 2014.

Edited June 29, 2016 by fplover01

[Jerome Tarshis]

The Parker 51 that Parker gave me in 1985 when I was writing a magazine article about what turns out to be my favorite pen. But that comes to only 31 years.

 

That pen replaced one I was given for my birthday in 1949; I used it for 36 years before I lost it. I undertook to write the article as an act of magic-making, and to my happy surprise the magic worked. My plan was to buy another 51 with part of the money I'd be paid for the article.

 

During an earlier and more congenial period of American business life, I shouldn't have been surprised that Parker sent me not only half a ream of photocopies, for my research, but an example of The Pen itself.

[praxim]

wow! 18 years and counting, very impressive. Might I ask how you maintained the condition since you said there are no chips or scratches?

I went back to check the pen to make sure I was not talking through my hat. It has micro-scratches of course, and they dull the appearance but it still looks like a black lacquered pen. There are no actual chips nor scratches other than micro.

 

Basically, the pen has had only three places of existence.

1. In a coat or shirt pocket in which nothing else hard is ever permitted.

2. On a desk lined up on its own or with the ballpoint or pencil, neatly back from the work area (not to the side).

3. In the original case.

 

Editing to add: and my fingers are not scratchy

Edited June 29, 2016 by praxim

[mitto]

Parker 45 and Sheaffer triumph 440. Using them since early 70s.

[catbert]

A used Parker 75 that my uncle got for me in the late 70s. The barrel has a few dings (not all my doing) and the section threads are stripped (that's on me) but it polishes up beautifully and is still one of my favourites.

[sandy101]

Tombow Object Fountain pen - had it for nearly ten years now. The nib is smoother as the tip has worn to suit my hand now. The paint/colouration has started to fade due to it scratching against stuff in pockets and backpacks.

[jar]

Probably my grandfather's Sheaffer Balance.

 

http://www.fototime.com/58A8DB926C0C2A0/medium800.jpg

It's certainly not the oldest fountain pen I own and use by at least a quarter century but it's likely the one I've owned the longest. I also have some I bought new while Ike was still president which might be the oldest I have that I also bought new; several Sheaffer "Cartridge" pens, AkA School Pens. One is the clear plastic version. My Conklin Crescent 2NL is probably the oldest pen in my accumulation that still gets used on occasion.

 

http://www.fototime.com/EE01FC2CD9F2C61/large.jpg

[BillZ]

My late wife gave me a pair of Starwalkers for my 62nd birthday in 2007. Fp and roller. They are still used on a semi-daily basis. I know that 9 years isn't long

but this gift reignited my love of FPs. I have my father's 1937 Balance but only for a couple of years.

[ink-syringe]

I have a Sheaffer School pen from the mid/late 1980s that I am the only owner/user of. Still works fine. I have a Pilot penmanship from not too long after that that is also good to go.

[orfew]

I have used my MB 147 for over 15 years.

[Dragonmaster Lou]

A Jinhao x750, which was my first real fountain pen, though I've only had it for about a year or so. The paint is peeling off of it, but the heavy brass does make it feel like a tank in durability, even with cosmetic blemishes.