What Pen Company Do You Recommend?

[NathanGrimaud]

I'm looking to expand my collection, i'm relatively new to fountain pens and as such, would love to hear recommendations and peoples' experiences with particular makes and models. Also, what companies produce really well-made pens?

[sciumbasci]

Price range?

[praxim]

Searching on any named brand here will get a range of views.

[Leonil]

I think it will always depend on your price range.

 

For me, as a newish user too - if you want to spend less than $100ish, Lamy, Pilot and Conklin are great brands and then it just depends on what your preferences are - For example, a Conklin Duragraph was my first ever "expensive" looking pen that was made of resin unlike the plastic safari or metal metropolitans.

 

But since I have been looking at more expensive pens, the brands I have grown to appreciate the most are Visconti, Pilot and Lamy. Again, it depends on what you prefer in a pen and therefore it will guide you to specific brands. For me, I love pilot for their nibs and their reliable name. Same with Lamy, and I love the 2000 piston filler. Then Visconti is a recomended brand for me because I love their designs but not much else - but in the end, these are the brands that speak to me.

 

If you are looking for "reliable" brands, or brands with trustworthy names, then pretty much almost all the FP brands you come across are great.

 

The only brands I personally avoid because of really bad experiences with their modern pens is Parker (The sonnet series is beautiful but I had to return 3 pens in a row due to really bad starting issues) and I also avoid Cross for no reason other than I do not like their designs but nothing really wrong with the brand as far as I know

 

Hope that helps.

[NathanGrimaud]

Price range?

Probably ranging from $0-$170

[NathanGrimaud]

I think it will always depend on your price range.

 

For me, as a newish user too - if you want to spend less than $100ish, Lamy, Pilot and Conklin are great brands and then it just depends on what your preferences are - For example, a Conklin Duragraph was my first ever "expensive" looking pen that was made of resin unlike the plastic safari or metal metropolitans.

 

But since I have been looking at more expensive pens, the brands I have grown to appreciate the most are Visconti, Pilot and Lamy. Again, it depends on what you prefer in a pen and therefore it will guide you to specific brands. For me, I love pilot for their nibs and their reliable name. Same with Lamy, and I love the 2000 piston filler. Then Visconti is a recomended brand for me because I love their designs but not much else - but in the end, these are the brands that speak to me.

 

If you are looking for "reliable" brands, or brands with trustworthy names, then pretty much almost all the FP brands you come across are great.

 

The only brands I personally avoid because of really bad experiences with their modern pens is Parker (The sonnet series is beautiful but I had to return 3 pens in a row due to really bad starting issues) and I also avoid Cross for no reason other than I do not like their designs but nothing really wrong with the brand as far as I know

 

Hope that helps.

Thankyou for your input!

[NathanGrimaud]

Searching on any named brand here will get a range of views.

Yeah, I'm finding that most people say it's really up to personal preference, so I'm going to just pick out some brands that stick out and look at some reviews as everyone seems to have a different opinion on what brands are the go to ones. It's just hard knowing where to even start. Thanks for the reply!

Edited December 29, 2016 by NathG

[Pichak]

Pilot has a lot of nice fountain pens in varies price range that can be suit for newcomer to mid (or high) experience user. Most of Pilot fountain pens are good quality and plesant to write.

 

I myself love Pelikan, there are a lot of models to play with both modern and vintage but it is quite expensive for me.

[voltron]

Pelikan - M200 is a reliable piston filler with smooth, springy nib. Screw-in nib unit makes it easy to replace nibs. The steel nib is as good as gold nibs. Due to interchangeability, it can be upgraded with a gold nib from M400. M400's nib is butter smooth but feels like a nail to me. M200 is also available in cartridge/converter form as P200

 

Lamy- 2000 is a nice piston filler whereas Scala is also a very fine cartridge/converter pen.

 

Faber-Castell - Loom has probably the smoothest nib among all the pens which cost below 50$. Ambition, Basic, eMotion & Ondoro all have nibs similar to Loom so you can pick any based on your likes & dislikes but the performance would remain the same.

 

Kaweco - Sport & AC Sport are very decent pocket sized pens.

 

The views above are based on my personal experience so may differ from others. If you live in Australia, ordering online via Ebay or some well reputed UK/EU online retailer would cost you less, shipping included.

[sandy101]

Cross produce decent pens that come with a good guarantee.

 

I've not had a problem with my Platinum pens or Faber Castell Looms. I found a cheaper F-C school pen when visiting Berlin this summer and I've been impressed by it too, even though the nib isn't as great as the one on the Loom.

 

Diplomat is another brand I've been impressed with. bomb-proof construction, nice nibs and easy to maintain.

[Arkanabar]

I'm going to approach this from front-to-back. There are a lot of reliable and decent pens in the low tiers. But there are some that I think newbies seeking a trouble-free experience should especially avoid.

First, Noodler's. Between three Ahabs, three Nib Creapers, a pair of "Nikita" eyedroppers (that came with an eyedropper bottle of Borealis Black, not Nikita), and a Konrad, I've had three fairly good experiences: two of the Ahabs (with adjustments), and one of the "Nikita" pens. One of the Ahabs never ever flows right. The Konrad dries up in a matter of hours, even when capped. My wife isn't happy with ANY of her Nib Creapers. And the "Nikita" ED that came with a springy, flex-style nib (it doesn't really provide a whole lot of line variation) had a gap at the tip, which was rather nerve-wracking to repair.

Cheap Chinese pens tend to be rather hit-or-miss. Between a ten-pack of Hero 616s, a Baoer 388, two Jinhao 250s, a Jinhao Bulow 750, and a Jinhao 599, I've had a few issues. The Baoer started out unspeakably dry, and I bore down on its nib for a quarter-fill of its converter (maybe 2 pages of writing) before it started to behave itself. The Jinhao 599 was a PIF, and I loaned it to coworkers for days at a time in order to get them hooked on FPs. When I could no longer keep a cartridge or converter in it that wouldn't leak, I retired it. There was also a Duke my wife bought that had a fair number of finish flaws. I don't remember how it writes; it's heavy, and I like my pens light, and I leave my wife's pens alone unless she asks for intervention.

As Japan has long since embraced process-control style quality management and improvement, I generally expect Japanese pens to be reliable, even at the entry level, much like Japanese cars and consumer electronics. This has been my experience with three Platinum Plaisirs and two Pilots (a CM-nib Prera demonstrator and a 78G). Unless your writing is really tiny (e.g., you prefer 0.3mm pencils to 0.5, or you've always needed Bic Accountant Fine stics to keep things legible), I suggest getting a Japanese medium nib. Because their characters are so much more detailed than the Roman alphabet, their fine and medium are about equivalent to our extra-fine and fine.

I only have one Nemosine Singularity (with the 0.6mm stub/calligraphy nib), and its cap lip has cracked from being dropped, the cap band is holding things together. But the pen gets a lot of praise around here, and IMO, it has earned it. I just don't take it to work any more.

[matteob]

Just bought a TWSBI Eco and after a day using it I think it is a great pen and excellent value. I would recommend it as a great everyday writing fool. I don't own high end pens: functionality and durability are what matters for me. Having said that I would also recommend a UK made Parker 25 designed by celebrated UK designer Sir Kenneth Grange. They are still cheap secondhand. A very nicely styled, simple and light stainless steel pen. As a boy I started on a Vector and then graduated to a 25.

Edited December 29, 2016 by matteob

[Ada]

As Praxim and Leonil have said, it depends on personal preference and price range. Assuming you're asking about pens currently being produced (i.e. not discontinued), in that price range I've been most impressed by Pilot. At the lower end of your budget I've had excellent experiences with the Prera (write perfectly out of the box, no leaking or damage from tossing many times into a purse or bookbag without a pen case). At the upper end (or perhaps slightly above, depending on where you're buying it) of your budget I'm very happy with my Custom 74 (also wrote perfectly out of the box, no problems after a year or two of tossing it in a bookbag without a pen case). If you do try a Pilot, do keep in mind Arkanabar's advice on nib width -- the Prera F writes narrower than my Western extra-fine nibs.

[Sasha Royale]

$0 - $170 ? Okay ! Forget the $0 pens. My suggestions --

Current brands : LAMY , Pilot , TWSBI. Bexley.

Vintage : Parker, Waterman, Esterbrook, Sheaffer.

 

LAMY 2000, Bexley Corona, Parker 45, Parker 51, Esterbrook J-series, Waterman Phileas, Waterman Hemisphere.

 

Jinhao x250, Jinhao 500, Jinhao x450, Jinhao 159 are cheap and serviceable.

Chances of getting a bad one are about 10%. Of getting a very good one are about 50%.

[dcwaites]

Ok, you are in Aus.

Over the counter pens will be about twice the price of getting one by mail order, with the exception of a Pilot Prera from Officeworks, or anything from Peters of Kensington.

 

As cheap starter pens, I would recommend either a Jinhao 601 or Jinhao X-750 via eBay. (Avoid the matt black 601, the coating comes off...)

 

When you're ready for a more expensive pen, look at the Pilot Custom 74

Some will recommend the Platinum Century 3776 Slip & Seal pens, and I have a couple, and they are very nice, but I found the nibs not as smooth as my Pilots.

 

The reason I recommend starting with the Chinese pens is that it is a cheap way to find out what size and weight pen you find most comfortable, before shelling out big bucks.

[langere]

Also, don't forget Retro 51. A great brand that has dependable nibs, though the Tornado (other than the EXT) are all just cartridge. Another possibility is Franklin-Christoph. Kind of different pens and some within your price range (I assume).

 

Erick

[matteob]

Jinhao I would recommend too: cheap as chips (less than a Starbucks coffee) and are sturdy and fine writing pens. If you don't like the Chinese nibs they are easily customizable with Bock or Jowo nibs. I would recommend an Indian ebonite pen from ASA such as the Daily or the one on group buy from Ranga with the Schmidt or Jowo 3 in 1 option. These are hand made, light, versatile, strong and have a quality nib unit that can be used with a converter or an eyedropper. I love mine. I also think the TWSBI Eco is a very good pen for the money. So much so that I am not tempted to buy their more expensive models. Also buy 20 dollars worth of Noodlers "Heart of Darkness" ink and you get a lovely little eyedropper pen included. It is compact and has a very nice fine non flex nib. I was not expecting the pen when i opened the box but have been using it a lot. I would avoid bottom end Parkers now. The old Brit and US made ones were great but the latest French made Vectors are rubbish. Kaigelu are another good Chinese pen as are Hero and Wing Sung.

[PAKMAN]

Pelikan would be my recommendation!

[Parker51]

I second getting a Bexley cartridge convertor pen. All current Becley nibs are the same, just in different widths and all are quite good and hand placed, set and checked by Howard Levy, the President of Bexley pens, a long time pen collector and maker. If however you want to buy from a larger organization, get a Pilot at your price point. They are nice pens, but at the price point you are at least hey may be a bit boring. At higher price points they begin to show a bit more style and become quite interesting. Pelikan is a good choice, but it is typically a bit overpriced for what you get, however it is not a lot overpriced and you may find a dealer that will discount. I find Waterman's at your price point as rather uninspired though serviceable. Forget Sheaffer pens, the current owners have not yet decided on what segment they are targeting their new toy at. Parker are either above your price point and overpriced, or at your price point and way overpriced. Cross seems to be confused as far as what they are selling. Some good pens may be floating around which are at your price points, if you can find them, but their better pens are above it and some of what you can more easily find again is uninspired and boring, though not actually bad. Often it is a matter of personal taste in regard to new pens at your price point. My most recent acquisitions are actually Conklins. They are quite attractive and write well. At a higher price point earlier this year I acquired a Montblanc and before it a Bexley self-filler. Now, if you want to talk vintage, well, get a Parker 51.

[Leonil]

Pelikan would be my recommendation!

Unfortunately there is no way to get a Pelikan in Australia for $170 AUD when the plastic M205 sells for about $259 AUD. The M400 sells for around $350 - 400 and the M600 to M800 start at $500 AUD.

 

I would definitely look at Ordering from Peters Of Kensington as their Pelikan range is ok and they have a 2 month payment plan if you are interested in paying in 4 installments for an "out of reach" pen. I personally would never touch an entry level Pelikan, as the level of Quality control is pretty poor for the price you pay. I have literally been in a pen store where a staff member tried to sell a M200 that had banana bend in the body and said it was normal... (But that is only ONE experience I had... my friend's M400 Tortoise is amazing.)