Your Pen Trajectory

[Chouffleur]

In an effort to look into the future, I thought I'd post my FP history in the hopes that your responses would give me a guide to where my taste will wind up.

 

Year One: Esterbrook LJ/SJ --> Parker (51 (Aerometric),61, 75) -->

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Reform 1745 Eversharp (Skyline, Symphony, Ventura)

 

 

Year Two: Waterman Open Nib versions of the Taperite pens (Canada) --> Sheaffer Touchdown (Fat Sentinel, TM Sentinel, TM Crest) -->

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Waterman 452 Montblanc 227

 

 

Year Three: Pelikan P30/M30 --> Pelikan M60

 

 

Looking forward to your responses

Edited August 7, 2018 by Chouffleur

[pajaro]

Montblanc 144/Classique

Lamy 2000

Sheaffer Touchdown Imperial inlaid nib

Waterman Carene

Older Waterman with flex nib

Parker Duofold

[Bo Bo Olson]

I had a P-75 set bought in '70-71.$22 for the fountain pen, $18 for the MP/BP a cartridge had the pencil. ( A fool and his money...in that was big time money, in the day of $1.60 minimum wage which the lower enlisted were not paid in the draft days.))....I'd been going to the BX to buy a high class $8.00 matt black Cross ball point. A Jotter cost a big $3.75.....was over a black and gold Sheaffer snorkel, when I got mugged by the P-75 brothers.

 

4 decades or so later......

Then an inherited swirled gray Esterbrook, and the Osmia-Faber Castell marbled black, gray, and pearl 540, that started this addiction.

The pens and a few mp's sat at my wife's Aunts house for decades. In the dark of a drawer by us for 15 years.

We were going to go sell at our first flea market. The wife asked what the handful of pens were worth.

I said....after all, all they were were worthless obsolete fountain pens. E5 for the pretty one, E1.00 for the rest.

Wife tasked me with finding out what they were worth!

08:00 I started, by 02:00 I had a pen collection...this was pre-depression though the price is now much the same.

$225 for the P-75 fountain pen, $150 for the bp/mp....but were bought in silver money.

That E5.00 pen..... $250. Thomas/Kaweco would have been so very happy with that E5.00 pen...and with out getting into fountain pens, I'd never met him.

 

I thought it just a wet writer that all wanted........then after six months the 'cork' died.

 

Who could afford new pens....they cost an arm and a leg. A decade ago, all 'noobies' were told to get a pretty Esterbrook or the more expensive Safari. I ended up with 5 of the 8 gray ones, 4-5 blue, a copper and a black one.

 

I slowly went up to a limit of E20, then an expensive E30.

Then came the day I ran into the fabled semi-flex 140 in OB, vintage being 1/2 a width narrower than modern, is a good writers width. As soon as I tested the nib on my thumbnail I knew what all the fuss was all about.

That I swapped a Robert E. Lee pocket knife and case for the 140 and four other nothing special fountain pen.

Got a tortoise 400, that wasn't the '50's semi-flex....then way too ignorant to test the nib.Thinking it was a '50's 400 tortoise overpaid at E80. It was a '90-96 era pen.

I'd gotten my first of three Geha 790's for E19.

 

Wanted a semi-flex 400nn with the BP&MP with etui....the ugly MB 234 1/2 drove up the cost to E170....never did sell the rest to make my 400nn reasonable. I'd never seen nor knew about anything but the 146/9.E170 for the live auction lot....GD MB.

Back then any MB was the most hated pen in the world on this com....and it's inks just as hated.

 

Lambrou's book explained the rare 234 1/2 Deluxe ('52-54) was a sleeker standard sized version of the 139.

One day having all of 20 pens, when I tested balance and nib....The MB 234 1/2 was first, second the Geha 725, third the P-75...semi-nail and 4th, the 400nn.

 

It took me a while to find out the Osmia 540 was semi-flex (actually a maxi) in the first place....took me a lot longer, until I invented the term maxi-semi-flex to find out the steel Supra nibbed Osmia and my 400nn were maxi-semi-flex. Many of the other 400nn's are only semi-flex.

 

With name pens that might have taken at least 4 years.

 

Ah....the very first pen I bought on Ebay was a Waterman Graduate....in Waterman had a good name....for @ E15.....but it was chrome and such a fingerprint trap....I think I got E13 for it....and was glad to get rid of the fingerprint trap. Polish, hold, write a few words, polish the irritating finger prints, write two words...polish.

[XYZZY]

I like reading these for the same reason as the OP. Although for now all I can say is...

 

Month One: Pilot Kakuno (seriously, the nib has a smiley face with tongue)

[Bo Bo Olson]

One must start somewhere, as long as you breath, there is no end in sight.

I will of course insist my pen collection, paper and inks be buried with me in my pyramid...along with my bowling ball.

[PotatoJesus]

I've also been in to fountain pens for 3 years

Year one: Jinhao x450 -> Sheaffer Calligraphy pen -> Noodlers konrad -> Pilot metropolitan

 

Year two: Twsbi Eco-> Brass Kaweco Sport -> Lamy 2000 -> Pelikan M600 -> Pelikan M800 -> Pilot VP

 

Year three: Montblanc 146 -> Visconti Homosapiens -> Pelikan M1000

 

Along the journey I usually kept to a two or three pen rotation, selling off the pens that I dont like as much. Right now I only have the HS and the M1000

Edited August 10, 2018 by PotatoJesus

[Honeybadgers]

I am so damn eclectic, everything from a mont blanc 149 to a visconti homo sapiens to the lamy cp1 to parker vacumatics and platinum preppies and all things chinese.

 

Good luck predicting my next buy.

[bbs]

I am so damn eclectic, everything from a mont blanc 149 to a visconti homo sapiens to the lamy cp1 to parker vacumatics and platinum preppies and all things chinese.

 

Good luck predicting my next buy.

Me too! There are times when I want a cheap pen that either won't get damaged or if it does I can replace it easily, there are times when I want to use a particular nib and there are times when I want to use a pen that just pleases me by its design or colours.

 

So I have many pens and the trajectory is not linear. Or ended!

[catbert]

Year 1:

pens I had at school but lost or broke

pens that get recommended a lot around here

50s-60s Italian pens

Noodler’s

Year 2:

calligraphy and technical pens

Italian school pens

Japanese starter pens

Esterbrook

Year 3:

90s? Chinese pens

50s-60s Italian and German pens

broader nibs

Year 4:

60s-70s Pelikan

70s Waterman

ballpoints

recent Chinese pens

Pelikan starter pens

Going through a two-digit Pelikans phase at the moment, like the OP.

I see the trajectory as exploring different aspects of an 'ideal' pen shaped by an evolving set of preferences. One possible next step, if not an end point, would be a custom pen — not so much a culmination as a way to sum up the journey so far.

General prediction for the OP: you are more likely to know what you want when you see it, and more likely to like what you get.

[Shannon]

I started with a Waterman Expert (rec'd as a gift), then a Cross Townsend (another gift), then all hell broke loose! My collection went wild and crazy. I purchased everything that was pretty and shiny. I slowly started to find qualities that I like and I've been narrowing my collection down for the last ten years or so.

 

I haven't necessarily started buying more expensive pens but more pens that I like enough to have a choice of perfect daily carries.

[Driften]

I am so damn eclectic, everything from a mont blanc 149 to a visconti homo sapiens to the lamy cp1 to parker vacumatics and platinum preppies and all things chinese.

 

Good luck predicting my next buy.

 

 

I agree I am very eclectic jumping around in what I buy. I am trying to move more up in price, but I expect I will buy a TWSBI Go when it comes out for the fun of it. I tend to prefer piston fillers but my last four pens were C/C Viscontis. So anything is possible. I think part of it depends on available pen money at the time.

[mana]

Start... no name "Iridium Point Germany" pen that my older brother gave me mid 90s as a Christmas present. Then I got a Parker Sonnet from my younger brother and parents for my 30th birthday. Started to get really bitten by the FP bug by this point. Started collecting rOtring Art Pens at this point too...

This was followed with a several year long love affair with rOtring 600 FPs (I had bought several MPs during my time in school ten years previous). I really went after them for their looks, that whole industrial design aesthetic. Their nibs were smooth but stiff and the converters made them finicky to maintain... so, something was missing.

As I wrote more and more, and more pens, mainly vintage ones, found their way to my hands I started finding out bit by bit what actually mattered to me personally. Dabbling with vintage flex nibs was of course one of the phases, as were Parker Vacumatics (still hung up on aesthetics...). Have a few vintage Waterman's etc. that I would need to restore also, great nibs on those.

Then... I got my hands on my first vintage Pelikans about ten years ago, first a 400NN FP & MP combo that I got for want of flex. That nib was a bit boring M though and the hunt went on... this was followed by the first post war 100N (this was a real Heureka! moment for me), more of them soon followed...

At around six years ago I bought my first Parker 51 Aerometric (found in the wild) and that was another one of those "Gee, now I know why people rave about these pens" kind of a moment. More of those soon followed also. I have also bought a number of other pens from local flea markets (both on and offline) just to try them out. These include among others vintage Lamy (Panther, 99 & 2000), more Parker Sonnets and a bunch of other pens.

The pens that have stayed with me are the workhorses, post WWII Pelikan 100N/101N, 400/N/NN, 140 and Parker 51 Aerometrics which I both collect, restore and also use as my EDC pens. Those are real treats, my "affordable luxuries". In a sense I would not need to buy different types or models of pens in my lifetime.

On buying pens... yeah, if I find bargains then I do buy other pens too but I do mostly stick to the ones I know I actually want and love. Of course this is helped by the fact that I have had my share of real lemons so I have paid my dues. A jar of those and then some are a testament to that. Also, a box of pens that has accumulated during the last ten or so years which I intend to sell is one of my reality checks also. As in, haven't sold any. I've given away many pens though.

Edited August 12, 2018 by mana

[TheDutchGuy]

I started with a Kaweco AL Sport in faded blue. Still my #1 pen, have it on me all the time. From there on I've acquired about 25 pens, ranging from a 3 Platinum Preppy to a 20 Pilot Metropolitan to a 100 Kaweco Supra Brass to a 200 Visconti van Gogh to a 350 Montblanc 146. Never went above that price point and I doubt that I ever will. Of those 25 pens, about 10 were sold off again at some point because they didn't suit me, so currently I have about 15 and I'm not really looking to expand on that. The fun for me is writing, not collecting.

 

Three important lessons learned were:

(1) That some cheaper pens (such as the Metropolitan and the Plaisir) are *fantastically* good, and not just for the price.

(2) That I use those cheaper pens only occasionally despite their very high quality. Writing is like wine or whisky; you get 80% of the fun for 20% of the price, but the real fun is in the extra 20% and for that you'll have to pay 80% more. So I stopped buying cheaper pens.

(3) That having more pens does not necessarily lead to more pleasure, only to more option anxiety (which one to carry with you, which one to ink, etc).

 

Currently I'm on a plateau and there's not much on my wishlist. I use my pens and they give me pleasure. That's not a bad place to be in.

Edited August 13, 2018 by TheDutchGuy

[Bexinthecity247]

Year one - pilot V disposable fountain pens

a cheap Red thing (that wrote beautifully actually!)

First Lamy Safari (given to me)

Parker vector (also given to me)

 

Year two - Lamy Safari (I bought this one),

Parker (can't remember the name but it's pink and heavy and horrible),

Parker Frontier

 

Year three - Montblanc 146, 149 and 14

Conway Stewart 475 and 84

Swan Blackbird and 1 S-F (I think)

 

Next I want an Aurora 88k and to get some kind of Pelikan.

 

I should point out that as I have progressed, I have become increasingly more interested in vintage pens and tend to overlook newer ones (rightly or wrongly).

Edited August 13, 2018 by Bexinthecity247

[putteringpenman]

Year 1

 

Pilot Varsity (M)

Pilot Metropolitan (F)

 

Year 3

 

TWSBI Diamond Mini AL (F)

Noodler's Ahab (Flex)

Monteverde Invinsia Deluxe (M)

 

Year 4

 

Platinum PTL-5000a (F)

Pilot Metropolitan (M)

Nemosine Singularity (M)

Pilot Custom 823 (M)

[BillH]

From Sheaffer School Pens in the early '60's, then Parker 45's, then I pulled a frankenPelikan off the 'bay... hooked in spite of myself. Now it is mostly Pelikans and Montblancs, with a small collection of Parker 51's for variety.

[senzen]

Phase 1: Try with available pens, like a Parker Vector; too thin, painfully uncomfortable, couldn't understand my own handwriting.

 

Phase 2: Give fountain pens another try, but with zero patience, ended up mangling nibs.

 

Phase 3: "Hey these inks look nice"... 7 Lamy Vistas, 4 Mujis, revive the 2 Sonnets, use the old m600 and Le Man 100... 1 Penmansihip, 1 Ambition, 3 Studios, 1 Metropolitan, 2 m205...

 

So it's a lot more about inks for me, and whichever comfortable and good looking pens make them come out nice. I'm ecstatic Ama Iro finally found its pen, an EF Studio. Not having more desirable inks is really putting the breaks on more pens, there was nice Pelikan 120 on ebay yesterday, I let it go...

[pajaro]

I think you buy what comes to your attention. You read a blurb about a pen, or one is advertised, or you are offered one, or you see it on ebay or you go to an antique store, flea market or yard sale . . .and so it goes.

[johnboz]

I was fortunate enough to start out with some pretty nice family pens (MB 149, Eversharp Doric, Parker 51 and Parker Vac), so it's all been downhill from there.

 

I don't really have a current trajectory, but I am attending the SF and CO pen shows, so the end of this year might see a sudden uptick in pens, although I have no idea what they might be.

[inkstainedruth]

Year zero minus [N] to year zero: a couple of cheap Parker cartridge pens (I think they were the Parker Reflex model -- they were the ones with the rubberized grip).

Year zero: Upgraded to a Parker Vector.

Year about three (2012): Left the pen and the then current journal (I was only using the pen for journaling at that point) at my brother-in-law's house and didn't get them back for a month. Eventually also bought a Parker Urban in the process, but never really liked it. In the process of trying to get another Vector I eventually found my way here....

Ended up also buying some inexpensive (<$25 US) pens -- a Platinum Plaisir, some $5 Chinese pens, and a couple of vintage pens found in the wild (an Esterbrook J with a 1555 nib and a Parker 45 with a a 14K M nib).

Year four (2013): Major shopping sprees but still nothing really over $100. Lots of Esties (they were cheap on eBay) and a bunch of Parkers, including a couple of 51s, plus some Noodler's Konrads and FPCs. A grail pen achieved: Plum Demi 51 Aero (user grade so a decent price )

Year five (2014): Special event splurge of a 1990s era Pelikan M400 Brown Tortoise (husband freaking at the price) but also a bunch of way less expensive pens, including more Esties and Parker Vectors. Mostly going vintage and semi-vintage at this point, including a few Sheaffer Snorkels.

Year six (2015): "This is the year I'm cutting back...." Or not. Too many great deals, including the sumgai find of a Parker 41 in a shoebox full of mostly BPs at an estate sale. And was the high bidder at the PCA auction at DCSS on a really lovely Parker Vac Red Shadow Wave in working condition, and a Sheaffer Snorkel with a semi-flex Pallium Silver Triumph stub nib (which four different people tried to buy off me a couple of summers ago in the space of about a day and a half.... Guys! STILL not for sale, so quit trying! )

Year seven (2016): "This is the year I'm REALLY cutting back...." Only not so much. Finally snagged an Emerald Pearl Vac, and also a Green Shadow Wave. And a bunch more fun colors of Vectors, and a couple more Sheaffer Snorkels, plus my first Lamy (Dark Lilac -- because purple). But I was also gifted several pens, including my husband's grandfather's Sheaffer Balance Oversize (sans cap -- it had the cap from my mother-in-law's Eversharp Skyline jammed onto it instead; I keep hoping that the rest of the Skyline will turn up in her house at some point).

Year eight (2017): Once in a lifetime shopping budget: two Pelikan M405s (and a phone call from Paypal verifying the transaction : "Why yes, yes that is a legitimate charge, thank you for calling...." And my first TWSBI (580-AL with the pink trim. Also finally got my hands on a Midnight Blue 51 Aero (who would have thought that it would be a harder color -- and slightly more expensive, than the Plummer? ) But also some good deals, including a Parker Parkette now sporting the 14 C music nib harvested from a no-name lever filler I found in a place in Corry, PA. And a Cross Verve I found for a buck in a thrift store specializing in arts and crafts supplies.

Year nine (2018): Actually cut back on purchases this year.... The big purchases: a Noodler's Boston Safety Pen, and a Pilot Decimo with the EF nib assembly swapped for the F nib from a Vanishing Point I picked up used and gave to my husband (which of course he hasn't been using, so this weekend I need to stand over him to at least flush the pen out.... ). But also a Lamy LX (closeout from their old US distributor made it cheaper than my Safari!) and a couple of Parkers found in the wild (black Parkette hiding in an Esterbrook box in an antiques mall, and a black Laidtone Duofold at an estate sale last spring). Plus, one of the re-issued French-made Vectors (because purple, and also because yinz know I just love me my Vectors.....

 

Uh, trajectory? What's that? My pen shopping tends towards "Oh, I liked that one, let me get another in a different color/with a different nib" and "Too good a deal to pass up!" and "Ooh, shiny....." And "Ooh, shiny..." is all over the map....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

R