$5000 Cash To Spend - Which Pen?

[invisiblehats]

$Well, if I could spend the $5000 on anything I'd get the Lamy 2000 and use the nearly $4900 leftover on tuition.

 

If it had to be one of the pens? Um, I'd do what another poster said and get a pen worth as close to $5000 as possible, and then turn around and sell it for as much as I can.

 

I like fountain pens, but not enough to spend that much while I have school.

[Salerno_AFG]

Inspired by the one off pens in the "Gaudy" category, I give you the Penscapes Steampunk Viking Skull

 

http://penopoly.com/wp-content/uploads/DSC0801.jpg

[georges zaslavsky]

Inspired by the one off pens in the "Gaudy" category, I give you the Penscapes Steampunk Viking Skull

 

http://penopoly.com/wp-content/uploads/DSC0801.jpg

this belongs to the horror museum

[Squire]

I am a simple man. I think I'd gravitate towards the Montegrappa 1930 Extra as well as 2 or 3 of the nicer Nakaya's like the Dorsal 2...Maybe a Danitrio as well.

[inkstainedruth]

If I had that much spare cash but only could buy one pen, it would be a Yard-o-Led Viceroy Victorian with an 18K nib. And a whole lot of ink.... maybe a case or three (!) of 1/2 gallon bottles of Kung Te Cheng :roflmho:

If I was allowed to buy *two* pens, I'd also pick up a fully restored Parker 51 in plum. And I'd still be able to buy a whole lot of ink....

Seriously, though, I really can't imagine spending that much money on a single pen -- I'd be too worried about losing it or it getting stolen or something. Especially given what an emotional wreck I've been about losing *inexpensive* pens, being my first Noodler's Konrad, and -- just before Christmas -- my trusty $9 Parker Vector firehose of a F nib, which was my go-to pen for iron gall inks. I keep hoping that the Vector will turn up in the house at some point and that I just misplaced it; whereas, I know the Konrad is just gone....

And a lot of the pix posted in this thread so far have been for pens that my only response is "Why?" Because a lot of the "gaudy" ones are, IMO, hideous and about as non-

functional/non-ergonomic for the purpose of being used as actual writing implements as you can get. And while the Nakayas don't fall into this category (they're wonderfully beautiful), I'd worry about what sort of adverse reaction to urushi I'd encounter. This is also known as urushol oil/poison ivy = bad allergic reaction = 2 months' worth of massive amounts of extra laundry + LOTS of prednisone (the last time it went systemic on me I had two courses of the stuff, after a completely useless course of prednisolone prescribed at the ER; the *first* bout of real prednisone only suppressed the symptoms temporarily, and it took a second run -- starting with *five* pills a day -- to knock it out completely).

Plus, I'm a complete cheapskate. I'm not certain I could actually bring myself to spend that much on a pen as to be the equivalent of about 2-1/2 mortgage payments....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[vibin247]

Definitely a Nakaya, and a trip to Japan, which would of course involve a tour of the Nakaya factory!

[Aysedasi]

For the newbies like myself I'll spare you some of the research

 

Nakiya - http://www.nakaya.org/en/introgallery.aspx

 

http://www.nakaya.org/products/IMAGES/BODY/11029(2).jpg

 

 

Damn - that's beautiful.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Well, okay. If someone FORCED five thousand clams into my hand, and put a gun to my head and said, 'Buy or die!' I would order a Hakase and a plane ticket to watch them make it.

[AltecGreen]

 

I shudder to think how heavy that must be to write with.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth[/font]

'

The pen is very well made. The rivets and screws are a bit annoying on the hands. Yes, I've handled this pen. It is not as heavy as you might think. The Pelikan Lighthouse of Alexandria and the Stipula Bernini are far heavier.

[Eyedoc]

Pelikan limited edition- take your pick. Then of course no matter which one you choose you will need to get the rest of the series and then you will have a bit of a problem...

[AltecGreen]

In all of this discussion, none of the pens mentioned are vintage. Weird?

[H.M. Murdock]

I would score a Mont Blanc Hemingway as cheap as I could get it, then blow the rest on a wet noodle custom nib and appropriate feed adjustments as required.

[AltecGreen]

I would score a Mont Blanc Hemingway as cheap as I could get it, then blow the rest on a wet noodle custom nib and appropriate feed adjustments as required.

 

 

The Hemingways are off their highs from a year to year and a half ago. Now's the time to strike.

[ParkerNT]

I would have to scrape up the additional $600 and get a David Oscarson Black Water Dragon in translucent ruby red..

http://www.davidoscarson.com/

 

Or... a Greyson Tighe Gibeon Meteorite

http://www.tighepen.com/GibeonMeteorite.html

 

The Tighe pen is definately made of a precious metal and is more understated and clasic, but for sheer beauty, the Black Water Dragon is the bee's knees

 

ParkerNT

[rhall_8]

I would probably get the Visconti Amerigo Vespucci pen:

http://www.airlineintl.com/files/16/products16852.jpg

 

and a Homo Sapiens with the extra.

 

Then I would take out a loan for an extra 5k because I really wanted the submarine pen too. Don't think that would go over too well at home though.

[tomgartin]

In all of this discussion, none of the pens mentioned are vintage. Weird?

 

Okay, okay... I want Winston Churchill's pen. Not the CS Churchill model. The actual pen that was used to sign legal documents related to the survival of the free world and the fall of the Third Reich.

Would 3,156 GBP (= USD 5000) cover that?

[AltecGreen]

In all of this discussion, none of the pens mentioned are vintage. Weird?

 

Okay, okay... I want Winston Churchill's pen. Not the CS Churchill model. The actual pen that was used to sign legal documents related to the survival of the free world and the fall of the Third Reich.

Would 3,156 GBP (= USD 5000) cover that?

 

Which pen?

Edited January 23, 2013 by AltecGreen

[tomgartin]

In all of this discussion, none of the pens mentioned are vintage. Weird?

 

Okay, okay... I want Winston Churchill's pen. Not the CS Churchill model. The actual pen that was used to sign legal documents related to the survival of the free world and the fall of the Third Reich.

Would 3,156 GBP (= USD 5000) cover that?

No

 

Okay, then give me a couple of Duofolds, a MB 139, and a bag of Esties with whatever the change is. But I'm totally oblivious to vintage pens. What would you recommend besides these (rather obvious) choices?

[inkstainedruth]

I would have to scrape up the additional $600 and get a David Oscarson Black Water Dragon in translucent ruby red..

http://www.davidoscarson.com/

 

Or... a Greyson Tighe Gibeon Meteorite

http://www.tighepen.com/GibeonMeteorite.html

 

The Tighe pen is definately made of a precious metal and is more understated and clasic, but for sheer beauty, the Black Water Dragon is the bee's knees

 

ParkerNT

 

Not entirely sure I'd agree with you there. The Tighe pen is, IMO, more attractive. I think the dragon on the cap is just a bit "over the top" for my taste (otherwise, they are lovely looking pens, though). Definitely less bling-y than *some* of the pens I've seen in this thread.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[AltecGreen]

In all of this discussion, none of the pens mentioned are vintage. Weird?

 

Okay, okay... I want Winston Churchill's pen. Not the CS Churchill model. The actual pen that was used to sign legal documents related to the survival of the free world and the fall of the Third Reich.

Would 3,156 GBP (= USD 5000) cover that?

No

 

Okay, then give me a couple of Duofolds, a MB 139, and a bag of Esties with whatever the change is. But I'm totally oblivious to vintage pens. What would you recommend besides these (rather obvious) choices?

 

 

Depends on one's interest.

 

 

 

There are interesting choices across all vintage brands as per this topic.

 

For Parker, consider a Parker Imperial Coronet. This pregnant Parker is up for auction right now. A Parker Ultra Giant. More obvious choices would be an Aztec or a Snake. Of course, there are Parkers like the ones we had at this Pen Posse.

 

Some of the big Watermans and Waterman overlays are interesting. Consider this Waterman #20.

 

 

For Italian pens, a first gen Omas Extra Lucens, an Omas 352, a Tibaldi Trasparente Polygonale, Aurora Ethiopia in a non white color.

 

Pretty much any vintage Namiki Dunhill maki-e pens. The early ones by the original six can fetch 6 figures at auction. Many other vintage Maki-e pens by a well known artist. For Platinum, consider pens by Rosui.

 

Many of the early MB pens are up there in price.

 

These are just some off the top of my heads. The vintage world is full of inexpensive pens but it is also full of rare pens that make many of the modern pens (like many listed above) seem affordable.