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Can You Have Beauty And A Good Writer Too?


julialee23

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I second the advice about working with a nibmeister before you plunk down money on a pen that is more costly than you typically purchase.

 

I doubt you could switch out a MB nib into a Nakaya.

 

I have one Nakaya and one Platinum (same nib company) and the writing experience with both has been superb. I also have less expensive pens and the writing experience has also been superb. The key, I think, once you venture into hundreds of dollars or more is to find a pen that is esthetically pleasing to view and hold in the hand and that has the nib qualities you desire.

 

So for me, I enjoy writing with both the Nakaya and the Platinum in some measure not because of how the nib works, but also the pleasure of looking at the pen (to me it's portable and functional art). Then the extra cost is acceptable to me. YMMV....

Not all those who wander are lost. J.R.R.Tolkien

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So for me, I enjoy writing with both the Nakaya and the Platinum in some measure not because of how the nib works, but also the pleasure of looking at the pen (to me it's portable and functional art). Then the extra cost is acceptable to me. YMMV....

I love the idea that you take pleasure in the beauty of the pen as if it was a piece of art. I can get down with that. There is one pen that I almost choked over I thought it was so lovely....but in order to enjoy it I must use it and so it must write well. Per advice from you all, I will now hunt it down and take it for a test drive. I half hope it is a clunker to write with, because if not, I will be hopelessly chasing down the money to pay for it! The carved jade clip is simply yummy!

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I have BCHR....black chased hard rubber, pens that write ever so well, in semi-flex and 'flexi'/maxi-semi-flex. They are pretty.

I find my Geha 725 black and gold to be one of the classiest pens ever made. It has an inlaid nib, rolled gold trim; two disks for jewels, and a couple of lines on the clip make it so elegant. It is a semi-flex F....one of my three perfectly balanced pens(each so different).

 

I have a lot of black and gold pens, some are not pretty but write ever so well like a Geha 790.

 

Pelikans are pretty in green stripe or tortoise. I chase vintage and '90's semi-vintage.

 

I have some very pretty semi-flex German second tier pens. They write well.

 

Depends much of what you want in your nib to what you think is good writing....some folks will do any thing for butter smooth. I have three butter smooth pens....that don't do much else, so are seldom used. I want a bit of lively; smooth ride vs butter smooth.

 

Balance....I find many of the medium-small like the Pelikan 140, Geha 760 or a Kawecko Dia; standard sized pens; Esterbrook, 200/400 Pelikan, P-75 and many other vintage pens, or medium-large pens like a 400NN/600, a P-51 are balanced when posted.

Yet many who grew up with modern Large and Over-sized sized pens refuse to post Standard/medium-long sized pens as designed and claim they are too small and ill balanced.

 

Balance, girth, length and nib width&flex are more important than bling...when writing alone.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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I am just dipping my toes into the wide ocean of fountain pen collecting and I see that it can easily become an obsession. Up to now, I have made my selection based on looks...and price... and have been mostly lucky with the results once I put pen to paper. Now I am venturing further into the deep where the expensive pens live, but being a practical person, I would hate to spend money on something that writes like doo doo and I know that $$$ don't necessarily mean the pens write well. Aside from tweaks and adjustments that are sometimes necessary, are there any pens out there that are pretty, pricey but poor writers? Or put in a more positive way, what pens are true beauties, regardless of the price and write like a dream?

 

And yes, i know that price and beauty and probably even quality are subjective. I trust that most of you have a fairly common understanding of these elements but please feel free to explain your position! and Thanks!!

Yes you can have a functional and yet beautiful pen. I purchased a hand painted fountain pen for my wife, which had a feminine motif. She uses the pen daily, it writes well, and is pleasing to the eye. I have several pens which I consider to be good looking but also good writers. My philosophy is to buy a pen that writes well and looks good.

The education of a man is never complete until he dies. Gen. Robert E. Lee

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Well, I don't know, for me the beauty is in the weigth and wetness, take the Esterbrooks for example, they are light almost with no heaviness and the fluidity of ink unmistakingly good in all its nibs or at least in the nibs I have. If you are new to this aficion don't go for what we call blinginess and read all forums in fpn before you buy

some reasonable stuff.

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the 'beauties' i am always reaching for is the 146, the homo sapiens and the m800. does the beauty of the lamy 2000 or the TWSBI rose gold with binderised nib are also used just as often.

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I have a Stipula Lapis Blue Castoni with a Titanium nib-- out of over 500 pens in my collection - I believe this is number one for beauty and one of my best writers

 

My MB 149 is handsome and a great writer but i can't call it a great beauty

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I don't even take the chance on getting a poor writer. As a rule I buy all my pens from places that offer one of the following.

A local place where I can test drive the pen ( fph)

On site nib master ( nibs.com)

Close ties with a nib master ( Bryant)

 

By testing out every pen or having every pen adjusted by someone that I've worked with in the past . I avoid the possibility of getting a pen I like the writes poorly.

 

Not for everyone but it works well for me

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