Suggestions For A New, Typically 'english' Pen As A Present?

[RMN]

Very few companies make all of the pens parts totally in house.

Most often nib and feed are outsourced, and materials like resin, celluloid etc are bought abroad.

So a pen assembled in Britain from outsourced parts could well be called British.

Besides the names of the Italix pens really strike a British chord... Parson's Essential; Captain's Commission; Churchman's Prescriptor

 

These are the only "Britishy" pens I know of that are reasonably cheap.

 

 

D.ick

[Ecriveur]

Yard-O-Led makes gorgeous pens and they're certainly British, but they're not cheap.

[Uncle Red]

I thought Astoria is German?

 

 

D.ick

I meant the Yard O'Led Astoria Model

 

http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/showproduct.php?brand=Yard-O-Led&range=Astoria&cat=pens

[onepuff]

You could try a German pen. After all, the British royal family are basically German.

[Jackson]

You could try a German pen. After all, the British royal family are basically German.

The Hanoverian Curse(-ive)...?

[Ecriveur]

You could try a German pen. After all, the British royal family are basically German.

 

Although the German part is pretty diluted by the time you get to William, to say nothing of the new royal baby.

[Inky Tom]

Are the current Mabie Todd pens any good? FPH has some on sale at half price. I rather like the Astoria blue striped one. Or would the Gramercy be better?

(My apologies to all present if this is out of place)

[Montblanc owner and lover]

a Conway Stewart or a Yard O Led will be fine

[jar]

I thought Astoria is German?

 

 

D.ick

The brand Astoria is German; the model Yard-o-Led Astoria is not.

[Ernst Bitterman]

Are the current Mabie Todd pens any good? FPH has some on sale at half price. I rather like the Astoria blue striped one. Or would the Gramercy be better?

(My apologies to all present if this is out of place)

 

I wasn't hugely impressed by the Swallow I had for a time. Nice roller clip, but otherwise a very standard heavy metal Chinese pen.

 

...of course, some might say the same of the Parson's Essential, which I do like, and I'd be hard-pressed to counter.

[welch]

I would:

 

- think of Onoto, Mabie Todd, or Conway Stewart as the mainline British pens (Onoto moved their factory to Scotland, but the HQ, I believe, was in London). Maybe Burnham which was a strange company making second-tier mass-market pens as well as some top-line pens.

 

- Look for a pen from the '40s or '50s.

 

- Don't worry that you can't afford a current Onoto or Conway Stewart. They are "luxury" pens: great pens, but very expensive.

 

- Don't worry that you have to reach back to about 1950 for a British fountain pen. By 1957, most US pen companies had died off, leaving Parker and Sheaffer, a struggling Esterbrook, and the last third-tier pen companies, such as Wearever, trying to guess whether they could make a profit on cartridge fountain pens or cheap ballpoints.

 

- http://writetime.co.uk/ seems dependable and they have good prices. I just checked: no Onotos, which is reasonable since Onoto tried, in the '50s, to sell hooded piston-filler pens, something of a mix between the Parker 51 and a German pen. Unfortunately, the fountain pen market was dying. Sheaffer and Parker were the biggest of the big global pen companies; they are now brands within a pair of mega-corporations. Neither is made in the US.

[Joe Penmanship]

Are the current Mabie Todd pens any good? FPH has some on sale at half price. I rather like the Astoria blue striped one. Or would the Gramercy be better?

(My apologies to all present if this is out of place)

 

I just returned a Mabie Todd Gramercy that I purchased from FPH. The cap sat loosely on the pen and would spin freely, not to mention it rattled in my pocket. Very poorly constructed!

 

The good folk at FPH took it back no questions asked. I inquired as to if this was a common problem with this particular pen, and apparently it is.

 

Too bad, it was pretty in the catalog.

[demeter]

I 'd recommend going the vintage route. Burnham, Stephen, Wyvern, CS, Mabie Todd etc. Excellent pens, usually with 14kt nibs, often with flex.

 

Agree with Ernst above re: modern day Mabie Todd: heavy metal with no or little warmth.