The Ten Best Pens? Really?

[Sgt Bilko]

The Independent, a newspaper a long way below its best, had this list of the "10 best pens" for National Stationery Week.. It's clearly been thrown together by the office junior when someone realised that they had space to fill, because not only are there ballpoints but the pens all look cheap and tacky to me.

 

Nothing wrong with cheap and good so how about your lists of 10 best pens under , say £50. To compare them properly with the Independent, let me specify that they should be modern, and available online or in store.

Edited April 1, 2014 by Sgt Bilko

[MBFan]

'Lol' is all I can write about that article.

 

My top ten:

1) Lamy Safari 1.1 italic

2) TWSBI 580 B

3) Pelikan Future (don't own, but looks great)

4) Noodlers (any, really)

5) Lamy Safari (again, I know )

6) Pilot 78G

 

That's all I got! I can't think of any other under £50 that are commercially available/modern. If we were Including vintage...

 

7) Parker 21

8) Parker 51

9) Eversharp Skyline

10) Lamy Ratio

 

Looking forward to seeing what other pens people suggest...

[Ursus]

Best and below £50 seem to be a contradition.

[mirosc]

What else can one expect from a page where the top ten "pen" list appears alongside the top ten "gym supplements", "sewing machines for beginners", "grooming products", "Game of Thrones gifts for fans", "kids' easter eggs"

[Ursus]

- I mean, with a budget like that, one should consider using wooden pencils (which may not be such a bad choice at all) or simply be looking for a vintage pen on e-bay.

 

- And I agree with anything rude that can possibly be said about that article and it's choice of pens.

Edited April 1, 2014 by Ursus

[death89]

Best and below £50 seem to be a contradition.

 

Oh you!

 

Love my vectors, jotters and frontiers thank you very much! (before anyone says it yes I need to diversify from Parkers a bit!)

 

Favourites under £50:

 

1. Parker 15 Demonstrator

2. Parker 95 Gold Insignia

3. Parker 45 Flighter

4. Parker Vector Italic Fine.

5. Parker Frontier Flighter GT

6. Lamy Safari Charcoal Black

7. Parker Mixy Fine

8. Parker 15 Ballpoint (well the article had ballpoints!)

9. Sheaffer Intensity Ultramarine

10. Parker Classic Flighter GT

[ANM]

Someone told me that were at a Sheaffer warehouse many years ago and there were boxes labeled 'ballpoints'; boxes labeled 'markers' and boxes marked 'pens' He said Sheaffer did not call writing implements that were not fountain pens, PENS because only fountain pens used pens... meaning the writing point is a pen which most people now call nibs.

[richardandtracy]

Under £50, good to superb vfm, and available on line.

1. Kaigelu 316
2. Kaigelu 356
3. Jinhao 159
4. Jinhao 5000
5. Jinhao Century Mk 2
6. Jinhao 3000
7. Hero 329/330
8. Hero 616
9. Duke 209
10. Crocodile 806 Blue Marbled Celluloid pen (it's like a Duofold)

You did say under £15 didn't you?

 

I cannot think of many western pens better vfm than those above, or any better than those for less than £100.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[Sgt Bilko]

I have used a Kaigelu 316 and I must say that it is much better than most UK equivalents. I haven't come up with full list yet but I'd throw in

 

1) Italix Parson's Essential

2) Kaigelu 316

3) Parker Vector

4) Lamy Safari

 

more to follow

[Bo Bo Olson]

New!! That is against my religion.

[BrandonA]

Best and below £50 seem to be a contradition.

I was thinking the same - oxymoron.

 

The article is a joke. I would suggest though that in the price category they are referring to a lot of the best pens available would not be fountain pens. If I were buying iN That price range I'd get me the best possible Parker ball point

[RLTodd]

I was thinking the same - oxymoron.

 

The article is a joke. I would suggest though that in the price category they are referring to a lot of the best pens available would not be fountain pens. If I were buying iN That price range I'd get me the best possible Parker ball point

 

No, when you are getting over $50 you are buying the jewelry.

A lot of people really like jewelry and will pay a great deal for it.

When you cross the $50 line you are no longer buyng a hammer, you are buying a gold plated and diamond encrusted hammer.

 

Same with watches.

 

But it is your money and I am glad no one is hindering your use of it.

[amk]

Ten best cheapies? I can't actually get to ten. Still, I can get to four new pens - Pilot Vpen, Lamy joy/safari, Kaweco sport, Waterman Kultur.

 

Vintage - Parker 45, Parker Slimfold, and (discontinued) Sheaffer No-nonsense. Also the Waterman Forum, a lovely little plastic cheapie in numerous different colourways plus chrome finish, and the old style Pelikano Junior with transparent body and metal cap. Great little pens all of them, but the Parkers head and shoulders above the others.

Edited April 1, 2014 by amk

[Ernst Bitterman]

Well, at the risk of drawing the rage of the moneyed classes (and I'll not go into detail about the factory-original point problems besetting a Montblanc 114P I recently had in my care), I'd say it's quite possible to find best pens in under the stated price. "Best" is after all a comparative and thus even possible even if one asks "Which is the best hemorragic fever?" However, for low-price pens which I will happily use, even in the same letter as some of my "good" pens (like the Sheaffer TM Triumph, Parker 75 Insignia, or Pelikan Souveran) because they actually have pleasant writing performance:

 

1) Pilot MR/Metropolitan/Cocoon

2) Sheaffer 300

3) Faber-Castell Loom

4) Italix Parson's Essential

5) Baoer 388

6) TWSBI Mini

7) Sheaffer VFM (hey, I agreed with that stupid article!)

8) Pelikan Think

9) Platinum Plaisir

10) Pilot Varsity

[Kataphract]

 

No, when you are getting over $50 you are buying the jewelry.

A lot of people really like jewelry and will pay a great deal for it.

When you cross the $50 line you are no longer buyng a hammer, you are buying a gold plated and diamond encrusted hammer.

 

Same with watches.

 

But it is your money and I am glad no one is hindering your use of it.

 

I believe it was 50 pounds, so that's more like somewhere just north of $80, but I agree with your point. At a certain point you aren't buying a better pen so much as a fancier pen. I'm not sure that point is reached at even $100, but it is certainly not an oxymoron to place a limitation on what you mean by "best". For example, mine might be pens that only use lightfast, honest to goodness waterPROOF ink, and not water resistant dye -based ink, without self-destructing. So really, "best" is only a conditional parameter in the first place. Bang for the buck, smoothest, best features, most reliable, ability to use any ink, these all have their place.

 

That being said, it was a silly article.

[Stu L]

My take:

 

1. Pilot 78g

2. Parsons Italix Essential

3. TWSBI 580

4. Kaweco Classic Sport

5. Pilot Metropolitan

6. Faber Castell Basic

7. Platinum PLT-5000

8. Lamy Safari

9. Sailor High Ace Neo

10. Platinum Plaisir

[Montblanc owner and lover]

For the original article remember we are the 1st of April and it's a tradition to make jokes on this date...

[Opooh]

Bic Orange, Cristal & M10.

[donwinn]

 

No, when you are getting over $50 you are buying the jewelry.

A lot of people really like jewelry and will pay a great deal for it.

When you cross the $50 line you are no longer buyng a hammer, you are buying a gold plated and diamond encrusted hammer.

 

Same with watches.

 

But it is your money and I am glad no one is hindering your use of it.

I would differ to disagree about anything over $50 being jewelry. Two of my favorite pens were over $50, and neither is jewelry. My Pilot Falcon/Elabo and Pilot Custom 742 with FA nib, were both well north of $50; however, to duplicate or better the flex on these two with vintage pens would probably cost more than I paid for these. I also have Noodler's flex pens, but there is no comparison in quality of materials and workmanship, and in ability to flex. Most of the pens I own are under $50, and many pens over $50 are more jewelry than pen. Also, most ebonite pens not made in India/Pakistan are over $50, due to the high cost of pen blanks. Add a gold nib, and over $50 is guaranteed, and the pen is more likely to be a fine tool rather than jewelry. I would love to have an ebonite pen with a decent nib for under $50, but that is not readily available from India, unless one is alright with eyedropper filling, which I am not. The cost of parts alone to get an American made ebonite pen with decent nib would likely be nearly $50, not counting any labor in making the pen.

[Abner C. Kemp]

- I mean, with a budget like that, one should consider using wooden pencils (which may not be such a bad choice at all) or simply be looking for a vintage pen on e-bay.

 

- And I agree with anything rude that can possibly be said about that article and it's choice of pens.

 

Sarcasm??

 

Quite a few nice writers can be purchased for under $50….

 

In no particular order..

 

Parker Frontier

Pilot Metropolitan

TWSBI 580/Mini

Hero 100

Lamy Safari/Vista/Al Star

Kaweco Sport

Pilot 78G

Parsons Essential