What Is Your Favorite Clear/transparent Pen?

[Margana]

Platinum #3776 Century Nice Pur

 

[tgoto]

I have a dozen or so colored SB tranparent pens from Taiwan.

Also have some old Soveit clear colorless pens. And, ofcourse a few dozen piston filled clear local Dollar pens. But I am not so fond of clear/transparent pens.

Forgot to mention an orange transparent Jinhao 992 that I received recently as gift from a FPNer in the UK.

You have many clear pens!

Jinhao looks yummy

[tgoto]

Can't go wrong with FC...

So gorgeous

[tgoto]

I had a bit of a problem with my first Noodler's Konrad with dripping when I first got it (Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses -- that experience taught me what "bleedthrough" meant.... ) but then by the next morning when I refilled the pen the combination was fine. Up until this Charlie pen (and there may be a crack by the threads, but I haven't investigated too fully yet because I haven't had time, the only OTHER inks I'd ever had that sort of dripping from was Iroshihzuku Asa-gao (write a page and the pen -- don't remember what now -- would be fine and then watch a droplet roll down the nib) and Iroshihzuku Fuyu-syogun. Hmmm. Both also possibly with that same first Konrad, it seems (I lost the pen at the Ligonier Highland Games a few months later). But mostly the pen was fine with whatever ink I put in it.

I chalk the issue with this new Charlie to be a combination of "half-empty eyedropper" with "wet drippy ink". I'm going to dump the contents back into the sample vial, flush the pen out, look really carefully for cracks, and then try the ink in a different pen. Say, the Platinum Plaisir, which is a super dry writer....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I did put Iroshizuku Tsukushi and Murasaki-Shikibu in my first Konrad!

Maybe I should try different inks for that pen.

I now have five Iroshizuku inks (the two stated earlier, Take-Sumi, Chiku-Rin and Yama-Budo) and I have no problem with these inks in other pens.

I am going to heat set the Konrad nib and see if the dripping issue goes away...

Edited October 11, 2017 by tgoto

[tgoto]

I bought a Model 02 Antique Glass at a pen show. The pen body material and shape are stunningly beautiful, which is why I bought the pen. However, I've been disappointed while actually using the pen.

 

For such an expensive steel nib pen, I expected a little more refinement. It does not post securely and comes loose from rubbing against my hand while writing. When capping, I have to make a point to close it super tight or the cap may come loose (I've already had one inky mess). Also, I bought mine with a clip, but the clip and nib do not align when capped. While this last one is a very minor issue, it gives me a bad overall impression when coupled with the other issues above.

 

Lately, I've gotten more satisfaction from using my 15-dollar Pilot Kakuno with a clear/transparent body. While the pen is not as good-looking, and the body material feels "cheaper" than the FC, it performs wonderfully while writing and does not have any of the problems above.

I am sorry to hear the unsatisfying experience with FC pen. Maybe you can contact FC for their input on some (if not all) issues you are having.

 

I like Kakuno. I've seen online that some injected a clear resin in the barrel and made it into an eyedropper. Many times you get what you pay for, but there are exceptions

[tgoto]

Platinum #3776 Century Nice Pur

 

 

Nice!

 

What is the ink you have in it?

Looks great with the pen

[Margana]

Nice!

 

What is the ink you have in it?

Looks great with the pen

That's Waterman South Sea Blue. Glad you like it.

[tgoto]

That's Waterman South Sea Blue. Glad you like it.

Thank you for letting me know.

It is a beautiful color!

[inkeverywhere]

At the moment a Chinese cheapie, a Wing Sung 698, an absolute cracker to write with and feels very very comfortable in hand.

 

Some very nice pens mentioned previously by others responding to this topic but this little gem could suprise you.

 

 

Greg

[tgoto]

At the moment a Chinese cheapie, a Wing Sung 698, an absolute cracker to write with and feels very very comfortable in hand.

Some very nice pens mentioned previously by others responding to this topic but this little gem could suprise you.

Greg

Absolutely! Not a clear pen, but one of the Online pen I got at an auction site for $5 writes very well.

It is surprising

[Jebus]

I am lucky to have a Conid Bulkfiller Regular and Kingsize. Both as a demonstrator.

 

I really love them because the filling system is fully exposed and it's nice to see the entire barrel available for ink.

 

I love the somehow industrial and raw point of view of a transparant pen. And there's always something extra to see. Some nice examples in this topic...

[amk]

I have quite a few transparent and translucent pens.

• The Dollar piston filling demonstrator. Cheapies that are great fun to load up, and if you want to do some colour sketching you can afford enough to have a good palette of colours available.
• Pilot Custom Heritage 92. Impressively smooth piston, well made, lovely nib.
• ASA Galactic - a monster of a pen! I have it in the translucent finish.
• Ranga bamboo demonstrator, a big but light pen that is really a beauty.
• Some other Indian pen makers offer transparent or part-transparent eyedroppers - Mohi/Abhay Pens of Aurangabad, Airmail/Wality, Oliver. I have quite a few.
• Pelikan M200 with calligraphy nib) - I quite like this pen but it's not as good as the Pilot. Then of course you have the horrible problem that every year Pelikan taps your wallet for another different colour. But on the other hand there's a really great selection of (steel) nibs, and you can swap in a gold nib from an M400 if you want. (And the nibs are available separately, too.)
• Waterman Kultur - various colours, clear, blue, orange, yellow, red, pink... This is a fantastic pen. I just wish I could get one with a broad nib; they only seem to come in F and M. Still available in French supermarkets for just ten euros. It's cartridge/converter but can be eyedroppered if you can fill the hole in the end of the barrel with epoxy (so I'm told, I haven't tried).
• Sheaffer No-Nonsense translucent blue, red, green. Another dependable cheap pen if you can find a good deal on ebay NOS. The calligraphy nibs are great, As far as I know, there's no completely clear version.
• Senator transparent pink piston filler - this came NOS. Huge fun. Also exists in clear, but I haven't found one.
• Lamy vista. I like the Safari but somehow I've never got on with this pen. The material feels too light and brittle compared to the coloured Safaris' robustness - it hasn't cracked or scratched but it just doesn't feel right to me. And I can't eyedropper it because of the open ink window.
• Pelikano Junior - translucent pens with metal caps, wonderful vivid red, orange, green, purple... Again, you'll have to find these NOS as they are the Pelikano before the most recent model, but they're worth it; really nice pens with great character. Not for you if you have great big hands though. No completely clear version.
• I have both the Vac and aero Kullock Parker 51 demonstrators. The Vac is really fun to use; it's such a kick watching it do its stuff!

And let me give a shout-out to a vintage oddity.

 

• Edacoto Super, a vintage pen with coloured celluloid ends and a reticulated clear barrel and a really, really complicated filling system. It would be a really lovely pen if it wasn't such as b**t**d to repair.

But really my favourites?

 

Platinum 3776 Chartres Blue and Burgundy. I also have the Sai and Nice Pur, which are completelyu clear, but the thing that really turns me on with the blue and red pens is that their colour is so deep and saturated, yet you can still see through them, so they combine the best of both worlds.And they have a really wonderful shine. I wasn't originally at all enamoured of Japanese pens, but these two demos have captivated me.

[calvin_0]

Currently it's my Wing Sung 698 with Kakuno Nib.... I have Lamy Vista but I dont like the deal with the converter and the grip section, I also have Nemosine Singularity which I used as an eyedropper but it burped..

 

and then I discover piston filler, and Wing Sung 698 is my trial run.. and I just love that pen... however that might change soon as I have an Ahab on the way...

 

The main reason I love demostrator is because 1. you can see how everything works.. 2. you can easily see your ink level..

 

[Noihvo]

 

[tgoto]

I am lucky to have a Conid Bulkfiller Regular and Kingsize. Both as a demonstrator.

 

I really love them because the filling system is fully exposed and it's nice to see the entire barrel available for ink.

 

I love the somehow industrial and raw point of view of a transparant pen. And there's always something extra to see. Some nice examples in this topic...

Lucky you!

I like the industrial design of Bulkfiller too

[tgoto]

I have quite a few transparent and translucent pens.

 

Platinum 3776 Chartres Blue and Burgundy. I also have the Sai and Nice Pur, which are completelyu clear, but the thing that really turns me on with the blue and red pens is that their colour is so deep and saturated, yet you can still see through them, so they combine the best of both worlds.And they have a really wonderful shine. I wasn't originally at all enamoured of Japanese pens, but these two demos have captivated me.

Wow! You do have many clear pens!

I haven't been really paying attention to Japanese pens, but Sailor changed my view and I am focusing more on them, Platinum Cools I just got is a nice pen too.

Nice Pur is in my wishlist

[tgoto]

Currently it's my Wing Sung 698 with Kakuno Nib.... I have Lamy Vista but I dont like the deal with the converter and the grip section, I also have Nemosine Singularity which I used as an eyedropper but it burped..

 

and then I discover piston filler, and Wing Sung 698 is my trial run.. and I just love that pen... however that might change soon as I have an Ahab on the way...

 

The main reason I love demostrator is because 1. you can see how everything works.. 2. you can easily see your ink level..

 

Wing Sung with smiley Kakuno nib is a great combination!

[tgoto]

 

For a dollar each, I would anticipate some defects.

It can't be more perfect pen to give out to fountain pen beginners

[inkstainedruth]

For a dollar each, I would anticipate some defects.

It can't be more perfect pen to give out to fountain pen beginners

 

I dunno. It's a piston filler. And you know what that would lead to -- $400 US Pelikans....

Oh, wait, I had a Pelikan before someone gave me a 717i.... Never mind.

(Isn't being an enabler fun?)

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Zookie]

My favorite is always the next one