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What Is Your Favorite Pen? <$200


Purphoros

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Hey everyone!

I'm looking to moving up in the pen world to a nicer pen but I don't really know what I want. Right now though, I crave some perspective on what the FPN community likes best.

 

If you would like to, please:

  • Post a comment about your favorite sub $200 pen
  • Post a few reasons why you like the pen
  • Post what you have it inked with

Thanks!

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My Pelikan M120 Iconic Blue is a favorite <$200 and I got at <$150 + a free $40 leather case thrown in from Cult Pens. It is my first and only 'pocket pen' and it has an amazing writing steel nib. It also has a piston filler with a very large ink reservoir. On one hand it feels a bit plain and cheap, on the other hand it has a clean good look, fun & functional and likely will last decades or longer. The smaller section is balanced by the lightness of the pen. Kon-Peki Iroshizuku is perfect match for this pen.

 

27887188768_37055204aa_k.jpg

Edited by Tseg
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1929 Sheaffer's oversize Balance in black and pearl. Currently loaded with Blakwa but it also gets filled with Levenger Smokey, Aurora black, or whatever suits my fancy. It has a smooth, wet nib, and the balance is perfect for my hand. I love the feel of 1920's celluloid. It had issues when I bought it and restoring it was a lot of fun. This one is almost never out of the rotation.

Dave Campbell
Retired Science Teacher and Active Pen Addict
Every day is a chance to reduce my level of ignorance.

fpn_1425200643__fpn_1425160066__super_pi

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My Pelikan M120 Iconic Blue is a favorite <$200 and I got at <$150 + a free $40 leather case thrown in from Cult Pens. It is my first and only 'pocket pen' and it has an amazing writing steel nib. It also has a piston filler with a very large ink reservoir. On one hand it feels a bit plain and cheap, on the other hand it has a clean good look, fun & functional and likely will last decades or longer. The smaller section is balanced by the lightness of the pen. Kon-Peki Iroshizuku is perfect match for this pen.

 

27887188768_37055204aa_k.jpg

 

Wow! That ink does match perfectly. I never considered Pelikan for a pen before.

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Pilot Custom 742 F, flawless writer.

Walk in shadow / Walk in dread / Loosefish walk / As Like one dead

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Parker Sonnet Blue Ice, fine stub.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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Under $200 new from a store I think that the best pens are the Waterman Carene, or a Japanese one.

 

Alfredo

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This week, I have three pens loaded for work. All are under $200, and they write on command, deliver a perfect line of ink, and match my hand perfectly.

 

Parker 75 - love the weight and balance of this pen, and the looks of this pen are amazing. The nib has perfect feedback.

Parker "51" - the iconic workhorse of my collection. All write flawlessly, take any ink I throw at it, and have legendary balance.

Pilot Vanishing Point - heavy and thick are normally not my favorite. But for scratching quick notes in a meeting, the pen is perfect. A click and the pen is laying down ink. Click again and it's time to listen to the briefing.

 

Buzz

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Rotring 700.

Wait a second... oh my god they make a fountain pen version.

Edited by Purphoros
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TWSBI -- any model.

They write buttery smooth.

The vac fillers as well as piston fillers have huge ink capacities. You write for a long time.

They look very cool - the demonstrator models.

You can use with TWSBI bottles. I have both and say goodbye to inky fingers.

Their customer service is exceptionally prompt.

They cost less than $100 (US).

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This week, I have three pens loaded for work. All are under $200, and they write on command, deliver a perfect line of ink, and match my hand perfectly.

 

Parker 75 - love the weight and balance of this pen, and the looks of this pen are amazing. The nib has perfect feedback.

Parker "51" - the iconic workhorse of my collection. All write flawlessly, take any ink I throw at it, and have legendary balance.

Pilot Vanishing Point - heavy and thick are normally not my favorite. But for scratching quick notes in a meeting, the pen is perfect. A click and the pen is laying down ink. Click again and it's time to listen to the briefing.

 

Buzz

 

I just did some looking, the Parker 75 has some gorgeous designs. I have a Parker 45 that I actually bought on recommendation from several people on the FPN network. I love the pen but I find the nib a touch scratchy, the feel and design of vintage Parker pens though is excellent.

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Pilot Custom 742 F, flawless writer.

 

Woah! There are an absolute ton of nib choices for that pen. I also am a fan of a Japanese fine I have one on my Metropolitan and it write nicely.

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Parker 51 aerometric. An iconic pen, exceptionally durable and reliable, with a cool vintage vibe. There are still a lot out there in various colors and caps, and you can easily find many for well under $200. I have not had any problems with a variety of inks, although I no longer use super saturated inks in any of my vintage pens.

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Lamy 2000 comes to mind.

 

Clean, unique and timeless design.

14k gold nib (which I think is rare in this price range)

Discreet- the nib is hooded so does not attract much unwanted attention but you can still enjoy the fp writing feed.

Wide range of nib choices.

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parker 45 flighter with an italic fine nib.

 

unique nib

flawless and expressive writer suitable for everyday use

inexpensive

bulletproof

easy nib swap

easy to clean

comfortable to hold (no threads)

easy to cap, uncap and post

 

inked with diamine asa blue

 

another great and more conventional choice with a lot of benefits would be the pilot custom series

Edited by friedrichwild
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Pilot Decimo with a fine nib, lighter and thinner than the Vanishing point. Always have mine with me. Just click to use for quick notes.

 

Wing Sung 698 with an extra fine nib. Inexpensive piston filler with a large ink capacity and writes great. I'll sometime carry my 698 with a Pilot Plummix .8mm stub just to add interest to my writing. They and the Decimo are inked with R&K Salix as Salix will write and fully dry on cheap or very glossy paper regular inks tend to bead or smear on.

 

Pelikan M200 with an extra fine nib. Works great with any ink I've ever put in it, on the smaller side but light and comfortable to use. Inked with R&K Dokumentus for permanence.

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That's an easy question to answer, although the answer is not that specific: there are so many vintage pens from the 1960s and 1950s one can find, often for much less than US $ 100, including great stuff by Montblanc, like the 22x models. These have to be my absolute favourites because of their high quality, excellent performance and remarkably good condition. They're wonderful daily writers and a joy to use with all those great inks we're having by Diamine, R&K, KWZ and others. You have to be careful, though, and match the ink to the pen (not forgetting the paper).

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