Vintage Vs Modern

[Inky.Fingers]

I prefer so much of a vintage pen than an modern pen. I am very biased to steel nib with the exception of a MB or Pilot vintage steel nib. They are so much more fun to use.

 

To me a modern pen is such a bore....It is the nib that sings, and not the pen.....

 

I can teach any pen now to sing like the way it should.....

 

What are your preferences and why? Wouldn't you trade your fancy pen for a vintage 14k nib pen?

 

I would even trade my modern MB 149 for a gross of Gillott 604EF!....That's vintage or that I am an old man

[SchaumburgSwan]

I prefer so much of a vintage pen than an modern pen. I am very biased to steel nib with the exception of a MB or Pilot vintage steel nib. They are so much more fun to use.

 

To me a modern pen is such a bore....It is the nib that sings, and not the pen.....

 

I can teach any pen now to sing like the way it should.....

 

What are your preferences and why? Wouldn't you trade your fancy pen for a vintage 14k nib pen?

 

I would even trade my modern MB 149 for a gross of Gillott 604EF!....That's vintage or that I am an old man

+1

 

Hi,

 

I like vintage Swan nibs and pens. Nibs that sing, yes.

I decided to get a flock of these pens instead of buying a new Pelikan M805 and newer regreded it.

If you like the "bling" - there are so many fancy vintage celluloid pens...

 

Best

Jens

[surprise123]

I prefer so much of a vintage pen than an modern pen. I am very biased to steel nib with the exception of a MB or Pilot vintage steel nib. They are so much more fun to use.

 

To me a modern pen is such a bore....It is the nib that sings, and not the pen.....

 

I can teach any pen now to sing like the way it should.....

 

What are your preferences and why? Wouldn't you trade your fancy pen for a vintage 14k nib pen?

 

I would even trade my modern MB 149 for a gross of Gillott 604EF!....That's vintage or that I am an old man

Get some Duofolds, some Parker 51's, some Vacumatics, some Snorkels, some Balances, a Nozac or a Crescent filler here and there, wet noodle Watermans, maybe just get that P51 stub from Greg Minuskin that looked oh-so-good, some handfuls of Esterbrooks to compliment your purchases... and before you know it, you have amassed a retirement portfolio comprised of valuable commodities; that is, fountain pens.

 

"To me a modern pen is such a bore....It is the nib that sings, and not the pen..... "

 

+1. I like demonstrator pens, fancy materials, beautiful acrylics, but in the end, if they all have a Bock steel nib, I'm out. This is why I love Japanese pen brands.

 

[Inky.Fingers]

+1 Japan pen...such great writers!

[FarmBoy]

I remain unconvinced there is a contest between Vintage and Modern. Especially since we can't agree on what Vintage is in terms of pens.

 

Is assembling a set of Esterbrook Js in all the colors any different than assembling a set of the colors of the first year Lamy Safaris in terms of collecting and/or using pens?

[Inky.Fingers]

Wasnt there a pen maker that used only vintage nibs?

[Honeybadgers]

[ParkerDuofold]

Hi HB,

 

I agree with the kid,... but notice how the mob gleefully throws her into the cactus patch for not picking a side?

 

 

 

- Anthony

 

 

EDITED typo.

Edited January 24, 2019 by ParkerDuofold

[Bo Bo Olson]

I remain unconvinced there is a contest between Vintage and Modern. Especially since we can't agree on what Vintage is in terms of pens.

 

Is assembling a set of Esterbrook Js in all the colors any different than assembling a set of the colors of the first year Lamy Safaris in terms of collecting and/or using pens?...Of corse it is...the Esties are prettier.

Semi-vintage mid '90's to @ 1970 in German pens...in Pelikan regular flex nibs (Only have one regular flex '70-80's MB so don't know when they went to the modern 'Springy' nib.)

The vintage divide was the end of the semi-flex nib era, by me.Vintage @ 1970 and before when semi-flex nibs were available.

 

Swan made very nice range of nibs...up to 1955, by 1960 It had died; in the last years the nibs were no longer up to snuff. The return to the simpler torpedo lever pen...'50-55 was the pen I was going to buy (no overly complicated get around a patent set of guts)....looking then for a 'flexi' nib as the very, very wide term then was. I ran into a German War pen, with a Easy Full Flex nib....stage under wet noodle superflex, so never got my Swan. Any and all Swans I'd call vintage......in it died in the vintage era.

 

US pens................don't know the cut off for Sheaffer, when ever they stopped making a snorkel type pen?

Parker- is the late '60's Is the P-75 vintage or semi-vintage............or are all cartridge pens semi-vintage?

 

 

So for me, semi-vintage ends mid '90's. Vintage ends @ 1970

[FarmBoy]

I also fail to see why every discussion about pens needs to involve flex nibs and when various companies quit making them.

[Uncial]

I went through a phase of buying vintage and there are moments when I confess I am still tempted by certain types and models. If I was to buy any again I would avoid ebay like the plague. There are so many bold claims made and I've made a lot of expensive mistakes. Friends who are into vintage have also made plenty of expensive mistakes (even recently) so I take comfort that I'm not being a fool asking the wrong questions or looking for the wrong things. While I love the look of so many vintage pens and the nibs can be a dream, they can be just so darned finicky. I just can't honestly be bothered with the mess and the hassle of repairs and tweaks. There are so many new pens out there with great nibs that I don't feel I have to chase the vintage side of things. I will say that the vintage pens that have never given me problems are MB, Pelikan and Esterbrook. What I am tempted by is putting old nibs into new customised housings that look vintage. That is a sore temptation for me at the moment. I keep reading about people doing it, but I've never done it and I'm tempted to get someone like Scriptorium to seal the deal for me........One of these days!

[mitto]

VINTAGE.... Always.

[icevic]

I have an Airmail that Hari317 customized to take vintage Esterbrook nibs. It's an eyedropper. It writes just like an Esterbrook (duh) but feels bigger in the hand.

 

I also put a Waterman #2 nib from the 1930's into a Noodlers Flex, and it writes just like a vintage Waterman. So I would agree it is the nib more than the pen.

 

My wife collects vintage jewelry, and I have some vintage wristwatches, and they share some characteristics with vintage pens: smaller scale, a handmade feel, more natural materials, understated design, more carefully fashioned, warmth in appearance and materials, and decorations that are intricate but less visible. It's hard to explain but you all know vintage pens so you'll know what I mean. They are also more delicate, fragile, and sometimes awkwardly designed.

 

There is a warmth to vintage plastics that is missing from most modern plastics, so I find they feel better in the hand. And of course vintage celluloid is unmatched in beauty - even cheap Esterbrooks are absolutely gorgeous, in my opinion.

 

Vintage nibs have a toothiness to them, a certain level of grip on the page, which makes them special and instantly recognizable. That started to go away in the 1970s and I can't think of a modern nib that offers the same amount of feedback. Today the goal is glassy smoothness, which is fun in itself, especially for quick notes, but not as tactile an experience as those grippy vintage nibs.

 

Even thoroughly modern designs from the past, like the Parker 51 or Aurora 88, have more feedback than their current copies.

 

Japanese pens are probably the closest to vintage right now, especially Sailor and Pilot.

[Actor-out-on-loan]

Only have one vintage pen a Phileas, The rest are Antiques from 1903 to 1933. there is something about writing with pen that has survived that long. I've often thought it would make a good TV show (vintage term) the ghost of this pen. IE this ring top belonged to the Nurse who help save Thomas Edison from Scarlett Fever etc. You get the idea. OK Thats idea dose make sound a bit odd! Anyway I often wonder about their history, the older the better.

[beboy]

 

I also put a Waterman #2 nib from the 1930's into a Noodlers Flex, and it writes just like a vintage Waterman. So I would agree it is the nib more than the pen.

 

 

 

I agree with that 100%. I prefer vintage flex and semi-flex 14K nibs, but I prefer the sturdiness of modern acrylic, wood and metal pens. So I end up writing only with Frankenpens... Here are the ones I use today:

[JakobS]

I prefer vintage pens/nibs to modern. With that being said I did take everything I liked about vintage pens, and had a modern custom pen made with all these features, so I could enjoy them all together. There are still a good many manufacturers that have a wide selection of nibs, yes you may have to look beyond the default fountain pen brands (ones that Joe Schmoe knows) to find them, but they are not very difficult to acquire. JoWo and Bock nibs are what you make out of them, if standard sized, and well tuned they can be reliable, smooth flowing nibs. Custom ground they can do anything you like of them. We are finding new ways to put vintage nibs in modern pens everyday it seems. it's really about what you want to invest and find interest in....

Edited January 24, 2019 by JakobS

[ISW_Kaputnik]

I prefer pens that write the way I want them to, that are reliable, and that don't have to be "babied" beyond using common sense and ordinary care. I have both vintage and modern pens that meet this description, but perhaps more of them are modern. My most esthetically pleasing and visually interesting pens are vintage, but that's not the whole story.

 

Right now, the pens I have inked, that I'm actually carrying around and using, include:

 

• A Parker Vacumatic, vintage. I just recently had the filling system restored, but I've had the pen for a while.
• Three pens which are no longer made, but which most people wouldn't call vintage: a 1960s Sheaffer Imperial 440, a 1970s version of the Pilot Elite with the 18k soft nib, and a late 1970s Montblanc Noblesse.
• A modern Namiki Falcon, SM nib.

I like them all, although the Sheaffer perhaps less than the others. The Vacumatic may have more character than the Falcon, if you go just by looks, and it writes very well, but I wouldn't care to claim that it writes better than the modern Pilot. When I'm concentrating on what I'm writing, and not just the pen that I'm using, I could go for a long time with either, and am glad that I can have both.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I remain unconvinced there is a contest between Vintage and Modern. Especially since we can't agree on what Vintage is in terms of pens.

 

Is assembling a set of Esterbrook Js in all the colors any different than assembling a set of the colors of the first year Lamy Safaris in terms of collecting and/or using pens?

I don't think so!

 

I like vintage and modern pens both for many different reasons. Some of my contemporary pens are made of pretty material, some make great knockarounds, some just WRITE no matter what.

 

My more elderly pens...I like that they have some wear on then, or look unusual, or write well. And I have a thing for Triumph conical nibs.

[Inky.Fingers]

http://i.imgur.com/0Idn9fo.jpg

[sirgilbert357]

I also fail to see why every discussion about pens needs to involve flex nibs and when various companies quit making them.

 

 

Every discussion? Or every post by BoBo? LOL.