Do you HATE See-Through Pens Too?

[corniche]

Hi all,

 

I don't care for "demonstrators"; like Ruth has probably already said, they look cheap, or toy-like to me.

 

- Sean 

[Runnin_Ute]

I have a few. A couple of TWSBI's (a 580 and an Eco), and a Pelikan M205 DUO in transparent green. There is a bottle of matching highlighter ink. The real reason I bought it? The BB nib, not the fact it was a demonstrator with a bottle of highlighter ink. That stuff was a bonus. Right now, none of them are inked. Although the M205 has been most recently of the three. Nib sizes are BB, B (stubbed), and 1.1 stub.

[Mrsnuffles]

I like cheap see-through pens, but not expensive ones. 

[HogwldFLTR]

This Bexley works quite well for me. I like it a lot!!!

 

-Lee

[rkesey]

I have five demonstrators. Four are soon for the sales/gift block: a Monteverde Artista Crystal, which has a converter; a blue Noodler's Ahab Hudson Bay that's fun but I never reach for it; and two PenBBS pens with decent stub nibs, but I've never quite gotten used to the placement of the finger pads, or whatever those are called.

 

My fifth I love and almost always have inked: an Opus 88, perfectly clear except for the frosted bits. It's an eyedropper, so the aesthetic depends on the ink. I had it filled with Diamine Oxblood for the longest time, and really liked that, and just now it's got a mix of two Birmingham Pen Company inks, Allegheny River Twilight and Violet Starling. 

 

I've had and sold other tinted demonstrators, including a nice smoky quartz Pelikan M200. I think my preference just runs to clear materials that let the ink speak for itself.

 

That said, I'd be interested to know of demonstrators, maybe limited editions, that give extra attention to the mechanical elements of those specific pens--I guess something like the way watchmakers will put sapphire glass on the back of the case to show off movements they've put extra effort into designing and decorating. Is that a thing with pens? Seems like a missed opportunity if not, but I'm guessing I've just not come across them yet...

[senzen]

To each his or her own, I have several demonstrators and absolutely love their design; my latest m205 Olivine is drop dead gorgeous. Were it not for the price I would seek several Sailor limited editions.

 

[MoriartyR]

The only transparent pens I have are a couple of Pilot 823s in the brown and grey colours. I prefer the grey one by far, but I can’t say whether that’s because it is less transparent or because the brown one is such an ugly colour - very 1970s. I agree when the body is transparent plastic it does make the pen look cheap but there is some genuine convenience in seeing the ink level.

 

Most ink windows on pens are not very useful, I find. Especially when the ink clings to the window and it looks full when it isn’t. So demonstrators work a hell of a lot better if you need to know how much ink you have.

 

But, for me, seeing the ink level clearly is really not important enough to compromise the looks of the pen for. Most of my favourite piston-fillers have no ink windows at all, and would be lesser designs if they had windows. I don’t care - I can tell when the ink has run out because the pen stops writing.

 

So count me in the anti-demonstrator camp overall. I would, however, like to have a clear-barrel Conid Minimalistica as the one I have is opaque and it would be helpful to see exactly what the filling system does so I can be more confident I’m filling it correctly. I think a clear barrel also adds to the modern vibe of a Conid. Conids may be the exception for me where a demonstrator model may be preferred.

 

[Doug C]

15 minutes ago, MoriartyR said:

The only transparent pens I have are a couple of Pilot 823s in the brown and grey colours. I prefer the grey one by far, but I can’t say whether that’s because it is less transparent or because the brown one is such an ugly colour - very 1970s. I agree when the body is transparent plastic it does make the pen look cheap but there is some genuine convenience in seeing the ink level.

 

Most ink windows on pens are not very useful, I find. Especially when the ink clings to the window and it looks full when it isn’t. So demonstrators work a hell of a lot better if you need to know how much ink you have.

 

But, for me, seeing the ink level clearly is really not important enough to compromise the looks of the pen for. Most of my favourite piston-fillers have no ink windows at all, and would be lesser designs if they had windows. I don’t care - I can tell when the ink has run out because the pen stops writing.

 

So count me in the anti-demonstrator camp overall. I would, however, like to have a clear-barrel Conid Minimalistica as the one I have is opaque and it would be helpful to see exactly what the filling system does so I can be more confident I’m filling it correctly. I think a clear barrel also adds to the modern vibe of a Conid. Conids may be the exception for me where a demonstrator model may be preferred.

 

Agreed 

[BigBlot]

Mixed feelings. My only clear pens are Preppies. OTOH, I have been seriously tempted by clear Moonman eyedropper pens.

[es9]

Those conids are beautiful. 

[da vinci]

I don’t “hate” demonstrator pens but I shy away from buying/using the non c/c ones purely because of a worry of staining the inside of the barrel. 

[AoKiu]

I have a couple of demonstrator pens. In the old days when I was flying a lot, I always had 2 demonstrator fountainpens with me after a Chinese custom officer demanded to "open" my Visconti Empire LE fountain pen. I demanded to speak to the customs manager and explained to him that it cannot be opened. Luckily they refrained from confiscating or destroying my pen. I often had to show them the demonstrator and explain why I did choose this type of pen: "It's transparent. Look, you can see everything inside..."

[A Smug Dill]

On 2/16/2021 at 6:03 AM, mhguda said:

And transparent sections and caps enhance it for me.

 

I must say I find transparent barrels coupled with opaque caps and end finials (or blind caps) particularly tacky. Either show how the ink flows through from the reservoir via the feed to the nib — untidy mess and all if it seeps into the periphery inside the gripping section — or don't bother showing the ink in the reservoir at all. It's the inner mechanical workings and fluid movement that are interesting to see in a demonstrator, not just a small section of the pen “taking on the ink's colour” in appearance, as far as I'm concerned.

[bunnspecial]

I have one demonstrator-a Pilot CH92. This is not an inexpensive pen at least as Pilots go-it's not an 823, but it's one of their more expensive pens at least in the US market.

 

I'm not big on demonstrators, although I can appreciate them and also do enjoy seeing how the filling system works.

 

I've more recently been trying to sell my CH92, though, and I've discovered one big downside of demonstrators, or at least completely crystal-clear ones like that one. What would be normal and inconsequential ink accumulation in a non-demonstrator is a huge distraction in a used one. After losing a sale because someone was concerned it was stained on additional photos, I spent some time REALLY cleaning it(without taking it apart) and managed to get all but a tiny spec of ink in the section out. Still, though, it also makes you appreciate just how many cracks and crevices there are to hold ink in a pen.

[Detman101]

When it arrives, I will spend time admiring the beauty of my lovely shiny golden 14k F-C flex nib with Needlepoint grind, through the clear cap of my MK-I Penbbs-355.

That is why I like this demonstrator.

Other than that, I'm satisfied with my Snowflake MK-II Penbbs-355 with its super-flexy modded steel FPR nib hidden beneath its snow-white exterior.

[Estycollector]

I love my LAMY VISTA with Serenity Blue in the converter peeking through 

[ENewton]

The clear, colorless ones make me queasy.  They remind me of having blood drawn or of seeing addicts inject themselves on the sidewalk.  I don't mind the ones that have textures, particularly if the plastic is tinted.  For example, I own a Platinum 3776 Nice Lavande.

 

I have, now and then, tried to talk myself into getting a Pilot Custom 74 in violet, but even though the barrel is tinted, to me it has that look of a test tube or a syringe. 

 

I don't use ink syringes either.

[BrassRatt]

On 2/15/2021 at 7:23 AM, AlexItto said:

Do you HATE See-Through Pens Too?

No. 

I like them, unless they reveal a converter that holds only a tiny fraction of the pen's volume.  

[A Smug Dill]

3 hours ago, ENewton said:

The clear, colorless ones make me queasy.  They remind me of having blood drawn or of seeing addicts inject themselves on the sidewalk.

 

That's interesting imagery! I'll keep that in mind. To me, the motivation for using a demonstrator would be because it looks (and thus feels) more… clinical, and so it isn't actually incompatible with the drawing blood thing.

[WJM]

Hate? No. I find them boring. 

 

For me, demonstrators are curiosities allowing to see how the filling mechanism works and how the inks slushes inside the barrel. Not pens to actually be used. 

 

I have two Chinese made demonstrator piston-fillers. Clear demonstrator Wing Sung 618 is actually a pretty good looking pen, but I much prefer the opaque black version I also have. The second one is some PenBBS Pilot 78G piston-filled clone (I can't remember the model number). Well working, nice pen for $5. I filled it once, used it for a week or so, and didn't have any interest in it since.