Do you HATE See-Through Pens Too?

[Bo Bo Olson]

I have no desire to own a pure demonstrator.

I do have a Pelikan Amethyst, which is see through, translucent. If I look, I can see the guts moving up and down....but I do have to 'look' a bit.

 

Originally demonstrators were for pen shops. If I had money to throw around, I might have had interest in a rare Geha 790 demonstrator; back 4-5 years ago, the last time it stumbled into my view, it was going for E360....should be more by now. I have a hand full of Geha pens.....

But I have no urge for a Pelikan or any other brand of demonstrator, the Amethyst was close enough for government work.

 

[txomsy]

I can understand that for some they may look ugly. But there is also people who likes mechanics and mechanisms and likes to see how things work, and for these demonstrators are wonderful and lots of fun. Much like wristwatches where you can see the mechanism working.

 

Me, no, I do not hate them. I prefer minimalist / bauhaus designs, but I can see the point (no pun intended) in demonstrators pens and even own one, which I do actually like.

[Aysedasi]

On 2/15/2021 at 3:58 PM, Checklist said:

I don't like demonstrators, either; I don't have any and won't buy any.  I can't really put my finger on it, but I think it's similar to you; seems cheap or unattractive.  I don't really get anything out of seeing the filling mechanisms on piston or vacuum fillers.  Don't have a problem with a small ink window, like on the Lamy Safari or 2000, though.

 

An opaque barrel also hides unsightly stains and small leaks past the seal.  No airing of the pen's "dirty laundry" keeps it looking better.

 

+1 here.  Never really seen the attraction, personally.  

[WLSpec]

5 hours ago, txomsy said:

I can understand that for some they may look ugly. But there is also people who likes mechanics and mechanisms and likes to see how things work, and for these demonstrators are wonderful and lots of fun. Much like wristwatches where you can see the mechanism working.

 

Me, no, I do not hate them. I prefer minimalist / bauhaus designs, but I can see the point (no pun intended) in demonstrators pens and even own one, which I do actually like.

Totally agree. And nice unintentional pun 😆

[A Smug Dill]

8 hours ago, Aysedasi said:

Never really seen the attraction, personally.

 

As much as I don't like my Aurora 88 Minerali — of which the costly purchase was an experiment in whether I'd like a demonstrator better if it was a relatively more high-end pen model (compared to the Sailor Profit Junior for a c/c-filler and PenBBS 494 for a piston-filler, for example) — I do appreciate it as a learning opportunity to understand my opaque aurolide and metal Aurora Ottantotto models better. Not even an explosion diagram or animated graphics can give as good an education as seeing a demonstrator model in that same technical design in action putting ink to paper.

[maclink]

I always liked the look of the minerali model. You can leave it to the Italian brands to make a demonstrator pen look really good. Is it tidy around the nib feed section when inked up?  I really dislike ink between the section and the nib/feed housing. Worse if the nib and feed friction fit into the section itself. 

[ethernautrix]

I wouldn't say that I hated demonstrators, but I didn't care for them.

 

And now... I have a few Moonmans  and a Wing Sung that I use often. A Moonman C2 fitted with a Pilot #10 PO nib has been a daily writer since I put the PO nib in it (the PO is my favorite nib), which was...about a year ago. I like the vast ink capacity and seeing the level at a glance.

 

I only recently inked up the Wing Sung 618, and I like it very much. I like seeing how the piston works (or that it's working and how much ink it siphons up).

 

Those two transparent pens join two Nakaya Piccolo Cigars (also with favorite nibs despite not being Pilot PO), which finishes are completely opaque, in daily use.

 

(The two Nakayas and a clicky-clicky gel pen, currently a Pentel EnerGel 0.5, comprise my daily carry.)

 

Note: I don't consider the Moonmans demonstrators; they're just transparent EDs.

[Pen Ffynnon]

I don't know that I hate them, per se. I certainly don't own any and, if I'm looking at a pen line, I tend to skip past them. I can see where always knowing what your ink level is would be nice and I do like seeing the interiors of most technology (watches and such), but they just don't appeal to me.

[Estycollector]

I've noticed the prices vintage demonstrators bring and am delighted the read the competition is less than would have assumed...LOL!!

[Bo Bo Olson]

Inking either just before going to bed, or at the breakfast table takes care of having to know how much ink is in the pen....there is coffee toned ink, so don't be blurry eyed enough to use coffee; which is sort of dry, I would think.

 

Perhaps my translucent Amethyst, is a shade too dark, but I really don't notice much at all, when using it (did admire it more when brand new)....how ever, I am forced to rotate pens quickly out of rotation; having acquired too many. 

[Topcat666]

I don't hate transparent pens as such having had a TWISBI bought for me about 10 years ago which I used a lot for a couple of years but it's been boxed up for a while now.

It seems I prefer solid body pens and when I saw this topic realiised that I subconsciously had been avoiding the semi transparent/translucent type of bodies.

[amk]

I enjoy demonstrators. But I think creating a satisfying demonstrator is even more exacting than creating a satisfying FP in opaque material. 

 

Some of my favourites are tinted, like the Pelikan 200/205 pens that go with the ink colours, the Pilot Custom Heritage 92 which I have in blue and orange as well as clear, the Platinum 3776 - someone else already mentioned the Nice Lavande. I also like the kind of swirly material where most the acrylic is transparent and you then have swirls in a particular colour ; they can be absolutely stunning.

 

But do Pelikans with translucent stripes count as demonstrators? Whether the white transparent m600 or the vintage 400 torty... You can see the ink through them, but they're not transparent. And I absolutely LOVE these pens.

[A Smug Dill]

4 minutes ago, amk said:

But do Pelikans with translucent stripes count as demonstrators? Whether the white transparent m600 or the vintage 400 torty... You can see the ink through them, but they're not transparent.

 

From my perspective, a demonstrator fountain pen ‘demonstrates’ the (inner) workings of the fountain pen, and is not just a fountain pen with a see-through ink reservoir in some part of the pen barrel's cavity but with no other requirement for visibility in the way customers and/or citizens demanding ‘(operational) transparency’ when dealing with systems and organisations they engage to fulfil their personal needs.

[Muncle]

As others have said, I like demonstrators when they are actually....demonstrating something. A piston filler or vac filler demonstrator is cool.

 

One that holds a cartridge or c/c filler? That's a lot of blank plastic.

 

I have a TWSBI that I am happy with because I can show my students all the parts: filler, section, feed, nib, and all.

[ethernautrix]

I agree with the opinion that demonstrators demonstrate. I don't care for transparent c/c pens if they can't be ED'd (cos I wouldn't use the c/c). Thus, I consider my Moonmans as transparent pens and the WS 618 as a demonstrator. Ditto Pilot 823 and 92.

 

My favorite finish remains Nakaya urushi, though. Cos the Piccolo.

[N1003U]

On 2/15/2021 at 5:51 PM, Mr.Rene said:

I love demonstrator pens, ink windows or semi transparent pens like gorgeous Parker Vacumatic line. I feel some hypnotic attraction about to watch inks inside the pen and mechanism working.  

Best Regards

 

On 2/15/2021 at 10:56 PM, PAKMAN said:

I myself do like some demonstrator style pens. I enjoy seeing a beautiful blue ink sloshing around it a lovely clear pen!

 

On 2/18/2021 at 12:36 PM, txomsy said:

I can understand that for some they may look ugly. But there is also people who likes mechanics and mechanisms and likes to see how things work, and for these demonstrators are wonderful and lots of fun. Much like wristwatches where you can see the mechanism working.

 

Me, no, I do not hate them. I prefer minimalist / bauhaus designs, but I can see the point (no pun intended) in demonstrators pens and even own one, which I do actually like.

 

20 minutes ago, ethernautrix said:

I agree with the opinion that demonstrators demonstrate. I don't care for transparent c/c pens if they can't be ED'd (cos I wouldn't use the c/c). Thus, I consider my Moonmans as transparent pens and the WS 618 as a demonstrator. Ditto Pilot 823 and 92.

 

My favorite finish remains Nakaya urushi, though. Cos the Piccolo.

 

I relate perhaps mostly to these comments.

 

I have a few demonstrators (clear transparent) and a few colored "translucent" pens (one can see into them a bit, and light gets though, but they aren't really transparent).

 

As much as I like the demonstrators, I ink them surprisingly infrequently, normally when actuarially demonstrating to someone how a fountain pen works (then I tend to use the pen until it is empty again, and it gets put away for a long time).

 

I find the colored translucent pens come into rotation more often. Why?I am not sure. Maybe I just like the colors.

[Mark Meske]

I don't care for demonstrator pens because they look like what they are. Props for sales reps. I want my pen to have a handsome, great looking cap and body. Something sophisticated that I enjoy showing off to my friends. Keep the demonstrators in the sample case.

Mark Meske 

[FredRydr]

Without researching century-old manufacturer's documents issued to their sales reps and distributors, I presume "demonstrator" originally described pens that reps would show to retailers to convince them to order more inventory.  They typically had large holes drilled into their ebonite barrels to expose the fillers' inner workings.  By the '30s, clear plastic supplanted holes, enabling demonstrator pens to be filled with liquid.  Such pens carry a premium price among collectors.

 

On the other hand, clear plastic pens mass-marketed for their own sake have no appeal to me, and remind me of cheap ballpoint pens from the '60s.  Are Bic pens demonstrators?  There's one exception: a Conid.  Why?  Because in my absentminded-ness, unless I can actually see the rotation and engagement of Francis's patented mechanism, I will end up trying (in vain) to force the piston rod prematurely.  Why can't I remember?!  <sigh!>

[82Greg]

Got to disagree with the premise. I love demonstrators if they have their own piston or are eye droppers. I dislike demonstrators with cartridges/cartridge converters.  The purpose of the demonstrator is to show the insides mechanical setup and the ink (or just the ink in cases of eye droppers).

[inkstainedruth]

So with all this discussion of what is and is not technically a demonstrator, I have a question.  If you take the definition narrowly (say, as what A Smug Dill said), are demonstrators actually working pens?  Or are they just effectively advertising pieces: "See how much better OUR fill system is to that other brand's fill system?" to the retailers and/or customers?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth