If you could have only 1 pen what would it be and why?

[Karmachanic]

Groovy! 😁

[Marcwithac]

Some great suggestions on this thread.  I considered a Montblanc 139, which always makes me feel special when it's in my hand.  I also thought about a Hakase (never wrote with one, but I will receive my first in less than 2 months).  My Pelikan 1000 is incredibly reliable and well-balanced.  But, in the end, if I really had to choose one pen it would be my Conid Kingsize Bulkfiller.  Perfect size, nib ground to order, holds more ink than almost any other pen I own, easy to clean and maintain, and I always know how much ink I have left.

[amberleadavis]

The Sheaffer Legacy Heritage with the double broad stub that @dcpritch sold me many years ago.  Without a doubt, it is my favorite and makes my handwriting look stunning.  OH, and it was a lot less money than $1500.

[langere]

And on the thread goes, although the OP has already ordered his one pen...

 

A Nakaya is great, I assume it has a urushi covering?  They are fine pens; I hope you get to try other ones when you get to the mainland.  Pelikan or Aurora are great brands; there are only a few brands to avoid as most companies from Europe, Taiwan and Japan have some marvelous pens.

 

With Indian or Chinese pens, there are a number of excellent pens, but you have to know a bit about the brands to be able to know what is good and what is not so good.  For U.S. pens, the ones made in the USA are usually quite good; there are some companies that are U.S. based, but have their pens manufactured in China.  There the quality tends to be variable, though Cross, for example, has been able to maintain its standards.

 

Erick

[K.Grant]

15 hours ago, langere said:

And on the thread goes, although the OP has already ordered his one pen...

A Nakaya is great, I assume it has a urushi covering? 

 

They are fine pens; I hope you get to try other ones when you get to the mainland.  Pelikan or Aurora are great brands; there are only a few brands to avoid as most companies from Europe, Taiwan and Japan have some marvelous pens.

 

I got a Nakaya piccolo writer with heki  tamenuri urushi coating. It’s so beautiful!
 

My next trip (whenever that is with the current state of the world) will be to the UK to see family, I’ve seen that you can rent pens there, so I’ll rent a whole lot to try; Sailor, Pelikan , Pilot, etc... with different nibs - that way I can test them all out and see what they “feel” like. 
 

Who knows I might luck out with a pen show being at the same time... one can only hope! Since there are a few things I’d like to try that the rentals don’t carry; I’m interested in a pen for cartooning, the PILOT 843 with #10 FA nib, a vintage wet noodle, and I wonder also what a nakaya soft nib with elastic & extra flex from John Mottishaw is like for drawing. 

 

also love the look of some super luxury brands; Hakase and AP Ltd, Danitrio, & Stylo Art idk if these would be at a pen show but I live in hope!

[K.Grant]

On 5/7/2021 at 5:35 PM, Marcwithac said:

Some great suggestions on this thread.  I considered a Montblanc 139, which always makes me feel special when it's in my hand.  I also thought about a Hakase (never wrote with one, but I will receive my first in less than 2 months).  My Pelikan 1000 is incredibly reliable and well-balanced.  But, in the end, if I really had to choose one pen it would be my Conid Kingsize Bulkfiller.  Perfect size, nib ground to order, holds more ink than almost any other pen I own, easy to clean and maintain, and I always know how much ink I have left.

Please post a review when it arrives! I’m so curious about the writing experience

[Bo Bo Olson]

If you insist on bling, a Pelikan 500...picture from Applebloom,

However having a rolled gold cap, it's balance is not as good as the medium-long 400nn. A legal signature takes between 2/3rds and 3/4ths a page.

 

Both hold @ 2.00ml of ink. I'd not take my 500 in it's a pure signature nib OBBB with a 30 degree grind, and a maxi-semi-flex nib.

I'd take the 400nn, in it has a tad better balance than the vintage 400, has a semi or maxi-semi-flex nib.

One pen, 5 screw in nibs; semi-flex, EF, F  M, or B, or BB ....then those nibs also in that great oblique of the era.

1 pen 5 or 10 nibs.....one set straight and the other oblique......and at the price wanted to buy for you can afford all 10 nibs.

Sadly for only $1,500, you can't afford 20 nibs in you'd want maxi-semi-flex to go with the semi-flex.....

 

 

The 400nn  like the 400 has a standard width.........so if you want wider girth.

I'd more than likely take a Osmia 76 or the wider 78, which I don't have.

You have a good chance at a maxi-semi-flex nib if it's a Supra nib....3 months ago I'd said it was so, but a couple of good posters say not quite true. Semi-flex is often found in the small diamond Osmia nib............gold or steel is both Great. So don't let a steel nib scare you off.

1938 the Boehler brothers split the company into Osmia and Boehler......same model numbers.

Bottom pen a basic BCHR...black chased hard rubber Osmia. click on to see the chasing.

Top two Boehlers @ 1938.

[langere]

Those are beauties!

 

Erick

[ENIAC]

For me, a toss-up:

 

The Sheaffer Imperial, and I mean the el cheapo one from the mid-late 1990s.  They’re reasonably tough, the nibs are smooth and I’ve never had one go out of alignment, the pens flow well, the clips are sprung and don’t balk when going into a pocket, and they fit my hand perfectly when the caps are posted (and they do stay posted).  Cartridges are wide-diameter, so ink rarely gets hung up from surface tension, and I’ve never had a cartridge wear out & start leaking from excessive removals & reseats (for bottle refilling).  The cartridge is held firmly to the section, under pressure, when the barrel is screwed home.  Great design there.

 

The Pelikan 200-series.  Nibs not quite as smooth as the Imperials but still fine to write with; they’re not scratchy—you just get a bit of benign feedback.  These fit my hand as well as the Imperials.  Caps post well and stay put.  Clips aren’t sprung but the flex and the ski jumps at the clip ends make for easy insertion into most any pocket, same as the Imperial.  Advantage over the Imperial is you can get pretty much any style nib you want, even gold ones from the midrange pen models of the same size.  And there's literally zero chance of an ink hangup inside the barrel from surface tension, unless you're using cement for ink.

 

Been collecting since the late 1990s, have literally hundreds of FPs, but my 200s and Imperials are my favorites as reliable everyday tools that are also a joy to use.  I'd be okay with just one of either model as my only FP.

[langere]

And to add my opinion:  Either my Aurora 88 or my Musk Visconti Van Gogh (the original series).  I am just so impressed by my Aurora, with just enough feedback with the nib and a piston filler, but also a love affair with my Visconti, one of my first "expensive" pens that I still love today. I can also look at the color of the plastic all day and marvel at its complexity.

 

Erick

[MoriartyR]

For only one pen it would have to be something reliable (reliable inkflow, doesn’t dry out when capped), well built, and reasonably sized. Should be nice to hold, a comfortable section, have a nib that feels pleasant and enjoyable, and should have a fine line width that I can use for any occasion and on different papers. Would be nice to have good ink capacity, but not absolutely essential.

 

I’d say good candidates that I have experience with are:

 

Montegrappa Extra 1930 - EF nib

Aurora Internazionale - F nib

Visconti Homo Sapiens - EF nib

Leonardo Momento Zero Grande - size 8 EF nib

Sailor King of Pen - MF nib

Nakaya Portable Cigar - M nib

Conid Minimalistica - F nib

Caran d’Ache Léman - F nib

I could be very content with any of those as my fountain pen. I have other pens and nibs that I like just as much as those but probably would be less ideal if they were my only pen.

 

If I were to pick just one, I think it would be the Visconti Homo Sapiens and I would choose one of the acrylic semi-demostrators. The EF nib is lovely, huge ink capacity and very practical dual reservoir, quick uncapping and airtight seal. It’s a really well designed and executed pen.

 

Of course there are many pens at all price levels that would be perfectly satisfactory as an only fountain pen. These are just the ones I really like and could particularly enjoy using every day.

 

[Linger]

All good suggestions, but, surprisingly, the pen-perfection has not been mentioned yet.

 

I would choose a Hakase, bytheyway, but that was mentioned already, and I sort of understood for whatever reason that we have to suggest off-the-shelf current program pens from known brands. Hence:

 

Namiki Yukari Urushi #20

 

It it up to you to decide it to be in red or black urushi. This pen is the mother-of-all-pens, it is the pen that ends pens, the simplistic understated perfection of the model, size, proportions are unsurpassed. The brass body gives it heft, a presence, and makes it very comfortable to write with days on end. The nib is sublime and beautiful to look at. It is craftsmanship bordering art. It belongs in a museum. It is, as mentioned, pen-perfection.

[Arkanabar]

I'm going to take this for one of the inevitable "I'm new, what pen should I get?" threads.

 

Your first job is to figure out what you like.  I prefer to do this through the avenue of paying attention, and trying several cheap pens.  The process is engineered to serve the person who has no other way to try pens of varying girth, weight, materials, length, nib width, filling type, and so on save by purchasing them.  You tell us that weight and comfort are important, without telling us anything about which pens you find comfortable or uncomfortable, let alone why.

 

Step one:  What's your favorite writing instrument so far, and why?  What would you change about it if you could?  What are its parameters e.g. how thick is it where you grip it?  How long?  How much does it weigh?  What is it made of?  

 

Once you have all that nailed down, go and look for a fountain pen that meets your best estimate of what you want, with the understanding that your preferences are likely to turn out different from what you currently think.  Use your new fountain pen for as much of your writing as possible for at least a month, and ideally more.  Pay attention to two things:  What do you like about it, and what would you change about it if you could?  Use the answers to those two questions to inform your next cheap fountain pen purchase.

 

Once your answers to those two questions have nothing to do with the writing experience, it's time to go and buy a One True Pen that will not only meet all your writing needs, but also improve your social standing.

 

If you look, there's a thread of some thirty pages around here somewhere on the Jinhao 992, with nigh-universal praise of its writing characteristics (and wailing about the fagility of the plastic used in its manufacture).  

 

I'll be honest.  My top writing experience came from a Fountain Pen Revolution Jaipur that I got on clearance for 8 USD.  It was a piston filled vegetal resin stub pen that I could knock down to individual parts without tools (save a Goulet Grip).  I loved its weight, girth, straight cylindrical section, flow, and line variation.  Alas that one of my puppies got it off my desk and chewed it to smithereens.  I have another Jaipur, but variances in manufacturing tolerances are a recurring problem with some Indian manufacturers, including FPR's, and the other one I have is nowhere near so nice.  I am likely to eventually seek out another Jaipur at some point in the not too distant future.  

 

An FPR pen is rather like a Lotus Elan.  If you can get it to work, the experience of using it can be absolutely wonderful.  But getting to that point can be a journey or even an adventure.

 

The point is, price and writing experience can have very little correlation.  So try a Platinum (e.g. Plaisir) to see what you think of feedback, and an FPR or two or three to see what you think of stubs (they charge 3-5 USD for the upgrade) and or flex (their ultra-flex nib is about 14-17 USD), and so on.

 

Or, you could just go forward with your plan already mentioned.  I hadn't heard that one could rent a pen in the UK.  Somehow I have my doubts that business model will ever make its way to the US -- too many Ball Point Barbarians.  But it looks workable and reasonable to me.

[MoriartyR]

20 minutes ago, Linger said:

All good suggestions, but, surprisingly, the pen-perfection has not been mentioned yet.

 

I would choose a Hakase, bytheyway, but that was mentioned already, and I sort of understood for whatever reason that we have to suggest off-the-shelf current program pens from known brands. Hence:

 

Namiki Yukari Urushi #20

 

It it up to you to decide it to be in red or black urushi. This pen is the mother-of-all-pens, it is the pen that ends pens, the simplistic understated perfection of the model, size, proportions are unsurpassed. The brass body gives it heft, a presence, and makes it very comfortable to write with days on end. The nib is sublime and beautiful to look at. It is craftsmanship bordering art. It belongs in a museum. It is, as mentioned, pen-perfection.

Yep, it is indeed pen perfection. I did consider it but wasn’t added to my list for the sole reason that it is too large a pen for me to choose it as an everyday pen. And I would hate it to get scratched. For me it is a special pen that I keep at home. This pen was actually the main thing I had in mind when I commented that I have other pens that I like as much but felt were less suitable to be my only pen.

 

If the size works for you as an everyday pen then I completely endorse this recommendation.

 

[Ron Z]

Someone is going to call this heresy.  It started with a red Pelikan 600 with a detached section.   I repair them frequently on Pelikan 800s, so I repaired the 600, and bought a used cap for it.  I find the diameter of the 600 to be about perfect, and always have.   But none of the Pelikan nibs I had quite worked for me. 

 

Then I started making threaded collars for the 200-600 nib units, and for Omas pens both of which break, out of PEEK.  Which got me to thinking about whether or not you can fit an Esterbrook nib in a Pelikan collar.  You can if you use the Esterbrook feed.  

 

Which lead to the next step....   I gold plated the nib, put it in the collar, and put the assembly in my red 600.

 

Call it a Pesterbrook,call it an Elikan.  I call it a great writing pen, the best I have, bar none. 

 

This is the Pelikan nib assembly with a Pelikan nib and a PEEK thread ring.

 

...and the business end of the pen as it now is.  Not only do I have a great writing pen, but a good long term test of the durability of the PEEK parts, and the plating solution used.

 

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

If I had to take my 605, I'd put a vintage semi-flex B on it; that I had on it before I got the 605's semi-nail BB nib stubbed to B.

I do like the 600's size, girth and balance.

 

Or a Osmia 76, which is near the 600's size. I don't have a 78 so don't know how that is. And only one of my Osmia's (a later one)  has a screw in nib.

 

[MHBru]

On 5/7/2021 at 6:17 AM, K.Grant said:

Thanks for all the advice. I’ve fallen hard for Nakaya and have ordered a writer piccolo. I’ve kept it simple, hard nib etc, and will wait till I next mange to travel to find a pen store or fair to try out all the other brand and nib options. 

just catching this thread and @K.Grant I think you have made a solid choice.  I have several Pelikan M800s that are the best thing ever..... until I got my first Nakaya.  They are simply sublime and I currently have another on order.  If I had to pick only one pen at that price point, it's a Nakaya.  Your love yours... write memorably with it. 

[K.Grant]

13 hours ago, Ron Z said:

Someone is going to call this heresy.  It started with a red Pelikan 600 with a detached section.   I repair them frequently on Pelikan 800s, so I repaired the 600, and bought a used cap for it.  I find the diameter of the 600 to be about perfect, and always have.   But none of the Pelikan nibs I had quite worked for me. 

 

Then I started making threaded collars for the 200-600 nib units, and for Omas pens both of which break, out of PEEK.  Which got me to thinking about whether or not you can fit an Esterbrook nib in a Pelikan collar.  You can if you use the Esterbrook feed.  

 

Which lead to the next step....   I gold plated the nib, put it in the collar, and put the assembly in my red 600.

 

Call it a Pesterbrook,call it an Elikan.  I call it a great writing pen, the best I have, bar none. 

 

This is the Pelikan nib assembly with a Pelikan nib and a PEEK thread ring.

 

...and the business end of the pen as it now is.  Not only do I have a great writing pen, but a good long term test of the durability of the PEEK parts, and the plating solution used.

 

 

FRANKENPEN!

[K.Grant]

2 hours ago, MHBru said:

just catching this thread and @K.Grant I think you have made a solid choice.  I have several Pelikan M800s that are the best thing ever..... until I got my first Nakaya.  They are simply sublime and I currently have another on order.  If I had to pick only one pen at that price point, it's a Nakaya.  Your love yours... write memorably with it. 

😊😊😊

may I ask what your nib preferences are on the nakaya?

I did after, reading a hundred reviews, order a soft M nib & ask for a higher inkflow 8/10 ( I read they write dry) so I’m super excited. I wasn’t sure about adding “elastic” to the nib as I was getting differing advice on whether flex/elasticity is good or just slows down lengthy periods of non-calligraphic writing... it was agonizing but I figure I can always add elasticity later once I have more experience rather than the other way round. 

[Karmachanic]

3 hours ago, K.Grant said:

I was getting differing advice on whether flex/elasticity is good

 

Did you watch the video at the bottom of this page?