Some collection of thought and opinions about fountain pen in general.
First Fountain Pen
My first fountain pen was when I was eight, and my school forced us to use fountain pen. It was a disaster. I think I was fighting with it more than I actually use it.
My first real fountain pen was when I was doing my undergrad degree. My brother convinced me to try a Platinum Preppy, and I was hooked. It really helped to ease my wrist pain when writing for a long session (e.g. in exam).
LAMY Safari
After I was sure that I liked the fountain pen this time, I bought the Lamy Safari, of course in Charcoal Black.
It was my main writer for a few years. I love it. Still look nice to this day, albeit less matt and more shiny.
On Chinese Fountain Pen
When I arrived in Japan in 2017, the first pens I bought was the Wing Sung 3008, which is actually my first piston fillers. That period was the rise of the cheap Chinese fountain pen. I use them for a few weeks, but it kinda likes to leak ink so I stopped using them. The nib was also not very good.
These pens were in storage for 6 years until I move back to Thailand. Upon closer inspection, I see that the ones I have used rusted badly. This kinda make me swear off Chinese pens altogether.
Platinum Converter
I love Platinum Converter. They store a respectable 0.6ml of ink. But it looks durable and can be completely disassembled easily — something that couldn’t be said for other’s.
I find Lamy Z28 converter also look durable but I have not successfully disassembled them. Same for Pilot’s converter (CON-40 and CON-70N).
The problematic one was Sailor. Sailor’s converter look cheap. I don’t like it. I also have not successfully disassembled it either.
This actually put me off buying Sailor for quite a while. A real mistake.
TWSBI and Piston Filler
My first real Piston Filler was a TWSBI ECO, with a 1.1mm Stub. It writes well, but the ink tank was too big for me so I didn’t use it that much. I also wasn’t very used to writing with a stub nib.
This also made me realise that I don’t want any non-demonstrator piston filler. I’d just worried too much whether I clean the ink tank properly or not.
This make me sad because I could never buy the LAMY 2000 now. But still.
First Gold Nib
My First Gold Nib pen was the Platinum PTL-5000A. Found it on Amazon Japan for a few thousand yen. It was good, but I wasn’t that impressed with a gold nib. It was also quite small. Even if they are still available, I would not really recommend this pen for a first gold-nib pen.
Retractable Pens
Platinum Curidas was released in 2020 to a big fanfare. Prior to that, if you want retractable fountain pen you either want the Lamy Dialog or Pilot Vanishing Point, both of which are pretty pricey.
Guess what? The Curidas was also not that cheap either. Many of the pen also easily cracked around the feed. For that price, I don’t like what I see so I didn’t buy one. Until…
Thought on Vanishing Point
…I bought a Pilot Vanishing Point Decimo in 2022. It was a limited edition, too. I actually didn’t buy because it’s a Decimo, but just because I love the colour.
Many people praise the Vanishing Point 18k nib, but honestly, it didn’t feel that sublime to me. Sure, it’s nice, but not THAT nice. At least, I don’t think it’s that different from other Japanese gold nibs.
I actually got another Decimo in 2024. Again, Kobe Gradation Limited Edition. I am also eyeing the Decimo in Purple, but I will rest for now. I probably wouldn’t enjoy the regular Vanishing Point though, because it probably would be too big.
Sailor 21k MF Nib
This is again an impulse buying. The Sailor Pro Gear Slim Mini Nagasawa Original “Mayonaka no Toudai”. As a limited edition (and cost roughly 3 times the regular Sailor Pro Gear), it comes with 21k Nib rather than 14k Nib. It is only available in MF size.
This is my first Sailor pen (unless you count Sailor HighAce I have — but I don’t). It came at a surprise to me. The nib is extremely good. I love, love it. Like many people who have used the Sailor 21k MF nib, it’s hard to explain but it’s really, really good. This prompts me to buy more Sailors.
Expanding: Conklin and Monteverde (?)
Okay, the section title is a bit misleading. Let me explain.
Up until now, I have only use Sailor, Pilor, Platinum, LAMY and TWSBI. I was doing a big order from Goulet Pen so I looked into newer brand. Conklin and Monteverde struck me as interesting option, with many options in the mid-range ($50-$100) price bracket.
But when I looked for reviews online, I was disappointed. Many reviews and Reddit points tell me that they both have pretty poor QC. I even read that Monteverde Ritma can rust. These are all no-no to me. The pens are tools. I don’t want to fight with my tools.
In the end, the only new brand I buy are Kaweco (because the green Liliput is interesting) and Sheaffer (specifically, Sheaffer 300 in green)
Western Nib vs Japanese Nib
I already know that TWSBI use Jowo nib and Kaweco use Bock nib.
But it really surprised me that most fountain pen in the western world only use Jowo, Bock, and Schmidt nibs. As someone who previously mainly use Japanese pens, I was surprised.
This also lead to a question: do I need those pens? I buy higher end Japanese pen because of the nib. Sailor 21k MF nib, for example, is sublime. But when everyone uses the same nib, do I really want more pens?
I mean, I have tons of LAMY and TWSBI, and they all have almost identical nib. But still…
From here and the Grail PenPilot Vanishing Point Decimo – Nagasawa Limited Edition Kobe Gradation Yuki-gosho Zakura.
I don’t know. I feel like I have enough cheaper pen, and enough good pen for now. Other than various limited edition LAMY and TWSBI (and Sailor and Platinum), I would probably go for real expensive pen ($800 or more) in the future.
I really, really wanted the Sailor pen with wooden body. That might actually be my grail pen. I also would like the Platinum Kanazawa and Izumo, and Sailor CYLINT and Iro-Miyabi. Maybe some King of Pen in there too, with 21k MF nib.
Many Viscontis also looks interesting but I don’t know if I would want other than the Homo Sapian Bronze Age. They look too loud.
The other brand I am interested in includes Aurora, SCRIBO, S.T.Dupont, Waldmann, Montegrappa, Delta, and probably Pelikan. (In addition to Pilot, Platinum, Sailor, Lamy, TWSBI, Kaweco, and Sheaffer I already have.)
The Pens are Tools
Even though I have a relatively large collection of fountain pen, the pens (and ink) are tools. I must be able to randomly pick one pen, ink up with a random ink in my collection, and it must works. As in, it must write.
It should be able to withstand a daily commute and a daily office workload without much trouble too. I will take care of my pen, but I expect it to withstand a standard amount of abuse. It also shouldn’t take too much to clean (also why I don’t use non-demonstrator piston fillter).
That’s all I ask for of my pens. It might be a lot to ask, but at the end of the day, to me, the pens are tools.