Best current fountain pen for you

[hank_rearden]

been 15 years since i lost my gold nib parker pen. now i'd like to go back to it. no fancy jeweled custom that'll cost more than $1,000. a gold nib will be fine, maybe some silver in the the barrel or something. most important, it'll last. any ideas? thanks.

 

[Grouch]

Poke around on Fountain Pen Network for ideas. There's just too many options. What type of pen was it and what did you like about it? What type of filling system(s) do you favor? Wide body or narrow? Lightweight or heavy? Vintage or modern? Is portability a factor? Clip or no clip?

The advantage of gold vs steel is exaggerated unless you're looking for flexibility.

For no-bling, consider a 1950s Parker 'P51'. For cool engineering, consider a 1950's Shaeffer snorkel.

 

[hank_rearden]

thanks for those. i owned what looked like a sonnet (or a SS 75 with a round butt.) well, a new one will be a bling thing mostly as i hardly do anything jointed besides my signature. but maybe i'll do serious calligraphy in time (nearing retirement.) a wide barrel fells ok, and i prefer the longish nib to the stubby kind. i like the "squeeze" refill instead of a cartridge. a clip since i might go around with it.

i suppose a medium tip is needed to write something like this?

 

[Grouch]

thanks for those. i owned what looked like a sonnet (or a SS 75 with a round butt.) well, a new one will be a bling thing mostly as i hardly do anything jointed besides my signature. but maybe i'll do serious calligraphy in time (nearing retirement.) a wide barrel fells ok, and i prefer the longish nib to the stubby kind. i like the "squeeze" refill instead of a cartridge. a clip since i might go around with it.

i suppose a medium tip is needed to write something like this?

A cursive italic nib is probably what you'd want. XXF, XF, F, M, B, BB,.. all depend on the size of your writing. The thick/thin variation you showed is due to a nib that writes finer horizontally than vertically.

 

[fast14riot]

Parker '51' and '21' are both nice pens that are very reliable. The Aerometric version has a squeeze type filler.

I say pick up an old Esterbrook J to start with. They are lever fillers and have tons of options on nibs available. Best part is one restored with new internals goes for about 40 But I've seen them go for less than $20 too. Excellent pens too.

The script you posted looks like a business hand version of Spencerian. Possibly a ladies hand version. But, it was most certainly not done with an italic nib. It was done with a flex nib.


-X

 

[liamstrain]

Pilot/Namiki vanishing point. I have them in medium and fine nibs - love both. I covet their abalone inlay special editions, but don't feel like spending the extra money.

For me, these make using a fountain pen for everyday note-taking a breeze.