Ended up going slightly overboard with 7 fountain pens after the Great Winter Fountain Pen Spree. Averaging around $33 each, with a low of $12 for the Pilot Metropolitan and a high of $50 for the Waterman. Some I really liked, and will continue to use on a day to day basis. Others very much meh and will be backup pens. All are stock medium nibs.
Winner:
Faber Castell Basic. The weight, look, and feel was just right for me. Industrial, minimalist, and yet pretty cool looking. Everything seems well proportioned. Writes extremely well. Blue ink that comes standard is less saturated than others, but very calm and pleasing.
Faber Castell Basic. The weight, look, and feel was just right for me. Industrial, minimalist, and yet pretty cool looking. Everything seems well proportioned. Writes extremely well. Blue ink that comes standard is less saturated than others, but very calm and pleasing.
Runner Up:
Waterman Hemisphere. A much more classic and conventional looking pen. Smaller and skinnier than the Faber, with a gold and wider and stubbier looking nib, but still very comfortable to write with. Ink flow and saturation was very consistent.
Waterman Hemisphere. A much more classic and conventional looking pen. Smaller and skinnier than the Faber, with a gold and wider and stubbier looking nib, but still very comfortable to write with. Ink flow and saturation was very consistent.
3rd (tied)
Parker Urban. Very curvy and sleek. Nib seems small in proportion to the rest of the pen. Pretty comfortable.
Cross Century Classic. The opposite of the Parker. Pen itself is skinny (would like to try a bigger one at some point), but the nib looks much larger than rest of pen. Hard to believe it is medium with the ink and saturation, especially compared to the Pilot pens.
Parker Urban. Very curvy and sleek. Nib seems small in proportion to the rest of the pen. Pretty comfortable.
Cross Century Classic. The opposite of the Parker. Pen itself is skinny (would like to try a bigger one at some point), but the nib looks much larger than rest of pen. Hard to believe it is medium with the ink and saturation, especially compared to the Pilot pens.
5th
Pilot Metropolitan. Great pen, medium is much thinner than others. Plain but aerodynamic look. Can’t beat $12!
Pilot Metropolitan. Great pen, medium is much thinner than others. Plain but aerodynamic look. Can’t beat $12!
6th
Lamy Safari. Like the overall design design, very different looking than others. The angular grip doesn’t quite work for me for longer note taking sessions. The one on I got, the nib is very scratchy, and ink flow was inconsistent at times.
Lamy Safari. Like the overall design design, very different looking than others. The angular grip doesn’t quite work for me for longer note taking sessions. The one on I got, the nib is very scratchy, and ink flow was inconsistent at times.
7th
Pilot Prera. Writes very similar to the Metropolitan. Shorter, and made of plastic. Was expecting more especially with the MSRP at $70 on the Pilot site. Got it on Amazon for $30, but I still rather have 2 and half of the Metropolitans.
Pilot Prera. Writes very similar to the Metropolitan. Shorter, and made of plastic. Was expecting more especially with the MSRP at $70 on the Pilot site. Got it on Amazon for $30, but I still rather have 2 and half of the Metropolitans.
