Pens

I am NOT particularly knowledgeable, but I recently bought an expensive Dupont pen and I learned something during my search for "the best fountain pen." First of all, the best place absolutely to buy pens is the Fountain Pen Hospital in NYC. They offer substantial discounts. They are also very knowledgeable. Second of all, after scanning Ebay multiple times and trying to pick up one of these high-priced pens at an even greater savings, I had the sense that at least for pens, Ebay is so contaminated with fakes that it is not worth the trouble, particularly Dunhill and Mont Blanc. Finally, for reasons not entirely clear to me, I never found a "value" choice amongst fancy big fountain pens. This is not to say that there are not big inexpensive fountain pens that cost 30 bucks and that people brag write wonderfully. What I mean is that if you look for a beautiful fountain pen in "mondo" size, they all cost about 500 dollars or more. Okay, I think I am tapped out.

A Harris: Woe to the days of old when the stock market was up and so was my newly begun pen collection. I picked up a couple on ebay then, some nice stuff too. However the best site as far as selection and price was (then, and I imagine now as well) www.worldpen.comPen Site . I see they have since changed their name to reflect their increased product lines (so what else is new huh?), but they have some beautiful pens for all different tastes. Enjoy. JJF

I just looked for my pen on the World Pen site and they charge 150 dollars more than I paid for the same pen. I think Fountain Pen Hospital is better.

Tried FPH back then.  Also thought they were overpriced. Maybe, that was then, this is now.  Cant vouch for them and like all web retailers, you would have to be silly not to do your due diligence, its a few clicks and irresponsible not to. What about levengers?  How do they compare now? Levengers They have other nice stuff as well...click on search for their FP collection JJF EDIT: Never mind...Just checked lenegers...Looks like crap.

Are you looking for a fountain pen? Then if so you'll have to make a preference between cartridge/converter or piston fill. Some people also prefer a button fill which Krone manfuactures to a fine degree. Also the nib as the choice of a stub nib, fine nib, 18kt, 14kt, etc. Then there is the flex;certain people like a more flexible nib. For a piston fill the Montblanc 149 is a represenative flagship while Pelikan's Souveran collections, especially the m800 is rather a fine value. MontBalnc's are rather hyped pens. Omas produces a quality item in the Greek manner. Aurora as well. Cartier, if you don't mind a c/c has a simple aesthetic. The Louis Cartier is especially pleasing. S.T. Dupont I do not like since the caps are snap caps rather than screw caps. That is the Montegrappa Ferrari. For modern simplicty then Jorg Hysek is something to look into.

There is also Joon. Omas makes a nice slim pen. The Arte Italiana collection. The Must de Cartier as well. Namiki also has a rather practical retractable nib pen.

Levenger's is not as good as it seems (for pens anyways), that includes their Delray Beach headquarters store. There are simply better places to get pens, such as the aforementioned FPH. Jon.

Levengers seems to concentrate on things like stationary, ephemera and various bric-a-brac moreso than actual pens.

yes... As I edited the post, Levengers is not the place for pens, although from memory they had a better higher end selection in the past, at least online. I have a namiki falcon, and the Nib is 18K and very soft.  I have the fine nib so its great for writing footnotes and annotating on the margins of books etc,.  I never bought the retractable (as in similar to a clickable ball parker pen in concept) although I did admire it from this end of the screen. I couldnt justify it as it was merely a nice playh on the falcon as far as writing went and I wasnt all that in love with the falcon. I have an Aurora, which is probably the nicest looking of my pens, (I am using one now and maybe I will post a pic later) but it has a piston fill for ink and that gets to be a bit of a pain.  It also sweats alot and I find that my writing fingers are regularly inked when I remove the cap to grasp the pen. in general I find that the ink flow for any medium is excessive and people just look at you strange when you wave the paper to dry the ink or dont and smudge, so I try to stick with fine points.  And as much as Montblanc is "overrated" ( I find that the ink flow is exceptional and rarely if ever skips. The last of my auctions back in those days which I happened to have lost was for an omas triangular which I thought was particularly nice. Does anyone else have that particular problem with the "sweating" of the pen into the cap?

Yes, the Omas 360. I am going to get that. It is an ergonomic pen. MontBlancs beyond the ubiquity, and association with yuppie types does still make a fine instrument. However the 144 is not an exceptionally wise buy. The Namiki for Dunhill pens are exquisite. As is Nakaya which in certain contexts is the equivalent of a bespoke shoe.

I would second those remarks about medium nibs: if I had it to do over I would have gotten a fine point. My Dupont pen is not screw top and I do not have any problem with it. Excellent ink flow: pen collector boards complement the Dupont as one of the best (along with the Mont Blanc Diplomat). But this is not to say that other pens are not wonderful. I think piston fill is the only way to go if you write a lot. For occasional writing, I guess the cartridge is okay. But if you do not use it enough, it will dry out.

I've had my eye on this one for some time now: Caran d'Ache: Ivanhoe currently, I carry a rollerball Waterman that has a silver barrel (barley stippling) with gold tips, goes with everything.

A girlfriend once gave me a fountain pen, and I used it for several days, until I realized that the ink was water soluable and thus smeared when rained on (or cried on). In my eyes, this was a major drawback to the pen. Is there fountain pen ink that does not run when exposed to water? Bic