A friend of mine who neither blogs nor particularly reads blogs unless prompted, provided the following advice over a couple of e-mails; I thought it may be of interest to some other people. She writes:

True confession time: I own dozens of fountain pens. I have them declared on my insurance, in fact. I have pens from most of the world’s better manufacturers (though not all), and I use them with regularity.

Generally speaking, pens that are bottle-fill only are better made, and they usually hold more ink than either a cartridge or a converter. As a consultant, I used to take pages of notes, covered closely with writing, every day, and one good pen full of ink can easily last several days (meaning refills are not often needed). More on this below.

And do you want a very fine nib, or something a little broader and less finicky?

I suppose that depends what you mean by “very fine” – to me that might mean something narrow and sharply tipped, with a tendency to be scratchy; I suspect the latter is a matter of engineering, however. Doodling-verging-on-caricature is a distinct possibility, so a fairly fine line combined with smooth omnidirectional movement would be a good idea.

By “very fine” I mean the thickness of the line of ink laid on paper. Since you mentioned Rotring drafting pens in your blog, I thought it was a good idea to ask. Yes, very fine nibs tend to be scratchy but this varies greatly from one maker to another. The Japanese love very fine nibs and modern Japanese pens often have very smooth flowing but fine nibs (I have a pen from Sailor with a nib fitted for me at a pen show by the grandson of the company founder, and it writes like a dream). Conversely, I find that Mont Blanc fine nibs are very scratchy and I’ll never buy another one.

First, some general advice. Make sure that the pen you get, no matter what make, has a gold nib, preferably 18k but 14k is ok. Do not get steel, or gold plate. Real gold nibs are smoother, better made, and they conform to your “hand” over time. Don’t let other people write with your pen because they’ll mess up the nib. If you press down too hard when you write, eventually the nib of your pen will be “sprung” – that is, it will splay out and lose the flexibility and “spring” that give writing with a pen character. A good pen should glide over the paper without being “pushed” or pressed down hard. Good pens cost money but they last for decades (I have some I got from my father 30 yrs ago, that he got 60 yrs ago, and they still write) and can be repaired. Expect to spend close to $300 (or more) for a good European-made pen.

My favorite pens for big hands, for reliability and smoothness, and for general robustness, are Pelikans. I have several. They are, however, only bottle-filled, using a piston mechanism. The better models have all brass mechanisms, with some kind of resin body, and gold nibs. Look at the Souveran 1000 and 850 model fountain pens for big, solid, dependable pens. Functional, not ornamental. The nibs are dependably smooth, and of all the pens I own, they are the least likely to leak on airplanes. They are also good about repairs.

Some words about pens and airplanes – they don’t mix well. Changes in cabin pressure can cause leaks in pens, but there are things you can do to avoid this. Some pens leak more than others, for example. For piston filled pens, fill them before carrying them on board – full, but then release one drop of ink. And make sure the pens are kept upright during the trip (I keep mine in a leather case in my briefcase and keep the brief case upright at my feet).

Another maker you might want to look at is a British company called Conway Stewart. They make big pens with good smooth nibs, although they tend to be more ornamental than Pelikan. I have one that I bought about a year ago, and I like it quite a bit.

I could write a book on this topic, and I’m not nearly as big a nut as some people. I go to shows and I can tell you there are a lot of pen-crazy disfunctional people out there.

Apart from the information inherent in this, is all the brandnames which I am googling wildly. Having never looked at this topic before, I didn’t quite realise the depth of subculture which exists out there, eg:

[conwaystewartpens.co.uk]

…which apart from anything else is a rather fun website, although it is unclear whether it is for the manufacturer, or just a reseller of antiques. In fact it seems to be hard to separate antique from new in several sites on the web; retailer websites swamp manufacturer ones. I will have a trawl over the weekend. In fact it’s a bit like watching “buy discount diamonds” adverts on the TV in the Bay Area.

Oh yeah. Definitely. No this site is not apparently the manufacturers’. This is a site by Davis Collectibles, a new York outfit. The manufacturers always include service information. There are a LOT of old pens out there and if you are new to pens, I would stay clear of them. But when you buy your pen, don’t dump the fancy padded box it comes in. If you ever sell the pen to a dealer, the box makes it more valuable. Dealers also buy the empty boxes to house pens they already have.

The Pelikan website is rather useful, this page [www.hochwertige-schreibgeraete.de] demonstrating nib widths. ISTR those terms (3B, OB, F) from some calligraphy experiments as a teenager. Are they standard?

Standard among manufacturers? Not at all, alas. Standard among all Pelikan nibs is about as standard as you get. Otherwise, it varies wildly from one maker to another. For Japanese nibs, in fact, you have to start with the assumption that a Fine is the same as an Extra Fine in any European or American pen.

I’ll see if I can get one in my hand. The airplane advice is especially pertinent to me.

I should also note that you shouldn’t actually *use* the pen while on the plane because you could suddenly end up with ink all over yourself if the cabin pressure changes at all. And for durability, look for pens with brass works under all. Avoid those gorgeous swirly acrylic and celluloid pens – the acrylic is brittle and cracks when you drop it on terrazzo floors (humph, ask me how I know….). Another pen model you might like, in terms of size and free flowing nib, is the Aurora Talentum. It’s an Italian pen but dependable and not fussy (unlike Italian cars).

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I was afraid you’d discover that the Pelikan 1000 was best… I have a catalogue for Fahrney’s in DC (the best pen store in the US, basically) which lists it for $412. Given the value of the dollar these days, that might be a good deal. By the way, have I mentioned that you should NEVER pay the retail list price for a pen? Nearly all pens are discounted by some amount or other nearly all the time.

[www.fahrneyspens.com]