Who makes the best fountain pens today?

[theblackpen]

Best pens overall: design,nib,quality,price...

[Jimmy James]

My guess is that you're going to hear a lot of praise for Pelikan, but I don't think I know enough about pens to choose any company with authority.

[goodguy]

Who makes the best pens today ?

While it MONT BLANC of course

 

Well I think this is what some people would expect me to say.

I dont think anyone could answer who makes the the best pens today.It really is a matter of personal preference.

I prefer Mont Blanc over other makers but I dont have any way to prove they make better pens then other makers.

 

I was amazed how well Delta and Visconti pens are and Pelikan is always one of the top makers.

[tfwall]

Best pens overall: design,nib,quality,price...

Pilot Varsity. They introduce people to a type of pen they have never heard of before, are cheap for low entry to use cost, come in a variety of colors, and are quite durable for a disposable item.

[theblackpen]

My guess is that you're going to hear a lot of praise for Pelikan, but I don't think I know enough about pens to choose any company with authority.

 

I am new to (quality) fountain pens myself.I am just curious about today's "Big Four" ...That's why I started the poll. I was readind something about USA's "Big Four" on Mr. Binder's site and I found out that Wahl was one of them. But nowadays there are some new boys (and girls) in town and I was wondering how are they seen by FP enthusiasts.

Regards,

Mihai

[DrPJM1]

Best pens overall: design,nib,quality,price...

 

 

Pelikan for the pens.

MB if you believe their advertising.

 

Sailor has wonderful nibs but they lack a piston-fill pen.

 

[ericthered2004]

Pilot, Aurora, for we enthusiasts of lower-end pens.

 

Cheers,

Eric

[tnt]

Pelikan if you like the style, because they rarely vary the style in the higher end pens. Montblanc for some beautiful Special Editions if you can afford them. Yard O Led if you like Sterling Silver, Bexley for their NIBs. Danitrio makes beautiful Maki-e pens. My favorite pen maker is usually whoever made my latest aquisition.

[LouisA]

Best pens overall: design,nib,quality,price...

 

 

Design and quality and price, well that certainly leaves out Montblanc who produce some rather boring, over priced pens. My top firm would be Waterman for it's many unique designs like the Carene, the Exception and Expert to name a few. Great nibs. And reasonably priced. My issue with Pelikan, Montblanc and really any company that shows little to no variation in their designs, is that they don't try anything new and daring. I leave out the way over-priced special edition Montblancs because a pen company should produce pens that people can use day to day. I would include Sailor as their pens are great but for the most part their 1911 are just duplicates of the Montblanc 146 in different colors. What's so great about that?

 

So my vote would be Waterman.

[LouisA]

I prefer Mont Blanc over other makers but I dont have any way to prove they make better pens then other makers.

 

For a man who has a beautiful Alfa Romeo ( I have owned 5 myself) as his avatar I am surprised you are so fond of a company who produces pens of such bland design. Who wants to pay hundreds of dollars for a pen that looks exactly like the pens they sell for $2.50 each at the check out stand of Office Depot. :roflmho:

 

[CharlieB]

Pelikan, Aurora, Sailor, Waterman. These four brands are always reliable.

[LouisA]

Pilot, Aurora, for we enthusiasts of lower-end pens.

 

Cheers,

Eric

 

I agree with you Eric, Pilot pens get little mention but they product some pens with very daring designs such as the Bamboo.

 

[Martius]

I think the Japanese lead the industry in terms of manufacturing quality. If Pelikan nibs weren't so consistently bad out of the box, I would put Pelikan as No. 1, but overall the quality and reliability of Platinum, Pilot, and Sailor pens seems to higher.

[DRP]

Bexley doesn't have as wide a range of pens as some other manufacturers but they certainly deserve consideration as being among the best.

[tnt]

I find Modern Waterman pens to be rather boring and uninspired. There are a couple Waterman pens I like, namely the Serenite and the Edson and I'm not real sure about the Edson but I have heard some good things about it. Also some bad I guess, if you use it I hear the NIB gets scratched up pretty quickly.

[hari317]

In my experience: PILOT.

[Unic]

Who wants to pay hundreds of dollars for a pen that looks exactly like the pens they sell for $2.50 each at the check out stand of Office Depot. :roflmho:

 

They should sell them along with rolex replicas - a "lifestyle-of-the-rich-and-famous-starter-set" for children for let´s say ten bucks.

 

[Sallent]

Lets see... There's Pelikan, and then there's Pelikan...... and did I mention Pelikan???

[wimg]

You have it all wrong, my friends: there can only be one, and that is Stipula....

 

Warm regards, Wim

[Unic]

Lets see... There's Pelikan, and then there's Pelikan...... and did I mention Pelikan???

 

I had a red and a blue Pelikano school pen many moons ago. No complaints, good writers.

Designwise I prefer Lamy right now, but Pelikan is a also brand that one can only admire