Hello Everyone, I am looking to buy 1 fountain pen and then to send it off to a nibmeister. I wanted to know if it would be better to buy a 14 carat nib and send it to a nibmeister to adjust for smoothness and flex or to buy a 18 carat nib and send it to a nibmeister to adjust for smoothness (knowing that flex can't be adjusted for with a 18 carat nib). Here are my personal variables. All I want is one smooth and soft-feeling fountain pen. My price range is at the maximum of $400. All I want is to find 1 fountain pen to keep for a lifetime. Maybe I have made an underlying general assumption? Would this question have to be answered by a case-by-case basis or can a generalization be made? Just how good can a nibmeister make a gold nib? Smooth, buttery, and soft with no feedback as if I didn't know that I was writing on paper? Can all gold nibs be adjusted this way? Thanks for any help, I hope to bring a contribution from my own experience into this thread. WriterProspect