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Ladies and Gentlemen of the Fountain Pen Network, As a side effect of the recent re-shuffle of forums (December 2014), which has more or less been concluded now, I was fortunate enough to search for all the pen brands I could find, with a view to moving them to the appropriate forums, together with the entire team. Since I thought you might be interested, I have accumulated all the pen brands, I could find, in this topic, alphabetized by country, with the brands also appearing in alphabetical order. Furthermore, if several pen brands occur(red) more than once, I have added the company or main brand in curved brackets, and if a main brand/company produced another brand, I have tried to add that brand in curved brackets as well, although this is a far from complete exercise so far. In case a brand opened several factories, in different countries, I have tried to indicate this as well. This info has been scraped from some of the pen books I am lucky enough to own, and the internet, with due reference especially to our own site right here, and to the Soloplumas website, which you may find here: http://soloplumas.blogspot.de/. Other pen sites which proved useful were generally the sites of traders in pens, especially vintage pens, several blogs, etc. As always when doing these searches - Google is one's friend . The idea is to try and keep this list up to date, and if any of you notice that pen brands are missing, please add those to this list, preferably with a reference; I will add them to the appropriate country. Similarly, please let me know if any typos were made, I'll gladly correct those too, and also any main brands for the brands listed. In case of incorrect attributions, please let me know too, preferably with a reference too: the idea is to, possibly, create an entry per brand with some sort of description if at all possible (time-wise), or if you yourself would like to do so - by all means post it, and notify me. For convencience's sake, portions of this topic will be copied to the relevant forums as well. Thank you all very much in advance! Warm regards, Wim

BOY, oh boy, this was quite the journey to figure out! I tested so many variants of devices and lost so much ink in the process. But in the end, it was worth it (at least, I think so)! Let me share why I went on this journey. I love all inks, including shimmer inks. However, sometimes I prefer the base ink without the shimmer, but the equivalent non-shimmer version isn't available from the same company. Some inks are limited editions and only come in shimmer form. As we all know, shimmer inks are beautiful but a double-edged sword—they look amazing but are a pain to clean and are usually best suited for specific pens unless you dedicate one pen to shimmer ink. So, I embarked on a journey to remove the shimmer. My first experiment involved using lab-grade filter paper, specifically Ahlstrom Qualitative Filter Paper Fast 11cm. This resulted in a lot of ink loss because the paper needed to absorb the ink to a critical point before it could start dripping when oversaturated. Initially, I thought this worked, but after leaving it for 20 minutes, the sample still had some shimmer in it. As a good scientist, I retried the method twice more before declaring it a failure. I tried using up to 10 layers of paper, but the result was the same—lots of ink loss without fully removing the shimmer. Next, I tried using an ultra-fine sieve to catch the shimmer particles, but that didn't work either. Then, I attempted vacuum filtration, hoping the mica particles would crystallize on top. While some did, others still sneaked through. I even tried densely packing the filter paper into a large syringe to use as a more contained filter, but that didn't work. Frustrated, I was about to use a centrifuge. In theory, this worked, but the mica powder shimmer is easily disturbed. If you try this method, make sure to have the steadiest hands for syringe decanting. I don't have steady hands, so this was a fail for me. Finally, I found a solution by going through my old lab notes. I used syringe filters with a 0.22μm pore size (thankfully, Amazon makes these easy to find). Using a PTFE Syringe Filter, I was able to slowly filter out the shimmer. I rigged the syringe with weights and rubber bands to keep the plunger down so it could filter slowly overnight, even while I was at work. I'm pleased to present a shimmer-free version of J. Herbin Cornaline d'Egypte not in j herbin bottle as my little jerry rigged stand fits over a pelikan much better. I'll share a writing sample once all the ink is shimmer-free, so stay tuned! Thanks for reading, and happy inky thoughts!

This is a review of “Kaco Master”. It’s the best Chinese Fountain pen I have come across till now.Kaco is a young company which makes some great products. Kaco since its inception in 2011 have launched many pens & accessories . This “Kaco Master” is among their most premium offerings .This has German Made Gold Nib , it doesn’t feel like it’s made by Jowo or Bock. It feels a bit different from those both. I think they are made by special order or made by some other company ! Pros- – Great 14k Gold Nib – Well Tuned Out Of The Box – Soft & Springy Nib – Minimalistic Design – Top Notch Construction – Great Price – Great Packing & Presentation – Hourglass Shaped Section – Have Premium Look – Suitable For Long Writing Sessions Cons- – Only comes in one colour i.e. Black for gold nib. Although the steel nib version comes in many colors. – Don’t post securely. – I can’t expect anything more at this price !!! Packing- Great, The pen comes with a great grey metallic case, which comes in a black box over which “Kaco” is engraved. The metallic oval case has a foam insert in it where the pen can rest. This foam ensures that the pen doesn’t get scratched with the sides of the metal case. Specifications- – Nib Size -Fine Nib 0.5mm – Filling Mechanism: standard cartridges and converter – Capped Pen length: 154mm – Section Length: 25mm – Section Diameter: 12.5 mm – Uncapped Pen Length : 133mm – Diameter: 16.5 mm – Pen weight: 27.5g Appearance & Design- Good, The pen has a classic design. It’s made of great quality black resin which has been highly polished. The clip is of gold color & fit into a clip-shaped recess in the cap & almost aligns with the cap of the pen .The clip is strong & is very functional. It is unique & looks good in my pocket. The clip has a small logo of “Kaco” over it .The pen size is around 133 mm uncapped & 154 mm capped. It doesn’t cap securely.This pen is made in very nice black resin, it is super shiny & feels premium in hand . I wish they had other colors too. It has an hourglass-shaped section & a number #6 14k nib in Fine with “Kaco” logo engraved over. It has a plastic feed. The section is long & threads of the cap are precise. This nib looks good & is similar to JOWO nib but it’s not JOWO. The nib suits the pen size & looks good. This pen is very comfortable for long writing sessions too. Construction- Very Well Made, The construction of this pen is top notch.The pen has been polished well & has been given a mirror like finish on both clip as well as body. It looks pleasing to the eyes , but as a result it attracts dust & micro scratches may be noticeable. The pen is elegant & is a perfect minimalistic office pen. Filling System- This is a simple C/C pen. The converter is interchangeable with a Schmidt K5 converter. It has metal reinforcements in the mouth & it is perfectly functional. You can use standard international cartridges too Nib Performance- Amazing , Kaco Master has #6 nib which is very springy and relatively soft.It is surely better than JOWO/BOCK nibs. This nib has a slight forward curve which makes a different writing angle which is different from others, I think it’s some unique Chinese grind. This is very smooth & gives a distinctive feel while writing. The nib is similar to European Fine Nibs.On the box, it’s written the nib is made in Germany but nib doesn’t look like common nibs i.e. JOWO or BOCK . Conclusion- True Master, This is the best Chinese pen I have ever used & one of the best pens available at this price. I bought it for around $120. The pen is very well made & has a great 14 k gold nib. It has a minimalistic look,which is amazing. The glossy black color looks good but I feel there should be more color options in this pen. I really can’t expect anything more at this price. It is true value for money given the quality, ergonomics and writing experience. It’s a masterpiece about which most people don’t know about !

Hi everyone, Does anybody know of a brand of not too expensive paper (for a student) that is FP friendly and that comes in notebooks and/or loose leaf and/or pads that is easy to find in Canada (through places like Amazon or Staples). So far I have had to resort to buying Hilroy notebooks but they are very inconsistent so I'm looking to upgrade to something better for my everyday writing without breaking the bank on something like Rhodia or Clairefontaine. Thank you all very much in advance!

Hi, I have got two old Cross classic century gold fountain pens from my father. I'm not sure about the age. They are marked: 1/20 10KT GOLD FILLED with 14KT M nibs. They have problems with ink flow, dryness and scraping. The pens have now been cleaned in water for over 24 hours. No more ink is coming out. But, I have problems removing the nibs for further cleaning and adjustments. Is it possible to remove them at all or are they fixed? They are not moving at all when pulled. I'm trying with a rubber band between my fingers for better grip, but no :-( Hope you have som good solutions for me :-)

Hello to everyone. I found three really similiar looking fountain pens at my love's flat. I wonder what brand they could be or how old they must be, what their engraved subtitles refer to and so on. I took photos and luckily I can read small letters from close, so I can write what I found engraved on their tips. I will describe them according to their order on both photos, they are in the same order on both. On the left, no pattern: has a "Spirit of St Louis" graving at the bottom edge of the lid. On the point "Iridium point" and Germany are engraved with some nice spiral-decorated "frame" like pattern. It seems to be made of steel or some other lighter metal. Middle one, "stripy": on the tip it says "Radiant tipped" and "Made in USA". It has a very light, plastic feeling, especially the lid. The other two have more metal weight and feeling. On the right, with black shapes: on the tip it says "Matador", below that is an encircled "1" and below that is New York. The lid and body are made of metal. Thank you in advance Update: Found one more, it was in a Marksman titled case, but I'm not sure if it is one. It says "Iridium point" on the tip as well with the same nice swirls, but no "Germany" is engraved. It must have been a company gift, since there is a Philips logo on its lid. There is a very little figure on the golden clip which looks like a winged human figure standing on one leg and holding a stretch-out bow. Naturally the last photos with the dark blue pen count here.

Hi all. I am returning to the fountain pen world after some years, and I am trying to deepen my knowedge of the different types of nibs. I know about normal, italic, stub, music and so on, but I found in some sites the possibility to choose an "orb " nib (e.g. Orb 0.5). I made some researches here on the forum and elsewhere, but did not find a clear explanation. Could you provide some insights about this type of nib? Is it a subtype of the oblique nibs? Thanks.

Help! I really love the Robert Oster inks. Where can I get them in India? Have you guys used Robert Oster?

Just finished up with my first three kitless pens. The first was the prototype so it's not worth showing here but the second and third turned out ok, I think. I made my own alumilite blanks and turned them on my smallish Rikon wood lathe using Easy Wood Tools negative rake cutters (they are awesome). I'm using cheap Chinese taps and dies but I did get in on a group buy for some triple start taps and dies from Tapco. Can't wait for them to get here! The nibs are Bock #6 fine. BTW, does anyone have a preference between Jowo and Bock nibs? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

New Moonman pen. Thoughts? Available on eBay for $42-ish (i could find only 1 listing though..), appears to use a Schmidt nib. Pictures taken from Reddit and Instagram.

Hello everyone, I just bought this St Dupont Fidelio Sterling Silver cap FP BP set

Hi, Is a Phileas rollerball barrel compatible with a Phileas fountain pen section? Silly question, but I have got a section in my junk box, and would like to make some use of it. Max

Saw this Montblanc for sale on marketplace but couldn't identify it from my own knowledge or with a Google search. Do you guys know what it is?

Hey guys! After almost a year of waiting, i finally received my grail pen i ordered back in August 2019, the conid bulkfiller regular! I made a video going over what came with my order, some of the available accessories and some general comments on the quality of the pen and how it writes. I made it to provide some insight into how Conid's quality has changed since their order stoppage, and to show you guys waiting on your open orders or are keen on ordering one when they reopen orders, what you can expect from the company! You can find my unboxing at this video link! Thanks so much guys and let me know if you've got any questions or comments!

I need help fact-checking my a part in the Novel I am writing. I want to know how someone who writes Italics would hold their pen, is it any different from someone who writes with a Straight Handwriting? I conjecture that someone who writes in a Straight Handwriting will have the nib pointing -45 to -20 degrees from their body whereas an Italics writer would hold it -15 to +25 degrees. What this means is that a Normal writer's nib will be more worn on the left side than the right, and vice-versa in an Italics writer. Please send in a picture (if possible) of how you would hold your nib if you are writing in italics, and mention whether you usually write in a straight, or in italics. Everyone who submits a response will be mentioned in the Acknowledgements at the beginning of my novel. It's a thriller, and this is the part where the detective begins to suspect things she would have never had otherwise... Any help and advice will be deeply appreciated. I place a very high price on the factual accuracy of a novel.

Hi, Finally figured out how to refill an empty parker roller ball cartridge with fountain pen ink and have made a short 3 min video describing the process. It's a variation of the syringe vacuum method used to refill a pilot varsity pen. https://youtu.be/uMtBMEE7tas Let's see how many times the roller ball cartridge can be refilled and report back what caused it to finally fail. eg: ball dropped out. Enjoy! weemeng

Hello everyone, My "Eid" gift to myself, a very special and rare pen which is the Parker 75 Rainbow: Best regards, Northstar

Hello everyone, Two days back this super beautiful Parker 75 Florence joined my collection of 75s

Update: I have about 6 pens to pass on. But now will gift them to my pen pals for free including shipping. I am going to thin out the number of fountain pens I have. A couple of TSWBI's, like new, some Pilot Metro's, also like new, maybe a few others. I'm willing to pass on to other members as long as they cover shipping. I'm in Arizona. Does anyone have advice on how I should do this? List the pens and nib size? Pictures? etc. thanks, jim UPDATE: Thanks everyone for your help and advice. Given the procedures and feeling like I need to "sell" a free gift, I'm going to give them as gifts to my pen pal correspondents instead, and pay for the $$$$ postage (not big dollars here). It is a better gesture for me and less hassle than a giveaway on the forum. Thanks again for everyone's help and advice. I've learned a lot. jim

"The eyes of the world are upon you." -Dwight Eisenhower's message to the troops of the invasion force This year marks the 75th anniversary of the historical day that was the turning point for the Allied forces in World War II. Made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of D-Day at Normandy. This pen is limited to only 5300 fountain pens, signifying the number of ships that crossed the English Channel on the dawn of June 6th 1944. The body is crafted from a gorgeous military green resin with gold vermeil trimmings. This Omas D-Day Fountain pen c.1994 is in exceptional condition and has been vault kept. It comes with authentic documents and presentation boxes. It has a Fine gold plated nib. It is NOS (New Old Stock). The pen has NOT been used and is in exceptional condition. The clip has light patina and the display box does have some light discoloration which is shown in the last image. We currently have two Fountain Pens of these, one with a Medium Nib, and another one in a Fine Nib. Please feel free to contact us for more inquiries, or if you are interested. orders@airlineintl.com

Hello everyone, I just bout this St Dupont fountain pen and needed help to identify it, thank you in advance

In this post I will review the Waterman Expert Deluxe Fountain Pen. The one which I have has a fine nib. Official Product Link of the pen Flipkart Link from where I bought the pen Background: I have been using the Waterman Expert for more than 3 years. It is my second waterman pen. Prior to this I had owned the Waterman Phileas and being really satisfied with that I decided to go in for another waterman. This pen also has the fine nib like my Phileas. This was also the most expensive pen in my collection at the time of purchase. In short I had a lot of expectations from this pen even before I had tried it out. Appearance & Design (1-10) - 8/10 - An appealing design. I went in for the deluxe version in black colour. It has a metallic cap with chrome finish. It has five horizontal bands and has a sloping top. The clip has a slit in the middle just like any other waterman. You can also find waterman and paris written at the base of the cap in white over a black band. The barrel is black lacquer over a metal body and has chrome bands to match the cap. It has a steel nib which also matches the cap colour. Overall the pen has only two colours - chrome and black and they are well-coordinated. As a whole the pen follows a cigar shape with it being wide at the middle and narrower at the ends. The grip section is comfortable to hold with the width increasing just above the nib to prevent your fingers from slipping. The pen looks upmarket and has a good design. Construction & Quality (1-10) - 8/10 - The pen is solidly built. The construction quality is good and the pen feels solidly built. There is nothing much to complain and the pen can handle some abuse. (I have never this pen so I don't know what would happen).Even after 3 years of fairly regular use this pen is in good condition. I am happy with the construction. Weight & Dimensions (1-10) - 9/10 - Balanced when unposted. The weight of the pen feels just right. It is neither very heavy nor can you call it light. I have fairly big hands and the pen fits in well posted as well as unposted. This pen is thicker than its sibling, the waterman hemisphere. Personally I find the thickness of the pen to be just right and the hemisphere is too slim for me. This pen has a very heavy cap so I prefer to write with the cap unposted. Having the cap posted seems to alter the balance for the worse and it feels as if you have to hold the pen in your its position rather than it naturally resting in your hand. Nib & Performance (1-10) - 10/10 - Wonderful Nib. The pen I have is with a Fine nib. The nib is made out of steel and there is nothing fancy about it. It is a relatively small in size. What you expect from a nib depends from person to person and this is subjective so one should always take this with a pinch of salt. Here is my opinion... Of all the fine nibs that I have ever tried this is the best. I bought this pen after using the Waterman phileas. That was also a fine nibbed pen and I went for this with similar expectations. The nib is smooth and fast. There have been no issues with any of the inks that I have used with this pen. Being a fine nib the inks are very quick to dry. However off the box the nib was not as smooth and you need to give it some time, write some pages with it and then it shows its true colours. Being a fast and a quick to dry nib it is ideal for note-taking applications or where writing speed is an important factor. I really love this nib and this pen has always remained in my circulation thanks to the nib. Filling System & Maintenance (1-10) - 9/10 - Classic reliable converter. The filling system design and the overall maintenance effort involved with the pen is same as that of any other converter based pen. The converter is the standard waterman converter which can be used across almost all their pens around this range. Since the nib is fine it does not use a lot of ink and a single top up can last a fairly long time. Cost & Value (1-10) - 7/10 I bought my pen online in India from flipkart.com. It cost me around Rs. 5400 that is around USD 80. Depending upon the other pens in your collections you may categorise it as average or an expensive pen. I don't think you can call it cheap in any way. At the time of purchase it was the most expensive pen in my collection. For what it costs it is a pretty simple device. It has the classic looks and performs well. Depending on what you expect from this price point you may either by happy or disappointed. Thus, this again is a very subjective score. In my opinion this pen was "expensive" at the time of purchase but after some years of use I feel that the money was well spend and I am satisfied with my investment. Conclusion (Final score [sUM/6]: X) - 8.5/10 It is a wonderful pen. It is not too fancy but has everything that it should have. Feels like a complete package. It is that sort of pen which very few people will dislike and you will need to put in some efforts to find any shortcomings. It is that pen which may not have many "fans" but which is liked by most of its owners. It is a safe bet to go with and I recommend this pen. Link to my blog where this review is posted

Hello everyone, I just purchased this set of NoS Aurora sterling silver fountain+ballpoint pens (only FP shown in the photos), i need help with identification of the model name and any other info, many thanks in advance

Wow I can't believe I just risked ruining the Parker Sonnet(Gen 1 Laque Firedance) that my mom gave me, which also happens to be my first ever fountain pen. I saw that the tines were misaligned and bent the lower one, over did it 2 times(first time adjusting a nib, and it was on a pen with actual sentimental value, I know I'm stupid), had to bend it the other way around, got about 8 heart attacks, almost died of cardiac arrest, and finally did it, here are the pics. Before: https://goo.gl/KNDqVt After: https://goo.gl/Mv8ZwW

Just saw the display of the Heritage 1914 in a Hong Kong MB boutique. Both the 333 version (orange) and 1,000 version (black). Staff are so nice to let me take photos on them. They are huge !!! Will try to get another photo with the 149 for comparison. http://www.sampanel.com/Hobby/Writing-Instrument/Montblanc-Heritage-1914/i-x2SCmTQ/0/X2/800_7448-X2.jpg http://www.sampanel.com/Hobby/Writing-Instrument/Montblanc-Heritage-1914/i-LRWSvWs/0/X2/800_7447-X2.jpg http://www.sampanel.com/Hobby/Writing-Instrument/Montblanc-Heritage-1914/i-Z8nLGb6/0/X2/800_7446-X2.jpg http://www.sampanel.com/Hobby/Writing-Instrument/Montblanc-Heritage-1914/i-QPKM4ZT/0/XL/800_7451-XL.jpg http://www.sampanel.com/Hobby/Writing-Instrument/Montblanc-Heritage-1914/i-8PZFpWJ/0/X2/800_7449-X2.jpg http://www.sampanel.com/Hobby/Writing-Instrument/Montblanc-Heritage-1914/i-Q4WsPfM/0/X2/800_7452-X2.jpg