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Peter Ford deserves an award for inventing the most evocative, magnetically Anglophile names in the entire category of stationery products. As a fountain pen user, being able to deliver the words Parson's Essential, Churchman's Prescriptor, and Imperium State is worth at least $5. "Wow, that's a shiny pen you're using today. What is that?" "Oh, this? It's called a Churchman's Prescriptor. Comes from a guy in Northwest London." Staples and Office Depot should hire Ford to re-label entire rows full of products. Those notebooks bound from paper made from sugar cane waste, sometimes called "bagasse"? The Staples name for them is "Eco-Easy," which is about as lame, non-descriptive, uninspired, and unimaginative as you can get. Your thought experiment for the next three minutes, while you're otherwise occupied with the reading of a review of a pen you've probably seen reviewed a dozen times previously? Come up with a Peter Ford-like, Anglophile name replacement for those sugar cane paper notebooks. I don't know -- Plantation Journals. Jamaican Logbooks. The Harbormaster's Log. Anything will be better than "Eco-Easy." I've learned that my aesthetic taste in pens is almost identical to a prolific contributor to the Fountain Pen Network named "Ian the Jock" -- a guy who sounds so Scottish that you can imagine him sitting there in a kilt with a dagger tucked into his kneesock. He'll correct this post shortly, provide the proper Gaelic name for daggers, and use some classic Scottish vocabulary like "wee," "belter," and "stoater." Ian's recent review of an Italix Churchman's Prescriptor inspired me to order the pen, and after using it, I must say that the community's enthusiasm about Italix products is warranted. The Churchman's Prescriptor is beautifully crafted, the black lacquer finish is prettier than pictures give it justice, and the nibs are smooth indeed. Ian suggests that the Churchman's Prescriptor has a solid, churchy appearance, and it warrants an Episcopal purple ink. I agree, and I've written this review in Sailor Jentle shigure, an ink that may have been, but probably was not, used by Episcopalian missionaries in Japan. For all I know, and I'm too lazy to look it up on Wikipedia or whatever, Episcopalian missionaries inspired the development of the ink color "shigure." I do have one objection to the Churchman's Prescriptor that I haven't seen in other reviews. There is a brass fitting between the section and the barrel that protrudes more extensively that I expected. It is not painful, and your grip can get used to it, but, well, it's there. Please list your Peter Ford-like suggestions for sugar-cane-paper notebooks in the comments below.

I hope to find 2 individual winners for the 2 pens. I've enjoyed the forums for many years now and I hope to contribute back a little with my first PIF. What you can win 1. Italix Parson's Essential - Medium Oblique Nib. No converter included. 2. FPR Himalaya - Flex Nib. Converter included. Eligibility - Anyone is welcome to enter. - Only one entry per person - please specify which pen interests you. Process - Deadline for entry is end of day 7th Jan 2019. - Winner will be selected based on random lottery. Postage - $5 for standard postage via Royal Mail UK. Payable via Paypal. - I will post the pen in a padded envelope. Notes - I have enjoyed these pens over the last couple years but recently they haven't seen much use, hence I feel they would be more useful to someone else. However, I can't guarantee the performance of these pens but I can confirm that they worked great when I last used them. Thank you for your entries. Kind regards, Sidd

Blue. Body only. Thought I'd try a smaller pen, but it doesn't like me. ¡No me gusta! I adjusted the nib to suit my taste, so I'll be keeping that along with the feed and housing for a larger pen. I prefer to screw the whole nib unit out, as opposed to pulling the nib and feed. I'm keeping the converter as well. £5 postage. UK only. First person to pm me.

Hello, everyone! So I have decided that my next pen is going to be an Italix from Mr. Pen. All of the models interest me and what like to hear peoples on input on which model I should obtain first as my first Italix Pen. No matter which model I choose I am going to go with either a Medium Italic Nib, or a Medium Stub. I'm thinking I should go with The Churchman's Prescriptor or the Parson's Essential.

My first Italix pen is a Churchmans Prescriptor with a medium cursive stub nib. I had a pretty awesome experience with Mr. Ford and decided that I'm going to make my next purchase through his Mr.Pen site rather than through massdrop and would like everyone's opinion on their favorite nibs from Mr.Pen. Lately, a ton of my pens has been picked with stub nibs, because I just love stub nibs. However, I just purchased a Metropolitan with a fine nib and now I'm thinking I need to go on a Fine nib binge lol. I'm leaning towards a Fine, Extra-Fine, Italic Fine, or Fine Cursive, maybe even an oblique. I'll be honest though I'm a little scared of obliques only because I'm still rather a newbie in the hobby. Please chime in with your favorite Mr.Pen nibs I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts and preferences.

I've purchased several pens from Massdrop and so far two pens I purchased had quality control issues and wondering how everyone else's experience with them has been? Most recently I purchased an Italix Churchman Prescriptor with a medium cursive stub nib; the tip of one tine is higher than the other and on the other tip of the tine it has a dent in it. So not only does it write scratchy but it also doesn't even come close to writing like stub. I kinda screwed myself by waiting several months to ink it up since Massdrop probably won't return it or exchange it. I know Mr.Pen warranties the pens for 12months, but not sure if a pen purchased from Massdrop would be eligible. I sent Mr.Pen an inquiry and waiting to hear back; hopefully, they'll replace the nib. Anyways just want to know the experience people have had with Massdrop.

My first Italix pen is a Churchmans Prescriptor with a medium cursive stub nib. I had a pretty awesome experience with Mr. Ford and decided that I'm going to make my next purchase through his Mr.Pen site rather than through massdrop and would like everyone's opinion on their favorite nibs from Mr.Pen. Lately, a ton of my pens has been picked with stub nibs, because I just love stub nibs. However, I just purchased a Metropolitan with a fine nib and now I'm thinking I need to go on a Fine nib binge lol. I'm leaning towards a Fine, Extra-Fine, Italic Fine, or Fine Cursive, maybe even an oblique. I'll be honest though I'm a little scared of obliques only because I'm still rather a newbie in the hobby. Please chime in with your favorite Mr.Pen nibs I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts and preferences

First of all I would like to apologize if I have done anything wrong, this is my first review. I could not find too many reviews of this pen online so I thought I should share my experience with everyone. My wife recently gifted me a new pen that she knew I had been interested in for quite some time. An Italix Captain's Commission with an extra broad cursive stub nib. I have only had this pen a few days but I am already very fond of it, so here are my first impressions: Quality: The pen feels very well build and feels like it is made to last. Nothing seems loose and everything seems to line up perfectly. The cap is a screw on cap that takes 3 turns to remove it from the body. The clip is springy and quite firm, not too firm, just right in my opinion. The pen does carry some weight to it and really feels solid. Appearance: Visually the pen is very appealing, there is a deep shine to the black lacquer. There is a lot of chrome on this pen and it all seems to be very well polished. The cap is seriously big, and while I think it looks great I can see how some people might think it is too much. I think the pen looks best posted however it for me becomes too top heavy when posted. Nib: As I understand it Peter Ford (the owner of the Italix brand) grinds all the italic nibs himself. I am a fan of broader nibs, so I opted for the extra broad cursive stub nib... go broad or go home. Opting for the cursive nib (with round corners) does limit the line variation, but does make for a super smooth and really excellent writing experience. The nib is very well tuned I have had no problems with hard starts or skipping. I believe the nib is a number 6 nib, although I have not tried to fit a different nib in the pen. It is wring so nicely I would be to afraid to ruin anything! I can 100% recommend this nib to anyone, it is fantastic. Filling system: It is a cartridge converter filler, so nothing much to tell here, other than it works fine. As this pen is all metal I would not use it as an eye dropper. Feel in the hand: This pen is on the heaver side, I think it is made with brass. It is not too heavy to use at all, but if you like lighter pens this probably won't be for you. Unposted I think the balance is perfect and I find it very comfortable to use. The section is a good size and despite being lacquer I don't find my fingers slipping as I hold the pen. The threads are not sharp so I don't think that would be a problem for most people. However posted the cap for me is just too heavy and I can't really use it comfortably. That said I don't usually post my pens and the pen is a good size with out being posted. Here is the size information provided on mrpen.co.uk: Weighs 50g14.5 cms long with cap on.1.3 cms at its widest point. Cost: Including shipping the pen costs just over £55, I think that price is fair. I am sometimes reluctant to spend much more than this on a C/C Pen, but for the price you will get an excellent nib, a lot of pen, that looks and feels great. Overall: Overall I am very happy with this pen, for me it is perfect, I would not change one thing about it. It is going into my daily rotation and I am sure it will be there for a very long time. Thank you for reading my review, here is some eye candy below:

I was excited to find some Montblanc Permanent ink, so I got a bottle of blue and some cartridges of black. The blue is amazing, by the way, I'm using it with a Lamy Al-Star, no issues there, beautiful color, normal flow. But for the (black) cartridge, I'm chose to use them on my Italix Parson's Essential, with a medium nib. I obviously washed the pen before changing the ink. But after I'm not using my pen for one or a few days, the flows stops. I need to really shake the pen, or use filter paper to convince the ink to start flowing again. Sometimes I just rage quit and get the nearest pen to write with, when I'm pressed by time. It's frustrating to spend preparing a couple of minutes every time I need to write something. Is this because the black ink is thicker? Is this issue that I'm having a normal behavior? What can I do to have a quicker flow down the nib? It never happened before with this pen, but I was only using Pelikan Royal Blue with it until now.

Greetings fellow FP enthusiasts! I've been lurking here for a couple of months and finally made an account. About 3 months ago, I was talking to my son. He said that he had heard good things about fountain pens, and that I should try one. I logged on to the Amazon website and bought a Pilot Metropolitan (Medium). Worth a try for under 15 bucks, so why not? I liked it so much I bought some pens as gifts for my (adult) kids... Since I was buying gifts, I bought my self some good notebooks and accessories to reward myself for being such a generous dad. I liked those too so I bought some for my kids. Again, I rewarded myself for being so thoughtful. I also bought some pens and gave them as gifts to my friends, employees and coworkers. Again, I rewarded myself... and this cycle repeated several more times. After 3 months, here's the tally... Given as gifts: Pilot Metropolitans (several, M and F), Pilot Plumix (several, CM), Pilot Elite 95S (M), Pilot Custom Heritage 92 (F), Italix Churchman's Prescriptor (M italic), Pilot Prera (CM), Pilot Varsity/V-Pen (several, M and F), Maruman Mnemosyne B5 notebooks (several), Kakuyo Notebook Cover (x3), Aston leather pen sleeves/cases, inks, syringes, pen stands and other accessories. For me: Edison Collier with tuned nibs (B, EF, 0.8mm Daily Italic), Pilot Custom Heritage 92 (x2, F and M), Pilot Elite 95S (F), Pilot Prera, Italix Churchman's Prescriptor (M stub), Italix Captain's Commission (B italic), Pilot Lucina (x2, M and F), Pilot Penmanship (EF), Pilot Kakuno with CON-70 convertor (x2, M and F), Pilot Parallel calligraphy pens (one of each size), notebooks, notebook covers, calligraphy books, leather pen sleeves/cases, Maxpedition EDC and Beefy organizers, inks, syringes, pen stands and other accessories. One of my coworkers (who knows nothing about fountain pens) FOUND a fountain pen in the street and asked me to see if I could identify it and get it working. It turned out to be a Cross Townsend in Titanium Finish, with a gold-plated steel Fine nib, The pen was dry, and had been flatttened just a bit as if it had been run over by several cars. I conducted a thorough inspection, cleaning, tine realignment and re-inked it. The pen is fully functional and writes beautifully. I think it is a very durable, well made pen... and being suitably impressed by it, I am currently awaiting delivery of my first Cross Townsend (made in USA, Malachite finish). Shopping for Townsend #2 also. So, I'm starting to think that I may like fountain pens. I can't be sure until I try some more, and I've only been at this for a few months. One of my friends asked "how many fountain pens do you need?"... My answer: "At least one more."

Does the Parson's Essential Fine Stub have tipping, or is it just a less severely cut italic (which has no tipping) from them?

I've recently ordered an Italix Parson's Essential ( fine nib, non-italic) and am waiting for it to arrive. One thing that I didn't consider when researching for the purchase is that the Italix nibs, having been reground (although I'm not sure whether the round point ones also have this done), may lack tipping material. Does anyone know if this is the case? How much would this affect the nib's durability? Cheers, Harriet

No affiliation, etc. but I know there are some fans out there of Italix pens. So this is a heads up on the Massdrop of the Parson's Essential. I have always wanted one. I like the Celtic band. Seems like a simple classy pen. Thought I would try the medium stub. https://www.massdrop.com/buy/italix-parsons-essential-fountain-pen