Present For Husband And I Know Nothing About Fountain Pens...

[cocohoney]

Hi,

 

I am completely new here, please let me know if I have not posted in the right place.

 

I would like to buy my husband a pen for an anniversary present. He does a lot of writing in his job (doctor) and usually uses basic fountain pens from WHSmith which irritate him as the plastic threads wear. He also gets aching fingers as his hand slips down the grip.

 

I have around £50 to spend.

 

I have been trying to work my way through reviews online, and I reckon I need to look for a pen with a metal body but not a metal grip.

 

The choices I have come up with are a Tombow Havanna (my top choice), a Sheaffer Sagaris, or a Parker Sonnet.

 

I would be grateful for some advice- I can't seem to find out for sure if the threads on these are metal, or if the grip is any grippier (apart from the Tombow which I know is metal with a rubber grip). Also any other suggestions that fit with his needs, or what people think of the pens I have listed would be great.

 

Many thanks x

 

[ttakacs]

A Pilot Metropolitan? It has a brass barrel and a plastic section (the "grip"). Although quite a bit under your budget, it is nonetheless a quality pen. That would leave you some room for ink, perhaps Pilot Iroshizuku. As you are in the UK, you might check the Italix Parson's Essential, from MrPen. Check out the reviews here on FPN.

[fourseamer]

You may also want to consider a stainless steel Lamy Studio.

[Colors]

Also recommend Mr. Pen's Italix Parsons Essential - looks classy, smooth writer, reasonably priced. You can't go wrong. And, you can engrave his name on it, for free.

[doggonecarl]

I think the Sheaffer Sagaris in gloss black and gold trim is a handsome pen and befitting a doctor!

 

Happy Anniversary.

[inkspot]

Welcome!

 

What a wonderful and thoughtful thing for you to do for your husband! I'm certain he will appreciate your hard work in picking out a pen that will make him happy.

 

I think you a have three great options to choose from. In my experience quickly wearing threads isn't a problem with any of these pens. They are all comparable in terms of durability and comfort, from my experience. So, my best advice to you is to go with your gut instinct in this case. The three pens you have suggested are all quality pens for the price and all meet the criteria you have requested. If you prefer the Tombow and think your husband will too, then that is the pen I'd suggest. You know his tastes and preferences better than we ever could.

 

Hope this helps!

[WayTooManyHobbies]

Happy Anniversary! I'm sure your husband will appreciate your willingness to hunt for a gift you know he will both use and enjoy.

 

This suggestion may increase the anxiety factor a bit, but there are plenty of used UK-made Parker 51s. They are slip caps, and have a smooth section with reasonable girth for gripping. Ergonomically, I think they are well executed. The body and grip are plastic (acrylic), but are quite robust. Alternatively, you may be able to find a "Flighter" model, which has a plastic grip and a stainless steel body.

 

The 51 is generally regarded as one of the best fountain pens ever made, and the aerometric versions are practically bullet proof. There is a nice write-up in the Parker sub-forum describing how used examples can be cleaned and restored to use.

[cocohoney]

Thanks all, I am very confused about which one to get, I had no idea there was such choice!

 

I do like the Mr Pen ones, I will look for the reviews- is the Churchman's one good too? I think I prefer the look of that one, I'm not keen on the gold swirl around the cap on the Parson's

 

The Lamy Studio I had on my list until I read this review http://fpgeeks.com/2012/02/lamy-studio-fountain-pen-the-awesome-review/ which said their fingers slipped down it when writing for a while.

 

Not sure about the Pilot Metropolitan but that is purely based on the price I wanted to spend and I know that isn't always a guarantee of quality- the matt black one looks really nice and I hadn't thought about buying ink- do I really want to go there?! My brain is already struggling with all the options and now I've read a little bit about ink too...perhaps I should get cufflinks

 

Thank you for the anniversary wishes- 10 years (so the engraving would be rather a nice touch), I know he will really appreciate it so thank you all for your help.

[cocohoney]

Hi WayTooMany,

 

I had read about the Parker 51 as it pops up as soon as you google 'best fountain pen'! It does look lovely, I am a little nervous about buying second hand- I found a 'flighter' one on your suggestion, but it was well out of my price range (£350), maybe for our 25th anniversary he will deserve that!

 

Can you suggest a good place to buy one online? I would be a bit worried about ebay etc as I would not be able to tell if I was getting the real thing?

[CAG_1787]

Thanks all, I am very confused about which one to get, I had no idea there was such choice!

 

I do like the Mr Pen ones, I will look for the reviews- is the Churchman's one good too? I think I prefer the look of that one, I'm not keen on the gold swirl around the cap on the Parson's

 

The Lamy Studio I had on my list until I read this review http://fpgeeks.com/2012/02/lamy-studio-fountain-pen-the-awesome-review/ which said their fingers slipped down it when writing for a while.

 

Not sure about the Pilot Metropolitan but that is purely based on the price I wanted to spend and I know that isn't always a guarantee of quality- the matt black one looks really nice and I hadn't thought about buying ink- do I really want to go there?! My brain is already struggling with all the options and now I've read a little bit about ink too...perhaps I should get cufflinks

 

Thank you for the anniversary wishes- 10 years (so the engraving would be rather a nice touch), I know he will really appreciate it so thank you all for your help.

 

First off, welcome to the forums!

 

The Pilot Metropolitan is a very solid pen that could reasonably sell for several times its price. Unless your husband has unusually large hands, the Metropolitan could be a good choice.

 

Regarding the Lamy Studio and slipping issues, that was probably why fourseamer recommended getting the stainless steel version. That version has a rubber grip section that is both very comfortable and effectively eliminates any slipping problems. I love mine!

 

All of the Mr. Pen's exclusive items have been individually tuned to ensure good performance, so I don't think you would have any problems with any of those pens.

 

If your husband already uses bottled ink, all of the above can work with both cartridges or bottled ink.

 

Hope that helps!

[ac12]

coco

 

About the finger slipping on the Lamy Studio.

It will depend on your husbands fingers.

 

In college I used a Parker 45, and it had a smooth glossy plastic grip. My fingers used to get sweaty and oily, and my fingers would then slip down the grip. I got so frustrated that I used a file to cut groves on the grip so my fingers would not slip. It worked but it was not nice to the pen.

 

Fast forward to today, and I have NO PROBLEM writing with a P45 for a LONG time.

Why my fingers don't slip now when they did in college, I am not sure, but I have some ideas:

• Maybe I keep my hands cleaner than I did in college
• I also do not grip the pen as tight as I used to, in fact it is a very light grip.

So I would still consider the Lamy Studio.

It is a nice looking pen.

 

The other consideration is his hand and finger size.

My hand and fingers are small. FAT pens (larger than 12mm diameter) are uncomfortable for me to use. I prefer what used to be called "slimline" pens, of about 9 or 10mm diameter. Take a look at the pen that he has and ask him if he likes the fit. So as much as I like the Lamy Studio, it might be too big for my small hand.

Edited August 15, 2013 by ac12

[moylek]

I second the Sheaffer Sagaris. Granted, I've only seen pictures online, but it appears to give you the handsome, no-fuss aesthetics of a Parker 45, Parker 51 or a Sheaffer PFN ("pen for men") in a brand-new and reasonably-priced pen.

[The Blue Knight]

I would recommend the Parker Sonnet definitely as it is a cut above the rest of my pens I received mine in the mail from whsmith yesterday and it writes extremely well. I opted for the matte black finish and I wasn't disappointed it really felt like it was worth far more than the £42 I paid for it. It was some what of a bargain as stores such as the Webster's sell it for around £80.

[Nashten]

You could also try the Franklin-Christoph Model 27 (Collegia). It should be around $70 CAD, which works to be 43 - 45 GBP. Shipping is free worldwide on orders over $50.

 

The Nib selection on the Model 27 is also fantastic. Stubs, italics and a needlepoint. I own a broad italic 27 and I love it.

 

Not affiliated with FC at all. Just a happy customer. And their customer support is fantastic.

[Pterodactylus]

http://imageshack.us/a/img713/6290/9hfh.jpg

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img837/7750/mm83.jpg

 

(Pelikan M215 - B CI ..... Noodler´s Apache Sunset)

(Italix Parson´s Essential - M italic ..... Rohrer & Klingner Königsblau)

[Blazing]

Go for the Lamy Studio Stainless Steel, it's a bargain £24 from WHSmith. It's normally double that price.

[Elizabeth in NJ]

Welcome!

 

Do you know what kind of nib he likes? Fine, medium, etc?

 

Does he have to fill out multi-layer forms?

 

Does he like fat pens or slim pens?

 

What exactly is he using now? If you're not sure, you could always take a picture and post it and I'm sure someone here will know exactly what it is.

 

 

Way out of your price range, but since there is an Official Doctor's Pen out there, I figured I'd link it for giggles.

 

http://www.wahleversharp.com/category.php?id=14

[Montblanc owner and lover]

If i had to choice for me it will be the parker sonnet. Certainly not the tombow. Parker and Sheaffer are great pen manufacturer go for them

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

 

Just to stir the pot, I'll offer one more suggestion for a pen: a Sheaffer Prelude. It has a somewhat prescriptive triangular grip made from a hard but grippy plastic. Available in many finishes. The nibs I have are excellent. it is larger & of greater mass than the Sonnet.

 

I've used the same Parker Sonnet as my daily writer for quite a few years with out a problem. However, some concerns were raised about current production nibs' performance 'out of the box', so that tempers my recommendation.

 

Another criteria to consider is the ink handling system. If your husband prefers to use cartridges, then I'd lean towards pens that take international cartridges, rather than a proprietary cartridge such as Sheaffer & Parker whose cartridge inks are limited in range and not profoundly inspiring. Pilot cartridges are rather thin on the ground in the UK, but the Pilot Blue and Blue-Black inks are real work horse inks.

 

For a no fuss high performance ink that is widely available in international cartridges and bottles, we have the Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black. Diamine of Liverpool offers a vast array of inks in international cartridges as well as 30ml & 80ml bottles.

 

You see where this is going - you'll be using an FP as well.

 

Cheers!

S1

[BrandonA]

I'd get a a Parker Sonnet. I think they at very popular in the UK so there is a good chance he would have heard of the brand and the model. To be honest though without rally knowing your husband we are all going to have bias in our responses. I'm sure which ever you get he will be happy.