What Are The Best Ballpoint Pens? Share Your Thoughts!

[MYU]

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Lamy/2000/Lamy_2000_Ceramicon_LE.jpg

 

I must say that for sheer luxury, you can't go wrong with the LAMY 2000 Ceramicon. It shares the same overall shape and design of a standard LAMY 2000 ballpoint, but is much MUCH heavier with a highly polished exterior. The ceramic body is quite amazing to behold. And the click mechanism is so smooth and fairly quiet. Alas... these are quite pricey brand new, and I wouldn't feel comfortable paying full retail. Sometimes a used one will pop up and you can get a good deal. Someone got really lucky on eBay earlier this year and snagged one for under $60, although it was heavily used with very noticeable signs of use.

[orfew]

My current favourite. My Tribute to The Montblanc white lacquer bp with a broad black refill.

 

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh320/Orfew/2016-01-18%2002.22.44_zpszhjed86a.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh320/Orfew/2016-01-18%2002.24.16_zpssuaihuhl.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh320/Orfew/2016-01-18%2002.23.30_zpsudeesiwp.jpg

[torstar]

BIC Cristal bolds, 1.6 deals.

 

But they sell the blue and black and green and red along with pink and other unusable colours in a 24 pack.

 

(anathema!!!)

 

So I give away the exotic coloured pens to people with kids that would appreciate them and Christmas boxes at church.

 

If I used a pink pen for work I'd be committed, maybe that would be a good exit strategy in 15 years...

[Mike 59]

Hi, I find this CARAN d'ACHE ballpoint to be well designed, tough and everything just works as it should.

A smooth writer, and a slightly unusual paint finish.

Edited July 12, 2016 by Mike 59

[milkb0at]

That Caran d'Ache is a nice looking pen.

Edited July 12, 2016 by milkb0at

[bemon]

My Cross Century Classic will always have a special place in my heart as the pen that got me into this money pit I call a collection. I have one of each minus the black lacquer model which doesn't do anything for me. My daily go to for when I can't use a fountain pen is my Waterman Hemisphere, and finally the ballpoint I enjoy most though is my Meisterstuck Classic. I've never experienced a pen so buttery smooth as the broad black Montblanc insert.

 

 

[agentdaffy007]

Very true about MB Broad black refill. It is as smooth as the Parker gel refill.

[usk15]

I've count through 147 previous posts and...these are preferences so far:

 

1. Parker pens and refills (mostly Jotters)

2. Cross pens

3. MB pens and refills

4. Cd'A pens and refills

5. Lamy and BIC!

 

I think people like Parker type refills (G2) for easy to find alternatives, also many producers have opted for G2 as their standard. As well many grow up using a Jotter through school.

[setgoblen]

I think that from this category my favorite is Waterman Maestro.

[Mike 59]

The Pilot Acroball is a very smooth ballpoint, nice clicky action, and good grippy section to hold.

Also made in a multi-pen version, which I have never seen (in reality) so far, in the UK.

[flatline]

Ballpoints are pens that I use when I don't have access to something I like better. As such, my main concerns about ballpoints are (1) easy enough to carry that I always have it when I need it and (2) that it ALWAYS writes when I need it. This is why for the last 20+ years, if I'm wearing pants, I've got a Fisher bullet pen on me.

 

They're not the nicest writing ballpoints in the world, but I find that with the fine point blue refill, they write smoother and with less pressure than my Cross Century and the Zebra 301's that I used before I discovered the space pen.

 

--flatline

Edited December 8, 2016 by flatline

[Aquaria]

I was pleasantly surprised at how well my husband's Sheaffer VFM BP wrote. Maybe he simply got lucky, but it wrote so smoothly that I thought--hey, not all BPs are as awful as I remembered.

[EricTheRed]

I have literally tried hundreds of different pens in my more than half century on this earth and my all-time favorite Top 5 ballpoints/rollerballs in decreasing order (with one being the overall Champion) are as follows:

 

1. Mont Blanc Blue in either M or B - They are 100% reliable, very smooth and precise writing instruments. All Hail the King of ballpoint pens!

2. BIC 1.6 (Easily the best bang for the buck ballpoint in the world and extremely smooth writers. The prodigious ink flow is luxurious.)

3. Parker G2 in medium or bold point - Extraordinary writers.

4. Schmidt Easy flow refill in a Parker Jotter or Karas Kustom body

5. Uniball Signo UM 153 rollerballs - Unbelievably smooth writers with great colors and they never seem to dry out.

[max dog]

As fountain pens are my main mode of writing these days, the slim Cross Century ball point makes the perfect companion to a fountain pen with it's small footprint. I can slip it easily anywhere inconspicuously. In between pages of a notebook, or in my shirt pocket alongside my big fountain pen. I don't even notice the Cross is there until I need it when I face a situation where the fountain pen is not ideal to use. Of course it can hold it's own as a timeless, elegant, iconic writing instrument.

Edited January 22, 2017 by max dog

[Pingu]

I collect Parker Classic ballpoints. The slim profile suits my hand better than the standard Jotter. I still have the Classic Rolled Gold Barley Grain that my mother bought me in 1985 when it came out as a range of 5: stainless steel, GT, matte black, sterling silver, and rolled gold. Subsequently they also did them in a range of Laque finishes. That gold barley-grain Parker Classic saw me through school and university and is heavily brassed. I recently found one in excellent condition on eBay and couldn't resist getting it, although my brassed original has the sentimental value 🙂

[stuck-in-time]

My favorite would be my Rotring 900, which in my opinion is the most unique looking Rotring series. It's shiny silver body with ridges from bottom to top is a real eye turner and the side knock mechanism is just icing on the cake that makes it even more of a conversation starter. Refill-wise, they take the small D1 refills, and I have the Uni Jetstream in mine. It just glides across the paper. My country's not a good place for pen lovers, there are very limited brands of refills available, so these Jetstream refills are diamonds in the rough...

[Stephen2020]

http://media.webcollage.net/rwvfp/wc/cp/21595528/module/zebrapenus//_cp/products/1459514866440/tab-3f7a6fd3-de4a-4bc9-9cd8-67d8182dc993/fb8bb1f4-7c92-4aa8-8651-db63cd88e610.jpg.w240.jpg

Zebra Z-Grip Flight are very nice, write like a Schneider Slider Memo XB but feel normal to hold instead of that strange shape.

[javyn]

Is there a refill that's comparable to a BIC 1.6 that will fit inside a Cross? As far as ballpoints go, I haven't found anything better than a blue BIC Cristal, but I'd like that experience in a more elegant and somewhat thicker shell.

[usk15]

Is there a refill that's comparable to a BIC 1.6 that will fit inside a Cross? As far as ballpoints go, I haven't found anything better than a blue BIC Cristal, but I'd like that experience in a more elegant and somewhat thicker shell.

 

One solution:

 

[max dog]

Is there a refill that's comparable to a BIC 1.6 that will fit inside a Cross? As far as ballpoints go, I haven't found anything better than a blue BIC Cristal, but I'd like that experience in a more elegant and somewhat thicker shell.

I like the broad blue Cross refill. Quite smooth. Fisher Space pens also makes a pressurized Cross type refill that is interesting.

As Cross are very popular, there are lots of Cross refill options from other makers you could check out. The Cross broad blue refill works for me.