What Are The Best Clear Demonstrator Pens Ever Made?

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I liked the 2 Visconti Homo Sapiens Limited Editions with their swirl clear barrels. 1000 each and no negotiation on the price iirc. Disclaimer: I have the Visconti Homo Sapiens bronze and it is by far my favorite pen.

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Both of mine are Pelikan M200s, one red, one "cognac" (I.e., amber).

[KyleKatarn]

I personally don't care much for the Pilot Custom 92 (I'm talking about the looks) but I do love my Custom 74 with a CON70 converter. Pilot 823, Platinum #3776 Century or Sailor ProGear are also extremely cool, although more expensive. On the cheaper side, the Platinum Cool and the old Waterman Kultur are both great looking and great writers. Recently I got a TWSBI Eco 1.1 that I am loving as well.

[mmg122]

Jar...your 100 year Watermans are gorgeous. One of my favorite vintage pens.

 

While I'm not a big fan of demonstrators, I have been gifted some including Pilot Prera, TWSBI 580 and Mini and a Lamy Vista. None of them have developed cracks or staining. I don't worry about which inks I use and haven't had any ink related problems. I do, however, always carry my pens in a shirt/jeans pocket or pen case.

[Precise]

I am an engineer and design many plastic parts. I can't think of any reason to prefer machined plastic over injection molded plastic, which has been gate-trimmed after molding.

 

Acrylic resin (molded or machined) is far more brittle and breakable than polycarbonate. But I don't know of any pens that claim to be made of polycarbonate. There is also a clear resin called Tritan, which is about as tough as polycarbonate. I don't think I could tell the difference between these three resins just by looking at them. The difference in material cost between any of these three resins is less than five cents.

 

Alan

 

When I wrote this post, I had forgotten about high-flow polycarbonates. One application for these resins is CD disks. They are used to mold thin parts, but they are brittle and not nearly as tough as the polycarbonate resins that I have used.

 

Just trying to keep the record accurate. Not all polycarbonate resins are tough.

 

Alan

[spaceink]

This is all anecdotal, but I think that with the ECO, TWSBI may have cracked (pardon the pun) its plastic problem.

 

I've been carrying my ECO since the first week it came out and I've dropped it a few times with, thankfully, no permanent damage. It's also clipped on to my notebook which usually stays at the bottom of my bag and likely experiences impact here and there from being plopped on the floor.

 

For the price, I think it's been doing pretty well.

[Reevers]

I'm really liking the look of the Franklin Christoph "Coke bottle/Antique glass" demonstrator pens.

 

A great review (with gorgeous photos) of the P66 in the antique glass HERE

 

 

[warblerick]

I have an Auroras 88 demonstrator with gold trim and nib, very beautifully made, very reliable writer, from the mid-2000's, cost just over $600 new. EBay sometimes has one turn up.

[steelblue]

Just one more voice to suggest considering the Pilot Custom 823. I'm not a huge demonstrator fan but I have the Vac 700 and the 823. The 823 to me is a much finer pen - it feels and performs quite differently from the TWSBI Vac 700 which is fine but not inspiring. The Pilot is very satisfying each time I use it. I leave the end cap open unless flying and have not had a single nib issue so far.

 

Edited to add that I don't mean to denigrate the Vac 700 - I use it quite happily too and it definitely is the more substantial of the two by far. Excellent daily writer.

Edited October 12, 2015 by Steelblue