Ugly Fountain Pens

[J85909266]

I feel it's better and less inflammatory to list what makes a pen ugly to me, rather than call out brands and models directly. I've made that mistake in the past.

 

There are few design features that kill a pen aesthetically, for me. Small, boring nibs are a deal breaker, but even worse large, fat pens with nibs that are too small to balance the lines.

 

Too much color is almost always bad, and even worse are the dime-a-dozen, candy vomit acrylics and ebonites most Indian manufacturers offer. Not to say that all are ugly. I love black and blue/black ebonites. Even some or the darker browns are nice, but I've seen some monstrous combos. Same goes for any pen made from foul-smelling vegital resins in all the swirling colors of a fruity children's cereal.

 

Animal themes are no. I will have no dragon clips, zebra stripes, or cheetah print on my pens.

 

Finally, any pen that has an obnoxiously ornate, over-sized barrel and cap that unscrews to reveal a massive step down leading to a mundane, tiny little section and nib that was thrown in as an afterthought to the design.

 

Putting function at least on par with form is important to me in how a pen looks. If the design doesn't look comfortable and usable, then the pen just looks silly, no matter how fancy and expensive.

[displacermoose]

I will not deny that the Jinhao dragon pen (and the Montegrippa? monstrosity that does the same thing in solid gold) is stunningly ugly, I want one. When one is playing certain games, one NEEDS a pen like that. So another aspect of this discussios is "if you have a stunningly ugly pen, what do you use it for?"

[basterma]

The Chaos is the ideal of ugliness over all instilled in the form of a pen.

[Barkingpig]

For everyone who is affronted by the CHAOS pen they should "take note" of the newly released Montegrappa PIRATES pen.

 

'Just sayin!

[dogpoet]

http://www.giardino.it/pens/IMMAGINI/CopPirates.jpg

This?

Edited April 13, 2016 by dogpoet

[Guardy]

  On 4/13/2016 at 6:35 PM, dogpoet said:

http://www.giardino.it/pens/IMMAGINI/CopPirates.jpg

This?

 

Ha!

 

Jeez, that's so bad it's almost good again and I do have to admit that the tricorne cap top is kind of awesome - but apart from that, why.

[dogpoet]

Aaaaaaargh!

[TSherbs]

[NobodysPerfect]

Wow. Those are some ugly pens!

 

I actually like the modernist aesthetic of German pens like Lamy or Faber-Castell, so for me the ugliest pens are the ones that go over the top (who needs/wants that pirate pen?!?).

 

The one that came to mind when I first saw this thread was the Monteverde Pens of the World Mount Fuji. I have and love the K2, but the multi-colored acrylic of the Fuji one is just terrible! It just goes to show what a difference the choice of materials can make on the final pen.

 

http://www.go-authentic.com/shop/image/cache/data/mv-mountain-of-the-world-fuji-600x600.jpg

[TSherbs]

OMG

 

this advert is hilarious:

 

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x231/larkin31/stallone-chaos-pen_zpswielqde8.jpg

[rwilsonedn]

Well, WE may think the Core is ugly, but I understand that for six years running it was the single most popular wedding gift in the Klingon Empire. And if you can forgive the oddly shaped section, it does write very well.

ron

[fatswimmies]

  On 4/5/2016 at 10:19 PM, ISW_Kaputnik said:

I sometimes see a picture of an expensive pen which is, in my view, hideously overdecorated without any hint of good taste. But then, if I can't afford them, perhaps I'm biased.

 

From my own pens, I don't know if I have any that I'd call ugly as such, but this Wing Sung has always struck me as the sort of fountain pen you'd get from a gumball machine, if they did have pens as prizes in gumball machines. Showing my age, I guess.

 

http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt221/mapn/Pens/29a6c157-9102-4a67-8012-fbd0f5aabd70_zps0a868fbf.jpg

this made me chuckle, thanks haha

[DGH_Nomad]

  On 4/13/2016 at 8:15 PM, TSherbs said:

OMG

 

this advert is hilarious:

 

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x231/larkin31/stallone-chaos-pen_zpswielqde8.jpg

You haven't seen anything yet, the pen was featured in Expendables 2. It hurts to watch, haha

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BMPpRYO1u8&feature=youtu.be

 

Oh, and it gets even better, Montegrappa's advertising video for the collection is perfect.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4XpwLHPlhw&feature=youtu.be

Edited April 14, 2016 by DGH_Nomad

[PS104]

One good​ about ugly fountain pens, Ain't no one gonna steal it from you. Anyone who does needs more help than you do.

[FOUR X FOUR]

  On 4/7/2016 at 6:28 PM, utopic said:

+1. I wouldn't necessarily use the word 'ugly', but 'unattractive'. And to some extent, they all look too much alike.

 

 

 

+1. What's worse, some of those objects you mention aspire to be works of art, but fail.

I find most Visconti fountain pens fugly. And the higher up the range you go... well, it doesn't help. Take for instance:http://www.bograve-luxury.ro/uploads/71399-gm_HRH-_stilou.png

 

Some of their nibs look great though.

 

Disclaimer: de gustibus et coloribus non disputandum and I mean no personal offense to fans of said pens

That's not ugly; that's a work of art.

[DGH_Nomad]

  On 4/14/2016 at 4:48 AM, FOUR X FOUR said:

That's not ugly; that's a work of art.

Beauty is, of course, in the eye of the beholder. I think that one is a bit glitzy but it's not too terrible. I could see the Visconti pen on display in a museum well before a lot of the Montegrappa high-end limited editions.

[FOUR X FOUR]

These are ugly, but I didn't buy them for their looks. They can easily be switched over to a rollerball, and they were less than 25 dollars each 😀

[inkstainedruth]

  On 4/13/2016 at 8:13 PM, NobodysPerfect said:

Wow. Those are some ugly pens!

 

I actually like the modernist aesthetic of German pens like Lamy or Faber-Castell, so for me the ugliest pens are the ones that go over the top (who needs/wants that pirate pen?!?).

 

The one that came to mind when I first saw this thread was the Monteverde Pens of the World Mount Fuji. I have and love the K2, but the multi-colored acrylic of the Fuji one is just terrible! It just goes to show what a difference the choice of materials can make on the final pen.

 

http://www.go-authentic.com/shop/image/cache/data/mv-mountain-of-the-world-fuji-600x600.jpg

 

Must be the eye of the beholder -- I actually kinda like the look of the Mount Fuji over the K2 (but then, I'm not a fan of a lot of the acrylic blanks out there these days.

But that Pirate pen? Tricorn hat or no tricorn hat, it upstages the Chaos Pen -- and that takes some doing... And is that skull on the cap (the one with said hat) trying to do a reverse sword swallowing act? Oh, no, wait, I see the hilt and cross guard now. Gaaah, you made me look at that monstrosity more closely....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[TSherbs]

  On 4/14/2016 at 3:28 AM, DGH_Nomad said:

You haven't seen anything yet, the pen was featured in Expendables 2. It hurts to watch, haha

 

 

 

Oh, and it gets even better, Montegrappa's advertising video for the collection is perfect.

 

 

o my lord

 

that watch is the worst wrist-worn time piece I have ever seen

 

the pen is not far behind--there is even a skull on the nib!!

Edited April 15, 2016 by TSherbs

[Zookie]

Just watched the Chaos video. Nuff said!

 

On a whim,I went to e-bay, looked up fountain pens in order of price, beginning with the most expensive.

I have to say that there are a lot of ugly examples to be found.😂

Edited April 15, 2016 by Zookie