Suggestions For A Modern Pen That Gives Me A Vintage Writing Experience

[mana]

Another vote for Pelikan 400 or 400NN. Can be found sub 100 and they are among the best writers out there. Have no qualms carrying one in my EDC kit.

 

Also noteworthy, their nib units screw straight in to modern M200/M400. So you can have best of both worlds, a completely brand spanking new pen with a superb vintage nib.

[mana]

...at least, that is what I plan to do at some point, get a few M205 demonstrators and plonk in some nice vintage Pelikan nibs. About as sweet and cool as it can get. 🥰

[Lam1]

I would suggest a Pelikan M200 with a vintage 400 nib - they fit right in.

In fact, currently I have one of my M215 with a semi-flex nib that I took from one of my vintage 400 and it is a winner combo.

 

Although, I must say that the Pelikan vintage 400/400NN are just as reliable as the modern ones. The only reason I am using the nib in a M215 is the added weight of the M215 body.

 

Edited to add: Ha! Mana's post came while I was writing mine!

Edited July 6, 2019 by Lam1

[mana]

Great minds and all that...

[Lam1]

Great minds and all that...

 

 

Edited July 6, 2019 by Lam1

[TheDutchGuy]

On my way to The Hague to try the Falcon and the Justus, just to see if those tick my boxes. And perhaps Akkerman has other, simiarlar pens in stock. If nothing else, it will be a nice afternoon!

[Bo Bo Olson]

Ah HA, didn't know my 215's nib screwed out....didn't try.

I was and am quite satisfied with my M nib in it. I've grown to like the semi-vintage M nibs, hlve one in my M400, 215, and Amethyst.

Those M nibs do quite well with two toned shading inks.....one must of course use 90b and or + paper to have the inks shade.

Also M nibs do the classic rougher laid or linen effect papers better than F.

 

IMO of course one needs nice springy regular flex (Japanese soft) and semi-flex nibs. Good Bourbon vanilla ice cream is good, so is a nice dark Belgium chocolate ice cream.

 

When you make your ice cream soda, fill half way with cold Coke, (root beer is better) add two scoops of vanilla ice cream................................have never tired it with strawberry or chocolate.....if one of you brave people have tried it so, do let me know.

Though I think creme soda could do well.

 

Have to check my western notes....Creme soda was invented in Denver in 1879,,,,according to my Denver sources...had to do with the early morning of a hard drinking man.

.by 1881 other flavored sodas(adding jams) were invented and the Ice Cream Soda was invented also.

Some when after 1900 in Kansas and perhaps a few more fundamentalist states, Ice Cream Soda was made illegal to be sold on Sunday, in it was too sinfully good.

The Sunday after next, the Ice Cream Sunday was invented.....so they jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.....................and Ice Cream Soda was no longer IT.

 

Somewhere, in the mid 1890's, a 'noobie' was working behind the soda fountain counter and made a mistake; adding bubbling sparkling water to the coke loaded nerve medicine that was normally stirred and sold in still water. Suddenly Coke a Cola hit big time..................and cream soda fell out of number 1. ...Shortly after Pepsi copied. It put pep into your step.............and I can see having lived in the south before AC, how lazy folks moved and spoke in the humid heat....

Cocaine loaded Coke a Cola was invented to cure the inverters morphine addiction.

The Pope in the 1880's advertised his favorite Cocaine flavored wine.

Such history was not taught in my school days.

[sansenri]

well, Pelikan invented that from start...

The M250 (now discontinued, sadly) was essentially a M200 with a gold 14 k nib.

[sidthecat]

Have fun with the tribunal!

[TheDutchGuy]

Have fun with the tribunal!

 

Thank you! It was fun. Appelboom is my main shop, because they're great people and they're in my home town, literally around the corner. But Appelboom doesn't carry Pilot or Sailor and that's an itch that you just have to scratch sometimes. And Akkerman in The Hague, I mean, that's some legacy...

 

 

I tried the Falcon and passed. The nib just wasn't right for me, it didn't feel right. Hard to put into words, but basically it felt unpleasant. Also I wasn't thrilled by the looks of the pen.

 

Then, the Justus 95 with M nib. Intriguing, to say the least. A comfortable, well-made pen. A fair-sized push-converter sans piston (I'm still figuring out the physics of it, but it works very well). And the adjustable nib with "softness control", basically the unique selling point of this pen. Does it write like my little old Boston pen, with that effortless line variation that just occurs naturally...? Wellll... no. It doesn't. Because it requires a certain writing pressure to get that variation, whereas with the Boston it just happens. Having said that, it is an intriguing pen. The "softness control" really works, albeit in a different way than I thought it would - but that's a topic for a Justus 95 discussion . Long story short, after lots of deliberation, I bought the Justus. A gamble, because my earlier Pilot adventures were not very succesful (I could not bond with the Metro and gave it away, nor with a Custom 823 F which I eventually sold off). But this one might be a keeper.

 

Thanks for all the info in this discussion. My wallet has been emptied, so I'll have to postpone further acquisitions for a while. But I will be looking into Geha and vintage M400's!

[Honeybadgers]

Pilot FA nib with a FNF ebonite feed.

[TheDutchGuy]

Pilot FA nib with a FNF ebonite feed.

 

 

I like the confidence implied in this :-). There are a few folks here who have seen it all, done it all and know it all when it comes to fountain pens and you're one of them. Keep the knowledge coming!

[TheDutchGuy]

Dutch,

You can get a semi-flex Geha 790 on German Ebay for @ E-60 or less. The 'Best Buy' in semi-flex. A very good sturdy vintage looking pen....like the 140 or 400nn. Has the Geha reserve tank, good for another page or two when you run out of ink.

 

 

I'll keep an eye on that! There is one now on Ebay.de but it is a M and I need a F. Very nice-looking pen, though!

[Karmachanic]

Pilot CH 912 with FA nib

[Honeybadgers]

 

 

I like the confidence implied in this :-). There are a few folks here who have seen it all, done it all and know it all when it comes to fountain pens and you're one of them. Keep the knowledge coming!

 

Oh I don't know a hell of a lot. But I know what I like! the 823 with the FA (you can buy it together from tokyo-pen-quill shop with the warranty) and a FNF 2 slot ebonite feed is about as close to a "modern vintage" classic as you can get.

 

If you read german and live in europe, I vote you actually follow bo-bo's advice if you don't want an 823/FA

Edited July 14, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[txomsy]

Great advice.

[TheDutchGuy]

I definitely see a Geha in my future. A Pilot ordered from Japan... doubtful. They’re great pens, no doubt about it. But my Justus is the only Pilot I’ve ever really liked. On the other hand, I could easily sell a C823 FA here in Europe. Because of buying the Justus, I first need to save up, which gives me time to think it over.

[Honeybadgers]

The 823 FA from japan costs exactly the same as it does everywhere else. So you won't be paying a premium for the nib, pilot just authorizes that one seller to purchase the 823 with the FA and WA nib (but none of the other specialty #15 nibs for some reason)

 

but a vintage pelikan 400 is definitely worth considering, they're in the $120-180 range. I just got my first one, a tortiseshell BB, and it's gorgeous, comfortable, feels super solid, and will definitely be in my rotation once I get it cleaned up. It was only about $115 and lookes unremarkable as an example, but still manages to look just as nice as my nearly new M205

Edited July 16, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[kdv]

Ls,

 

For modern pens I would also consider the Montegrappa Desiderio. It has remarkable flex capabilities but is not as springy as a many vintage nibs.

 

 

For vintage I would recommend as BoBo did: Geha (and then the 760 for its size, but that is personal).

I have quit some vintage pens that have different degrees of flex (Osmia’s, Pelikans, MB’s, Bohler, etc.), but Geha (have five of them) – for me – has just the right combination of flex and springiness.

 

Besides this:

I do not use flex for line variation, but just for the comfort when writing.

I think flex was meant just to give you that feeling of comfort and not for the line variation: many nib variations of those days (stubs, italics were common) already give that variation.

And could you imagine all those people those days using fountain pens as a everyday instrument where“flexing” while working?

 

Good luck and greetings,

 

kdv

 

[Honeybadgers]

I have 3 montegrappas and I find them all intolerably dry out of the box.

 

I feel like vintage pens are almost universally very juicy writers.