Are Your Best Pens Also Your Favourites?

[TheDutchGuy]

In my search for the perfect pen (havent found it yet, probably never will) Ive noticed that my best* pens are not necessarily my favourite pens. I find myself grabbing certain pens more often than others, and the frequently chosen ones are certainly not always my best pens.

 

I find this interesting. For me, the appeal of a pen apparently depends on some kind of mojo instead of objective quality measurement, to the point that certain shortcomings or even defects are forgiven. Its a bit like guitars, where the one that has a certain charm gets the most use even though it is imperfect.

 

*With the best I mean objectively the best, i.e. good materials, good workmanship, always writes, never has flow issues, never hard starts or skips, writes well straight out of the box on a variety of paper, writes well with a variety of different inks, etc.

[silverlifter]

Yes. Through attrition, the only pens that I have left are all ones that--after a spell out if the rotation--when I ink the up again and set them on the page, I get that brief feeling of regret at having left them unused, even if only for a couple of weeks.

 

One of the advantages of owning a small number of pens.

[peroride]

In my search for the perfect pen (havent found it yet, probably never will) Ive noticed that my best* pens are not necessarily my favourite pens.

 

I have reached the exact same conclusion and it has made me wonder if the ones sitting in the box are really the best.

 

For me, with exception of a few, they are all the "best".

 

I really do "love" them all even the stinky, dry in a day noodler's for each carries a memory and shares it again upon use. So I would not part with them.

 

I've been going through the pen case on inking rotation but it is difficult to expend 7-10 inked pens without becoming a novelist. I mean that is what is stopping me from a Conid as the bulkfiller would take too long to consume and the other inked ones would suffer delay to the point of disuse and eventual flushing maintenance. Though I read of wait time grumblings so maybe it is worth pulling the trigger since gratification would be consumed by the current set.

 

That said I realize that the externally noted, somewhat objective best pens: expensive cost, precious material, superlative nib/writing, consistent QC, vintage wet noodles, etc are often home pens and thus do not fit as all-around favorites where I feel comfortable carrying around anywhere. Use it or lose it.

 

I think my mindset has changed now that I feel peak acquisition saturation with personally obscene quantity or spousal concern. The refrain, "I don't need another pen" has finally reach marrow, which is a good and healthy thing.

 

For perspective, my favorites skew to the majority countries in my collective: vintage American, consistent Japan or Pelikan ok I like my L2K and Kaweco too

 

America 41.94% China 1.61% Germany 20.97% India 1.61% Italy 6.45% Japan 22.58% Taiwan 4.84%

 

The favorites are ones that really pass the honeymoon phase and stand the test of time. Maybe spark joy becomes more like warm cuddly. I much rather prefer that which endures.

 

So I'll stake my fav love for the Pelikan M101N with Mottishaw CI, here and now

 

Hopefully I can come back and check if this is still true.

[Mech-for-i]

know this, how do one define that BEST part .... best in what ... as in writing but we all write differently and many write in different hands, language, usage, and what's with and what about the favourite part, essentially that's a personal totally subjective one also ; I had so many pen in my cache that I cannot actually name the best nor the most favourites, though clearly I had some I consider as favourite and some I consider among the best.

 

And yes I used to had one that I consider it one of the best among mine and also one of my most favorite ; its my old ( and now retired due to section totally cracked to pieces after decades of use ) Montblanc 114 , I had many good thing to say about it but equally I had many to complain about it .. and so it is

 

after pens and more pens I've come to that realization that I might had some favourites and then there are always some pens I consider among the best, there really is none that I would say being the BEST nor the most favourite one

[kdv]

Ls

 

You where close with the geha schulfuller. Go for the geha 760 or 720 (720 is hard to find). And with a gold nib. Even better: oblique medium. Looking at your posts this is just what you might need. Greetings kdv

[City74]

When I first got into collecting things (pens,watches etc) I wanted quantity. The more the better. As time went on I found that I preferred mainly the nicer items in my collections. Im at the point now where I only want quality well over quantity. My watch collection is down to 3 from 27 and my own collection is about 8 (although some are super cheap and no sense selling) but the core of 4 nicer pens are the ones I use most.

[Karmachanic]

I mean that is what is stopping me from a Conid as the bulkfiller would take too long to consume and the other inked ones would suffer delay to the point of disuse and eventual flushing maintenance.

 

Where is it enshrined in law that a pen must be filled to capacity? I have often partially filled a Conid.

 

Besides that - yes and no. Conid Minimalistica and ASA Maya are my faves.

Edited August 16, 2019 by Karmachanic

[Bo Bo Olson]

In reference to the Conid pen.

Many times my regular piston pens are only filled with 1/3 ink.....I have so many, if I filled each to the max.....how can I run slobbering over to my ink cabinet every time I go into Inky Thoughts.....if I didn't write empty a pen sometimes.

 

 

 

Is my most expensive pen my 'best' one....No! The nib is too wide, it's fat B=BB, and I wanted a B. My Virginia Wolf. And it is a Large pen so don't have much to any balance.

Sigh cubed, I bought it for pretty.

I really like the my eyes only bling of the nib.

Always take your own paper to a B&M when buying a pen. I had read MB ran fat....so the M was just right a B on their paper.....when I got the pen home it was only a M on my paper.

I made a major mistake when swapping in the nib.....always tell them exactly where in tolerance you want the nib......like middle of tolerance would have been nice.....even narrow edge of tolerance....but NOT the wide part of tolerance where B=BB.

 

The one below is one of my way back when top three ( now must have 12 top three balanced pens).....I didn't like it in it was in a in a live auction pen lot with a 400nn (that I did want) &BP&MP.....and I had not Lambows book, so didn't know my A from my E. It is more a sleeker version of the 139.....Hell, with out that book, all I knew was the cigar shaped MB copies of a Sheaffer New Balance. There are many LE writer editions that have a similar shape.

 

It is a standard sized pen, has a thicker girth than standard and brass piston guts so is a bit back weighted....but still has perfect balance.

The KOB nib is so much thinner than the B=BB modern nib....A very nice semi-flex pen. I do have that out in the empty pen cup.

Each of my then top three for balance were so different. The Geha 725 was a medium-long thin pen. the P-75 was light for metal, standard pen.

 

A MB 234 1/2 Deluxe '52-54 only, meisterstuck clip and a different cap band than the normal 234 1/2 (Which if as good as the Deluxe, I suggest getting.) I was going to sell this with the MP&BP (450/455) and get down to have paid only E70 for the 400nn (# 4 then of my best balanced pens).....but with in days, found out that rare MB was worth well over $200!!!!!!.....then later saw it for sale for only E500.......just last year, someone looking for an Idiot had it on a Buy Now for a cheap $990.

 

 

Each of my then top three for balance were so different. The Geha 725 was a medium-long thin pen. With permission of penboard de. For the longest time were over my limit at E100 on German Ebay.....then when the World Cup was in SA and everyone in England lost their money betting on England or were in South Africa....I got it for only E50....a week later I watched two go for 25...can be had on German Ebay for @ E70 if you Hunt. Is the sleekest pen, was designed to stomp the MB 2xx into a mud puddle and IMO did so.

Was an expensive pen then....DM360 or $90.....my P-75 from the same era 1972....cost $22 'silver dollars'. Semi-flex nib....mostly F, only in black and gold.

 

The passed Piembi, once the com's Pelikan expert told me, the cap can develop a micro crack. When mine came in.....No Crack!!!!.........A week later. A small micro-crack, you really have to look to see it. Is not important....in it is not really a 'fault' in it happens in many to perhaps most. I have to look to see it....but get a wonderful sleek, perfectly balanced pen with a fancy semi-flex F nib.

Two slightly curved lines make a world of difference in upping a clip's class.

In the near by walnut humidor....haven't used it in a year. When you get enough pens.....you end up with a lot of pens not used for two-three years. (& I normally have 15-17 pens inked)

 

#3 the P-75 was light for metal, standard pen. Out right now with Parker BB in it....got three cartridge pens with BB in them. Two are Pelikans, a 381 with Pelikan BB and a Celebry with Lamy BB.

 

In hand.

Not my best pen, a vintage blind cap Diplomat with lots of Maltase Cross markings it's one time trade mark. Lucked into it at a flea market, steel Maltase Cross marked semi-flex nib.

Picture fools it is not a medium-long pen like the 400nn next to it would indicate...is slightest tad shorter than 200/400 and thinner. Nice, but not great balance. Good enough for Government work.

 

 

I've 4-5 of the worlds worse pictures of the blue Diplomat pen....oh well. Lots of little Maltese Crosses, cap band, top of clip, to of final and on the nib. In front of the Diplomat.

A tad light, a tad thin. The feel of a second tier pen which it is.....blind cap......nice steel semi-flex nib. A good slightly fancy with the little Maltese Crosses second tier pen....loaded with R&K Salex.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

If you have nothing but top pens how do you know it's top??? Price is not much of an indicator, one can pay a fortune for a new pen, and get a fair price for a used one time Flagship with better nib and balance.

 

IMO one has to have a spectrum of pens....and an open mind, to learn balance....which IMO is mostly on medium-small, standard and medium-large posted pens. The Snorkel has great balance but it is a thin Large pen. Thinness is why it posts so well.

Edited August 16, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

[mana]

Kind of... For me the primary purpose of a pen is purely utilitarian, it needs to write and not just write well but excel in it. It needs to feel like a natural extension of my hand.

So, with experiments and experience accrued I have found what types of pens work for me and what I truly appreciate and need in a writer. Thus the pens that I have chosen to carry every day are the best for that purpose.

 

Are they the best examples of the said model of pens? In some ways yeah, in others not. For example, the pen bodies and furniture might show wear so I am not too worried about using them. The nibs on the other hand are the ones that I get the most pleasure writing with (B & BB Stub/Cursive Italic).

 

Of course being a collector I have a slew of pens of that same model in more pristine condition and in rarer variants (my "Safe Queens") but the nibs found on those are not my favorites or that suited for the task (like the 3B wide spades which are absolutely amazing to use but which are too wide for regular writing).

I also have a bunch of other wonderful pens that I love to play with or just look at or hold in hand, maybe doodle a bit or draw or draft a few lines (for example rOtring 600 series fountain pens and mechanical pencils). There is a reason why they are set aside to be a part of my collection instead of being used. Simply put, the writing experience with them pales in comparison to my "best" pens.

[Zookie]

Yes they are

[Addertooth]

I am relatively new to the whole pen collection game (although it has been a "dive in with both feet, and with gusto" thing for me).

Defining a favorite has been challenging. The paper partially defines my favorite. I have clear favorites if I am doing artful writing or doodling on Rhodia 90 pound paper.

These favorites tend to be wetter, and flexier than my other pens.

 

Then I have favorites for the work environment, where the paper tends to be open-grained photocopier paper. They tend to be more restrained in ink flow, are short on flex,

and are pens which can get bumped without a follow-on urge to make sure the "baby is all right".

 

And then, there are the "chaos pens". Let me preface the notion; they are the girls you would take to a biker rally, or a rave, who makes a lasting impression in how

they perform, but sheesh, you would never take them home to your mother. They vastly outperform their price point, they have unnaturally great nibs/feeds and make you

vaguely regret that your higher end pens don't *er* perform at this level. They are the guilty pleasure used in the privacy of your home, but never taken to work, or any place

a critical eye could fall upon them. I place one of my $14.99 Cross pens, and a bargain basement vintage Eatonia pen in this category. Pens like this drive home the concept of price

not always matching outcomes or results.

 

I have a few workhorse pens, reliable, paper friendly, easy on the eyes, but not so extravagant that they cannot be taken to work. They see constant use/rotation, but I would

not categorize them as a "favorite". Rather, they are a compromise of all the factors needed for a specific environment. My Faber Castelle E-Motion set fits in this category, chrome and laser etched parquet pattern resin, generally nice looking without being over the top; it is a solid but uninspiring writer. In the end, true favorites are the pens you reach for when

your are alone, or in the privacy of your home. When you can use the paper and ink of your choice, and don't have to deal with the social element of the pen being too glitzy or "garage sale" looking.

Edited August 16, 2019 by Addertooth

[TheDutchGuy]

how do one define that BEST part

^—I do not mean “best” as in winner of some kind of competition, but pens that are objectively of higher quality. As an example, suppose someone has a MB 146 and a Pilot Metropolitan. Both are good pens, but I think you can say that the 146 is objectively a better pen than the Metro. But the owner might think the Metro is more fun to use so the Metro might be his/her favourite.

 

Go for the geha 760 or 720 (720 is hard to find). And with a gold nib. Even better: oblique medium. Looking at your posts this is just what you might need.

^—I don’t think that I will ever find my perfect pen, and perhaps that’s a good thing. If I find it, then some of the fun might go out of the hobby. But those Geha’s are on my watchlist, all in due time, patience is a virtue, etc :-)

 

Pens like this drive home the concept of price not always matching outcomes or results.

^— A cheaper pen that punches far above its weight can definitely make it a favourite over an objectively better, more expensive pen.

 

Two examples from my humble collection are my Visconti van Gogh ‘Pollard Willows’ (a modern pen) and my Parker 51 M (a vintage pen). Both are made of good materials, are solidly built, always write, can handle a large variety of inks and papers, never dry out, never cause problems and will probably outlive me. Yet I use them sparingly.

[Tseg]

Yes.

[inkstainedruth]

If by "best" you mean "highest quality/most expensive" than no, not necessarily.

If. however, by "best" you mean best *writing experience* than yes, absolutely -- my "best" ARE my favorite pens....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: I'll put my first Parker 45 (for which I paid under $11 US including tax) against a snooty high end pen like a MB 149 any day of the week. I might not put it up against one of the Pelikan 405s, though -- and I would certainly not put it up against my Plum Demi 51 Aero (which I paid under $72 including shipping because I apparently had my best poker face on that week and didn't get outbid).

Edited August 16, 2019 by inkstainedruth

[sirgilbert357]

When I first got into collecting things (pens,watches etc) I wanted quantity. The more the better. As time went on I found that I preferred mainly the nicer items in my collections. Im at the point now where I only want quality well over quantity. My watch collection is down to 3 from 27 and my own collection is about 8 (although some are super cheap and no sense selling) but the core of 4 nicer pens are the ones I use most.

 

 

I did the same thing with watches.

And I eventually did the same with my pens...I'm at a point where I could probably live without the three Wing Sungs, but I don't want to sell off any of my other pens. So, I have 7 keepers and no urge to add more...interestingly.

 

Edit: Also, my "best" pens are not the ones I use the most. I have found that I like different things about my pens and the ones that I use the most are usually the ones that give me the "best" writing experience (subjectively speaking). So my Pelikan Renaissance Brown will sit unused for weeks at a time while my Conklin All American Brownstone gets used almost every day. They are both gorgeous brown swirly pens, but the writing experience with the Conklin is INSANELY good and very out of character for a pen of this level, while the Pelikan is *slightly* disappointing in that it gives a bit more pencil like feedback than I'd prefer. Other than that, the Pelikan writes great and feels excellent, dare I say PERFECT, in the hand. The Conklin feels great too, but I wish it were slightly heavier. I still write with it more because of that steel nib. I really need to do a review of it to see if I just got lucky or if this is how they all are...

Edited August 16, 2019 by sirgilbert357

[noddle]

Yes, they are now.

My old favourites were my Omas pens but repeated piston problems made me hesitate to use them for anything other than light testing.

I eventually lost confidence in them and replaced them with Conids - maybe not as sexy (but they have a quiet allure nontheless). The quality and reliability is reassuring, the nib options great. Sold all my pens to get two Kingsizes and couldn't be happier.

[DonM]

My "best pen", a Pelikan M805, writes beautifully but is in my opinion too heavy and not well balanced. If they replaced the brass internals with titanium I suspect it would be perfect.

 

But my favorite pen is a Pilot 742, at half the price of the Pelikan. Perfectly balanced, big enough but not too big, and the best nib I have ever written with.

[Noihvo]

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

Dutch.....best is for this week....perhaps this month....and if it's next week, it's another pens turn....so be it.

I often wonder at some three post 'noobie' who insists he wants a 149......then....only expensive pens would be good enough....and what others think as expensive would be too cheap for him.

He can not afford to learn............he's stuck in the Twilight Zone.

 

I got some remarkably good looking cheap pens with good semi-flex nibs............but they feel cheap....because they were once a second tier pen....and still are.

They are not best, but sure are nice.

 

 

 

[ISW_Kaputnik]

Yes, my best pens are pretty much my favorites, with the clarification that best for me means the best writing experience overall, with appearance being fairly unimportant, and price or the "prestige" of using a particular pen not counting at all. Some examples from my favorites, Parker Vacumatic, Pelikan 140, Pilot Custom Heritage 92 and 91, Mabie Todd Swann 3150, Montblanc Noblesse.

 

But I have a lot of excellent pens, and an even greater number of good ones. So my inked pens are not always from among my favorites, or from the best. Sometimes I settle for good enough for a while, just for variety. And besides, I almost always have two or three pens inked, if not more, and at least one of them can be a favorite.