Snap-On Cap Fountain Pen Recommendations

[4lex]

Can anyone recommend me a modern snap on/ pull off cap fountain pen please?

Preferably piston filler but not a must.

There are some I already excluded as they dont fit my preferences. The only piston filler with snap on cap I know is Lamy 2000. I dont like the grip on it so Im looking for an alternative.

I also excluded Diplomat Excellence, Waterman Exception, Waterman Carene and Sheaffer Legacy. Tried them, theyre not for me. Im looking for something in $100 to $400 range.

Im out of ideas, please help!!!

[SoulSamurai]

There's some slip cap hooded nib pens that use sacs and pistons, like the Parker 51s and their Chinese clones, and the Indian Camlin 47. Actually there's a lot of older piston filling hooded or semi hooded nibs from well known companies like Pelikan. I recently picked up an Omas 361, it was a screw cap but I remember seeing slip-cap versions of those.

 

Other than those and some Sheaffer inlaid nib piston pens (and the aforementioned L2K), I can't think of any snap/slip cap piston pens. Strange, but most non-C/C pens with open nibs seem to have screw caps. I guess there's the TWSBI Go? Probably not what you're looking for. The Pelikan Level is not C/C and uses a snap cap.

Edited October 1, 2019 by SoulSamurai

[SpecTP]

Lamy Studio and I think most of Pineider pens are magnetic snap on as well.

Edited October 1, 2019 by SpecTP

[welch]

Try a Parker 51 from a restoration expert. The 51 aerometric, which seems to last forever, was designed to be a work pen, rather than a piece of jewelry, so Parker designed it with a slip-off cap.

[SpecTP]

my montblanc 74/84 are all snap on cap. not sure if you would consider them as modern though.

[sirgilbert357]

A lot of what Faber Castell and Graf von Faber Castell make are snap cap. Their style is all their own, I'd browse through their offerings...

[Tonhao5]

I've tried the vintage Montblanc 12 and 121 series and liked it.

 

Also around $300-400, S.T. Dupont's pens are usually snap-on and I really like them for ease of use and the "click" sound some of them make.

[Maurizio]

I asked that question about 2 years ago and got these answers:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/317400-nice-snap-cap-pens/page-2

 

My friend ended up buying a Platinum Balance.

[4lex]

Thanks so much for all the suggestions. Its my fault that I didnt specify better what I am looking for. Im looking for non vintage pen with gold nib. I have several vintage pens with snap on caps already, Parker 51, couple vintage Sheaffer pens etc. Cant find any current piston filling pens with snap on cap so I am expanding my search to c/c pens.

Thanks again

[4lex]

I will look into Pelikan Level. Its not currently made but not really vintage either. I also never considered S.T. Dupont so I plan to go to Selfridges and try it out.

Edited October 1, 2019 by vonManstein

[Bibliophage]

Jinhao has a large number of pull/slip cap C/C pens, some very nice, but they're far under your budget range. Same with Duke and Baoer.

 

The Wing Sung 601 is a Vacumatic, rather than a piston, but otherwise is pretty nice, and has a slip cap. Still under that range.

 

I have a 1980's era gold Cross (I believe), still in the original box (I think unused), but I don't know that it fits your desires I personally wouldn't call it a "Vintage" pen.

 

Edit - (The I believe is the 1980's. It's definitely a gold plated Cross fountain pen)

Edited October 1, 2019 by Bibliophage

[stauffert]

I second the Wing Sung 601 recommendation. It holds slightly more ink than a piston filler of the same size.

[tartuffo]

Lots of choice in a Platinum Kanizawa ...

 

[Honeybadgers]

The karas kustoms starliner XL is a firm snap cap. I have the apollo 11 version with a blue anodized body and brass section and I loooooove it.

 

Faber castell loom

 

Muji aluminum pen (this is a surprisingly amazing pen for $15 - the included cartridge is junk though)

 

Cross townsend

 

Platinum PTL5000 or kanazawa maki-e

 

Pilot metro

 

Pilot E95S

 

Pilot stargazer/custom 98 (these will be NOS)

[hari317]

Some currently produced snap cap pens with gold nibs:

 

Platinum brier wood 3776 or the gathered 3776

Yard o led pens.

Pilot silvern with inset nib

Sailor sterling silver 1911

[4lex]

Thanks, I already have Wing Sung 601, Pilot Metropolitan, Jinhao X450, Loom and many others in under $100 range. I’m looking for a pen in $100-400 range. Preferably Piston Filler with snap on cap

[SoulSamurai]

I like Hari's suggestion of the snap-cap versions of the Platinum 3776. They have a nice body shape, gold nibs, and if you find them too cheap you can always spring for the maki-e versions.

 

Off the top of my head I can't think of many other modern snap-cap open-nib gold-nib pens. I think Lamy has a few models? Or, you know, buy a gold Lamy nib for one of their steel-nib pens; I think they're gold nibs fit on the Aion for example.

 

I took a glance on Goulet using their filters, and there's slim pickings. Lamys, Pilot pocket pens, the Diplomat Aero, and some painted lower-end Platinums. How do you feel about magnetic caps? Pneider has some pricey magnetic-capped pens, and one of them is listed as a piston filler (the specs say "vac piston"). BTW I assume you already own a Vanishing Point.

Edited October 2, 2019 by SoulSamurai

[sirgilbert357]

Thanks, I already have Wing Sung 601, Pilot Metropolitan, Jinhao X450, Loom and many others in under $100 range. I’m looking for a pen in $100-400 range. Preferably Piston Filler with snap on cap

 

 

I'm not sure you are going to find many piston fillers with true "snap caps". You might find some, and a few more piston fillers with "slip caps" (Lamy 2000 style) that use clutch style cap to hold on to the pen -- but the combination of features you are looking for just isn't produced in large volume -- selection is narrowed even further when you specify a gold nib.

 

One I haven't seen mentioned yet is the Conklin Nozac. It isn't a true snap cap, but uses a magnetic system to keep the cap on. I saw one at the Dallas Pen Show this past weekend. It was nice, but the metal section wasn't for me. It is heavily discounted right now at Goulet, so it comes in below your preferred price point. Not a gold nib, though.

 

Keep in mind, any pen with a standard Bock or Jowo nib that comes in steel can take a Bock or Jowo gold nib of the same size, usually quite easily. If you can't get exactly what you want off the shelf, sometimes you can mod the pen with the nib of your choice to get it...I think that Nozac would take a gold nib if you were inclined to swap it, for instance.

Edited October 2, 2019 by sirgilbert357

[sirgilbert357]

Honestly, if you are looking for something truly special, why not contact Shawn Newton or Edison Pens and have them make you something to your own specs?

 

Another option is the Franklin Christoph Model 20 "Marietta", and it's variants - can be had with a gold nib, but its a C/C, not piston...

Edited October 2, 2019 by sirgilbert357

[A Smug Dill]

I dont like the grip on it so Im looking for an alternative.

I also excluded Diplomat Excellence, Waterman Exception, Waterman Carene and Sheaffer Legacy. Tried them, theyre not for me. Im looking for something in $100 to $400 range.

Its my fault that I didnt specify better what I am looking for. Im looking for non vintage pen with gold nib.

That's a good start, but it'd be useful if you specified your criteria with regard to the grip and possibly weight, balance, form factor and shape.

 

Otherwise, within the US$100–$400 range (and it'd be good if you specified the currency, since your profile says you're in London so there is no default assumption that $ refers to USD):

• Diplomat Aero. Comes with a factory gold nib if you want.
• LAMY cp1 in palladium finish, Studio in palladium or piano black finish. Or, as suggested, just fit a Z55/Z56/Z57 nib onto some other LAMY model (other than the 2000 and the Aion).
• Aurora Ipsilon Deluxe or Ipsilon Quadra.
• Platinum #3776 Century Briar (light briar, dark briar, or briar shell) or Celluloid.