What was your last very deliberate pen purchase?

[welch]

On 5/17/2024 at 1:00 PM, Geslina said:

There was an Amazon box waiting for me when I got home from work at midnight last night.  I had  been considering a Pilot Falcon with a soft fine nib for months, for both writing and drawing, finally used my Amazon points and got a red one for just over $100.  It’s not as soft as I thought it would be, not really very flexy either…maybe that will change with some use…but it writes very nice and I’m happy with it.

 

A Falcon is not supposed to be flexible or flexy. It it supposed to be soft, and it is as soft as an Eversharp Skyline with a soft nib. Repeating myself: in the "golden age", there was only a small market for flexible nibs, because public schools in the US -- the biggest market -- taught quick and clear "business writing" using the Palmer Method. I had a Falcon. It was a beautiful writer.  (Gave it to a treasured friend who was moving her family back to Australia from California)

 

Nib masters and mistresses might be able to turn a Falcon into a flexible nib. I've seen that mentioned, but never wanted a flex nib so I can't name the nib specialist.

[vicpen123]

A Traveler's Company brass compact fountain pen.

 

Tiny but nice.

[Misfit]

Oh congratulations @vicpen123I have the Factory Green version. 

[Geslina]

On 5/19/2024 at 5:03 AM, DilettanteG said:

I have three older Falcons from back when they were made by Namiki. (Hope I spelled that right.) And then I also had the soft nibs modified into extra flex, extra fine nibs. Perhaps the modern ones need that, too? Either way, very nice looking pen.

 

I ended up ordering the Pelikan M200 Copper Rose Gold with a modified Broad italic from Fritz Shrimpf a few weeks ago. So far, it's only winged its way onto the tarmac at some US airport. The tracking info doesn't say which one. It's got three inks and a pad of paper to keep it company, all by Fritz Shrimpf, which I bought to justify the international shipping fees because 'pen math.'

 

Now, I'm contemplating a Pelikan M800 2013 Brown Tortoise with a BB or 3B stub.  However, 2AM may not be the right time to make that decision. Good night, folks.

I am VERY happy with the Falcon.  Using it a lot at work, it’s lightweight, and the fine nib writes well on cheaper paper.  Probably my next pen will be a Pelikan as well, I have a Pastel Green M200 that I bought  few years ago, i would like to get an extra fine gold nib.  Not sure if I want a new one, or vintage.  Being a pricier pen, it’s taking more consideration than I usually do before buying.

[ruby.monkey]

Just part of a pen - a broad oblique gold nib for a PFM. It's in a black hood, and I don't fancy buggering about trying to get it off; so now I have to decide whether to put it on a matching PFM3 that has a good fine nib, or turn a burgundy PFM5 with a rather lacklustre medium nib into something of a harlequin.

[kealani]

A handful of relatively inexpensive pens to motivate me to practice handwriting and make it interesting.

Lamy Safari, Lami Caligraphy, TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR, various nibs from EF to 1.5.

Also, some sample 6 pack mini ink bottles from Diamine.

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

I have a Lamy Joy..Safari with a desk pen long thin barrel that has a 1.5 nib. I like using that because when I do practice 'drawing' my letters in calligraphy I can see my mistakes better.

 

Don't worry that you can afford those pens, they are not that cheap. Call it inexpensive.

...........

I buy still after 15 years, 'old used////vintage and semi-vintage pens in they are better than modern nibwise and affordable...1/4th or less the price of new.

.............I may not grab my Safari B much, but it is now inked.

 

I really don't let someone else's long high nose bother me....

I have some real wonderful 'cheap' vintage pens.........but I've been at it a while and such buys are long gone..............gee.....you should have seen the prices the guys who started a decade before me paid.

[Surlyprof]

Over a year ago, I was vacationing in Italy with friends and family.  I had the opportunity to go to Stilo e Stile and they were wonderful.  I was hoping to buy my first Italian pen but couldn’t find the model I liked in a resin/hardware combination I loved.  Instead, they offered to order a bespoke pen from Leonardo.  This was a very generous offer I couldn’t refuse.  Fast forward more than a year later, Leonardo got VERY busy, they never produced the pen and Stilo e Stile refunded my purchase price.  
 

Over a year later, we are back in Italy, I’ve since purchased a third Lamy 2000 and a couple of Japanese pens I love but I still don’t own an Italian fountain pen.  I’ve checked out Casa della Stilographica here in Florence and didn’t find anything.  Now that I have more knowledge and experience with fountain pens I’m really looking forward to getting back to Rome with to see what I find.

[Surlyprof]

We’ve returned from our holiday in Italy and I’m very pleased that I found my first Italian fountain pen.  I really fell for Stilo Fetti’s latest collaboration with Leonardo, the 753 Anco Marzio.  I have a weakness for both wood and orange.  I don’t think my photos will do it justice. The mango mosaico resin combined with the dark wood and complimented with just a hint of iridescent blue resin is a beautiful combination and ticks almost all the boxes for me.  I was looking for a gold nib but was surprised how smoothly Leonardo’s steel nibs write.  As an added bonus, that probably saved me about 300 euros.  After a year and a half of wanting, I’m very happy with my first Italian pen!

 

 

 

 

 

[Doc Dan]

Today I bought a Lamy Safari in matte charcoal black with a fine nib. The nib is black and I love the overall looks of the pen. I have ordered a 1.1 stub for it and hope it writes as well as my other Safari with a stub.

[Bisquitlips]

Yard O Led Corinthian FP..

 

 

[Misfit]

Whoa! Now that’s a pen! The name is very appropriate, and it’s gorgeous. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

I buy very, very few new pens... A blue lamy Studio, that I put a Z55 springy fold nib on it.

But the last one was won at an Auction....an MB 264...a great sized pen. For MB, a thin pen, a medium large one. ( I do have a '48-60 medium large 146, that has much better blackface than the stately large modern 146. I had it in mind to buy a 144/5 or what ever, that would be smaller than a Large 146, even if a modern nibbed and CC.

This pen is semi-flex and piston....so much IMO better.

I didn't make a picture , if I did, I can't find it right now...and I found out since I bought this pen last year, Lamy has come out with Imperial Blue and this was the only photo I could find of mine. I don't know the exact name...the teal bluish one. I like the color more than the deeper blue...but I have a deep metallic blue Cross.

The second one down.

[Revekah]

I'm a bit of a pen nut too, and I recently got my hands on a Conway Stewart model. The build and feel are just superb! Got it mainly for journaling, and it's been a treat. Anyone else here tried Conway Stewart?





 

Edited June 25 by Revekah

[Surlyprof]

15 hours ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

 

I buy very, very few new pens... A blue lamy Studio, that I put a Z55 springy fold nib on it.

 

I love the Studio with the z55 nib.  Such a nice size, weight and balance. A real delight to use.  I’ve got two but prefer my olive green one over my lighter, stainless steel one. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

The discontinued Z55 with the breather hole was supposed to be a tad more springy than the Z56/57.

I was so very impressed by the Z55 on the Imporium....In I have a 1990 Persona, didn't quite need an Imporium.

I have a flex guide I developed...and the 'Imporium's' nib had enough tine bend to be semi-flex but not enough tine spread....at 2X a light downs troke. Had it semi-flex's 3X, I'd wasted a forune on that nib on an Imporium.

 

And for years I drooled for the Imporium, not knowing the new nibs fit all but the 2000...then ...off to a closing out sale of a department store and buying a Lamy Studio so I could order a discontinued Z55 nib.

In modern that Z55 nib really impressed me...

 

So do try and get one of the last ones before you have to start paying MB Racing Green prices for it.

[psimpson130]

Ellington is sending me a replacement for my Ellington Stealth fountain pen. On a whim I sent them a picture of my current stealth which has half the finish removed from the barrel as I like to carry it in the same pocket as my pen knife and money clip. I made the joke that it is like a Timex, takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Pen writes as well as it did on day one. They made an exception and sent me a replacement. with that in mind, I ordered a matching mechanical pencil (hey, I like sets) and will carry them in one of the cases I have for my Waterman Phineas'. The pencil was the impulse.

 

[txomsy]

Finally, the Kaweco AL Sport piston filler. Took me some time to save up after it went out, but a long wait finally gave fruit and I got my hand on it.

 

Most satisfying, writes like a charm, soft and light. I have it now loaded with Noodler's X-Feather and will -eventually- write a review.

[Bo Bo Olson]

An MB 22 and 14..., at a live auction. I'd not even looked at them in they were MB and too expensive. They started so nice and low...and there was another idiot in the world.

He/she/it got out just in time.

Had I looked, I'd not bid in the 22 has a stuck piston and needs repair.

..............................

I have been very impressed with the sleek, lively nimble well balanced semi-flex 32 I bought a few pens ago.

One of these days when a woman from my old folks gym class will show up with her 22 & 250...I'm going to run a balance test of a '48-59  medium-large 146, 234 1/2,and my lesser  MB's, like a fine 264, the 32, with her two.

I have fears my 234 1/2 could lose it's best balanced position by me.

[Penguincollector]

  I finally caved and bought a Pilot Lightive/Explorer in navy blue. The price was right, and it was the last one left. I had to get more ink vials and other things so I guess I didn’t take a very long break from buying pens.