What pen(s) are you waiting for in the mail?

[senzen]

My final three... Of course I've been telling myself of the final final final pen for the past dozen.

 

First, the accidental Montblanc, made for Dunhill (if what I've read is true); I just totally dig its design, so in line with the Waterman Gentleman 33 while managing to align barrel and section. I'm assuming steel since I see no hallmarks. My twelve Pelikans are harrumphing in unison, there are rumours of a trial for high treason.

 

 

Then, a pen I never thought I'd get, since it solves a problem I don't have: uncapping. It's just gorgeous to my eyes, if a little weird. Additional bonus: unbelievably smooth nib. I'm probably the only person that doesn't care about fidgeting with the button.

 

 

And finally the pen to end all pens, at least for me (Ha! But this time I hope it's true): Geha 760. The clip is a little pitted, a little crooked but the piston seal seems to work and the nib already shows its potential; nice transparency too. Hopefully the pen that will helpt me not to miss the Pelikan 400 tortoise I never got, or not too much.

 

[inkstainedruth]

That second pen (is that a Vanishing Point or a knock off?) is GORGEOUS.  What's the nib on it?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[senzen]

2 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

That second pen (is that a Vanishing Point or a knock off?) is GORGEOUS.  What's the nib on it?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Pilot Capless wood! M nib, now my smoothest, no small feat with 70ish pens. It looks darker in reality, my phone can't quite capture it.

[Surlyprof]

3 hours ago, senzen said:

Then, a pen I never thought I'd get, since it solves a problem I don't have: uncapping. It's just gorgeous to my eyes, if a little weird. Additional bonus: unbelievably smooth nib. I'm probably the only person that doesn't care about fidgeting with the button.

 

 

This is the nicest Vanishing Point I've ever seen!  I looked it up and they have a few on eBay... so tempting.

[Misfit]

On 1/4/2024 at 8:00 AM, DilettanteG said:

 

@Misfit white with black trim? I will now refer to this as your Stormtrooper pen. Cue the Imperial March.

Here comes the pen, as the March plays. 
 

[DilettanteG]

49 minutes ago, Misfit said:

Here comes the pen, as the March plays. 
 

 

[Misfit]

Eek!

[DilettanteG]

LOL

 

[AmandaW]

Uh oh, another order. This one a secondhand Lamy Nexx Anthracite. It wasn't impulsive since it was on my bucket list... it popped up and the price was fair, so I didn't hesitate much. The colour appealed too.

[A Smug Dill]

A Stipula La Ventidue 22 piston-filler with a steel V-Flex nib. I wasn't sold on the Stipula Etruria Magnifica for the asking prices on Amazon.com.au (as opposed to on Amazon.com), but that ‘browsing’ for Stipula — a brand of which I've barely heard of, and thus in which I had no previous interest — led me to the La Ventidue. I'm not exactly thrilled to have to pay Amazon an additional >8% of the pen's asking price in shipping charges, given how spoilt I've been the past few years with Prime membership covering everything; but Amazon.com.au has since changed the offer to include ‘free’ Prime international shipping, and only bumped the asking price of the item by ~$120 (when the shipping charges I paid were less than $12) AUD. Hmmm.

[kazoolaw]

Is the Ventidue’s piston “real” or a captive converter?

[A Smug Dill]

2 hours ago, kazoolaw said:

Is the Ventidue’s piston “real” or a captive converter?

 

I cannot fathom how there would be any room for doubt:

Image source: Amazon.com.au

 

[inkstainedruth]

21 hours ago, senzen said:

 

Pilot Capless wood! M nib, now my smoothest, no small feat with 70ish pens. It looks darker in reality, my phone can't quite capture it.

Vanishing Points are a little heavy and awkward for me, but I LOVE my two Decimos.  Thinking about maybe getting a second VP for my husband for his birthday (I found a used one in an antiques and collectibles shop a few years ago, and once I swapped out the F nib assembly for an EF one from a Decimo I bought for myself, he LOVES it).  If I get him one in a different color, he'll be able to keep track of which ink is in which pen (although he's starting to like Namiki Blue even more than Namiki Black...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Misfit]

11 hours ago, AmandaW said:

Uh oh, another order. This one a secondhand Lamy Nexx Anthracite. It wasn't impulsive since it was on my bucket list... it popped up and the price was fair, so I didn't hesitate much. The colour appealed too.

I have this pen! Glad you found yours. 

[senzen]

12 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Vanishing Points are a little heavy and awkward for me, but I LOVE my two Decimos.  Thinking about maybe getting a second VP for my husband for his birthday (I found a used one in an antiques and collectibles shop a few years ago, and once I swapped out the F nib assembly for an EF one from a Decimo I bought for myself, he LOVES it).  If I get him one in a different color, he'll be able to keep track of which ink is in which pen (although he's starting to like Namiki Blue even more than Namiki Black...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Luckily I find it comfortable, still with a light hand, if just a little weird, like writing with a very good looking... Tooth brush? Alien artifact? Also the shiny bits are a little distracting as I see them move as I write; but honestly these are small details when feeling that nib glide and Bleu de Minuit coming out so spectacular and saturated.

[I-am-not-really-here]

Waiting for a Retro 51 Tornado Frosted Metallic in Orchid.  Then saw the other two colors so instead now I am waiting on the "set."  

[Misfit]

5 minutes ago, I-am-not-really-here said:

Waiting for a Retro 51 Tornado Frosted Metallic in Orchid.  Then saw the other two colors so instead now I am waiting on the "set."  

Cool to see someone else buying Retro 51 fountain pens. I have the frosted aquamarine. Well, and many others of theirs.  

[ak47]

Hi. waiting for mb stevenson!

[kazoolaw]

17 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

I cannot fathom how there would be any room for doubt:

Image source: Amazon.com.au

 

Good to hear you have a real piston, as Stipula doesn’t always explain the difference.

 

 

 

[A Smug Dill]

14 minutes ago, kazoolaw said:

as Stipula doesn’t always explain the difference.

 

I'm afraid I don't see any relevance of that reddit post to the question of whether the pen's filling system is a captured converter. If the interior wall of the barrel cavity serves as the wall of the pen's ink reservoir, then there is simply no converter in the system, captured or otherwise. If a piston moves forwards and backwards, while pressing tightly against the the wall of the barrel cavity to form a seal, to be able to draw ink into that cavity using it as the ink reservoir, then it's a piston-filler model, irrespective of ⑴ ink capacity and ⑵ whether the piston mechanism can be disassembled and/or accessed by the user.

 

The pen in that reddit post quite obviously uses the clear part of the pen barrel directly as the ink reservoir. Serviceability of the filling mechanism is not relevant to whether it is a captured converter.

 

Spoiler

Even in the case of a fountain pen that houses a Schmidt KFH450 or KFH300 — perhaps because the pen barrel's material is not suitable to be used to directly contain ink and be continuously in contact with liquid — that still wouldn't make such a pen's filling system a captured converter, when the nib unit (which is without a ‘nipple’ connector and a post against which to possibly mount an ink cartridge as a non-integrated ink reservoir and filling mechanism) screws directly into the fixed component that serves as the pen's (piston-filled) ink reservoir. The Schmidt KFH450 falls short of being a functionally complete fountain pen in its own right only due the absence of securable cap to prevent ink evaporation when the writing instrument is unused. Even if the barrel that houses a Schmidt KFH450 is little more than a pretty or glorified pen handle, there is still no ‘converter’ in play, and thus no question of a captured converter.