Who makes the best fountain pens today?

[georges zaslavsky]

montblanc, pelikan, omas, montegrappa, stipula, cleo, krone, marlen, mercury, conid, sailor, danitrio and nakaya

[ethernautrix]

Since my preference is for urushi pens, the price point is going to be higher. Nakaya is my favorite pen.

 

I also like Pelikan.

[Tom Aquinas]

This is so subjective it will depend upon personal preference.

[Parker51]

Edison, or Bexley.

If you are going to buy a new pen, why not get one either a custom made pen, made to your specifications, or one that is made in such a small quantity that every pen is made by the same persons to a high standard, and ready to write very well straight from the box? And as far as price point, well, $150 to whatever you want to spend, but likely under $1000.

[jetsam]

Start a thread called "Pens I used that weren't perfect" and the brand least mentioned is your answer.

[thedeacon]

I don't think there is an answer, it's all personal preference. Otherwise, we would all own the exact same pen made by one manufacturer.

 

That said, if I had to choose only one FP? S.T. Dupont Olympio hands down.

[bluejay]

For me it's the grip size and weight. Everything else a sitting in front of a nibmeister and getting the grind that works just for you makes sense. No such thing as one company that makes the best pen. I've given up on these types of questions. Just go around pick up and hold it and you can tell if it fits you. Then look at filling system and problems/sales ratios.

[stevekolt]

Another mention for Edison pens. Great service, and you can customize your pen when ordering. I love my other pens, (MB, Visconti, Parker, etc.) but my Edison Beaumont Pneumatic in Briar Swirl Ebonite with an EF nib is my personal favorite. Will be ordering from Brian again....

[Subscript]

Best means so many thing to people. For pure objective quality, Pilot, hands down. For beauty - in the eye of the beholder.

[RJJ]

+1 on the ST DuPont.

[bone215]

Difficult to answer. Different for everyone. I know I had fun years ago in Washington DC when I got to go to Ferney's to pick out a pen. I didn't want to spend too much, I am just a working man with taste that exceeds income, however, I figured I wanted to put the pens in my hand and 'feel' how they felt.

I ended up with a Waterman Harmonie for around a hundred bucks. It 'felt' right in my hand.

Lately I am just sampling inexpensive Noodlers, Pilots, and various Chinese products like Hero, Jinhao, and Baoer.

For me its all fun.

[rochester21]

For low-end and mid-range pens, pilot should probably be mentioned.

Edited July 23, 2013 by rochester21

[Harlequin]

Bic, Richemont, or Newell-Rubbermaid. They are, after all, the companies that make quite a few pens, certainly many listed in this thread.

[orfew]

I have tried several different brands of pens including Delta, Lamy, and several others. I always come back to my Montblancs. I enjoy the styling and the pens are very comfortable to write with. They just feel better than other pens. Of course this is a personal response, it was a personal question.

[Opooh]

De gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum.

might be the pen I prefer, someone else finds it absolute horror.

Even in one brand some models are great and others aren't even worth mentioning.

One major problem for some manufacturers is their poor quality control and/or their deplorable aftersale service. Just like in carproduction, it seems there are monday and friday fountain pens, which is unacceptable in the + 200 euroligue.

[tringle]

De gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum.

might be the pen I prefer, someone else finds it absolute horror.

 

 

@Opoh i agree....

[dduran]

Personal preference and opinion --

Pelikan

Edison

 

There are more but it all depends on your price point.. (ex. wouldn't actually recommend Pelikan for low-end pens, you can get better bang for your buck with other pens)

[XiaoMG]

I probably wouldn't put any of the lower-priced semi-custom pens on the list, as production pens seem to be made to higher standards, and tend to have better furniture, better feeds and nibs, inner cap seals, and better fit/finish. If one absolutely demands a turned pen from a specific material though, production pens may not offer up the goods.

 

Higher-end customs (above $500 I guess) might be up there, though.

[yossiantokolitz]

Well I don't want to sound too philosophical but I guess I must.

I used to think in terms of "best",meaning - looking for the highst position on a "obgective" scale juged by an array of creitirya such as matirials ,performans and so on.

It was fountain pens that put me on another track simply by realising through expiriance that an obgect doesn't have to be high end in order to be good. Now I no longer look for "best" , what I look for is fit. And more and more I find miself gravitating towards good quality priced for any Yossi , Tom or Harry.

I have to admit I am a Lamy fan.

Yossi

[OldGreyGuy]

I feel that my thoughts are probably based around my experiences with other pens. I have used fountain pens since 1984 (Lamy 2000 in Medium) and that has been a great pen which I use daily. In addition I have a Safari/Vista, TWSBI 580, Montblanc 149 and a Italix Parson's Essential. So I don't have a lot of high end pens, just the one, and I enjoy using each and every one of my pens.

 

For me right now if I was planning to buy another pen then I would be looking at a Franklin-Christoph. Some of their designs are just beautiful to behold and combined with reports of the fine nibs by Michael Masuyama I feel that they are producing innovative design and a company prepared to produce something different.

 

Of course if you are only interested in the same old product as all the others then pick any of the choices above.

 

Just my $0.02