My Fountain Pen Collection – So Far

The YouTube algorithm makes me do things. It decides every so often that I should like something. It tried hard to make me sell everything I own, quit my job, and become a full time RVer but that didn’t take. It did make me get into fountain pens though.

It kept showing me fountain pen videos. I wanted to see if they were really so cool so I ordered a cheap one.

This is the Platinum Preppy. It is designed to be disposable although you can convert it to be able to refill it. I think it was $6.00 when I got it. I was hooked. It was so smooth to write with.

Then I went upscale (for me). I started getting Lamy Al-Stars.

I love these pens. The burgundy one has purple ink and the grey has blues. These retail around $50 now but if you look around and shop sales you can get them for a lot less. I got these and a navy one that I have in reserve that I have never used yet for around $27-30 each.

My Pilot Kakuno was a gift through the Christmas in July swap.

I love this pen. It is designed as a child’s pen in Japan. There is a face on the nib. It is a workhorse for me. This is the pen that sits on the kitchen counter to make grocery lists and write down anything I need. It is also inexpensive as fountain pens go. It is retailing around $15 depending on where you look.

Another great cheap pen I found in a store when I was just starting to try pens is the Pilot Varsity. I’m seeing a brand theme here on the pens I love.

This one was $3.50. It writes like a dream. Some pens dry out if you don’t write with them for a long time. This one is in my sewing room for notes so I can go weeks at a time without using it. It writes the first time every time.

I bought the Monteverde Innova Ombre Fusion because it was pretty and on sale. I decided to take a chance on it.

I don’t love it. It is too heavy for me. It also doesn’t write as smoothly as some of my less expensive pens. I just listed this one on eBay to see if it works better for someone else.

I just decided to try this Asvine Pink Forest recently as a replacement for the Monteverde. So far I’m liking it.

Pens are having the same issues as other luxury goods. Chinese companies are making dupes and similar pens that are as good as or better than the originals for a fraction of the price. This pen is an original design from one of those companies. It was $17.99.

I watched a video recently of a person who bought a $1000+ pen and needed to send it to the factory for fine tuning because it didn’t write correctly. (If I paid that for a pen, which I would never, it better be self aware and able to write by itself.) At the same time, she bought a dupe of the pen from a Chinese company for $38 and it wrote beautifully out of the box. On the video, you couldn’t tell them apart by looking at them.

I’ve realized I like pens that snap close instead of twisting closed. That really limits the pens I can buy. That’s a good thing. I’m starting to know how heavy I’m comfortable with and how big. I even went to a pen show to touch some pens to see what I liked.

My husband is amused. He’s a luxury watch and pen guy. He has pens that are investments that never get used. No thank you. I like my $15 pens. I want pens I don’t mind using every day.

Now my problem is that I want to try more but I don’t need more.