A couple days ago I talked about my top three cameras for the year. I liked this approach, so I’m doing the same thing with my fountain pen collection. Over this past year I’ve upped my fountain pen game: After a few years of experimenting with cheapies (aka “starter” pens), I decided to get a few nicer ones. I still like my cheapies and will probably buy more, but it is nice to have some nicer pens, too. Here is my list:
Kaweco Sport in Brass
Clued into this very German pocket pen by the defunct Retro Snapper blog four years ago,1 I’ve been a loyal user ever since. I’ve gone through a few and still have two of their plastic ones, but last Christmas Emee gifted me a brass-body version. The workings and nib are the same as the plastic version, 2 but the body makes the difference. I’m a sucker for brass, so I love this pen. Over the past year it’s developed a lovely patina.
Pilot E95S (Elite 95S)
This is a modern rendition of a mid-century pen. Pocket pens were a big deal in Japan during the 60’s and 70’s and were a status symbol for young professionals. I decided that the E95S would be my “great leap” into a gold nib, which tend to be softer and springier than steel nibs. I bought this on my trip to Japan in spring at the almost-overwhelming Itoya stationery store in Ginza, Tokyo, where I got the deluxe treatment for this deluxe-to-me pen: A salesperson pulled the pen out of a glass case and let me test it before buying. It’s a beautiful pen and a great writer.
Sailor “Bridgestone” Pocket Pen
Purchased before my Japan trip, when there was serious doubt I might even be able to go, this is an actual vintage 1960s pocket pen, pretty similar to the Pilot mentioned above, though maybe not as refined. It also features a fine/extra-fine gold nib, acrylic body and metal cap. The selling point was the Bridgestone inscription on the body. This must have been made specially for the tire and bicycle company. (Wonder if Grant has one?) I like this a lot better than I thought I would.
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All of the above pens share one characteristic: They are pocket pens. This means it’s a lot easier to carry them with me wherever I go. I typically have two pocket pens in my “to-go” kit, the selection rotates amongst the above three.
At home I’ll have anywhere from two to four pens inked up. I’ve gotten into having different colors of ink in my pens as it’s more fun and also an excuse to have more pens inked up. Though I always have one black ink pen at home, this is usually a Platinum because I like using their carbon ink cartridges. Currently that spot is occupied by my Procyon. The other three pens I currently have inked up are a orange-body Kaweco with, what else, orange ink, my Sailor mystery pen with blue, and my new Pilot Metropolitan with brown. Yeah, I finally got a Metropolitan, I don’t know why it took me so long, especially since it is a brass body! It replaced the Kakuno.
Another new development is that I finally found a couple gel ink pens I like! I generally had an aversion to them, as most of them had, for want of a better term, a “Lisa Frank” aesthetic. So I managed to find two made of brass (but painted black): Zebra G-750 and Zebra G-450. The G-750 is a little bit longer and has a knurled metal grip, while the G-450 has a rubberized grip. Neither are pricey. I enjoy using them both. Though I wish there was more color choices–you can only get black, blue, green, and red refills. It’s not like fountain pens and the world of ink you can use (if the pen has a converter.)
And to add to my collection of mechanical pencils: I finally went ahead and got a Platinum Pro-Use 171. The two big deals of this pencil is the sliding lead sleeve (to protect the tip) and the ability to switch the lead from “stiff” to “bouncy”, which makes writing and drawing easier. It’s my most used mechanical pencil, my Rotring 600 being second place. I really wish they made an all-metal body Pro-Use 171 vs the metal grip and plastic body. But that’s not stopping me from using it.
After fooling around with fountain pens for about five years, I’ve got a nice little collection that I like using. I’m sure I’ll buy more at some point, as there are some other brands and styles I’d like to try out. Hopefully you’ll follow along with me on my journey!
Urban Adventure League 
Nice pens Shawn. A pocket pen is a must for any collection, I have a Franklin Cristophe demonstrator with a needlepoint nib ground by Mike Masuyama. I also have the brass mechanical pencil from Kaweco and love the patina and weight of it. Back in the day I used to have a blog dedicated to pens and stationery. My pride and joy is a custom made double ended Eastman by Shawn Newton (he’s based in Arkansas). It has two nibs, one at each end, and a clear section in the middle with an eye dropper fill for each. I can either have two different nib grinds, or matching nibs with different ink colours (I tend to favour the latter these days).
Cool! What was this stationery blog you talk of?
Ah it’s long since fallen by the wayside – used to be called The Pen Parade. I spent a long time trying to find the best micro tip gel pen (Pilot G-Tec-C4 0.4mm Black, Pilot Juice 0.4mm Blue/Black, and Uniball Signo RT 0.38mm were my picks if you’re interested) and I ended up falling down the rabbit hole of fountain pens. There’s a good pen blog archive at penaddict.com that’s still going by the looks of things – youtube also has a lot of pen content.
Nice pens Shawn. I have the brass mechanical pencil from Kaweco and love it. Back in the day I used to run a blog dedicated to pens and stationery. My pride and joy is a custom made double ended Eastman by Shawn Newton (he’s based in Arkansas). It has two nibs, one at each end, and a clear section in the middle with an eye dropper fill for each. I can either have two different nib grinds, or matching nibs with different ink colours (I tend to favour the latter these days).
You familiar with the Moore Pen made in Boston around 1900 until about 1956? My grandfather ran the company and I remember him talking how the pen was developed for the soldiers inWWl.
Alas, I know nothing of that brand. But thank you for the heads-up.