My growing collection of… fountain pens

[SeikoForum]

Sailor, Pelikan, Montblanc, and Namiki are brands that are covered in my collection. I may create future threads detailing the various custom Nagahara nibs I own. They are a pleasure to write with. Tagging @thetimecollective

 

[BloominCookie]

Sailor, Pelikan, Montblanc, and Namiki are brands that are covered in my collection. I may create future threads detailing the various custom Nagahara nibs I own. They are a pleasure to write with. Tagging @thetimecollective

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BTW, that's 'WOW!' in a most good way, not 'WOW' SMH!

 

[Fledegg]

Sailor, Pelikan, Montblanc, and Namiki are brands that are covered in my collection. I may create future threads detailing the various custom Nagahara nibs I own. They are a pleasure to write with. Tagging @thetimecollective

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I think it's fair to say you're the king of collectors 👑😎

 

[wvclockdoc]

Sailor, Pelikan, Montblanc, and Namiki are brands that are covered in my collection. I may create future threads detailing the various custom Nagahara nibs I own. They are a pleasure to write with. Tagging @thetimecollective

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Nice collection. I have a large Cross pen/pencil/Rollerball collection. I especially like the ones with company logos.

 

[thetimecollective]

Sailor, Pelikan, Montblanc, and Namiki are brands that are covered in my collection. I may create future threads detailing the various custom Nagahara nibs I own. They are a pleasure to write with. Tagging @thetimecollective

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Woah, such a crazy collection you have.
Are they all inked?
Same ink all around or different one in every pen?
How big is the difference between a normal sailor vs a MB149 vs one of your king eagles?
It’s awesome seeing such caliber of pens together in a picture

 

[SeikoForum]

Woah, such a crazy collection you have.
Are they all inked?
Same ink all around or different one in every pen?
How big is the difference between a normal sailor vs a MB149 vs one of your king eagles?
It’s awesome seeing such caliber of pens together in a picture

All are inked, all are used in my daily rotation. The Sailor KOP is the largest, followed by the 149, with the smallest being the 1911L. I’ll take some more photos tomorrow.

 

[thetimecollective]

All are inked, all are used in my daily rotation. The Sailor KOP is the largest, followed by the 149, with the smallest being the 1911L. I’ll take some more photos tomorrow.

How about the writing experience between the 3? Can a 1911L be comparable to a 149 or even a KOP?

 

[SeikoForum]

How about the writing experience between the 3? Can a 1911L be comparable to a 149 or even a KOP?

I believe I’ve cracked the fountain pen code. Unlike the watch world, fountain pens are much easier to figure out, and there exist definite “bests.” The 1911L Nagahara crosspoint is the best pen I have ever experienced, followed by any multiple layered Nagahara custom nib: Eagle, cross music, cross concord, etc. I own both the 1911L and KOP sized Eagles and crosspoints. The 1911L crosspoint is by far the best pen. The sturdiness of the 4 tined nib and the way it puts ink into onto paper is something to behold.

The next tier consists of single layered nibs. I would rank the Pelikan m1000 followed by the MB149. My MB149 is a resin model from the 1950’s and has an EF nib. My Hemingway writer’s edition comes with a 1990’s M 149 nib.

 

[souschef]

Sailor, Pelikan, Montblanc, and Namiki are brands that are covered in my collection. I may create future threads detailing the various custom Nagahara nibs I own. They are a pleasure to write with. Tagging @thetimecollective

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Wow ! I mean WOW ! You just have tons of discretionary income 😂 ! Beautiful !

 

[thetimecollective]

I believe I’ve cracked the fountain pen code. Unlike the watch world, fountain pens are much easier to figure out, and there exist definite “bests.” The 1911L Nagahara crosspoint is the best pen I have ever experienced, followed by any multiple layered Nagahara custom nib: Eagle, cross music, cross concord, etc. I own both the 1911L and KOP sized Eagles and crosspoints. The 1911L crosspoint is by far the best pen. The sturdiness of the 4 tined nib and the way it puts ink into onto paper is something to behold.

The next tier consists of single layered nibs. I would rank the Pelikan m1000 followed by the MB149. My MB149 is a resin model from the 1950’s and has an EF nib. My Hemingway writer’s edition comes with a 1990’s M 149 nib.

Thanks for the super detailed response!
The M149 has always been my grail pen, but the 1911L has just taken the top spot if I can ever afford one.
The M1000 has such a nice nib, definitely worthy of the top single layered nib spot.

Do you ever rinse them out occasionally? Or do they just stay inked long term until you decide on a different ink? Always wondered about the maintanence on such high end pens.

Most of your pens are Japanese or German, have you considered something from the likes of Visconti?

 

[SeikoForum]

Thanks for the super detailed response!
The M149 has always been my grail pen, but the 1911L has just taken the top spot if I can ever afford one.
The M1000 has such a nice nib, definitely worthy of the top single layered nib spot.

Do you ever rinse them out occasionally? Or do they just stay inked long term until you decide on a different ink? Always wondered about the maintanence on such high end pens.

Most of your pens are Japanese or German, have you considered something from the likes of Visconti?

Visconti has known QC issues, and from my experience, is simply not as luxurious as the brands I already own. When it comes to single-layered 18k nibs, I think I have all my bases already covered with Montblanc, the Namiki Emperor, and Pelikan.

Unless you're talking about a Nagahara nib, the 1911L is much less expensive than the MB149. A pre-owned MB149 will run you around $500.

My M1000 is a "PF" nib - do some research on those. They're much softer to write with and discontinued. It's practically a flex nib.

Yes, I clean my pens every few months or so, but if they write well, there's no need to. Unlike watches, there is not much maintenance involved at all.

 

[neeble]

I don't really collect fountain pens but I mostly write with them. I have a Pelikan and a few Parker 51 aeromatics (a couple more than pictured here), all of which I've had for years (decades in most cases). The P51s are my go-to for everyday writing, I like the firm feel. The Pelikan is nice to write slowly and neatly with, but I have awful handwriting and mostly jot stuff quickly...

Those who know P51s will know that the British manufactured ones are a little different from the U.S. ones, the colours and some aspects of the caps are different and the nibs tend to be wider. The pen on the left has a rolled silver cap, a UK-only style I think.

 

[SeikoForum]

I don't really collect fountain pens but I mostly write with them. I have a Pelikan and a few Parker 51 aeromatics (a couple more than pictured here), all of which I've had for years (decades in most cases). The P51s are my go-to for everyday writing, I like the firm feel. The Pelikan is nice to write slowly and neatly with, but I have awful handwriting and mostly jot stuff quickly...

Those who know P51s will know that the British manufactured ones are a little different from the U.S. ones, the colours and some aspects of the caps are different and the nibs tend to be wider. The pen on the left has a rolled silver cap, a UK-only style I think.


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Pelikan is an amazing brand. I prefer them over Montblanc. Is that an M1000 you have pictured?

 

[neeble]

Pelikan is an amazing brand. I prefer them over Montblanc. Is that an M1000 you have pictured?

Not an M1000, a smaller pen I think. It’s so long ago I bought it (20 years?) I can’t actually remember what the number is but it’s an M something. M600 or M400? I’d have to measure it to be sure.

 

[BloominCookie]

I don't really collect fountain pens but I mostly write with them. I have a Pelikan and a few Parker 51 aeromatics (a couple more than pictured here), all of which I've had for years (decades in most cases). The P51s are my go-to for everyday writing, I like the firm feel. The Pelikan is nice to write slowly and neatly with, but I have awful handwriting and mostly jot stuff quickly...

Those who know P51s will know that the British manufactured ones are a little different from the U.S. ones, the colours and some aspects of the caps are different and the nibs tend to be wider. The pen on the left has a rolled silver cap, a UK-only style I think.


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Why are they styled differently?

 

[SeikoForum]

Why are they styled differently?

The green one in @neeble's pic is the Pelikan. The other pens are Parker. They're different brands.

 

[thetimecollective]

Visconti has known QC issues, and from my experience, is simply not as luxurious as the brands I already own. When it comes to single-layered 18k nibs, I think I have all my bases already covered with Montblanc, the Namiki Emperor, and Pelikan.

Unless you're talking about a Nagahara nib, the 1911L is much less expensive than the MB149. A pre-owned MB149 will run you around $500.

My M1000 is a "PF" nib - do some research on those. They're much softer to write with and discontinued. It's practically a flex nib.

Yes, I clean my pens every few months or so, but if they write well, there's no need to. Unlike watches, there is not much maintenance involved at all.

Yep I meant the Nagahara nib.
The PF nibs are cool, a niche within a niche. Never knew Pelikan made a flex nib until now. Will be on the lookout for them 😉

 

[BloominCookie]

The green one in @neeble's pic is the Pelikan. The other pens are Parker. They're different brands.

No, sorry, my fault for not specifying. I was referring to the comment about the UK versions styled/manufactured differently than their U.S. counterparts.

 

[SeikoForum]

Yep I meant the Nagahara nib.
The PF nibs are cool, a niche within a niche. Never knew Pelikan made a flex nib until now. Will be on the lookout for them 😉

The Nagahara double and triple layered nibs are the finest in the world bar none. I've tried them all.

 

[neeble]

No, sorry, my fault for not specifying. I was referring to the comment about the UK versions styled/manufactured differently than their U.S. counterparts.

Parker had a factory in England specifically to make pens for the UK market. This was before parts were routinely shipped all over the world I guess, so many things would have been sourced and manufactured locally. Marketing / advertising seemed to be done locally too.