There can be nothing more disheartening than having a bad experience with a fountain pen.

This is especially true for a beginner. Whether your pen leaks, has a scratchy nib, or stops and starts and doesn’t write smoothly. These problems can be very frustrating and put you off fountain pens for life!

I wanted to write an article that gave a few of the better options for people who are new to fountain pens.

… the manufacturers…

Straight out of the gate, I’m going to advise sticking with mainstream fountain pen manufacturers.

These are companies with a good reputation for a quality product. You may not know who they are, so here are my top five picks before we talk about specific pens:

• Lamy – A market leader in fountain pens and inks from Germany.
• Kaweco – Going head to head with Lamy, also from Germany.
• Parker – A high quality manufacturer from USA. You must have heard of them!
• Pilot – Gorgeous fountain pens from Japan. Exquisite engineering.
• TWSBI – Perhaps unknown to you, an exceptional manufacturer from Taiwan.

There are other manufacturers such as Conklin (pictured above), Monteverde, Diplomat etc and these are worth considering, however the big five listed above are the manufacturers that most come up with conversations with folks who are new to fountain pens.

… the fountain pens…

I’ve chosen one fountain pen from each manufacturer that I consider a good starter for a fountain pen novice.

In general these pens are extremely reliable and range in price from around CAD $33 (Kaweco) up to CAD $151 (Parker).

While the upper end may seem a little expensive, you get an amazing writing experience for the price. This is also true of the lower cost pens. It’s a fountain pen palindrome.

… The Lamy Safari…

The Lamy Safari is well known and classic, and one many beginners choose as their first pen.

It’s a low cost fountain pen that is beautifully engineered with quality well above pens you might find in your local Staples.

The pen comes in a variety of colours and nib sizes – Medium (a good choice if you are not sure what size to go for), Fine, Extra Fine and Broad.

Lamy manufacture their own nibs and as such have a great mechanism that allows you to swap your old nib for a new one that you can purchase separately. Including stub nibs to give a little italic style to your writing.

Nibs are generally smooth out of the box and give few problems. Lamy use a propitiatory fitting for its cartridges and converter.

If you prefer to use cartridges over bottled ink, as many beginners do, then you are stuck with a limited number of colours and have to use Lamy’s own cartridges.

While this may seem a pain, it’s not a big deal and their ink is delightful to use.

Eventually you may graduate to using bottled ink, in which case their Z28 converter is exceptional and fits snuggly on the pen. You’ll be able to use any bottled fountain pen ink.

… The Kaweco Sport …

The Kaweco Sport is as well known as the Lamy Safari and is an interesting and exceptional pen for a new fountain pen owner.

The first thing you will notice about the Kaweco Sport is its small size. This could present a problem for you especially if you have big hands…

But wait! Here’s the solution: Post the cap of the Kaweco on the end of the pen before you write. The act of posting the cap means exactly what it sounds like: stick the cap on the top of the pen.

This makes the Kaweco Sport suddenly become a full sized pen and easy to handle! Exactly how it was designed!

Kaweco use nibs from another German manufacturer, Bock. These nibs are second to none and are generally very good out of the box.

The great thing about the Kaweco Sport is that once you screw the cap on, you have an incredibly small and convenient pen that fits in a pocket or a bag. The Sport is designed to be easy to carry and well, thrown around (hint: it’s in the name).

Another great thing about the Kaweco Sport is that it uses international standard fittings for its converter and cartridges.

In terms of cartridges, this means you can use any fountain pen ink from any manufacturer who adheres to the international standard (J. Herbin, Kaweco, Monteverde, etc). It gives you a wide range of colour choices.

Because of the small nature of the pen, Kaweco has two converters you can use for bottled ink. The first is a piston converter that looks like a mini plunger. The second is the squeeze converter, a lower cost bladder converter.

Both converters take a little bit to learn how to use, but given a few minutes you’ll easily be able to fill them with ink.

... The Parker 51 …

The Parker 51 is the 2021 redesign of an extremely well regarded vintage pen.

I wanted to add a pen that was more what a beginner might be expecting in a fountain pen.

Like the Lamy Safari, Parker use a proprietary fitting for cartridges and their converter. Unfortunately they only have two colours in their cartridge range – blue and black. But Quink is good ink.

The pen itself is not large. It’s a diminutive pen that has an amazing nib that performs exceptionally.

You’ll notice that the nib is ‘hooded’ and it gives the pen an extremely distinctive look and feel. The original Parker 51 had a hood to stop the Parker fast-drying ink from doing just that before it hit the paper.

While it’s lovely to see the hood back on this pen, it’s more for cosmetic value than anything else. But it does finish the pen very nicely indeed.

If you are looking for a more traditional fountain pen, perhaps as an executive or someone who appreciates classic design, then the modern Parker 51 is sure to delight you.

… The Pilot Metropolitan …

The Pilot Metropolitan is a delightful pen and is certainly one of my first choices for a beginner to the world of fountain pens.

The world of fountain pens often revolves around European pens. Until someone mentions Japanese pens and oos and ahs come from the crowd.

Japanese fountain pens stand alone and manufacturers from Japan create fountain pens with the amazing surgical precision you would expect.

For a low cost pen, you get a high cost experience.

The Metropolitan is extremely reliable. It has a good weight and lovely texture to the barrel. The nib performs very very well.

Pilot use a propitiatory fitting converter and cartridge system – as all Japanese manufacturers seem to – but again, it’s reliable and works well.

You could sneak up the chain and go for a Custom 74 or Custom Heritage 91. And then there are the amazing Capless pens that have a clicker like a ballpoint pen has. But you don’t need to.

The Pilot Metropolitan provides a really good experience for the novice fountain pen owner.

One thing to note about Japanese fountain pen nibs. Sizes differ somewhat compared to European nibs. For example, a Japanese fine nib writes more like a European extra fine. A Japanese medium might seem like a European fine. Just something to keep in mind.

… The TWSBI Swipe …

TWSBI are an amazing fountain pen manufacturer from Taiwan.

Take a look at their amazing and unique TWSBI Eco or 580 fountain pens and you’ll see a pen with an integrated piston filling system that means you have to use bottled ink right off the bat.

Luckily for the novice fountain pen owner, TWSBI have only recently introduced the Swipe. This is a low cost pen that uses international standard cartridges and also comes with a piston converter in the box (two for America and Canada).

TWSBI also use nibs from the extremely well known German manufacturer, JoWo. JoWo nibs are among the most renowned nibs that are currently manufactuered.

The long and the short of it is that the Swipe gives you an amazing, well engineered and reliable writing experience straight out of the gate.

I suspect that once you use the Swipe, you’ll be curious about the Eco or other pens. Expect the same quality as the Swipe, but to a higher degree.

A note about TWSBI cartridges. These are international standard, but they are LARGE. They have a greater ink capacity than the most common short international cartridge, and come in three colours at this time.

As always, TWSBI surprised fountain pen fans with this cool pen that comes in Prussian blue or smoke.

… The End …

Actually, not really the end. Probably the beginning. Welcome to the rabbit hole.

I’ve listed five amazing choices for the first time fountain pen owner. Links to the pens and where we have them, videos follow below.

I think you’d be happy with any of the choices listed above.

Find the fountain pens listed here at Knight’s Writing Company:

• The Lamy Safari.
• The Kaweco Sport.
• The Parker 51.
• The Pilot Metropolitan.
• The TWSBI Swipe.

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I added a video review on YouTube of the Diplomat Aero. You can find it below...

First Impressions…

The fountain pen comes in a nice gift box that has a cushioned inside and is wrapped in an aluminium enclosure. All through the unboxing, you are greeted by the Diplomat name so you don’t forget who made the pen. It’s a classy gift box worthy of giving to a friend or a family member on a special occasion.

Two international standard cartridges are included in the box and the pen also comes fitted with a converter allowing you to use a bottled ink of your choice.

Because of the international standard nature of the fittings, you can use any manufacturer’s cartridge as long as it is also international standard. Any water based fountain pen ink would work, but with a higher end pen I like to stick with Diamine, Waterman or one of the other non-boutique inks.

The pen has an anodised aluminium body and comes in a variety of colours, from black through to turquoise. There are also limited editions such as the swirly Volute.

The Aero is designed after the Zeppelin airship and really looks like one when you take it out of the box!

The barrel does seem a little wider than some pens, but once you take the cap off, you’ll be happy with the narrower nib section. The grip is nice and pen feels very good in the hand.

The Diplomat Aero comes fitted with a large stainless steel JoWo nib. The nib and feed combination make for a great writing experience and performance is very smooth.

Because of the Zeppelin nature of the barrel, the pen won’t roll around too much when placed on a table.

The trim comes either in light grey or dark grey depending on the pen colour (see the YouTube video for trim options). The clip is particularly solid and the overall aesthetics of the pen is pleasing to the eye.

Although the pen is a snap lid rather than a screw lid it feels really solid and I don’t think you will have problems with it over time.

On some lower end pens, the snap mechanism can become lose and need to be replaced. I haven’t heard of the Diplomat Aero having this problem, and you wouldn’t expect it from a higher end fountain pen.

There is a satisfying slip and click when you take the cap off or put it back on.

All in all, first impressions with this pen are very positive. It’s a good size pen for most hands, has a lovely feed and nib and a unique shape that looks extremely stylish.

I love the weight of the pen. Not overly heavy, but not light either. It feels perfectly balanced.

You can find Diplomat Aero fountain pens on our website here: Diplomats at Knight’s Writing Company.

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This low cost fountain pen is built using the same quality of other TWSBIs. It includes the nib that you may be familiar with on the ECO and also fits International Standard cartridges.

The pen comes with a piston converter, a spring plunger converter and a cartridge. All this in one low cost package. But is it any good? See our YouTube video for a quick run down of what to expect.

The post The New TWSBI SWIPE Fountain Pen appeared first on Knight's Writing Company.

The post The Platinum 3776 Century Fountain Pen appeared first on Knight's Writing Company.

On the face of it it’s a simple choice between the two. But in reality there are several things you need to consider.

Perhaps you want to use bottled ink. Perhaps you want to use a larger range of colours rather than the small number your pen manufacturer gives you.

Does your pen have an international standard fitting or is it a proprietary fit?

Watch our latest video to learn the ins and outs of cartridges and converters…

The post Cartridges and Converters appeared first on Knight's Writing Company.

I decided my fourth video – that’s a milestone – would be all about the Kaweco Liliput.

Mostly because I just couldn’t resist starting to use the new copper pen that I had purchased for myself.

Hopefully the video is interesting and useful to you.

I’ve always loved the Liliput, perhaps more even than the Sport, but what is it about this pen that keeps bringing me back?

… what a small pen …

Yes it is!

The first thing you’ll notice about the Liliput is its size. It’s tiny. Essentially a metal tube with a nib on one end and a screw on the other, it doesn’t really inspire… until you look closely.

The cap has a laser engraved Kaweco insignia and the rounded ends make a potentially boring tube quite delightful.

Unscrew the cap and screw it on the end of the pen and you’ll find that this tiny capsule of ink actually turns into a full-sized pen.

Although the nib section is small, it’s plenty big enough for even the largest hands to clasp and write with.

You can throw this pen in your pocket or a bag and it will stay out of your way until you need it again.

… the nib …

The pen houses a Kaweco 060 nib. The nibs come in stainless steel (the default), gold plated stainless steel, black, 14 ct gold and rhodium-plated gold.

Kaweco also have a number of 060 nibs in various stub sizes from 1.1 to Twin and the usual EF (extra fine) to BB (double broad).

I had the pleasure of trying a 14 ct gold nib that I eventually gifted to my sister in a Vintage Blue Student. It was gorgeous. I can only imagine how the rhodium-plated gold nib writes.

But what I’m forgetting to point out here is the fantastic mechanism that Kaweco have introduced on their premium pens that allows you to screw a nib out counter-clockwise, then simply replace with another, giving you many options to write with.

It’s German engineering at its finest.

… the finishes …

The Liliput comes in a number of finishes. Black, Silver, brass, brass wave, copper, stainless steel, and fireblue.

Like many of Kaweco’s pens, finishes such as brass and copper are designed to develop scratches and marks over time. This is a trait of some of Kaweco’s pens. Don’t fight it. Embrace it.

The copper that I purchased for myself has had a lot of use over the last week. And sure enough it’s starting to mark up.

The fireblue is an interesting pen. It’s heat treated to make it look and feel like it has been… well, heat treated. Lovely rainbow colours await the fireblue’s owner.

I don’t believe it matters which Liliput you choose, I don’t think you’d be disappointed with your decision. They are all wonderful finishes and wonderful pens to use.

If anyone has a gripe about the Liliput, it might be that they have to screw the cap on the back of the pen to write, every time. It’s just too small to write without posting.

This could be annoying if all you are doing is writing a quick note on a scrap of paper… but to be honest, even posting the pen is an experience I personally enjoy.

You can find Kaweco Liliput at Knight’s Writing Company.

Do you have a favourite Liliput?

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