I don't really like cartridge/converter, which is what ST Dupont, etc. all do. A button-fill or piston fill is much preferable.

Have you tried the Italian pens? They all have rather flexible nibs. You're right, Pelikan has soome very nice nibs, made by Bock, I believe although I recall OMAS's nibs were also by Bock.

They are sort of like the ETA of nibs.

Last edited by Twin Six (2006-04-26 07:20:54)

My favorite pen shop is a place in Washington D.C., though I don't remember the name.  Close second and maybe better is the place off the Commons in Boston.  Bromfield Pen shop.  Near a very good button-store, Windsor Button -- full of horn and bone buttons.  Great for suits.

I've got a few vintage pens that I don't use.  My favorite is a very heavy Waterford.  I love Omas ink.  Esp. that special anniv. blue that they issued.  I use a roller ball Parker too.  Unfortunately, I lost my Parker 51 -- though it was a remake that Levenger featured in it's catalog 10 years ago or so.

I have that same Sheaffer Balance in my vintage collection. My favorite Balance design is black with what looks like chunks of abalone embedded in it. I had one that I traded on another pen at a pen show years ago. I regret that trade in hindsight.

I have a number of square-top Sheaffer Lifetimes (with the white dot) from the 20s & 30s and a few of the cigar-shape striated vacuumetric fillers from the 40s.

The oldest pens in my collection are Waterman's Ideal eyedropper fillers. One is a #2 that is in absolute mint condition. The Waterman's #2 nib is renowned among afficionados as the perfect nib -- flexible but not flabby. Another Waterman's eyedropper has two gold rings on the barrel, one of which has a monogram. It clearly enjoyed a lifetime of loving use, because the chasing is worn off the part that naturally rests against the crotch of the thumb and forefinger while writing. I believe it is a #4, though I don't recall. I also have a rare Waterman's sleeve filler, which was a transitional filling system between the eyedropper and the lever. My other Watermans are rather more common.

One of the more interesting designs in my collection is the Wahl-Eversharp Skyline, with its classic deco design. I seem to recall reading that the Skyline was manufactured during the war when materials were being rationed, so both materials and construction were greatly compromised from the start. Though the design had potential, the pens themselves are quite disappointing; too small, poorly balanced and poorly made.

The rest of my collection consists mostly of Parker Duofold "Big Reds" and Vacuumatics.

Recently, I found a mint new old stock Waterman Patrician in "Onyx" (which is actually a maroon and cream marble -- black was called "Jet") for around $1000 at an antique shop. I dipped it and wrote with it. The nib was perfect for my writing. This is the pen I've dreamed of finding, but I didn't have the budget and was only able to console myself with the thought that I'd be better off not being tempted to write with something so precious.

The phallic fountain pen argument is really rather unimaginative.

I've always thought that the nibs are very feminine the way they start slender and broaden right at the place where the dark little heart shaped hole, wet with ink, is placed at the top of the cleft that forms the nib tines.

If you look under the nib at the feed, it can seem downright indecent.