Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen Review

Let's face it, fountain pens can be incredibly intimidating to our Bic-loving friends. Sure, we know in our hearts that it's totally reasonable to drop $150 for a Lamy 2000 and that filling a fountain pen with bottled ink is actually pretty easy. To outsiders we may sound crazy, and that's why we should celebrate products that make fountain pens accessible and affordable to those who may never have considered them. The Platinum Preppy is one of the most affordable refillable fountain pens on the market. The Preppy can be had at the price of a fancy cup of coffee and comes in a wide range of colors.

The Platinum Preppy is made from sturdy plastic and has a thin steel nib. Unlike some cheap pens, the Preppy's plastic doesn't creak under pressure. The grip section screws off, like a traditional fountain pen, to expose the ink chamber. The Preppy comes with one ink cartridge and replacement cartridges are available; however, they are oddly expensive. If you want to save a few dollars, it's pretty easy to refill the Preppy's included ink cartridge, once it's empty. The barrel of the pen is completely sealed, so it's a great candidate for conversion to an eyedropper filler. I'm not fiddly enough to want to do this, but it seems straightforward.

The cap of the Platinum Preppy has a snap fit mechanism that emits a satisfying click when the pen is capped. There's also a spring-loaded cap insert that sits against the base of the nib and covers it completely. I can only assume that this serves to keep the nib from drying out or leaking ink into the cap. It seems a bit unnecessary, but Platinum has been working with pens far longer than I have, so I'll assume that they know what they're doing.

The steel nib of the Platinum Preppy is coated with the same color as the pen's included ink and body flourishes. It does feel slightly thinner than the nibs on more expensive pens, but it is incredibly stiff. Those looking for a silky smooth writing experience may be disappointed, since the nib feels scratchier than most of the starter fountain pens, such as the Metropolitan, Safari, or Kakuno. The nib tends to skip every now and then and is on the dry side, but overall the Platinum Preppy's nib performs very reliably. The consistent nib is complemented by the solid construction of the pen, which results in a very pleasing writing experience for a $5 pen. The Preppy's grip does become slippery during longer writing sessions, but this is common for pens with plastic grips.

The Platinum Preppy certainly can't compete with pricier pens, but it is an excellent pen for those looking to try a fountain pen for the first time. It's cheap enough to use without fear of bending the nib and is easily replaceable. The solid performance is a true credit to Platinums's design and manufacturing capabilities. Given the pen's performance for the price, the Platinum Preppy would be a wonderful gift for the fountain pen beginner in your life and falls just below the Pilot Kakuno, which I consider to be the best fountain pen for beginners.

J. Herbin Glass Dip Pen Review

My fountain pen collection has quickly grown from one plain black Lamy Safari to a handful of colorful writers that deserve equally colorful inks. I love to try new inks, but gambling $10-$30 on an ink that I may or may not like doesn't seem like a smart thing to do. I discovered Goulet Pen's Ink Drop service that ships five inks to my door every month for only $10. This lets me test a ton of different colors and brands of inks and purchase my favorites, which are usually available at a discount at the Goulet shop. I love this service, but testing multiple inks at a time can be cumbersome. Traditional fountain pens can easily be inked, but they require a water flush and 24 hours of dry time after each test. I turned to the J. Herbin Glass Dip Pen as a potential solution to my inky problems.

The J. Herbin Glass Dip Pen is a stunning hand-made glass dip pen. I chose the orange pen, since orange is my favorite color, and the shades of orange and yellow remind me of a blazing sunset. The pen comes in multiple colors, but they are all equally stunning.

It's clear from the name that dip pens require the user to dip the tip of the pen into ink in order to write. The J. Herbin pen's tip looks like a paint brush, and the recessed channels use capillary action to hold additional ink. Instead of drying up after a few letters, this dip pen can write several lines with the help of these ink channels. The tip is rather scratchy, compared to traditional fountain pens; however, it is possible to sand the tip with very fine sandpaper (see this video for details). I don't mind the rough tip, since I only use this pen to write a few lines with each ink. The pen lays down a juicy line that shows off all of the color properties of the ink.

The best part about glass dip pens is that they are incredibly easy to clean. Simply run the pen under a tap and dry with a paper towel. There are no complicated feeds to flush or day-long dry times. The ease of cleaning makes it possible to test several inks in a very short period of time, which is perfect for my Ink Drop subscription.

The J. Herbin Glass Dip Pen is an excellent solution for those looking for an easier way to test inks. The pen leaves a consistently fine line that shows off the best properties of each ink, and it can be cleaned with a simple pass under a faucet. At $30 or so, this pen is a bargain, especially when considering the time saved amidst countless ink swatching and labelling. For those who haven't discovered the wonderful world of inks, it really is half of the fun of owning fountain pens. The best part is that products like the The J. Herbin Glass Dip Pen and Ink Drop make it incredibly cheap and easy to find your perfect color.

Pilot Parallel Calligraphy Pen Review

The Pilot Parallel is an inexpensive calligraphy pen that's great for getting started with calligraphy without spending a small fortune. I stumbled upon these pens while looking for a cheap pen for testing inks, and they are exactly what I was looking for. The full Pilot Parallel pen set can be found for less that $30 on Amazon and comes with four pens with 1.5, 2.4, 3.8, and 6mm nib sizes.

Each Pilot Parallel pen comes with two mixable ink cartridges, a nib cleaner, bulb syringe for cleaning, and calligraphy guide. The pen is made of plastic and twists apart for easy ink cartridge replacement, like most standard cartridge fountain pens. The Parallel's cap is threaded and caps securely. Its very lightweight plastic body lacks a clip and resembles a paintbrush handle. The pen looks and feels like a $10 pen, but its performance makes up for the cheap first impressions.

The nib of the Pilot Parallel is easily the most interesting part of the pen. The nib is made of two parallel plates, with serrated edges that allow ink to flow out of the tip of the nib. This varies from the standard fountain pen nib design, where the nib sits atop an ink feed that keeps the nib inked. It takes a bit of coaxing to get the ink to flow through the Parallel's feed at first, but the transparent feed gives a good indication of the ink's progress as it approaches the nib. I typically have to tap the nib on paper to get the ink flowing through all of the nib slits, but flow is steady once it gets going.

Pilot states that its Parallel pen is only to be used with the included calligraphy inks, which are very wet. I bought the pens for ink testing, so I was relieved to find that they work with with standard fountain pen inks as well. Wetter inks perform the most consistently, and dryer inks take a bit work to get them to flow through the nib. These pens lay a ton of ink on the page, so be sure to use a higher quality paper to reduce ink feathering. This also means that the pens burn through ink very quickly.

Instead of wasting money on a Pilot converter, I reuse the empty Parallel ink cartridges. These hold a large amount of ink and have a ball bearing agitator that keeps ink from building up in the tip of the cartridge. The cartridges are very easy to clean by flushing with a standard medical syringe. The Pilot Parallel can also be converted to an eye dropper filler with a huge ink capacity, since the body of the pen is sealed. I'm still not brave enough to try this, but it should be fairly easy to do by filling the pen body with ink and adding a bit of silicon grease to the threads for a good seal.

The Pilot Parallel comes with a sheet for cleaning the grooves of the nib as well as a customized bulb syringe for cleaning. The pens takes substantial flushing to clean, but the provided tools really help make the process easier.

I initially purchased a set of Pilot Parallel pens for ink testing, but I find myself dabbling more and more with calligraphy. These pens are a lot of fun to use and are so inexpensive that I have no qualms about throwing the pens in my bag or playing around with different inks. The 2.4mm pen is my favorite of the bunch, and the nib is just the right size for my A5 Rhodia DotPad and Midori Traveler's Notebook. The Pilot Parallel Calligraphy Pen is a fantastic find, and I'm glad that I gave it a shot.

Lamy 2000 Fountain Pen Review

Fifty years ago, Gerd A. Müller's creation was released to the world. This carefully-crafted fountain pen saw several small quality tweaks over the decades, but the pen of today is almost identical to the pen that debuted in 1966. How do I start a review of one of the most iconic fountain pens ever made? If you've found this review in your quest to learn more about the Lamy 2000, you already know that it's an excellent pen. Pen aficionados have reviewed this pen extensively, so what could I possibly have to add? All that I can offer is the perspective of someone who purchased the Lamy 2000 as his first gold-nib fountain pen. This isn't a pen that I purchased to sit on a shelf after a few weeks. This is a pen that I purchased to use daily, carry to meetings, ride around in my bag, and serve as my or maybe the pen. If you're in search of the same thing, I hope that this review can be of some help.

The Lamy 2000 photographs terribly, which is a complete disservice to the pen's beautiful finish. The pen's makrolon body and stainless steel grip both have a brushed finish, and the body tends to have a shininess in photos. In person, the makrolon body has more of a matte finish, and it's much more attractive. The grip of the Lamy 2000 is something special, and it's hard to describe the distortion effect that the brushed finish has on the stainless steel surface. The pen's grip actually appears to glow under certain types of light.

There are three barely-visible seams on the Lamy 2000's body. There's a tiny seam at the end of the pen, where the piston knob meets the pen body, and there's another seam where the pen cap can be twisted off for cleaning. This seam also holds a small o-ring in place, and the teeth of the o-ring serve to grip the cap when the pen is capped. The final seam is a pseudo seam between the stainless steel grip and makrolon, which can't be twisted apart.

The makrolon body of the Lamy 2000 is almost soft to the touch, which is hard to believe without handling it. The brushed texture is velvety and serves to grip to the fingers as the pen is used. The body of the pen has a slight bulge in the middle and tapers evenly on each end, somewhat reminiscent of a blimp.

The Lamy 2000 uses a piston filling mechanism, which is a departure from the cartridge and converter pens that make up the lower end of the Lamy product line. The pen is very easy to fill. Twist the piston knob out, submerge the nib into your favorite bottle of ink, past the air hole on the grip, and twist the piston knob back into place. Piston fillers hold much more ink than their cartridge counterparts, and the Lamy 2000 is no different. I use the 2000 as my daily writer, so ink capacity is important. The best part of the pen's piston system is that it practically disappears when not in use. The seam between the piston knob and pen body is barely visible, when tightened.

Notice the air hole? This is where the pen draws in ink. Also, this photo does a pretty nice job of showing how the metal grip seems to glow in certain types of light.

One of the worst parts of using fountain pens is running out of ink on the go. It's not exactly easy nor smart to carry around a bottle of ink in an everyday carry bag. The Lamy 2000 has a subtle ink window that notifies the user of low ink levels with plenty of time to spare. At first, the ink window seems pretty useless, and most may even fail to notice it at first glance. Once the ink levels are low enough something magic happens, and the ink window becomes see-through. This is another great example of how the best features of the Lamy 2000 disappear until they are needed. There is a generous amount of ink mileage between an empty ink window and a dry nib, so there is plenty of time for a refill.

I typically rely on a bulb syringe for cleaning cartridge fountain pens, so the design of the Lamy 2000 causes some challenges. I watched a few YouTube videos that show how others clean their Lamy 2000s, but I'm just not willing to twist this pen apart. It's best not to overcomplicate the process by disassembling the pen, since one wrong move may result in permanent damage. Simply flush the pen by pulling clean water into the ink chamber and pushing it out five to ten times. Sit the pen nib down in a glass full of fluffy paper towels, and allow it to dry overnight. Goulet Pens also published an easy way to grease the piston, if it becomes stiff over time.

The Lamy 2000 can be posted, but I think that unposted is the only way to go. While the cap is snug when posted, it rests primarily on the piston knob, which can cause the knob to rotate as the cap moves in the web of the hand. There have been a few occasions where this has caused some ink leakage, so I avoid posting altogether. If posting is vital, pressing the cap down very tightly causes it to grip to the pen body as well, reducing the chances of an inky disaster. Considering that the designers seem to have perfected every inch of this pen, I'm surprised that something so basic as a proper post has been overlooked entirely.

There are several tiny protruding teeth, slightly above the grip section of the Lamy 2000 which help the cap to snap into place. I barely notice these teeth, even thought they are located exactly where I grip the pen. The pen caps with a satisfying click, although the cap takes an odd amount of force to cap down onto the pen. It feels as if the metal grip is grinding against the inside of the cap. Realistically this isn't causing any damage, but it's not a pleasant feeling. Fortunately, this becomes better with usage. The capping and posting experience is easily the worst part of using the Lamy 2000.

Despite my lack of enthusiasm for the pen's cap and post performance, the Lamy 2000's clip is excellent. The clip is spring-loaded, making it easy to clip the pen securely on items of various thicknesses. This clip itself is wider at the top of the cap and thinner towards the base, which gives the cap a sleek and timeless look. The clip is a solid piece of metal and is thicker and more robust than any of the clips on my other pens.

The Lamy 2000 is a popular choice for those seeking to break the gold-nib barrier, and I have to admit that it's my only gold-nib pen. It's important to point this out, because my approach to this review is as someone who has never experienced a gold nib before.

The gold nib on the Lamy 2000 is understated, with no fancy engravings or flourishes. The nib is semi-hooded, which means that part of the nib is recessed into the pen's body. This helps to keep the nib moist when the pen is uncapped, but it also brings the nib in line with the pen's sleek design. Where most nibs protrude prominently from a pen's body, the Lamy 2000's nib becomes a part of the design, as if to say "I'm meant to be here." It extends the tapered shape of the body and is platinum coated, so it blends into the stainless steel grip.

Ok, so it looks good. You've rambled for 1000 words already, but I just want to know how it writes!

The Lamy 2000's nib is the smoothest nib that I own. The nib floats across paper with ease, and it's possible to write with very minimal pressure. Like most gold nibs, the 2000's nib flexes with pressure, resulting in a nice degree of line variation. Even though there is some flex, the nib is firm enough to use as an everyday writer.

I agonized for days over whether to choose an extra fine, fine, or medium nib. I ultimately picked the fine nib and have zero regrets. I usually write with fine-nibbed pens, and the Lamy 2000's fine is very similar to that of the Lamy Safari. The Lamy 2000 does lay down a much juicier line than the Safari, which can be a negative for those looking for fast dry times. I find that the juicy line brings out the color properties of the ink, which is apparent when comparing the Safari's nib with the 2000's.

Notice the difference between the Lamy Safari (Top) and Lamy 2000 (Bottom)? Both are using the same Aurora Blue ink, but the Lamy 2000 leaves a much juicier more vivid line.

The Lamy 2000 is rumored to have poor nib quality control. Although the 2000 is available on Amazon for 125$ or so, I chose to pay a little more and bought the pen on Pen Chalet. Pen Chalet has excellent customer service, and I wanted to make sure that it would be as painless as possible to return a faulty pen. I've had zero issues with my pen, and it has written perfectly since my very first use. It appears that the quality control issues are more fiction than fact, but I don't regret paying a bit more for the peace of mind.

Although the Lamy 2000 is a superb writer, its nib does have a sweet spot that could be confused for a quality control miss. Rotate the pen slightly, and the ink flow comes to a halt. It's very easy to avoid this issue when using a standard grip. Since most fountain pen nibs protrude, it's easy to tell when the nib is positioned correctly on paper. I don't think that the Lamy 2000's nib is any more or less responsive than other nibs; it's minimal design just makes it harder to tell when it's positioned properly.

The Lamy 2000 is a truly remarkable pen. Its fifty-year-old design still looks modern and edgy, and I'm sure that it will look just as edgy in fifty more years. The pen's features, from the ink window to the piston knob, only appear when needed and then vanish into the pen's brushed body. The Lamy 2000's gold nib, perfect weight, and brushed body combine to form the best writing experience that I've ever had. If you've stumbled upon this review because you're on the fence about this pen, go ahead and buy it. I spent several months reading reviews and none of them seem to do the pen justice, now that I have it in my hand. Aside from the functionality of the Lamy 2000, its history is something special. While I love my TSWBI, Kaweco, and Pilots, this will be the pen that I pass down to my children. In a world of throwaway things, this is a pen that is truly built to last.

Typically I would end the review here, but I wanted to point out a few resources that were very helpful to me when researching the Lamy 2000.

• Fountain Pen Network's Review of the Lamy 2000 - This is really the only review that you need to read.
• The Stuff and Things Review of the Lamy 2000 - This guy mostly reviews pipe tobacco, but his fountain pen and stationary reviews are excellent.
• Ed Jelley's Review of the Lamy 2000 - Ed Jelley posts the most beautiful pen reviews on the net.
• The Pen Addict Review of the Lamy 2000 - Brad's pen blog introduced me to the world of fountain pens, and his review also includes a list of useful resources.
• The Modern Stationer Review of the Lamy 2000 - Check out the picture under "Final Thoughts." This is the grip glow that I am referring to.

Pilot Kakuno Fountain Pen Review

The Pilot Kakuno isn't the pen that you're going to pull from a suit pocket to sign an important document at a stuffy business meeting. In fact, this pen is very easy to dismiss at first glance. It's not sleek and sexy, and it isn't going to wow your friends. Despite first appearances, the Kakuno is a very good pen. It's certainly marketed towards children but, cute packaging and smiley nib aside, it's a great option for anyone from the first-time pen buyer to a pen fanatic who's looking for a solid performer to test inks.

The Pilot Kakuno's body is made from a lightweight plastic that comes in several color combinations. I chose the Kakuno with a solid gray barrel and orange cap. The pen's grip is translucent and slightly moulded, much less so than the grip of the Lamy Safari. The translucent grip shows the inner workings of the feed mechanism, which is a plus for those who are learning about pens and want to know what's going on under the hood. The Pilot Kakuno is very light, but the grip and thicker barrel create an extremely comfortable writing experience.

The Pilot Kakuno's cap uses a snap fit mechanism and caps securely with a satisfying click. Although there's a small plastic nub to assist with uncapping (I assume), this pen is almost impossible to uncap with one hand. This comes from someone with gorilla hands, so avoid the pen if uncapping with one hand is important. The secure cap does protect from accidental uncappings and leaks. The pen fits comfortably in hand both posted and unposted, and the cap posts very securely on the pen's barrel. The cap has flat sides that prevent the pen from rolling.

A Pilot standard ink cartridge accompanies the Pilot Kakuno's cutesy packaging, but the Pilot converters fit as well. I popped the squeeze converter out of my Metropolitan and snapped it snuggly into place in the Kakuno with zero issues, aside from the crappiness of the squeeze converter.

The Pilot Kakuno's nib is on par with the nib on the Pilot Metropolitan, aside from the addition of a subtle smiley face engraved on the nib. It's a stellar nib for the price. I chose a Kakuno with a medium nib, since Japanese nibs run very fine. The fine nib on my Metropolitan is much too narrow for my liking, but the medium nib on the Kakuno is perfect. The Kakuno's medium nib is comparable to a European fine nib, like the one on the Lamy Safari. The nib lays down a juicy line and glides across the paper with ease.

At $10 or so on Amazon, the Pilot Kakuno is an excellent starting point for those diving into fountain pens. How does it hold up to the Pilot Metropolitan? It really depends on what the user is looking for. The Metropolitan is a classy-looking pen with a nice weight, but the Kakuno provides a superior writing experience, thanks to its secure posting and slightly moulded grip. Both have nearly-identical nibs, but the Kakuno's creative design gives it an edge over its older sibling.

Forgive the inconsistencies in the writing in the last part of the review. I ran out of ink mid review.