Whether you have never used a fountain pen before or use one fountain pen every day, the large number of choices may leave you at a loss. We have compiled 5 best fountain pens 2024 that we have produced by ourselves to help you narrow down the range and choose the fountain pen that suits you best.
Considerations before choosing a fountain pen
Before you choose the right fountain pen, please take a few minutes to read some important points for choosing a fountain pen to keep in mind.
Material
Fountain pens can be made of almost any material. More expensive fountain pens are made from the material like brass, stainless steel, sterling silver, or gold; but generally many pen manufacture use less expensive material including acrylic resin, ABS plastic, or other injection-moldable polymers. Of course, there are some other materials from base metals such as copper, or aluminum. As a handmade pen, there can be made in bamboo or wood material, combined with high stability and high-quality accents.
Brass has a bright gold-like appearance, because of its vintage charm and reassuring heft, brass has been a wonderful material to make pens. The brass weight is around twice as heavy as aluminum, even a smaller pen, we could also feel their weight. Brass pens will quickly darken with use, but if you want shiny and let it be new, a quick polishing will restore them to their original color.
Stainless steel has a similar weight as brass, it takes a reassuring weight and durability for any product. It is used in the range of tableware to architecture. Therefore it is also a perfect material to make a reliable writing instrument. Meanwhile the stainless steel, because of its composition, is resistant to rust and is more durable than conventional aluminum.
Sterling silver or gold is a high-quality choice by fine writing instrument collectors.
Sterling silver fountain pens or gold fountain pens are mostly as a luxury gift, wedding anniversary gifts, and expressing a personal style.
ABS plastic is generally lightweight and inexpensive, making them a budget-friendly choice. Plastic fountain pens can be also very durable, but they are usually not as elegant as other options.
Acrylic resin is more brittle than other pen materials, so these pens are usually made thicker to compensate for their fragility. The advantage of acrylic fountain pens is that you have more choices of pen holder colors and patterns. If you want to express your style, then acrylic resin fountain pens may be the best choice.
Base metals including copper or aluminum which are the most common types of materials used to make fountain pens. These metals are lightweight, durable, easy to engrave, and relatively cheap. You can even choose a variety of paint colors for pens.
Bamboo or wood is Eco-friendly material, with its beautiful unique surface grain and silky finishes, which make a fountain pen more elegant. If you want to upgrade from plastic but do not like the metal finish, a bamboo fountain or a wooden fountain pen might be a perfect choice.
Type
Fountain Pens can be divided into several different types, including disposables, ink cartridges, converters, and pistons.
Disposable fountain pens have a pre-filled ink chamber, similar to ballpoint pens. The nib works like a regular fountain pen dispenses ink when pressure is applied. However, when the ink runs out, you only need to replace a new pen without refilling the ink.
The ink cartridge pen has an ink cartridge and must be replaced when the ink runs out. This is done by opening the pen, removing the old ink cartridge, and then pushing the new ink cartridge into the pen tip until it clicks. The click means that the nib has pierced the ink cartridge, so the ink can now flow into the open cavity. This type of pen is very suitable for new pen users, who may not be used to refilling the pen directly from the ink bottle.
The conversion pen is designed to allow you to choose between using an ink cartridge and refilling the ink with a bottle. Not all conversion pens come with the conversion part required to perform this operation, so be sure to check the product specifications before purchasing.
The piston fountain pen is a more classic-style fountain pen. These pens are refilled directly from the ink bottle and are more suitable for more experienced users. Piston pens usually hold more ink than ink cartridge pens, making them a good choice for long-term writing.
Possible applications
Depending on the type of pen and your experiences, pens could be used for many different activities, from writing letters to professional pursuits such as calligraphy.
It is easy to write letters with any type of pen. However, if you wrote for a long time, you may need a piston pen or conversion pen, which could hold more ink in a chamber at one time. It allows writing uninterruptedly for a longer period of time before you have to refill the ink. If you are a beginner, a medium nib is recommended, but fine nibs and ultra-fine nibs may be more suitable for smaller fonts writing.
Calligraphy often involves piston pens or conversion pens. As it’s unnecessary to change the ink color frequency, you could use a large ink chamber. Calligraphy can use nibs of various sizes, although traditional calligraphy requires ultra-fine and fine nibs.
The choice of art pen depends on whether you need one color or multiple colors. If you are dealing with monochrome works, you could use a piston fountain pen. But if you need multiple colors, it is recommended to use ink cartridge pens or conversion pens, because it is easier to switch between ink cartridges of different colors. You may also need to consider a range of nib sizes for different strokes. For most artworks, a fine nib is a good choice.
The same one-style pen can not suit everyone, it’s best depends on your own learning style. If you are carefully writing notes page by page, you may need a piston pen or a conversion pen with a large collection chamber. On the contrary, if you prefer keynotes with color highlights, ink cartridge pens are the best choice, it allows to replace the ink cartridge at any necessary time.
Pen Nib
The nib of a pen is the metal tip from the end of the pen where the ink flows out. This tip is formed by two prongs or cusps that meet in the middle. When pressure is applied to the pen tip, the tip will separate, allowing the ink to flow through the gap and onto the paper. The nibs come in different sizes, including ultra-fine, thin, medium, and wide. Various shapes are also available, including standard, italic and italic. Remember, the larger the nib, the more ink you use when writing.
The ultra-fine nib is used to write very thin lines, such as when you are doing calligraphy or completing detailed drawings.
Thin nibs are usually used for painting, but they may also be suitable for people with smaller handwriting.
Medium nibs are the most commonly used because they are suitable for most writing purposes and are usually standard for many pens.
Wide nibs are a better choice for very large handwriting, but these nibs will use your ink faster.
The standard shape of the nib produces a line of consistent thickness from beginning to end.
The italic pen tip produces thin vertical lines and thick horizontal lines, which are often used in calligraphy.
Oblique nibs are a good choice for left-handed writing because they allow you to hold the pen from below the line and prevent smudging while writing.
Pen cap and pen barrel
When choosing the type of cap, please consider how the pen is used and how often the pen is used. There are sliding seal caps, rotatory caps, and plug bush caps.
The sliding sealing cap is suitable for decorative pens that are usually used only occasionally. These caps can seal the pen and prevent the ink from drying out when not in use for up to two years.
If you travel with a pen, the rotatory cap is a good option, because even with the bumps and other impacts, the rotatory cap will remain strong.
The plug bush cap is fast and convenient, and the cap can be removed or replaced with just force. It is an excellent choice for daily users.
The pen barrel has a wide range of diameters, from slender 6mm pens to thick 14mm pens. Choose a pen diameter that fits your hand so that you don’t strain your hand muscles unnecessarily while writing.
Aesthetic
The appearance of a pen must be one of the most important factors when you buy a fountain pen, especially when you are looking for decorations that may be rarely used.
Aesthetic features are suitable for all pen types and materials include a series of patterns, colors, and accents.
However, if you want to engrave on the pen barrel, you need to choose a metal barrel. Brass and stainless steel are very suitable for engraving, and the color options for these materials are moderate.
If you are not interested in engraving but prefer colors, then you could look for acrylic or ABS plastic pens. You could kindly have more color choices for these materials.
If you want to show a fountain pen as a gift, and for a more luxurious look, you could consider matching a pen box to ensure its safety and display the fountain pen.
Availability
Different fountain pens have different maintenance requirements. Reasonable and regular maintenance could make them easier to use.
Disposable pens are very easy to use but the pen is more of a temporary item. Usually, the person has not decided which pen will use disposable pens. As there are no maintenance requirements for this type of pen, it needs to be replaced when the ink runs out. However, it will become inconvenient if you run out of ink halfway through the project.
The ink cartridge cost is low. If your fountain pen uses the cartridge, it only needs to clean and replace the ink cartridge regularly when the old ink cartridge is used up. Change ink cartridges is also a very convenient way to change ink colors, it could allow you to use the pen for drawing. But, the ink cartridge capacity is less than pistons or converter pens collections, users need to replace the ink cartridges more frequently.
The conversion pen could use ink cartridges or use a converter mechanism to fill ink, which can quickly suck ink into the chamber. These pens are a great choice for amateur and professional users because the pen offers the option of a converter or using a disposable cartridge.
Piston pens are best suitable for a long time of writing. This is because the pen has a large collection space that can be easily filled with ink. But if you want to use multiple colors with the same pen, the piston pen is not your best choice, because the collection chamber needs to be emptied and cleaned before filling with different colors of ink.
Our choice
The following pens are the pens that we have tested and are suitable for users.
Fine nib fountain pen
As a stylish fine nib fountain pen, the pen remade a gradient color pen nib, it has visually captured the user’s attention; meanwhile, its nibs are smooth and reliable, many customers prefer to get engraved for an extra touch.
The ink flow from its medium nib is consistent, which is comparable to many more expensive fountain ink pens; the fountain pen with a separate ink sac, from the transparent body, it’s obvious to find the use of ink when you are writing, so that you could replace it in time.
Then you could kindly find the key point in the design of the grip section, which could help users to hold the pen in the correct position. So that even you are a beginner to use a fountain pen, it will never feel difficult. Meanwhile, the pen uses lightweight ABS plastic material, there is in a comfortable weight, so even wrote for a long time, you will never feel tired.
Wooden fountain pen
The wooden fountain pen is made of rosewood with brass trim, its a perfect combination of Chinese classical and modern pen design, which gives a sense of gorgeous and elegant feeling. Writing a delight copper-gold nib, which will add liveliness to your lines.
The rosewood grain of its pen body will only become more vibrant as the wood darkens with use. The wooden pen is impressively large in size, yet not so big as to be uncomfortable in the hand, but it’s a little heavier, so it’s better suited to shorter writing sessions. The screw cap and barrel are carefully tapered to provide a nice balance. Humanized design for rotate pen cap will also avoid the embarrassment of getting your clothes dirty when putting them in your pocket without falling off.
Wooden fountain pens are more likely to come from Japan, while American and European markets tend to be made of resin and metal material. It tend to be found in higher-end models, and mostly be chosen as an executive gift with a luxury pen gift box.
Metal fountain pen
A metal fountain pen which always made of some base metals, like aluminum, copper, iron, and so on; but some heavy fountain pens are mostly made of stainless steel. Stainless steel is generally used to make the fountain pen nibs, although gold or sterling silver may also be used. The clips and other trims are usually made from an electroplated gold alloy, or they may choose gold or gold-filled on finer pens.
The steel nib pen has a simple design and plastic grip sections, meanwhile, the golden color in striking trims and metal grip sections. The pen matched proprietary converters and a cartridge. It’s quite light even with its metal body and has a classic shape that is comfortable to hold.
And because of the metal fountain pen that exudes elegance and luxury, it is used in executive business groups or customers will choose them as a personalized premium gift.
Fountain Pen for Students
In addition to some high-end pens, actually there are plenty of cost-effective fountain pens for students to enjoy.
But which are the student fountain pen considerations? No doubt, price, durability, or ease to use must be included.
We know price always goes with durability hand in hand, an expensive pen is not necessarily made of stable materials, here is a plastic fountain pen, which is affordable and long-lasting.
The plastic body with lightweight that is comfortable to hold, even when you’re doing a lot of writing. Then the fountain pen is with an extra-fine nib, the ergonomic grip will guide you in the right writing direction, it’s also very suitable for beginners to use! And bright colors and shining chromed trims for this plastic pen will never let you feel boring when you are writing.
For students, writing with a professional pen is a classy way to elevate their everyday notes.
Fountain Pen Stationery
Few writing instruments could compare with the customizability of fountain pens.
From the fountain pen ink color to nib size, to even the filling mechanism, there is no doubt that fountain pen stationery still is a retro and popular writing instrument.
This refillable fountain pen in a triangular design ensures that the pen would not roll off your desk when you take a break during your study. The pen is in nine colors, including sweet Candy and charming Retro Morandi.
The plastic fountain pen with its short and thin body is a pocket pen and convenient to take to everywhere.
Of course, the pen keeps the triangular section that could guide your hand into the proper position and it’s a great way to teach a beginner to write.
Above fountain pens, all use international cartridges. The standard cartridge size will give you more ink options; meanwhile, you could also purchase a converter for these pens if you would like to use bottled ink.
Conclusion
A fountain pen is the right choice whenever you want to have beautiful handwriting on your paper.
The above contents will be helpful for you to find an appropriate fountain pen, and here you need to know expensive fountain pen may not work well, and a budget-friendly pen may also enjoy a fantastic writing experience. Which fountain pen would you add? Let us know your comments!
