Best Fountain Pens of 2019: Complete Reviews with Comparisons
For centuries, writers have picked up fountain pens and crafted their penmanship and turned it into an artform. Hence, similar to how you paint, draw, or sculpt, you’re going to need a pen that fits your style. There are plenty of fountain pens available online, but choosing one amongst the thousands of models can be difficult.
As such, we’ve taken the time to research which is the best fountain pen, and we’d like to introduce you to our top contenders. We’ll show you the five most raved about fountain pens of 2019.
Best Fountain Pens
Comparison Chart
Best Fountain Pens Reviews
1. Pilot Metropolitan Collection Fountain Pen
The Pilot MR features enhanced performance and lasting quality to ensure that the lifespan of the pen resists wear and tear. Pair that with the exquisite brass barrels, matte coating, and small accents to help boost the exterior and make this a stunning piece. All Pilot collection features unique details that are crafted with durability, style, and comfort in mind.
Highlights
Here’s an overview of the Pilot Metropolitan Collection Fountain Pen:
- Medium nib: The fountain pen comes with a medium nib that is designed to perform without any issues. The tip glides effortlessly across paper without any streaks, bleeds, or skips.
- Premium materials: Crafted using a premium brass barrel and finishing with a matte metallic, this pen is like no other. It uses premium stainless steel to help hold its shape and is structured to stay perfectly balanced for optimal ink flow.
- Cartridge refills: The pen itself comes with one Pilot black ink cartridge and one Pilot press plate converter. However, you will need to replace the ink periodically. The company recommends using Iroshizuku bottled fountain ink.
- Giftset: When purchasing the Pilot, all their pens come in a gift box which is professionally packaged. It features magnetic closing boxes that come with a matte black sleeve. This makes it a perfect fountain pen to buy as a gift for any friends or relatives.
What We Like
We love that the pen comes at an affordable price while also looking elegant and luxurious. When investing in a long-term fountain pen, it’s essential to get one that is built with sturdy materials.
What We Don’t Like
We’ve had experiences where the ink leaks out of the nib. This is likely because the pen is designed to use only specific types of inks. Thus, we’d recommend going with the Iroshizuku brand ink.
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2. Pilot Varsity Disposable Fountain Pens
If you’re looking for an everyday type of fountain pen, then these disposable ones are perfect. They are ideal for on-the-go use and are perfect to be stocked in classrooms. Each set comes with seven different colored pens, making them fun and attractive to adults and students. Once the ink runs out, you can merely dispose of the pen and purchase a new one for an affordable price.
Highlights
The Pilot Varsity Disposable Fountain Pens offers the following:
- Fashionable design: These fountain pens come with a modern design which is both fashionable and convenient. They are a perfect addition to any stationery or for use in an office space. To help keep them organized, they come in a reusable pouch.
- Advanced liquid system: The liquid system features a traditional fountain pen nib that ensures there’s no bleeding or streaking. It’s easy to write with, and when it comes to writing for extended periods, this fountain pen excels.
- Visible ink supply: To help you keep track of how much ink is left, each pen comes with a see-through main body. This enables you to check the ink levels with a single glance and assures that you’ll never run out of ink when you need to write.
- Multiple colors: There are seven different colors with this pack, but you can always switch to small or large quantities. At max, there’s a box of thirty-six, and the lowest they offer is a single fountain pen.
What We Like
These fountain pens are relatively affordable and are perfect for those who are practicing writing or planning to use pens frequently. If you’re traveling, it can be scary to carry multiple expensive pens, so having the disposable option is always a plus.
What We Don't Like
These pens aren’t perfect, and the tips aren’t crafted to distribute ink evenly. You may face blotchiness or thinner or thicker lines depending on how hard you press.
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3. Dryden Luxury Fountain Pen
The Dryden features a luxurious design that is elegant, convenient, and comfortable to use for writing. It can sit upon any desk and look like a statement piece.
The design is modern and flawless and features a smooth metallic finish with blue and gold plating. If you’re on the lookout for a stunning gift for anyone who’s obsessed with fountain pens, this one's sure to impress.
Highlights
Here’s what you would expect from the Dryden Luxury Fountain Pen:
- Superior writing: The nib is professionally designed to write smoothly without any skipping, bleeding, or leaking. It’s important to have a pen nib that enables you to worry about what you’re writing rather than how you’re writing.
- Ergonomic technology: The revolutionary technology has an advanced ergonomic main body that enables you to grip the pen without those horrible cramps. Having a tired wrist or sore fingers can lead you to stop your writing. However, the Dryden's design focuses on enabling you to write comfortable, left or right handed.
- Medium nib: To help give you better control, the nib is crafted to be medium. This enables less ink flow and prevents leaking. You also will have more control over drawing thicker and thinner lines.
- Modern design: If you’re looking for an artificially savvy pen, then look no further. The Dryden features a unique modern design that comes with a matte metallic finish. The golden trim adds to the luxurious feel, and the distinctive patterns set the design apart from others.
- Lifetime guarantee: If you're worried about not liking the pen, then you can relax because it comes with a lifetime guarantee. The company will replace any damaged products or refund your money fully.
What We Like
The design is what sets this apart from others. Its unique blue and gold trim is stunning, but it also comes in multiple styles. If this pen isn’t up your alley, then you can choose from their other colors and designs.
What We Don't Like
The cartridges must be bought from the company, which makes it hard to replace the ink at times.
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4. Lamy Safari Fountain Pen
The Lamy Safari is an epic fountain pen that is crafted to keep up with everyday use. The pen is known as a workhorse because it’s built with premium materials and has more practical features rather than focusing on a flashy exterior. However, you can find multiple styles and colors that are just as attractive as they are functional.
Highlights
Here’s an overview of the Lamy Safari Fountain Pen:
- Triangular grip: The triangular grip enables enhanced traction and prevents the pen from slipping out of your hands. It’s perfect for those who are just starting to learn to use a fountain pen and also is loved by those who are seasoned professionals.
- Matte charcoal design: This listing is for the charming matte charcoal design which blends into any stationery set. If you’re looking for a neutral color, this is the design to choose. Nonetheless, you can select from pitch black and many other colors.
- Interchangeable nib: One of the unique features of this pen is the ability to switch out the nib size. This enables you to have full control if the line you’re writing is thicker or thinner. This makes it perfect for adjusting the size of your writing to specific types of stationery paper or notebooks.
- Lamy cartridge: The set comes with five black ink cartridges that are designed explicitly for this pen. That being said, this brand lets you use various types of international ink cartridges.
What We Like
We enjoy that this brand focuses more on the durability and functionality of the pen rather than just the looks. It’s a stunning pen that can be put through rigorous use, which is why it’s our favorite for frequent writers.
What We Don't Like
The interchangeable nib may seem like a blessing, but the problem is that it tends to lead to the ink cartridges drying out. A simple fix to this is to add a bit of water on the end of the nib before you place it back on the pen.
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5. Parker IM Fountain Pen
The last top pick we have is the smart and polished Parker IM. It features a professional design that’s both modern and elegant.
It features a glossy black design with a bit of gold trim. What makes this different from others you’ve seen is that it features a comfortable main body with an ergonomic handle.
Highlights
Here’s an overview of what the Parker IM Fountain Pen can offer:
- Tapered silhouette: The main body of the fountain pen has a sleek shape that’s perfectly balanced to let you correct ink flow. The ergonomic design also prevents hand cramping and keeps the pen from feeling more like a burden than a blessing.
- Smart finish: Inspired to look like other professional grade fountain pens, this features multiple colors of matte finishes that look aesthetically pleasing. The final coating features silver or gold accents while the main body can range from black, blue, pink, to white.
- Reliable design: The nib is crafted from stainless steel that is designed to last throughout the years. It's durable, comfortable, and writes proficiently without the chance of blotting, bleeding, or streaking.
- Luxurious ink: If you choose the cartridge method, then the liquid may differ depending on the brand that you purchase. However, the Parker Quink features multiple pen refills in an ink bottle. All ink is richly pigmented, performs well, and glides smoothly onto most paper types.
- Gift box design: The box that the pen comes in is giftset-ready and makes an excellent present for any occasion. If you’re looking to impress a friend, co-worker, or family member, the Parker IM is astonishing.
What We Like
The fountain pen is made with fantastic quality and the attention to detail is breathtaking. We enjoyed the multiple colors and the accented gold or silver lining around the smaller details of the pen.
What We Don't Like
The downside is that the pen does have a problem with the ink drying and leaking at times. We’ve found that dipping the pen in water or doing a test line of writing can help get the correct ink flow.
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Buyer's Guide
With thousands of fountain pens on the market, it can be hard to know which ones are worth the investment. Anyone who’s interested in improving their penmanship or planning on giving a fountain pen as a gift will benefit from knowing what features to consider. In this section, we’ll introduce you to the main key features of the best fountain pen.
1. Size
The size of the fountain pen doesn't matter unless you’re attempting to teach a child. You’ll find that pens with shorter lengths are usually ideal for younger learners while a medium to longer size tends to be enough for adults. In general, we find that pens around 150mm in length and 12mm in diameter are the most comfortable.
2. Nib
The nib width determines how thinly your writing is going to be. An excellent tip nib is around 0.2mm, the medium is 0.6, and standard or thick nibs tend to be 0.8mm. You won’t find nibs any smaller or larger, and the size of the nib is up to personal preference.
3. Grip
Check to see if the fountain pen’s main body has a non-slip grip or some texture to help keep the pen in place. You’ll find that it’s easier to write when there’s some traction. Nonetheless, most professional pens tend to have non-slippery materials such as stainless steel or wood for the grip section.
4. Refilling
Two types of ink containers are used for fountain pens: converters and cartridges. A converter is a type of refillable ink holder that is similar to a turkey baster.
These types can be refilled using ink bottles, but they tend to be messy and require patience. On the other hand, ink cartridges need to be ordered separately, but they are more convenient to carry around and install.
5. Barrel
The barrel of the fountain pen is the main body. For the most part, these generally don’t affect the way you write. That being said, some tend to find that a thicker barrel is harder to control while a thinner one may be ideal.
FAQs
1. How to Write With a Fountain Pen
Using a fountain pen is similar to using a regular ballpoint pen, but you do need to be careful which way you face the nib and what angle you point it at while using it. You want to hold the pen with the nib face connecting with the paper and hold the body of the pen at a 45-degree angle.
Once you practice holding the pen, you’re going to need to practice writing. Each fountain pen is different, but most of the time, you won’t need to put much pressure for the ink to start flowing. If there’s an issue with the ink flow, try doing some test sentences or dipping the pen into the water.
The key is to remember that practice makes perfect. Penmanship is a skill which takes time to perfect. You can’t go into a sport expecting to win each match, right?
2. What Is a Fountain Pen?
A fountain pen is a type of writing tool that is made of three different compartments. The first is the main body which is comprised of an ink reservoir that is used to grip the whole pen.
Next is the nib of the pen which is a steel crafted tip that controls the ink flow and makes contact with the paper. The grip is the last part and isn’t on each fountain pen, but some are crafted using wood or non-slip materials.
3. How to Fill a Fountain Pen?
Filling a fountain pen takes a few steps and a limited amount of time. There are two main ways to refill the ink in a pen, each of which depends on the model and brand.
To refill a cartridge use these simple steps:
- Check the compatibility of the brand with the cartridge. Usually, brands tend to create cartridges that are only compatible with their type of fountain pens. This increases their profits and ensures that you’re purchasing from them multiple times. You may also find ones that take international or standard cartridges.
- After you’ve found out what type of cartridge it takes, it’s time to unscrew the main body from the nib.
- Take out the empty ink cartridge and attach it from the main body.
- Check to see if any ink is clogging the nib of the pen. If there seems to be a problem, consider soaking the pen overnight before laying it out to dry.
- After this, take a new cartridge and pop it into the main body. You’ll hear a slight click and a small pin will puncture the ink tube.
- Reattach the nib of the pen and begin to write. Don’t worry if it takes a few tries since the ink will take time to start flowing.
To refill a converter here’s a few methods you can take to refilling the ink:
- Take apart the fountain pen and lay all parts down.
- Open an ink bottle and dip the converter into the end and wait for the ink to be suctioned up into it.
- Once the ink converter is full, replace it into the open and attach all parts.
- Test the pen to see if it's working and allow the ink to start flowing again.
4. How to Store Fountain Pens
Fountain pens can be tricky to store because you're going to need to have it facing a specific way to prevent the ink from either leaking out or drying up. One of the key methods for determining which is best is to test these storing methods on your fountain pen.
The first method is to have your pen sitting horizontally in a leather pen case or a pen roll. This keeps the tip of the pen wet while preventing any excess ink from seeping out to the end.
On the other hand, some prefer to have their ink pens with the nib pointing upwards. This prevents leaking, but you’ll need to wait a few minutes for the ink to seep back down towards the nib.
Lastly, storing it with the nib pointing down is the most common but leads to leaking and drying out. We only recommend this method for pens that have a more viscous ink.
5. How to Clean a Fountain Pen
The last step to being a fully fledged fountain pen user is to learn how to maintain and clean it. The pen needs to be taken apart piece by piece and soaked in water. Generally, you should clean your pen every four to six weeks.
Once you have all the parts disassembled, you can place them in a glass with distilled water. Allow them to soak for a few hours or overnight if needed.
Dry all pieces of the pen before assembling it again. If the pen is still clogged or isn’t working correctly, you may need to unclog the ink reservoir using an ink cleaner which you can find online.
Conclusion
Learning how to use a fountain pen or purchasing one as a gift can be a fantastic yet frustrating journey. There are so many options, brands, and designs which can leave you confused if you don’t know how to tell which are best.
We’d have to say that while all of the fountain pens on our list are amazing, the Parker IM Fountain Pen is the best fountain pen of 2019. It features a durable build, affordable price, and is geared towards beginners and professionals.
