[pickettt]

Originally Posted by Dave455

Hi Amg,

Some good advice here.

When you are new to fountain pens, you need two things. You need the pen / ink combo to flow well, and you need the pen to be manufactured to a consistent standard. You don’t want to be thinking you are doing something wrong, when you in fact have a “Friday afternoon” pen that’s not flowing properly.

I would echo the advice here and consider a Lamy Safari. They are very good quality for the money, very consistent, and should you wish to you can experiment with different nibs, you can do so at minimal cost.

I’d be a little wary of the Cross. Cross pens used to be good, but to my knowledge most of them, and certainly the lower cost ones, are made in China. Like most things Chinese, they don’t do well when it comes to consistency, and they’re overpriced for a Chinese pen!

The Visconti Rembrandt is nice. I own a couple. While the quality is generally first class, Visconti refuse to use a porous material for their ink feeds, and this reveals itself in the ink flow of the pen. I‘d avoid as a first pen!

TWSBI are made in Taiwan. They’re not actually too bad, considering the company doesn’t have a huge history, but they are geared a little more towards enthusiasts than first time users.

Mont Blanc are fine, but on the costly side. If you’re paying that money and like a traditional pen, consider Pelikan (M400?) perhaps some of the a Japanese pens (look at Pilot) or even Onoto.

My other choice for a first pen would be a Pilot Prera in any case. Although they are plastic pens with stainless nibs they write very nicely, and on budget too!

All solid advice.