I want to buy a fancy pen for my husband for his birthday. I know nothing about fancy pens. Does anyone know what constitutes a fancy pen or what brand I should be looking at?
My dad has always liked fancy fountain pens, and his brand of choice is Waterman.
I wouldn’t get a fountain pen unless you are absolutely sure that’s what he wants. For ballpoint pens, I think Cross pens are one choice.
Are you thinking of this because you know he already likes fancy pens, or would this be his first one?
Cause there’s three main ways you could go – fancy brand name, fancy looks, or fancy quality. Of course those things sometimes overlap, but your priorities would affect what I might suggest, I think.
Could you elaborate a bit more? “Pen” covers a wide variety of things.
Are you thinking of fountain pens that use ink? People with good handwriting prefer good quality there, which is in the tip. They can start at over 100$ and go to 600$ if you not only have very good quality nib/ tip, but also very beautiful decorated stem.
The first company that comes to my mind is Parker, but I know there are some others, also very good, on which I’m blanking at the moment; I’m also reluctant to recommend one specific company.
The best bet would be to go to a good specialty shop which actually has pens of several hundred dollars lying in glass cases to look at, and then snag a good salesperson who knows what he’s talking about.
It may even be the case that it’s better to drag your husband there to let the person who will write with it try out how different pens feel like, both the handle, and the stiffness of the tip, as well as how good they flow.
Or do you mean “ballpoint pens” for people who don’t care so much about the quality of their handwriting?
Parker and Lamy and similar also manufacture expensive-looking ballpoint pens, that come in special little cases laid on velvet to show off. If it’s a gift, there’s also always the option of doing an engraving (To snugglepums from his loving muzzlewazzle) to make it more memorable.
Or special ballpoint pens: the pen that writes upside down, invented for NASA; the pen that writes under water (plus a pad of waterproof paper) for composing poems in the bathtub (intended for survivalists); a miniature pen that can be worn on a lanyard, so you always have it handy; a pen with several tools in the handle for nerds and geeks, etc.
If your husband is really into calligraphy, he may not want a fountain pen for normal ink, but a Dip pen holder made from really nice wood (there are even mouth-blown glass ink pens out there) or other material, into which to put his different-shaped nibs.
There are two aspects about “fancy” that I can think off:
Optics - instead of a single colour in plastic, the handle is made from nice materials (steel, good plastic, even wood) and coloured or decorated or inlaid with loving ornaments
and Performance - spending several hundreds of dollars for a superior nib and a handle design that lets you write for a long time without tiring.
Good performance is sometimes, but not always, coupled with optics; but some very good Parker, Lamy etc. fountain pens have very plain handles.
On the other hand, some companies spend all the money on sprucing up the handle and don’t give any attention to the nib - those would be pens that cost more than 10, but less than 100 $.
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Mont Blanc used to be the pen to impress when I lived with a big-shot finincial type, but this was mid-90’s
More info:
He has stated in the past a desire to have a fancy pen. He isn’t the type to go out and buy one so I would like to buy him one for his birthday. This would be his first fancy pen.
Brand name won’t matter. He doesn’t know what a fancy pen brand name would be anyway.
Writing quality is probably most important.
Overall Look would be a consideration, but not as important as working well.
I like the idea of going to a shop (I didn’t think about a real shop in this internet age). I found one in Boston, but it is only open until 5:30PM each day. That will be a tough one.
I think I will get a fountain pen. At worst it will live in his office where he can use it to sign stuff and look very executive doing it. I’m looking to spend between 100 and 200 dollars.
grimpixie’s right - if you don’t know your husband’s preference (or not) for fountain pens, you absolutely can’t go wrong with a Mont Blanc rollerball. They’ve a bunch of choices at several price points.
Honest, the coolest pen I ever had had a styrofoam shaft that could be folded into a rigid triangular tube for gripping, or unfolded flat and doubled over so you could slip the pen into your wallet. People oohed and aahhed when I whipped that baby out to write something.
I’m waffling.
I’m drawn to the fountain pen, but I’m pretty sure that’s because it suits me. My husband isn’t the type to fiddle with his pen, so maybe this rollerball pen would be better.
Are fountain pens that much of a pain?
Fountain pens can be a pain if you’re left handed, otherwise it just takes a little practice. (I even have trouble with some ballpoint pens)
I am left-handed and love fountain pens, but I use a mirror-image grip and not a lefty hook grip. I still have to be mindful of smearing but have the same issue with other types of pens. I even have a lefty calligraphy pen (I can use a standard one but it’s difficult).
The issue is that I don’t write on paper very much anymore, and my fountain pen nib tends to dry up between uses. I used to have a Waterman, and now have a Parker. Both are good quality pens in the $100-150 range, and it’s difficult to find anything under $100 that you would really want to write with. Really good fountain pens can be expensive to the point of “WTF?”.
Barnes and Noble has some nice fancy looking pens for under $20 bucks. I’ve bought some there.
Do not buy a fancy pen on your own if you know nothing about fancy pens. Pens are very particular to the user. Take your husband to a good pen store, like Fahrney’s and let him consult one of their experts.
The best pens are fountain pens, but they require some degree of care and special handling. They also can leave you with ink on your fingers. You have to keep track of them – you can’t just leave them anywhere – you have to be careful not to drop them. Most importantly, you can’t lend them to anyone, because someone who isn’t used to using a fountain pen can easily put too much pressure on the nib or hold the nib at a wrong angle to the paper (especially if they’re lefties) and break it. You have to keep in mind that they run out of ink, so you have to keep cartridges or bottled ink handy. And you also have to use them regularly if you don’t want the ink to dry out. (It’s not hard to clean dried ink out, but it takes a little time and a lot of people don’t want to bother.) They’re not for everyone, so it should be something the user goes into with eyes open.
Cross, Aurora, Parker, Sailor, Sheaffer, Waterman, Parker, and Pelikan all have excellent fountain pens in their catalogues. The most well-known is probably Mont Blanc, but they are astronomically priced, and, in my opinion, not worth it.
All these pen companies also make ball-point (dot, biro) pens, roller-ball pens, and pencils in a wide range of styles and weights. The person using the pen should figure out what’s most comfortable for him.
My personal favourite for day-to-day use is a Cross Townsend fountain pen. It’s made of brass and has a very nice heft to it. One of the main reasons for using a “fancy” pen is its weight, so in my opinion paying a load of money for a pen that feels exactly like a cheap ballpoint is pointless.
A $20 pen at Barnes and Noble might look like a “fancy” pen, but it’s nothing more than a cheap pen with some decoration on it.
Well that seals it. Rollerball it is!
With a rollerball, the two things that contribute most to a feel of quality when you use it are its weight/balance and the ink cartridge. If you go to a good pen store and try half a dozen, you’ll probably see what I mean. both aspects are partly up to personal preference – some people like a very wide-bodied, heavy pen, while others prefer something more sleek and light. Some love a really fine tip, for precision, while others think those feel too scratchy. I would recommend, if you don’t want to take your husband shopping or give him a gift certificate, something on the wide and heavy side, which in my experience men often respond well to, and buy two or three different cartridges, maybe medium and fine, and if they have the option, one in liquid ink and one in gel. Of course ideally the pen body would be exchangeable if it’s not right for him.
I agree that unless he’s already into fountain pens or writes on paper a whole lot, a rollerball is probably a better bet. An underused fountain pen needs maintenance to write nicely. Some people never end up liking the way they feel on paper, or how they affect your handwriting.
ETA: And to clarify what’s been said above, an expensive rollerball or ballpoint CAN feel and write no better than a cheap one, or may give the user as much pleasure as a similarly well-made fountain pen. Not all ballpoints are nasty, just as not all fountain pens are nice.
Even if you go with a rollerball, whenever you are using a nice pen, I would recommend never letting someone else use it. People take pens, they lose them, they break them. Never put it in someone else’s hand.
I am intrigued by glass dip pens, though I can’t seem to write properly with them. They do look lovely, though.