Even though they have been kicking around since the early 1800s, fountain pens remain incredibly popular. The tech behind them hasn’t changed all that much either. Even in the face of far cheaper ballpoint pens, many people opt to pick up a good fountain pen, and there are several reasons why. Let’s take a look, shall we?
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They Look Fantastic
Let’s be honest. The main reason people pick up fountain pens is that they just look so stylish. They have a touch of sophistication about them. Put one of these in your hands, and you will feel like a professional.
Because these pens have been around for almost 200-years now, many styles and designs have been developed. You shouldn’t have too many issues finding a pen design that suits your personality down to a tee.
Remember, because the pens’ design hasn’t changed all that much, you can even use those pens that were built over 100-years ago. You may have to make some adjustments here and there and replace some parts. However, you wouldn’t be able to do this with a ballpoint pen or something similar. If one of those pens were over 100-years old, then, well, it probably wouldn’t work too well.
You Can Change The Style Of The Pen
One of the coolest things about most fountain pens is that you can change the style and, no, we are not talking about the overall design of the pen, although in some cases, you will be able to make a change or two there too.
With most fountain pens, you should be able to change the size of the nib. Most of them use a screw system, which is often interchangeable among pens from the same brand.
Being able to unscrew the nib means that you will be able to change the size of the lines that you write. This can come in incredibly useful. For starters, it means that you won’t have to have countless pens at your disposal.
Of course, because these are fountain pens, you can also change the color of the ink without too many issues.
Again, this all results in a pen that will be customized perfectly to the style of writing that you want to produce, which is awesome! Sure, there are probably other pen types that you can do this with. However, very few other pen types have a system that comes anywhere close to being as extensive as the system that many fountain pen companies have in place (especially Parker)
Built To Last
Remember what we said earlier about how some of the pens made over 100-years ago are still being used today? Well, this is because these pens have been built to last.
We think it is probably fair to say that most fountain pens on the market nowadays tend to be in the more expensive category of things. This is due to the type of people that the pen manufacturers are targeting.
This means that the fountain pens will be built to a slightly higher standard anyway because they come in at a higher price point. However, that is not the only reason why they have been built to last.
Almost every single component on a quality fountain pen can be swapped out when it is worn out. For example, if you are done with the pen’s nib, you won’t have to throw the entire pen away as you would have to do with other pens. Instead, you can just pick up a new nib. Because the system tends to be pretty standardized with certain fountain pen manufacturers, you can still pick up brand-new spares for pens that are decades old.
It really isn’t uncommon for people to purchase a fountain pen and use it for the rest of their life. We don’t think that there is any other pen-type on the market (except maybe a Tactile Turn Pen) that you can say that about. Any pen other than a fountain pen would need to eventually be replaced, perhaps because the ink has run out or just been broken. With a quality fountain pen, the only time you would need to replace it is if it breaks.
Smooth Writing Experience
The main reason people opt for a fountain pen nowadays is that the writing experience is ever so smooth. How the nib of the fountain pen meets the paper is unrivaled. You don’t feel any ‘roughness’ with a quality pen nib. You will often find that people who love their calligraphy will often have a fountain pen in tow. There is nothing quite like the experience that a fountain pen brings to the table.
Of course, as we mentioned before, you will be able to change up that writing experience if you wish. This is because you can swap out those pen nibs. So, if you don’t like the size of the line that you are drawing with a particular nib, or you don’t like the way a nib works on the paper that you are using, then swap it out. We are fairly confident that you will be able to find a pen nib that suits your needs here.
Of course, this is a stark contrast to other types of pens on the market. Take a ballpoint pen, for instance. Try and write with that. We are confident that your pen won’t be gliding anywhere near as smoothly over the paper. We are also fairly confident that the line that you draw on the paper will not look even half as beautiful as the lines that will come out of a fountain pen.
Eco-Friendly
You can replace pretty much every component in a quality fountain pen as we mentioned before. Right off the bat, this means that you have a pen that is going to be eco-friendly. It means that you are not tossing out the pen every time something goes slightly wrong with it.
Fountain pens, of course, are refillable (although they do make disposal fountain pens) with bottled ink or cartridges. This also means that you don’t have to replace the pen each time the ink runs out. You can just throw away the cartridge, or refill the ink.
You genuinely could be using a quality fountain pen for the rest of your life. Somebody that has opted to use a ballpoint pen? Well, we wouldn’t be surprised if they were getting through a couple of them every month. If everybody switched to fountain pens, the planet would be so much better off.
Final Word
Fountain pens are unlike any other pen. They look great. The writing style of the pen is customizable, and the way in which the pen works with the paper is something that you really cannot get with any other pen style. It is tremendous.
If you are looking to pick up a brand-new pen for yourself, then we do encourage you to get a hold of a quality fountain pen. If you buy well, then this is a pen that is likely to last you for the rest of your life.