Fountain Pens

Fountain pens are made of anything from inexpensive, everyday materials to luxurious resins, celluloids, woods and metals. Limited Editions can cost thousands of pounds, and are works of art, sculpted or decorated with exquisite beauty. The choice of material can affect weight, balance and “feel” of the pen. Whatever the material, a fountain pen will deliver writing please.

There is a lot more to a fountain pen nib than meets the eye. Its basic job is to deliver a steady flow of ink from the reservior to the page using a balance of gravity and capillary action. But most manufacturers also offer a range of widths – fine, medium or broad at least, with the possibility of stubs and italics. Beyond that there are music nibs, flexible nibs, and many more – if you’re willing to pay! The material the nib is made of makes a big difference – steel, gold, titanium, palladium. It’s not so much the bit touching the paper, which for most quality pens is the tipping material or “iridium”, but the way the tines (the spilt bits behind the tip) move. There are few hard and fast rules, but generally steel nibs are more rigid, gold nibs softer and, depending on what it is alloyed with and how it is tempered, more flexible.