What is your costliest FP disappointment ?

[lowks]

What is the costliest FP disappointment that you have ever experienced ? Mine has got to be a used old style Omas Paragon I bought from nibs.com. It just was not what I expected. The pen leaks and I have tried various ways to get it fixed up until in the end I gave up, so up until today it still sits in my collection but seldom used. All in all this pen cost me about USD 300 in all.

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[lsmith42]

Please say that you have contacted them... they are unusually easy to deal with...

[lowks]

Yes, on multiple occasions and the pen went back a few times too. Staying in Malaysia, so the shipping is painful for me.

[jar]

None so far.

[writingrav]

I hate to say it but it has to be my Visconti Davina Desert Springs. I love the pen. It writes beautifully and is gorgeous, but the filling system (captured converter) is miserable. And even if you manage to get a decent fill, it holds a relatively miniscule amount of ink. At these prices I expect better.

[ChrisC]

What is the costliest FP disappointment that you have ever experienced ? Mine has got to be a used old style Omas Paragon I bought from nibs.com. It just was not what I expected. The pen leaks and I have tried various ways to get it fixed up until in the end I gave up, so up until today it still sits in my collection but seldom used. All in all this pen cost me about USD 300 in all.

You got the pen from nibs.com? That's gotta be one of the most reputable sellers out there. You couldn't get the problem fixed?

[lowks]

What is the costliest FP disappointment that you have ever experienced ? Mine has got to be a used old style Omas Paragon I bought from nibs.com. It just was not what I expected. The pen leaks and I have tried various ways to get it fixed up until in the end I gave up, so up until today it still sits in my collection but seldom used. All in all this pen cost me about USD 300 in all.

You got the pen from nibs.com? That's gotta be one of the most reputable sellers out there. You couldn't get the problem fixed?

No, the pen is little better behaved but it still leaks into the cap every now and then. John pretty much told me that some vintage feeds do behave this way and it was all he could do.

[lowks]

I hate to say it but it has to be my Visconti Davina Desert Springs. I love the pen. It writes beautifully and is gorgeous, but the filling system (captured converter) is miserable. And even if you manage to get a decent fill, it holds a relatively miniscule amount of ink. At these prices I expect better.

Is this the captured converter ?

[sarahsyers]

Mont Blanc 149. 1980's vintage. . M nib. I was so bored as soon as I started writing with this pen. It's beautifully made and in immaculate condition, but the nib is just so uninteresting. I will be selling this asap as it was £400. I think I will look for a Waterman vintage flex with the money.

[Kaputnik]

The few really bad pens I've bought have either been quite cheap, or the seller has made good with a repair, refund, or replacement. Or both. Hasn't actually happened that often.

And I've never reached $200 for a pen; the way I feel about it now I probably never will. But I guess the biggest disappointment was an Edison Hudson for about $145. There was nothing positively wrong with it which I could ask the seller or maker to fix, it was just a very "meh" sort of writing instrument, about as good as others that had cost me much less, and because of its size, less comfortable to hold.

Now that I have a better understanding of what I like in a fountain pen, I'm less likely to make that specific sort of mistake, but I'm sure I'll make others.

[tandaina]

I hate to say it but it has to be my Visconti Davina Desert Springs. I love the pen. It writes beautifully and is gorgeous, but the filling system (captured converter) is miserable. And even if you manage to get a decent fill, it holds a relatively miniscule amount of ink. At these prices I expect better.

Same, but different model: the Ragtime. :\

[mhosea]

Pelikan M1000. Bought a second nib. Ended up sending both to Michael Masuyama. He fixed them up, but after all was said and done, I had sunk about $800 into it. Sold the Broad I had him grind to a stub for me. Kept the medium. It's OK.

Runner ups would be some pens I like OK but just not commensurate with their prices: a couple of Montblanc 149's and the Sailor KoP. I guess I learned that I like big pens up to the Oversized Balance, Montblanc 146, and Pelikan M800 size, but beyond that I don't like them enough.

[stub]

M1000 (B)

I hate this pen more than I have ever hated a pen in my life. Easily the most expensive pen I own. Easily the biggest disappointment. I dreamed of owning one. I have had 200s, 400s, 600s and now an 805, I have had vintage and modern and loved them all. A M1000, the flagship, has to be the top of the mountain right?

I found out otherwise. What an awful horrible pen. I am convinced now that it is just a poor design and the margin for error on that redonkulous nib is just tiny. If you got a good one great, you were lucky. I have had a couple, and some nib replacements and have had dozens pass through my hands since (on a trial/borrow basis, not ownership. I wouldn't buy another at this point). I just don't like the pen, and as it turns out I probably would not love it even if it worked perfectly (M805 is perfect for my hands, the M1000 is too tall making the piston feel ass-heavy). In my experience, unless you bought one from a nib tech, they are very likely to have a bad inverse taper, comically exaggerated baby's bottom or both and really bad flow problems. They are big beautiful objects, they are troublesome imprecise pens. Never again. Those nibs are too big and too mushy (the next M1000 I use that is springy will be the first) and too sloppy. My M805 on the other hand, is pretty much perfect as is nearly every other Pelikan I have owned. Owning the M1000 also soured me bad on the Pelikan brand. A brand new very expensive pen with box and papers and a nib that looked like an elephant sat on it and they gave me all kinds of grief when I sent it in (I bought the pen in one place and sent it in for service in another place) and took many months to address the initial repair.

If you love the M800 and just try the M1000 in the store it is easy to convince yourself it is a safe bet, but trying is not owning and I found my ownership of the M1000 the most expensive most stressful and least satisfying pen purchase ever.

Still kicking myself for going down that road.

Also if I want to wait 6-18 months for a pen repair, I'll buy an Italian pen. </rimshot>

[stub]

You got the pen from nibs.com? That's gotta be one of the most reputable sellers out there. You couldn't get the problem fixed?

No, the pen is little better behaved but it still leaks into the cap every now and then. John pretty much told me that some vintage feeds do behave this way and it was all he could do.[/QUOTE]


Actually that might be true. I have had 3 old Omas pens (50s & mid 60s) and both spit ink in to the cap as both had small (sort of like a Parker 45) feeds but were ebonite. They were juicy wet flex pens and all 3 were repaired buy someone in Italy I know knows Omas very well. I sent them thinking they were cracked but nope. All three were "repaired" and came back to me working nearly the same as I sent them (though the pistons were thankfully lubed so not a total loss).

I then had another pen guy look at 2 of them for me and he said to me, "you might not be able to carry these pens around. They are nice and wet and the feeds keep up nicely with the flex but the cost of that is that the ink is going to seep out into the cap with any significant jostling."

He then held a napkin to different parts of the pen and no ink seeped. Then he held the pen in his hand and gently knocked the hand with his other fist and ink came flying out of the feed. "see, no leak, that is just how this pen is, simple ebonite feed, tiny collector and super wet, use it as a desk pen." They are such cool pens. I do sometimes carry them anyway. I have the 2 now. One's been flipped.

[ChrisC]

Yeah the simple feeds do seem to let ink out more easily, but surely this shouldnt stop them from being carried around? Weren't the pens carried on a daily basis when they were first made? Perhaps a drier, less lubricated ink would be better.

[Robert]

I hate to say it but it has to be my Visconti Davina Desert Springs. I love the pen. It writes beautifully and is gorgeous, but the filling system (captured converter) is miserable. And even if you manage to get a decent fill, it holds a relatively miniscule amount of ink. At these prices I expect better.

Is this the captured converter ?

I'm no expert, but I think that's a button filler. I know that the Desert Springs came in that iteration - - nibs.com had a couple of used one for sale a couple weeks ago.

[writingrav]

I hate to say it but it has to be my Visconti Davina Desert Springs. I love the pen. It writes beautifully and is gorgeous, but the filling system (captured converter) is miserable. And even if you manage to get a decent fill, it holds a relatively miniscule amount of ink. At these prices I expect better.

Is this the captured converter ?

I'm no expert, but I think that's a button filler. I know that the Desert Springs came in that iteration - - nibs.com had a couple of used one for sale a couple weeks ago.

It may look like a button filler but I'm pretty sure its the captured converter.

[sharmon202]

Can someone explain what a captured converter is? Is it a good thing or not so much?

[dannzeman]

I hate to say it but it has to be my Visconti Davina Desert Springs. I love the pen. It writes beautifully and is gorgeous, but the filling system (captured converter) is miserable. And even if you manage to get a decent fill, it holds a relatively miniscule amount of ink. At these prices I expect better.

Is this the captured converter ?

I'm no expert, but I think that's a button filler. I know that the Desert Springs came in that iteration - - nibs.com had a couple of used one for sale a couple weeks ago.

It may look like a button filler but I'm pretty sure its the captured converter.

I believe Visconti calls it the Pull & Turn Piston, but, yes, it's really a captured converter.

[writingrav]

Can someone explain what a captured converter is? Is it a good thing or not so much?

It is a regular converter that is not accessible by opening the pen, but only by turning what otherwise looks like a piston knob. Since it really isn't a piston there is no advantage to it except (in my opinion) deception. It makes the pen harder to clean for no particular reason.