Is there such a thing as the perfect pen ?

[Kikan]

Hello fellow Fpgeeks .

I would like to share with you my humble thoughts about my own journey for the quest of finding the perfect pen.

Since the beginning of falling in love with this wonderful hobby, or rather an obsession. I always thought that I would someday find the perfect pen. It would shine and glow as if a divine light struck down upon it from the heavens. That journey was filled with cherished memories. Remembering snippets of moments. Quietly scribbling my thoughts down on paper. As if they were like little droplets of water gently falling down on the page, and taking shapes of letters and words. The nib would guide them in the shape of a flowing river. Connecting them all to form a complete thought. I often dream while I write. The experience of writing with fountain pen at times can be almost magical to me. A little grin is plastered on my face as I keep scribbling on. Some pens are big and some are small with little cute nibs or even big ones that will leave you in both shock and awe. Few are black adorned with gold classic looking not matter how old. Many are colored and designed by emotions beaming bright full of life and utterly deserving of adoration.

I would like to begin with my chosen candidate of the perfect pen..

The Lamy 2000

- Modern design even by today's standards which is no small feat

- Fit and finish are top notch almost invisible to the naked eye

- Piston filler with a 1.0 + ml in capacity with an Ink Window to boot

- Semi hooded nib wet and always ready for action when uncapped from my personal experience

- Reliable click cap that leaves little to be desired. Posts solidly and still maintains a good 50/50 balance

- can be fully disassembled for cleaning if need be with little use of tools

- Material is durable and comes pre-scratched so your sensitive heart can withstand taking this pen outside of the house to see the light of day

- Feels very good in the hand if the little nobs on the sides of the pen don't bother you or you simply grip somewhere else entirely so you didn't notice them

- Wonderfully tapered design

- Amazing value for your money

I can Honestly say this pen came as close to perfection as you can get. I was so amazed by this pen I actually got 3 of them. One has a Broad nib for general writing purposes at work. Another with an Extra Fine nib for correcting papers, and finally one is a 0.5 mm Mechanical pencil for writing the grades down and doing small detail work.

I always thought that Pelikan made the best pistons, and Visconti made the coolest of designs, and sailor made the best of nibs, and Nakaya made the prettiest of living art, and if all of them were to be combined together that would be *The Perfect Pen*. But I wonder. If there is such a thing as the perfect pen out there. Would you love that pen ?

For me The Lamy 2000 is simply perfection on a plate. It's a perfectly engineered and works like a well oiled machine. Simply flawless. It's so perfect that it became something cold and emotionless. The pen is perfectly logical in design, but just like little flaws in our lives, rooms, looks maybe even the way we speak or eat. They make us unique. They make us who we are. Everyone is unique and different because we are inherently imperfect, but that's actually what we love. We love our families because they are different we recognize them and see them in a different light than everyone else. They mean something special to us and to us alone. the same can be said for our siblings, children and friends. We love them for who they are flaws and all. There is a reason for that. There is a reason why everyone else loves a different pen. It may not be a perfect pen to us or even perhaps to them either, but when you love something or someone. All the flaws melt away because it is what they love.

Some people love Montblanc's. It doesn't make them perfect pens regardless of how many times they will stamp the word Meisterstuck *Master Piece* on their cap bands. They may not be perfect, but perhaps they hold sentimental value, perhaps they simply love the pen or the design speaks to them. Maybe the pen simply called out their names and they fell in love with them. Who knows...

The same story can be said of any fountain pen company out there. The truth is we all fell in love with fountain pens or at least writing with them as life long partner. Be it a Sheaffer snorkel where you dream of shooting streams of ink on your mean boss for having you do overtime, or a Parker 51 that has a better chance of surviving a nuclear holocaust than the human race combined together. Maybe even Visconti homo sapiens where you dream of throwing it in the fire and seeing if it actually burns it or stays perfectly pristine afterwords * Joking of course don't do that *. And who can forget the all time favorite pilot vanishing point that has loudest most annoying clicking sounds that can drive people insane from repeated deployment .

What I'm trying to say here is that.. we should forget looking for the perfect pen, and start looking for the pen we love

I have revealed what I believe to be the perfect pen, but I have yet to do the same with the pen I love

My all time favorite and my most beloved pen in my modest collection... Parker VP Blue double end jewels silver cap and gold plated clip with two nibs - Arabic cursive italic No.83 which is basically a very sharp cursive italic of 1.3-1.5mm width, and a Executive Extra Broad semi-flex ground to a stub nib No.88 I simply adore this pen

Thank you for reading I hope that you share which pen you absolutely love

[ac12]

It is all relative to how "perfect" is defined.
So yes, there can be and probably are prefect pens. Perfect to the people who like it, but may not be perfect to others.
Example, your perfect pen is a rejected pen for me. The L-2000 is too FAT and HEAVY for my likes, so it was rejected from use as a writer, and relegated to my collection, just to be looked at. If the Lamy-2000 was smaller, like a Parker 45, I would probably change my opinion of it.

[Laura N]

That was a nice essay. I agree with you and ac12 that everyone has their own ideas and preferences. I don't think I have one perfect pen, or even several. I do enjoy a great many.

Perhaps for me the perfect is the enemy of the good?

Some pen favorites: Aurora Optima, Pelikan M600, Pelikan Toledo, Montblancs of the 146-size, Sailor Professional Gear and Professional Gear Slim, Lamy Safari, Lamy 2000, Parker 51, many other vintage Parkers, some Edisons, and any pens gifted to me over the years. Oh and no doubt some others I've forgotten to mention.

[mhosea]

For me part of the joy of pendom is variety, variety of both pen and ink. Looking for a perfect pen doesn't work for me, nor does looking for a pen to love the most. Of course I look for pens that I will love, or that are, in some sense, "perfect" for me, but trying to find some singular example of either just doesn't compute. Why would I want a goal that is implicitly designed NOT to enjoy diversity?

[GING GING]

This is the perfect pen; for now.ImageUploadedByTapatalk1411358497.715635.jpg

[ac12]

The other complication is, even for a person, perfect is subject to "it depends" concept.
It depends on what I am going to use it for.
It is like the old saying "jack of all trades, master of none."
So I would rather have several different GOOD pens for the different needs/specialties, rather than a "master of none" that is difficult to use or a bad fit for some tasks.

[KBeezie]

It's really going to depend, for example I don't consider Lamy 2K the perfect pen unless I also got the perfect nibmeister to go with it and tune it to myself and then alter the pen in such a way that it's no longer a Lamy 2000.

I find that there's not a perfect pen for every situation, some damn nice ones though. And some situations a C/C is perfect.

I like the way ac12 put it with the phrase I've used before, the jack of all trades, master of none one. Likewise I'd like a few different pens for different situations, especially between home, school, pocket, comfort, fun etc.

[Jeph]

There is a perfect pen.
What that means will vary from person to person and even over time for the same person.
I hope that I never find mine, becasue what would be the point after that?
The fun is in the search and the variety.

[Jon Szanto]

[KBeezie]

There is a perfect pen.
What that means will vary from person to person and even over time for the same person.
I hope that I never find mine, becasue what would be the point after that?
The fun is in the search and the variety.

To brag about it until someone murders you from the annoyance...

[manoeuver]

within reach and inked. perfect.

[Waski_the_Squirrel]

I have a number of pens I like, and a few I really love. But, I don't think there is a perfect pen. A pen may be perfect for a certain job, but not another. It may display one ink beautifully, but not another. My two Pilot pens are easily my favorites, with my Noodler's Konrads close behind. But none of them are perfect for all things.

[Curtisvan]

Has to be my Murex long pen. It always writes it's hard to scratch since it's stainless and I can toss it in a bag or accidentally drop it and it's still ready. Gotta be my Murex.

[jar]

I have been lucky enough to have found hundreds of perfect pens.

[mmahany]

The Montblanc Meisterstuck 164 Ballpoint is the "Perfect Pen."

Using only QUANTIFIABLE evidence, I challenge anyone to disprove that theory.

-Aside from differing materials, the Meisterstuck design has remained the same for nearly 100 years.
-It’s a pen often gifted to mark a life event: first job, promotion, or a college graduation.
-It’s arguably the most recognizable pen ever made.
-It’s the most commonly replicated (faked) pen
-It’s the most commonly imitated (not to be confused with “replicated”) pen

Of note: It's not my personal favorite pen, but that doesn't matter for the sake of this argument.

[Jon Szanto]

The Montblanc Meisterstuck 164 Ballpoint is the "Perfect Pen."

Using only QUANTIFIABLE evidence, I challenge anyone to disprove that theory.

If perfection was a quantifiable condition, your premise would make sense. However...

[mtnbiker62]

Yes, there is a perfect pen, but you will never find it. Instead, you will wander to and fro, spending insane amounts of money on countless numbers of pens in your fruitless attempt to find it.

[Sailor Kenshin]

And don't even mention INK.

It's possible I may have stepped off the curb.

[Hawk]

My perfect pen depends on my mood, the day, what I'm going to do that day etc. Sometimes it's a cheap pen that was cobbled together from parts (today's pen) and sometimes it is an expensive pen or an old pen. And with my collection, I can be happy with the best pen of the day.

[mhosea]

I've just decided that my Montblanc 146 F and Pelikan M800 EF are both perfect pens. Consequently, I want more Montblanc 146's and more Pelikan M800's.