FP Noob Asking for Recommendations

[owouwu]

To put it bluntly, I know close to nothing about fountain pens! I just really want to buy my best friend a nice gift, but don’t trust myself completely to pick one on my own. They’ve given me several points about what they like:

- Japanese Pens preferably
- Fine to Medium nibs
- says feedback doesn’t matter too much to them
- wants something elegant-looking
- standard length I guess (?) they said as long as it’s not too tiny
- converter as refill mechanism

My budget is €50 max, since they don’t want me to buy anything too expensive for them anyway. I’ve checked out Sailor, Platinum, Pilot, and Ohto and I’m pretty hesitant about Platinum since I heard it gives a lot of feedback. Pilot Metropolitans are out of the question since they own too many of those :(

Thanks in advance for any replies!

[Ahriman4891]

If you change your mind about Platinum, maybe the new Procyon would fit the bill? Here is the first review Google returned me: https://www.penaddict.com/blog/2019/7/17/platinum-procyon-fountain-pen-review

An interesting bonus is that the caps/barrels and sections are compatible between the Procyon and the 3776 Century: https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/cl0vh1/til_not_only_are_the_3776_and_procyon_sections/
(I realize this may mean nothing to you, but your friend could be excited :) )

[jar]

http://www.fototime.com/6256172CF110E7D/orig.gif

[azkid]

Welcome!

I haven't really used any Japanese pens in the 50€ ($55) range, unfortunately. I have Metros and a Stargazer though so maybe a Pilot Prera?

Or how about a TWSBI Classic? It's on my wish list to try out.

[david.allie]

Welcome!

I haven't really used any Japanese pens in the 50€ ($55) range, unfortunately. I have Metros and a Stargazer though so maybe a Pilot Prera?

Or how about a TWSBI Classic? It's on my wish list to try out.

I’m also a noobie... what does TWSBI stand for?

[Pterodactylus]

Welcome!

I haven't really used any Japanese pens in the 50€ ($55) range, unfortunately. I have Metros and a Stargazer though so maybe a Pilot Prera?

Or how about a TWSBI Classic? It's on my wish list to try out.

I’m also a noobie... what does TWSBI stand for?

Itˋs a pen manufacturer in Taiwan.
They make decent pens with good quality at reasonable prices.
Always worth a recommendation.

From their web page:
TWSBI's name stands for the phrase "Hall of Three Cultures" or "San Wen Tong" in Chinese. The character "Wen" translates into language and culture. The phrase "San Wen Tong" also brings to mind the Hall of the Three Rare Treasures created by Emperor Qianlong as a memorial to three great masterpieces of Chinese calligraphy. The initials of the phrase "San Wen Tong" was reversed and thus turned into "TWS". The last letters "Bi" was added with its literal meaning of "writing instruments". Thus combining the two segments, creating TWSBI.

[Deb]

I have a very nice Sailor Lecoule F nib. Not at all scratchy - very smooth in fact. Should be well within your price range.

[david.allie]

Itˋs a pen manufacturer in Taiwan.
They make decent pens with good quality at reasonable prices.
Always worth a recommendation. <SNIP>

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated. I’ll have to check out the FPs.

[awa54]

The Sailor Lecoule shares the same nib and feed with the Profit Junior (and named variants thereof), I would recommend either one as a great pen in the sub 50€ range. My Profit Jr. has the MF nib, which is comparable to many European makers' fine or extra fine nib, it's smooth writing and very reliable, with excellent quality and finish. You'll probably have to buy a standard Sailor converter, since most versions don't come with one, but even so they're usually well within your price range.

Taste is very personal, but in my world no sub $50 pen has ever made me think "wow that's elegant"... cool, classic, fun, yes, but not so much with the elegant :(

Lecoule and Profit Jr. are a combination of classic and fun IMO, the Lecoule has glitter embedded or translucent plastic, Profit Junior has translucent or opaque plastic barrels and there are variants with gold colored trim (the Professor is red or black with gold trim).