What do you look for in a very expensive pen?

[EloquentOgre]

I look for a few things.

First, and foremost, ergonomics. I need a pen with an extra wide (11.5-14.5mm, ideally on the high end of that) section, but which at the same time is relatively light weight and well balanced. Oh man, that balance, that's important. I thought a Pelikan M1000 was going to hit the sweet spot, but nope, they're so ridiculously back heavy because of the excessive brass in the filling mechanism (I assume because of the bass ackwards idea that many folks seem to get that higher weight/mass=quality) that even that lovely springy nib can't appease me enough to tolerate it. I would just find it annoying if all things were normal, but I have a neurological condition that results in intense pain with pens I have to fight to write. Either a pen works well for me, and I can write for long sessions with no problem, or it doesn't, and - no middle ground alas. Other features matter too, like material. Metal sections, especially smooth... sorry, no. Just no. No. No. Nope. Omas, I love you, but what the hell? The new Paragon would be perfect, except for that damned metal section... why? Omas, why? Give me a pen the size of a new paragon, in Arco Bronze celluloid, with the section the same material as the body, and I would be throwing my money at you. Hell, even with regular cotton resin models.

Second, I want it to be beautiful to my eye. Which can be tricky. There is a fine line between pretty and tacky I generally err on the side of conservativeness. Flashy colors and lots of gold (I seriously don't get why I like arco bronze pens, but I do, which sort of contradicts this) tend to make me recoil a bit. Yet I see beauty in many very conservative black and gold designs. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and all.

It takes all of this to even make me consider throwing a lot of money at a pen nowadays. I'm really getting a feel for what I want now, so finally I am starting to look at the more expensive stuff. At present, what catches my eye strongest are big Urushi pens. From Nakaya 17mm Cigars and Dorsal fins (v1 and 2) to Danitrio Denshos and Mikados. Especially the Denshos and Mikados. I am equally torn between shu-dame, ki-dame and midori-dame Urushi variants - no flashy maki-e (not that I dislike it, my wallet just can't touch them). Soooo pretty. I'll probably be getting one within a couple months. Or at least ordering one. But I'm also looking at all the options for custom made pens (Hakase, Romillo, Newton, Scriptorium) to meet my wants.

Of course, I'm kind of looking at an expensive pen from a weird standpoint at the present. Because of my current condition I have had to retire way too young (44) and am looking at long term fixed income living, so my expensive pen dreams are going to be limited to one, maybe two based on store credit and "fun money" savings that I have now, and then they're going to have to last me as treasures for a LONG time, because I won't be buying anything nice well, pretty much ever again the way things are going. But I've accepted that. As I see it, it's nice to have a few treasures to enjoy, and pens can last a long time, even when used daily - I can hold them, feel them in hand, and use them. Objets d'art that live to be used, not just looked at. It helps further that writing really has a theraputic effect, helping me escape/shift my mind away from my physical problems when medicine can't.

Anyway, yeah - I've been asking myself the very same question OP, and those are the answers that come to my mind.

[bluesea]

I look for a few things.

First, and foremost, ergonomics. I need a pen with an extra wide (11.5-14.5mm, ideally on the high end of that) section, but which at the same time is relatively light weight and well balanced. ...

The Montblanc 149 fits that requirement, but there must be some reason you've left it off your list?

[EloquentOgre]

Yes - both are on my list! I am actually really torn about what to do with my pen money. Right now it looks like either a single Danitrio or two pens... A nakaya portable cigar in 17mm size and maybe an Eboya Houga large size. Or a Hakase in that lovely jade green celluloid. It's really a hard choice. Whichever way I go I'm getting a treasure.

[EloquentOgre]

The 149 I just don't trust. An old friend had two of them which gave him nothing but trouble. It's a pen that's on my want list but not very high in spite of its many appealing characteristics. If I was still working I would probably rank it higher but I can't afford to deal with montblanc service prices if it gets all flakey over time.

Still i keep looking at used 149s and pondering.

[mhosea]

Still i keep looking at used 149s and pondering.

I have a couple, both bought used. Both needed lubrication, and both nibs needed adjustment before I was happy with them (sort of punted with the Broad and had it ground to a smooth cursive italic by Pendleton Brown). I bought a wrench so that I could lube the piston whenever I wanted, and so that I can flush the nib and feed thoroughly from behind if I want. There's no trouble left in them, I think. They're dependable now. They'd be excellent everyday workhorse pens if I wanted them to be. But for the most part they sit unused. I like playing with them every now and again because of the large nib, but after the novelty of seeing big nib wears off, I'm ready to put them away, at least the Medium point. Pendleton did make a nice stub, but it'd be just as nice if that same tip were on a smaller nib. I like the size of the 146 a lot better than the 149, though the fact of the matter is that I wouldn't know that if I didn't own both. If I had only the 146, which is the right choice for me, I'd always wonder whether I'd like the 149 better.

[VertOlive]

I finally ordered my first Nakaya after looking at them for over two years.

The aesthetic is perfect to my eye.

The emotional draw, having lived in Japan on and off over 17 years, leaves me with an appreciation of that aesthetic. The pen captures the essence of Japan for me.

I've had all that time to decide what I really like and notice the pen I'd have chosen 2 years ago as a newbie is not the one I chose now as a veteran of about a hundred pens going through my hands.

[rpsyed]

I finally ordered my first Nakaya after looking at them for over two years.

The aesthetic is perfect to my eye.

The emotional draw, having lived in Japan on and off over 17 years, leaves me with an appreciation of that aesthetic. The pen captures the essence of Japan for me.

I've had all that time to decide what I really like and notice the pen I'd have chosen 2 years ago as a newbie is not the one I chose now as a veteran of about a hundred pens going through my hands.

Congratulations! What model did you pick? Any customizations? I always wanted to get a Nakaya with kanji. The one Nakaya I have, a kuro-tamenuri Piccolo, I picked out from the in-stock selection of CFP ... I can be impatient ...

[rpsyed]

Yes - both are on my list! I am actually really torn about what to do with my pen money. Right now it looks like either a single Danitrio or two pens... A nakaya portable cigar in 17mm size and maybe an Eboya Houga large size. Or a Hakase in that lovely jade green celluloid. It's really a hard choice. Whichever way I go I'm getting a treasure.

Eboya pens are pretty fantastic. Light weight, lovely ebonite - just a perfect writer's pen. I recently got a medium-size Kyouka with the ink shut-off valve and am completely smitten with it. Though I do love my Danitrio Mikado and Nakaya as well. You really can't go wrong with any of the three =]

[EloquentOgre]

It's not very often in life when one finds oneself at a crossroads, knowing that whichever path he chooses will be a choice well made. It sucks that I can't get all three, but whichever way I go, I'm going to be getting a beautiful piece of art and artifice.

[Chuasam]

$700 is an expensive pen but not a VERY expensive pen.
And then there's this.
I saw one in real life many years ago. It was hideous


What do I look for in an expensive pen?
Self actualization.

[Miss Fountain Pen]

$700 is an expensive pen but not a VERY expensive pen.
And then there's this.
I saw one in real life many years ago. It was hideous


What do I look for in an expensive pen?
Self actualization.

O.M.G. That pen is hideous. And let me guess, it costs something like $7000, right?

[Chuasam]

O.M.G. That pen is hideous. And let me guess, it costs something like $7000, right?

try $175,000
https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19242/lot/59/

[Miss Fountain Pen]

O.M.G. That pen is hideous. And let me guess, it costs something like $7000, right?

try $175,000
https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19242/lot/59/

[Dronak]

if you are going to be buying a pen in that kind of price range, what are you looking for in the pen to justify the high cost? What does it need to give you that a $200 pen won't?

There's only one thing that comes to mind immediately -- a gold nib. I don't want to pay hundreds of dollars and only have a steel nib. Apart from that, a high-cost purchase would probably require some kind of special occasion, so that there would be some sentimental value added to the pen itself. I generally don't buy very expensive pens, so I'm not sure I can say much more than that.