A legacy pen, one pen to rule them al?

[techjunkie25]

I am searching for a special pen, you all know it, your fathers, mothers or grandparents used it for everything.
The one pen that is sturdy enough for daily usage and carry, while being elegant enough for every situation.
My recent research has brought me to:
-Parker Sonnet
-pilot custom 74 or 92
-Parker IM
-Parker Jotter fountain pen


What say you all?

Tell me why!


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[SaoDavi]

I had the IM and it's not great. I have the Jotter in ballpoint and am non-plussed with the fit and finish. I imagine the fountain pen is not any better.

My take on these "legacy pens" is that they weren't bought to be legacy, people just needed a good quality, inexpensive, reliable workhorse pen.

From your list, the Pilot Custom Heritage 92 is outstanding, and I assume the Custom 74 is similar. The gold nibs are a great upgrade. They're a little pricey at around $100, but not "expensive"; probably about what our parents and grandparents used after adjusting for inflation.

If you want something closer to the $50 range, a Lamy or Twsbi would be my recommendation

[SaoDavi]

Followup: If you're looking at the Pilot 74 or PCH 92, get them with a gold nib. At that same price point, also consider the Pilot Vanishing Point and the Lamy 2000. They also have gold nibs.

All of these are great and can be had new for $75-$125 on Amazon.

[jar]

Parker IM is a bad joke.

Pilot 74 or 92 are nice little pens.

Parker Sonnet is hit or miss.

Parker Jotter fountain pen ...?

If you want Parker the look for a Parker 75.

[SaoDavi]

Aaaaaand, a PCH 92 was listed in the Classified section just now for $85. Have at it.

[techjunkie25]

Aaaaaand, a PCH 92 was listed in the Classified section just now for $85. Have at it.

Just shot him a message , thanks for the heads up!


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[techjunkie25]

So, are there any other suggestions ? Let’s keep the prices fairly modest, let’s say 125 or below.


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[techjunkie25]

I had the IM and it's not great. I have the Jotter in ballpoint and am non-plussed with the fit and finish. I imagine the fountain pen is not any better.

My take on these "legacy pens" is that they weren't bought to be legacy, people just needed a good quality, inexpensive, reliable workhorse pen.

From your list, the Pilot Custom Heritage 92 is outstanding, and I assume the Custom 74 is similar. The gold nibs are a great upgrade. They're a little pricey at around $100, but not "expensive"; probably about what our parents and grandparents used after adjusting for inflation.

If you want something closer to the $50 range, a Lamy or Twsbi would be my recommendation

I completely agree on the “legacy” point of view. I don’t believe that they bought pens for the sake of being able to hand them down, but rather bought one to use, and it just so happened that it turned into their legacy pen after many years and probably hundreds of thousands of papers and refills.


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[Hawk]

I think $125 or below will not buy you a ‘legacy’ pen. In my opinion, a Parker 75 would probably fit into that category. Look for one of the uncommon varieties. TWSBI, on the other hand are great pens but are current daily writers, hardly anything to save for future generations.

[Bold2013]

To me a legacy pen would be a combination of longevity and function.

In your price range I would consider vintage pelikan 400s, lamy 2000 and my favorite the parker 51.

[Hawk]

How dumb of me, I have a considerable number of 51’s that I write with almost daily. The P 51 Aero would nicely fit into the price range, a workhorse and something to pass on. The tough part will be to choose from the mind boggling variations. in the $200+ range, consider Pelikan.

[RocketRyan]

The Chinese laque sonnets are robust and pretty.

[BayesianPrior]

The Chinese laque sonnets are robust and pretty.

I agree. I picked one up in black lacque from a stationer who had found crates of NOS pens in a storeroom. £22 for a Parker Sonnet with 18k nib, dating from Q2 1997.

Loaded with R&K Salix it has been getting a lot more play time than some of my M800s...

[top pen]

I don't think anyone can decide it for you. It should be the pen you reach for the most or the one that you would never sell.

Pens are very personal. Taste and design preferences are very subjective so it's difficult to give an answer.

[RocketRyan]

The Chinese laque sonnets are robust and pretty.

I agree. I picked one up in black lacque from a stationer who had found crates of NOS pens in a storeroom. £22 for a Parker Sonnet with 18k nib, dating from Q2 1997.

Loaded with R&K Salix it has been getting a lot more play time than some of my M800s...

I will be honest my Parkers are getting a lot of use, just all seem super reliable

[SIR]

Lamy 2000?!

[FredRydr]

A legacy pen, one pen to rule them al?

There is no such thing. It's like this: https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread...l=1#post223587

[Paddler]

Both of my parents used Sheaffer Saratoga Snorkels. Mother was a grade school teacher and carried her pens in her purse every day for many years. She also carried a Waterman Hundred Year pen. She used Skrip Royal Blue in the Saratoga and Skrip red in the Waterman. Those pens graded thousands of homework papers and tests. After I replaced the sacs, they both work well. You could go upscale with the Snorkel; the guts are all alike.

[Lady Onogaro]

The Chinese laque sonnets are robust and pretty.

I agree. I picked one up in black lacque from a stationer who had found crates of NOS pens in a storeroom. £22 for a Parker Sonnet with 18k nib, dating from Q2 1997.

Loaded with R&K Salix it has been getting a lot more play time than some of my M800s...

Such good luck you had.

[Kaputnik]

...My recent research has brought me to:
-Parker Sonnet

Can't help you with that one, as I haven't tried it.

-pilot custom 74 or 92

Excellent choices. The 92 is an everyday favorite of mine, and seems very sturdy. The 74 will take the super-sized CON-70 converter, but my 74 is a broad nib that I don't want to use as much as the fine-medium on the CH-92. I also have a Custom Heritage 91, which is like a Custom 74 with flattened ends for the cap and barrel. All good choices.

-Parker IM

Big step down in quality. This was my first fountain pen, and it doesn't actually write badly for a relatively cheap pen, when it wrote at all. Problem was that the cap didn't seal properly, so it would dry up rather quickly when capped. I found out in discussion on FPN that this is a common problem, although some IMs apparently don't have it. But I'd save your money toward something better.

-Parker Jotter fountain pen

I picked up one of these on sale at our local office supply store before it closed. Not bad for a cheap pen, but not nearly as nice a writer as the Pilot models you're considering.

Just thought I'd stick to critiquing the ones you're already thinking of, but of course other people in this thread have other suggestions.