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Thread: Steel nibs - what happened between vintage and modern

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    Default Re: Steel nibs - what happened between vintage and modern

    The point was that the tipping on nibs - both gold and steel - is likely the same most of the time.

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    Default Re: Steel nibs - what happened between vintage and modern

    The most important thing about the nib is the quality, not the material.

    As the price of gold has risen, the quality of steel nibs has risen as well, and I don't think that's a coincidence

    The smoothest, best-writing nib I have is on a Pelikan M200. And most of my pens have gold nibs.

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    Default Re: Steel nibs - what happened between vintage and modern

    Quote Originally Posted by aaronp View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Medieval View Post
    I was under the impression that fountain pen use is very much in decline.
    Actually, I believe there is quite a bit of documentation to show that, for at least the last 5-10 years or so, we are in the midst of a resurgence of fountain pen sales and use.
    I believe so. There are some articles saying that. It is still a niche market too, even compare to a similar luxury item like watch.
    Yes the market is getting hotter, I can tell from the prices. Fifteen years ago, Pelikans were way less expensive.

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    Senior Member carlos.q's Avatar
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    Default Re: Steel nibs - what happened between vintage and modern

    Quote Originally Posted by Giant_Pens_Are_Silly View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by aaronp View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Medieval View Post
    I was under the impression that fountain pen use is very much in decline.
    Actually, I believe there is quite a bit of documentation to show that, for at least the last 5-10 years or so, we are in the midst of a resurgence of fountain pen sales and use.
    I believe so. There are some articles saying that. It is still a niche market too, even compare to a similar luxury item like watch.
    Yes the market is getting hotter, I can tell from the prices. Fifteen years ago, Pelikans were way less expensive.
    Yes. So was eveything else...

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    Default Re: Steel nibs - what happened between vintage and modern

    Quote Originally Posted by carlos.q View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Giant_Pens_Are_Silly View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by aaronp View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Medieval View Post
    I was under the impression that fountain pen use is very much in decline.
    Actually, I believe there is quite a bit of documentation to show that, for at least the last 5-10 years or so, we are in the midst of a resurgence of fountain pen sales and use.
    I believe so. There are some articles saying that. It is still a niche market too, even compare to a similar luxury item like watch.
    Yes the market is getting hotter, I can tell from the prices. Fifteen years ago, Pelikans were way less expensive.
    Yes. So was eveything else...
    Not by like 40% though

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    Default Re: Steel nibs - what happened between vintage and modern

    Quote Originally Posted by Giant_Pens_Are_Silly View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by carlos.q View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Giant_Pens_Are_Silly View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by aaronp View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Medieval View Post
    I was under the impression that fountain pen use is very much in decline.
    Actually, I believe there is quite a bit of documentation to show that, for at least the last 5-10 years or so, we are in the midst of a resurgence of fountain pen sales and use.
    I believe so. There are some articles saying that. It is still a niche market too, even compare to a similar luxury item like watch.
    Yes the market is getting hotter, I can tell from the prices. Fifteen years ago, Pelikans were way less expensive.
    Yes. So was eveything else...
    Not by like 40% though
    Everything is getting more expensive as the value of the money is getting less and less.
    But I don‘t feel that this is much different for pens than other goods.

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    Senior Member fountainpenkid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Steel nibs - what happened between vintage and modern

    Do price increases necessarily reflect increased demand/market size? I'm no economist, but I thought this could mean exactly the opposite.
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    Default Re: Steel nibs - what happened between vintage and modern

    Quote Originally Posted by fountainpenkid View Post
    Do price increases necessarily reflect increased demand/market size? I'm no economist, but I thought this could mean exactly the opposite.
    Price increases can be due to a lot of things, so it doesn't necessarily mean anything in particular. But the demand and supply don't necessarily increase together. Increased demand usually increases prices, especially on the high end where the supply is kept low, and on the vintage market where the supply is fixed.

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    Senior Member welch's Avatar
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    Default Re: Steel nibs - what happened between vintage and modern

    Quote Originally Posted by fountainpenkid View Post
    Do price increases necessarily reflect increased demand/market size? I'm no economist, but I thought this could mean exactly the opposite.
    Interesting question. From year to year, a nib ought to increase slightly in price, just because there is a tiny amount of inflation built into the world economy. Over thirty or sixty years, fountains pens, parts, and ink will increase with overall inflation, but prices have changed as people shifted from liquid-ink pens to ballpoints and fiber-tipped pens, to typewriters at home and dormitory, to personal computers in the '80s, and to pads and "personal digital assistants" and smartphones.

    My unscientific impression is that many people now call fountain pen use a "hobby". Just note the number of inks -- non-blue and non-black -- offered by Diamine and Noodlers.

    In the late '40s, the big-time pen companies, like Parker, Sheaffer, Eversharp, and Waterman, made gold nibs. They competed on the quality of their nibs as well as on the innovations in their filling systems. Parker offered a steel nib on their economy pens. Legend has it that Parker put more tipping on their P-51 Special "octanium" nibs to compensate for putting more effort into the "electro-polished" gold nibs in their regular 51's.

    Third tier companies, as someone suggested above, made cheap pens that an owner would throw out rather than repair. A decade ago, I bought National, Wearever, Epenco, Stratford, Arnold, Majestic, and Traveler pens just for the fun of re-saccing, cleaning, and writing with mass-market pens from the '30s and '40s. Cheap steel nibs, but they can be smoothed, unless, of course, they've rusted or been broken, or just plain died. Also, as noted, some have tipping made by folding the steel tines over themselves, and some have tips welded to the tines. A crazy variety of nibs, tips, barrel and cap materials, grips, and usually lever fillers.

    Of course, Esterbrook was different: great pens, nearly unbreakable, gorgeous material, and terrific nibs in the 2xxx and 9xxx series. All steel nibs, and someone had to work hard to ruin one.

    Big change from 1955 to now. Nobody in Europe or Japan makes third-tier fountain pens today. The equivalent might be throw-away ballpoints, although people seem to use paper less often. (Hey, I'm typing this on a keyboard!) Gold is expensive, and steel nibs are more carefully made. While Parker made gold and steel nibs for the P-45, their entry-level pen in 1960, they made only gold nibs for their top-line P-75 (1963 or '64). The Sonnet seems to have replaced the P-75, and it seems that Parker always made both gold and steel nibs for it. Or consider the opinion of Brian Gray, who says that a well-made steel nib, today, writes just as well as a gold nib. See his "In Praise of Steel Nibs", at http://edisonpen.com/in-praise-of-steel-nibs-2

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    Default Re: Steel nibs - what happened between vintage and modern

    Thank you for the article. It really opened my eyes

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