Signiture Pens

[PerkinWarbeck]

Hi all,

I've been lurking this forum for a few weeks now and decided to make an account.

I've been collecting pens for years now and have a pretty substantial Mont Blanc collection which I am quite proud of.

I want to start venturing into other brands, and want to start by getting the most iconic, flagship, core, main, signiture or whatever word is appropriate, pen pen of each of the more commonly known brands. Similarly to when one collects watches, Rolex has the submariner, PP has the nautilus, Omega has the speedmaster etc, what would you suggest the main pen is for the following brands? Please feel free to add more brands or suggestions, these are just the brands I have had limited exposure to outside of MB - and it's time to branch out! Thank you all in advance.

Mont Blanc - Meisterstück 149
Pelikan -
Sailor -
Parker -
Cross -
Waterman -
Sheaffer -
Please add more

Many thanks,

Warby.

[PerkinWarbeck]

Also I'm mega dyslexic so please forgive any grammatical errors that my spell check was unable to pick up haha.

Warby.

[Mark Dillon]

I focus my purchases to Sailor so I’d be happy to share my thoughts on them.

Originally the 1911 was in my mind “The One” that was their flagship. As I learned more the King Of Pen stood out as a leader. It’s often compared size wise to your Mont Blanc. Unfortunately I haven’t bought or handled a KOP so I can’t speak to actual user experience. The KOP only comes in a Medium or Broad nib and I’m a Fine nib user. That said, if they came out with a KOP with a black matte finish and dark, stealth trim I’d order a Medium about as fast as my fingers could type! 🤣

The Pro Gear definitely seems to get the most buzz on social media and in groups I frequent. I think it’s the vast number of colors that attracts users. There seems to be a color or combination of colors that speaks to people and they tend to buy a lot of them.

The 21K nib is fantastic. My personal favorite is the Imperial Black. A matte finish body with the dark, stealth, trim and nib.

[Kaputnik]

When I saw the title "Signature Pens", I thought this would be about pens for signing documents.

I don't think I'm taking the same approach to pen accumulation as you, but I do have quite a few different brands. Are you interested primarily in modern or vintage pens? What interests you in a pen itself? What writing qualities do you like? Do you buy a pen primarily to have another good writing instrument, or is it the appearance that motivates you?

Out of the brands you already mentioned, I prefer my Sheaffers, Parkers, and Watermans to be vintage. My Montblancs are a couple of Noblesses, a less expensive and in some ways atypical model of theirs from the 1970s. I have more fountain pens than I can easily rotate through, but write quite a lot with a sizable selection from them. My currently inked pens include a Sheaffer Flat Top (vintage), a Parker Vacumatic (vintage and "iconic") and a Pilot Murex (probably not old enough for most people to call vintage, but no longer made).

Leaving out the question of whether you're getting vintage or modern examples of a brand, some brands that could be mentioned are Namiki (Pilot), Platinum, Lamy, and Visconti. Most of my favorite currently manufactured pens for writing are Pilots, the Custom Heritage 91 and 92, and the Falcon, for example. They are one of just a couple of makers who currently have practical retractable fountain pens, the Capless Decimo, Vanishing Point, and Fermo models.

The Lamy 2000 could be considered iconic. My interest in the brand pretty much ends there, but they also make a retractable, the Dialog 3. And a very popular entry level pen, of course, the Safari.

My one experience with a Visconti is a Rembrandt, which hasn't worked out well for me, but the brand has its fans, and other more upscale models.

I'll leave out a discussion of vintage only brands, and brands that I haven't tried at all, but this is a start. Welcome to the forums.

[jar]

Some possible choices.

Pelikan M1000
Waterman Man 100
Sheaffer Legacy
Parker Duofold
Cross Townsend

But other favorites:

From the top:
Platinum Izumo, Sailor King of Pen, Nakaya Portable Writer, Danitrio Takumi, Pilot Custom 743



Yard-o-Led Grand Victorian:


Montegrappa Extra and Extra 1930:


Ferrari da Varese Botticelli:


ST Dupont Neo-Classique:


Any Eboya:

[penwash]

I don't know if you only want to know modern pens (not vintage pens made between 1880 to 1970), or also vintage pens.

When thinking about modern pens, I always come back to the few Aurora pens that I had before:





The black one has an older nib that is just marvelous.

[azkid]

My own wish list for iconic (mostly vintage) pens for each of the following brands, based on mlimited knowledge...

Pelikan -

If it were me I would get an modern Ocean Swirl LE M805 because I find it jaw dropping in beauty. And 600 and 800 series pens write like a dream. There are other LE pens as well as standard offerings that are very nice.

I guess their flagship and biggest is the 1000M. I've used one. Nice. Fire hose wet. Also, gigantic.

Parker -

Big Red Duofold. My impression is that the red Duofold was super popular, put them on the map, and changed the industry (wow, color!). I have Junior but maybe one day I will get the big dog.

The "51" was one of their most successful, longest running pens and changed the pen industry (suddenly lots of hooded pens started appearing). It was a flagship then and I consider it to remain so now. If you want the top of the top 51, the analog to the Rolex President, find an all gold version. I have a Custom with the GF cap and plastic barrel that I treasure.

I don't know what their TOTL is... Duofold re-release I guess?

Wahl-Eversharp -

All gold Skyline. Iconic, designed by a famous industrial designer. The moiré pattern ones are gorgeous and sought after if ebay prices are an indicator. The gold cap versions are quite nice too.

Sheaffer -

The Balance also changed the industry. In terms of shape and (I think?) color. The first gen Balances are large and bold and I think make a powerful visual statement. I feel like a Tycoon when I wield mine.

They put out a lot of really fancy pens over the years, though,like the Pen For Men. I don't even know what to suggest.

Pilot -

Vanishing Point Raden (new) is my grail pen although I probably would rather stare at it than write with it. But maybe one of their Namiki urushi pens (new) would be more appealing to you. The one I tried was really, really nice.

[sjssf]

For Pelikan, I think you want a Souverain. The size/style is more a matter of preference.

[amk]

For Waterman, the real top of the line in recent pens was the Edson. (You could argue for the Serenité but that's a bit of an outlier - a very fancy but quite unusual pen, perhaps inspired by the Japanese katana sword.) But a flagship? I think the Man 100 really carried so much of Waterman's regular style in it, and it's a tremendous pen, too, and not nearly as expensive as the Edson (think EUR 100 plus rather than EUR 600 plus). That's the one I'd think of as flagship.

The Man 100 also gives you lots of choices of finish, from the briar and olive wood versions to plain black.

Pelikan - you could just go for the biggest size, M1000. But really, the whole Souveraen line is so easily recognisable, it's a question of size rather than model. In fact rather than looking for the biggest pen, I would pick the 'Toledo' finish, with the little pelicans engraved on the metal binde, as the top Pelikan. It "carries" the brand quite literally!

For Parker, the Duofold has always been a flagship but the Duofold has evolved over time; there was the original (then the Streamlined version), the 'British Duofold' of the 50s, and there's the modern Duofold too. "Big Red" is very much a Parker thing, instantly recognisable in whichever version, "ancient or modern", you pick. I have a vintage red duofold I've just resacked, and it is lovely - fantastic patina, beautifully comfortable in the hand, and the nib is a wonderfully smooth and responsive writer, without my having to tweak it at all.

You could also look at the Parker 51. That's a real classic which changed the world of fountain pens. Much copied, never bettered.

I hope that helps you with the three brands that I know best out of those you mentioned.

[Kulprit]

Sailor: the King of Pen. The Pro Gear version is very similar in dimensions to the 149 and the nib is divine. If mine was in B rather than M it would be my go-to pen.

Pelikan: while the M1000 is their flagship pen, I wouldn’t call it their signature pen. Perhaps something in the 101 or 400 families.

Parker: either the Duofold or 51. Both iconic and immediately recognizable as Parkers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[guyy]

The most iconic Pelikan is the 400 which is the model on which the current models are based. The vintage models are superior to the current ones in every respect except size.

The Parker 51 is the most iconic Parker pen. A better pen has never been made.

The Sheaffer Balance is the mother of all cigar-shaped pens. The Montblanc 149 of one of its babies.

Speaking of Montblancs, i’d say the 139 is the Montblanc of Montblancs.

[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

For Parker: Big Red or my personal favourite: a “51” (careful, they can be highly addictive)

Good luck. And let us know what you end up with!