I bought this pen in 1984.
At the time, I cared or knew little about gold nibs, or fountain pen care. I just wanted a pen that would be a real workhorse, that I could throw into my bag and be confident that when I pulled it out it would do the one thing that pens are supposed to do: write
So, I bought what was at the time for a university student, an expensive pen. Not because of the brand, or the gold nib, or anything like that. Because it was the only one in the shop that had a metal body and I though to myself, "I'll bet this will be practically indestructible." And, all these years later, it turns out I was right.
For the four years I was at university, I used it for every note I took and every exam I sat. All my exams were essays, so that meant between one and three questions in two hours, averaging about 30-40 pages per exam. Three times a year for four years.
Not once then, or since, has this pen failed me. It has never skipped, never burped, leaked or otherwise done anything other than write like a champ. I threw it in my bag every day, with my books, sports gear and all sorts of other stuff. I had no idea you couldn't treat a pen like that. Turns out, if it is a good pen, and you are OK with some cosmetic damage, you are good to go.
One final anecdote. Years after I graduated, I was out and ran into a former lecturer. We went for a beer and were catching up. He told me that one year, after marking, the staff were chatting about grading in the staff room, and one of them mentioned "fountain pen guy", who wrote every exam with a fountain pen. Some of the other stuff went, "oh, yeah, I've had him come through as well." The first lecturer then confessed that he always enjoyed reading papers written in fountain pen and, when he was on the fence about a grade, always bumped up, not down because of the pen. Apparently, some of the others laughed and confessed to the same!
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