I am fairly new to fountain pens, but have very quickly fallen deeply in love, and am wanting to get myself a truly fine pen. I currently have a small collection that includes a few entry-level items, with the usual suspects: Lamy Safari, Pilot Metro, Kaweco Sport & Liliput. I both like and mildly dislike certain elements of each of those pens -- none are a clear favorite. In terms of pure writing experience, I seem to appreciate the Metro quite a lot.

As many before me, I'm sure, the Lamy 2000 tops my shortlist for candidates. But there are a few things about it which give me some pause, and I'm wondering if it really is all it's cracked-up to be, or if I could potentially do better for my money, in terms of what I'm looking for. My ceiling is $200 (and I'd like to spend significantly less, if possible). I *think* I want a gold nib pen, at this point, but I have to be honest and say that I do not yet 100% understand the advantages over steel.

What I've thought about doing, as an alternative, is getting a Lamy Aion, and then replacing the stock nib with a 14k one. That would put me at about the same price-point as the 2000. The reasons I'm thinking about that, over the 2000, have to do wholly with the pen grip, and what I have read about it: 1) some people find the cap-hold nubs to be mildly annoying; 2) the fact that the grip section tapers all the way down to the point seems to cause some grip slippage, and a tendency to have to hold the pen more tightly than would otherwise be necessary. Given that one of my primary purposes is to have a pen I can use everyday for practice in penmanship, I am thinking this would not be a good thing. Yet, on the other hand, I'm past the point of liking the set-in-stone finger placement required from a pen like the Safari.

Aesthetics are important to me -- I definitely prefer the machined look over the "classic" look. For the best writing experience, though, I am willing to sacrifice on this ideal. I'm presently a small/slow writer. My Safari is a fine nib and I find even with that, the line quality is often too thick for me -- the ink flow just a bit too generous. This is why I more often turn to the Metro or the Kaweco.

With all that, if anyone has suggestions for consideration, I'd love to hear some input.