SWMBO Wants a fountain pen!

Well I never thought I'd see the day.

But here it is. The misses just asked for a fountain pen for her birthday.
She had already asked for an address book and I'd thought a good pen to go with it would be a great idea. But as she's never shown any interest in my pens, I thought we'd be looking at a rollerball. Then casually she said "perhaps you could get me a nice fountain pen to go with my address book."

So, predictably, I'm hunting for your advice. This is going to be an odd one.

She told me:
"I want it to use cartridges, I'm not messing about with bottles like you do". Fair enough, we'll work on that later, so that's criteria No 1. I'd prefer international so I can coax her onto Diamine's ink.
She wants to draw with it. She's kind of arty and did enjoy playing with my calligraphy dip nibs, so something she can draw with - I'm thinking a fairly fine nib.
And finally her definition of smoothness is a gell pen. She's tried most of my nibs at some point and always say's she finds them scratchy. We need super smoothness to keep her happy.

I think that's got her covered. So gents, does anything jump out at you as fitting the bill?

Budget of say, $82.08 ish?

Nightshade18 said:

Budget of say, $82.08 ish?

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Is that what Fifty Quid goes for nowadays?

Parson's Essential?

I am a total noob at this, I just bought a Cross Bailey pen. It takes carts and can use converters. It comes in a med or fine nib I'm sure, also has a metal body. It flows and does not scratch paper. I have doodled with it without skipping. Like I said I'm a noob so don't know if this helps.

*after some research I found it does not take international carts*

Pilot MR/Metropolitan is very smooth but that takes the Pilot proprietary cartridges.

Can you find a store that sells Diplomat in the UK? I reviewed one of their cheap pens and came away impressed. The nib was pretty good, maybe not buttery smooth but there wasn't much tooth in it for sure.

Sally wanted to try a fountain pen but didn't want to fool around with bottled ink. She tried one of my restored Parker 51 demis, a fine point, and really liked it. She solved her ink issue. I fill it when she empties it.

I got my brother and sister sheaffer 100s for Christmas and they loved them. It has a converter but also takes carts and comes with both which is nice. I think they are $50 give or take. Either way great pens.

I just bought my self a TWSBI 580 demonstrator (clear) FP. As far as I know it does not have a cart option but the fill mech is awesome because you can see it work through the barrel. I got it in extra fine which is how I prefer my nibs and it a smooth great writer. Also comes I'm at the $50 mark and is well worth it. I had a cross for some time as well. Their starter FP I think it was $40. Not a bad pen but not my taste. My big issue was the weight, it was a very light pen and had a slimmer barrel which did not fit well in my hand.

Regards
Dave

I recommend finding a pen that uses JoWo nibs. Their fine nibs are very smooth.

-Andy

My Pilot Metros are very smooth, but again they have proprietary cartridges. Then again, maybe you could always fill her empty cartridges with an ink syringe and cap them for her . . .

IMO:

If at all possible, make an event out of pen shopping. If you can arrange a trip to some shop that has pens, new or vintage, and give her the opportunity to oggle, hold, and write with a variety of pens, she is much more likley to find something with long term value. The ladies like jewelry shopping, and this is no different. I was lucky enough to take my Mrs. to a well stocked vintage pen shop. She sat for nearly two hours, playing with pens until she found one that fit her style and lefty quirks. Then we started looking at ink colors....

Make a date of it. It's her day. Get lunch somewhere. You can make this her decision in a fun and playful way, and dodge any issues that might arrise from you making a poor choice on her behalf.

Lamy makes some very nice and affordable fountain pens such as the Safari, Al-star, Pur. Nibs are interchangeable on some models. Since you are in the UK I suggest you look at The Writing Desk's website for Lamy and other fountain pens.

Mr5x5 said:

Parson's Essential?

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This is a good call. It's next on my purchase list and it famous for a smooth nib. International carts too.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, keep em coming.

To answer a couple of other bits:
Mikeschu & Teppanyaki - when the Metropolitan is an 'MR', as in the UK it takes international carts. It's a fine pen, but I think I can probably push a little higher for wifey.
Dave - I have a 580 EF too. Agree they're a really good pen - it's now my daily pen, but there's no option to use carts. Once I have her hooked and weaned onto bottles, it may be a contender.

IMO:

If at all possible, make an event out of pen shopping. If you can arrange a trip to some shop that has pens, new or vintage, and give her the opportunity to oggle, hold, and write with a variety of pens, she is much more likley to find something with long term value. The ladies like jewelry shopping, and this is no different. I was lucky enough to take my Mrs. to a well stocked vintage pen shop. She sat for nearly two hours, playing with pens until she found one that fit her style and lefty quirks. Then we started looking at ink colors....

Make a date of it. It's her day. Get lunch somewhere. You can make this her decision in a fun and playful way, and dodge any issues that might arrise from you making a poor choice on her behalf.

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That . . . sounds like sheer genius. +1,000

You can get a platinum 3776 with a gold nib for that money, there is a blue or a red one... if you wait till tomorrow I can tell you how nice they write tomorrow lol as of tonight I havent used one yet though

syngent said:

You can get a platinum 3776 with a gold nib for that money, there is a blue or a red one... if you wait till tomorrow I can tell you how nice they write tomorrow lol as of tonight I havent used one yet though

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Yeah, I'd be really interested to see what you think!

syngent said:

You can get a platinum 3776 with a gold nib for that money, there is a blue or a red one... if you wait till tomorrow I can tell you how nice they write tomorrow lol as of tonight I havent used one yet though

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The "Bourgogne" looks nice. You can even get a black on with a Soft Fine nib for $89 (plus shipping)! That's a great deal, imo. SF nibs are very nice for drawing.

-Andy

My wife has two fountain pens; a Lamy Lady (discontinued, and way above your price range), and a Parker IM (in your price range). She loves the IM very much for daily writing, without having to worry about it getting lost or damaged.

My wife loves her Taccia Imperial Portuguese, which she "borrowed" from my pen collection several years ago.

Quick update for this thread seen as her birthday looms.

I dithered for ages on choosing until she came up with some other items she wanted too. This ate into the budget, so I did the classic:
When in doubt, Pilot Metro. We've gone tiger, with a selection of Diamine carts to match.
I'd still like to order a couple of Parsons, but we'll wait to see how she gets on with the Metro first.