Vintage Parker 45 DeLuxe fountain pen review

This is the fountain pen that started it all for me, as I outlined in one of my first blog posts. It’s a vintage Parker 45 DeLuxe (or sometimes known as the GT). The Parker 45 was introduced in 1960, and this model with the plastic cap was introduced in 1964. The Parker 45 has been hugely successful and is still manufactured today (I believe), a product lifespan of almost 50 years. It was Parker’s first cartridge filler and is a robust workhorse for everyday use. But I must also add, do not confuse this vintage model with those made this century though. For me, there is a world of difference.

Parker 45 – New at the top, vintage at the bottom

Design The Parker 45 has a classic, no-nonsense look; a streamlined shape, which tapers at the barrel and cap. Though simple, it is quite an elegant design in a functional sort of way. It has a nice look when the cap is posted, the long taper pointing towards the semi-hooded nib. Design 7/10 Feel This is a very light pen. It is not made from the most expensive of plastics, but there is a certain quality to the way it has been made. The push-fit cap fits snugly and lightly clicks into place, it posts well, the threads in the barrel just seem right and don’t come loose – its as though all the components have just the right level of tolerances in manufacturing. It has a good balance and is good to write with though nothing spectacular. Personally I do find the section a little slim for my fingers, meaning I hold it much higher up the barrel than I would another pen. I also find I adopt quite a light grip and use light pressure when writing. Dimensions: 136mm (5 3/8”) capped, 143mm (5 5/8”) posted Feel 7/10 Nib 14k gold. Stiff, fine (though not that fine), pretty smooth and workmanlike. It works well for those with a light touch. The great thing about the Parker 45 nibs however is the ease of interchangeability. They simply unscrew out and screw in. There is quite a wide variety of different nib grades available. Fine and medium are fairly common, but others can be harder to find. Particularly if you’d like to try an italic. Nib 7/10 Filling It’s a Parker, so naturally is uses Parker’s propriety cartridges and convertors. Though the convertors don’t hold that much ink. Sadly, this one came without a converter so I had to put in a modern one rather than the original metal cage version. Filling 7/10 Cost There is a collector base for these pens, but the long production run and popularity of this pen means there are lots about. Mint condition, boxed examples are readily available at quite reasonable prices. I got this one off ebay a few years back for about £8 if I remember correctly. And apart from the lack of convertor and a somewhat scratchy nib it is in mint condition. Clean and glossy. A great price, but you must remember this is a budget pen. Cost 8/10 Overall A good everyday user at a good price, and a good one to collect if you like them – lots of different variants and affordable. Overall 36/50

Vintage Conway Stewart 58 fountain pen review

One of the pens that has been on my wish list for a couple of years at least is an early-1950s Conway Stewart 58 with Duro nib. Well, I was lucky enough to be blessed with one just before Christmas as a present from my wife (thank you!). A very pretty lined grey and black.

Design As I opened it, my wife said “I question your normal choices, but actually I really like this one!” She has a good eye for design, and I think her comment is a high accolade for the 58. The material is pearlescent and catches the light wonderfully. Conway Stewart can be a little light on the gold-plating and this one shows typical wear on the clip. The delicate lever filler has a dainty Conway Stewart logo. But most of all, I think it has a nice balanced look to it, whether capped or posted. Design 8/10

Feel The weight of this pen is just perfect for me. It’s a plastic-based pen, but not too light. (I really must get some digital scales to tell you the exact weight of these things). What is most noticeable though, is its solid feel. The balance is good when writing, and it is comfortable to hold. It is a reasonably fat pen. The cap is screw-fit, though unfortunately on this one, the threads have worn somewhat meaning they don’t engage and hold the cap in place that well. It will have to have the inner cap shortened at some point to make it more useable. Or have the threads rebuilt. Dimensions: 129mm (5 1/16”) capped, 153mm (6”) posted Feel 8/10 Nib 14ct Gold Duro fine nib. These have a fantastic reputation, there’s therefore little I can add really. It is on the hard side of springy and a good workman. Really smooth, but gives feedback – lovely. I’d like to try a flexible one. Nib 9/10

Filling Lever filler, with a very pretty lever as mentioned already. Filling 7/10 Cost I know my wife paid £70 for this pen. Reasonable, though I would have been happier if the cap threads weren’t an issue. Conway Stewarts are highly collectable and pretty solid, and I think the price reflects this. In comparison to other pens, I think this is pretty reasonable. As a point of interest Lambrou notes the original price of a 58 in the early 1950s to be 30 shillings. The price range from Conway Stewart at the time was 12 shillings to 35 shillings. Cost 8/10

Overall These are great pens, very presentable and good solid writers. Overall 40/50

Lamy Studio Black review

A few years back, on my way to Bloomsbury Auctions to check out a few pens, I dropped into the Pen Shop on Regent Street. I was looking for a stub or italic pen. I tried a Parker Sonnet with a factory stub - I quite fancied the Laque black, but I could barely see any variation in line width. Next up was the Lamy italic nibs, and I was sold. I wanted something a bit more up-market for work rather than a Safari or Al-Star so plumped for the Studio.

I was intending to use an expressive nib after all and I felt the Studio a little more in keeping with that. At just £38 it wasn't too hard a decision.

Design The Lamy Studio is reminiscent of the Lamy 2000 fountain pen, a true design classic that has stood the test of time (another pen that I've wanted for a while!). The Studio mimics the 2000 with a relatively simple, functional form but this is combined with a few elements that feel designed for the sake of being unusual rather than functional. For example, the twist in the clip.

Overall though, I like it, it has a pleasing, quite understated feel, and looks a lot more expensive than it is. Design – 7\10

Feel

At first touch the pen is heavy. It has a good solid feel to it. Maybe a little too heavy - it depends what you like. The balance is reasonable, but not fantastic. It is a metal body, that has had a rubberised coating applied. I was quite concerned that this might peel away and 'chip' but four or so years on and it is holding up quite well. There is just a couple of pinpricks through to the metal where it becamce entangled in my house keys. I'm quite careful with my pens though. They are pretty much always in a pen case. But, if you throw your pens around a bit - bottom of a briefcase or bag, always in your pocket etc - then I wouldn't be too sure about the black version. The section is chrome. This is okay, but not great. It makes the pen quite slippery to hold. And its heavy weight doesn't make this any easier. So it is not a pen for writing and writing and writing. It can become uncomfortable. But, for the couple of hours I use it a day, combined with this particular nib, I'm happy. This might be a reason to choose the silver version. The cap is a push fit and pretty secure. It clicks into place when posting, and will stay there and rotate until you pull it off. The clip is good and solid and springy.

Dimensions: 139mm (5 1/2")capped, 156mm (6 1/5") posted

Feel – 7/10

Nib The Studio uses the same nibs as the Safari and Al-Star. This means you have a good nib range to choose from, and they're interchangeable. Don't like the width you've bought? £3 will get you a new one, and you can just pull them off and swap them round to your hearts content. The nibs are nothing special, but very usable. Stiff, steel and medium smooth.

The 1.1mm italic fitted in this Studio is a nice nib. It does have a tendency to clog with paper fibres from time to time, but very pleasing results can be had with the right ink and paper combination. This one is filled with Caran d'Ache Storm at the moment. An ink that I don't normally like the properties of (unlike Blue Sky which I love). It can be quite a dry unresponsive ink. But with this nib it is perfect, flowing well and helping the smoothness. Its a pleasure to write with. (17 Jan 09 - I have revised the nib score down by a point, I think I was being a little generous at the time) Nib – 7\10

Filling

The Studio is a catridge / convertor, and comes complete with a luxury convertor (slighty better than the normal Safari one, but only just). Using a screw mechanism, it holds a reasonable amount of ink. Lamy use a propriety ink cartridge so unfortunately you're limited in this form. Filling – 8\10

Cost

I paid £38 for this pen. That's a lot of pen for very little money. The nib is fairly standard, but its a well-built pen for the price.

Cost – 9\10

Overall verdict – 38\50

A fun, good quality pen at a good price - though not advised for copious amounts of consistent writing.

Pilot Pluminix review

I bought this Pilot Pluminix on impulse whilst purchasing some ink at an arts and craft store not far from where I work. This is a pen aimed at the school and student market. There are 10 different neon colours in the range and the price on the street varies from 99p to £4.99.

Design
The design of the Pluminix is pretty unique. It has a sort of science fiction feel to it - reminiscent of something from the Matrix, Stargate Atlantis or the Abyss, a sort of marine animal influened design. For some reason it reminds me of a squid. Others might say it is simply cute.

The body, section and cap are all made of a fairly standard, transparent plastic. The type used for shatterproof plastic rulers. The body and cap are available in quite a number of colours (or tints), 10 I believe, all based on the same transparent plastic. This allows you to see the collector and the ink cartridge – so its always obvious how much ink you have left.

It is reasonably sturdy and the sample I have is well manufactured. A nice feature is the screw-on cap. For a cheap pen that you are likely to just throw in your bag or pocket I think this is a good plus.
Design – 6\10

Feel
Being made of plastic, it is a light pen. It is quite small, so not the most comfortable of pens - but it is aimed at the young student market.

One problem I did find at first is the cap. When used posted, you must have it oriented the right way, or the little plastic ears on the cap dig into your hand. It is something I have kind of got used to though. Obviously not a problem if you don't use it posted though!

The section is curved and angled for the fingers and this position is reasonably comfortable. But it does force you to hold the pen in a certain position. Not a pen for the ham-fisted male being quite small.

Combined with an italic nib, this is not a pen for writing fast with or scribling notes, but with a little concentration gives great results.

Dimensions: 121mm (4 3/4")capped, 124mm (4 8/9") posted
Feel – 5\10



Nib
The nib is what attracted me to this pen. Big, shiny, a 1mm italic and from Pilot. If you like italics it performs pretty well, not great, but gives good definition between horizontal and vertical strokes. Stiff.
Nib – 7\10




Filling
The Pluminix takes short international cartridges which allows a good range of inks compared to some pens that use proprietary cartridges only, such as Parker and Lamy. But it will take only one at a time with no room for a spare. There is no room to fit a convertor either so you are stuck with cartridge use.
Filling – 6\10

Cost
I paid 3.99 for this pen, which can't be bad.
Cost – 9\10

Overall verdict – 33\50
This is a low-cost pen, so was never going to score highly, but great value for money. Cheap to add to your collection particularly if you'd like to try an italic nib for the first time.

Dunhill Sidecar Limousette - Mini-review

At some point when I actually have some spare time, I would like to start adding a few comprehensive reviews of the fountain pens I own. Hopefully, accompanied with some useful pictures. In the meantime, I thought I would post a quick mini-review of the one pen that does not leave the house, ever.




My Dunhill Sidecar Limousette was given to me by my now wife on the first anniversary of our first date. Funnily enough I bought her a pen too, from Tiffanys. Way too extravagant and very humbling that I should be given such a valuable present. Consequently, why I would never dare take it to the office or elsewhere.

The experience of receiving such a gift was amazing. This Dunhill is presented in a very plush wooden box, which makes the opening of the box itself a real event.

The pen is heavy. A good solid laquer over metal – nice and sensuous – combined with a weighty cap make of solid silver. And, it's the cap I love most – based on the design of a Steib motorcycle sidecar. Giving an overall feeling of understated elegance, its may be the simplicity that brings this elegant poise. But the cap really does unbalance the pen when writing, so I tend to use it unposted.

The nib is pretty smooth, and has a very slight spring to it. Its not the greatest nib I've ever written with, but it is close to what you would expect of a high-end pen. Though I'd argue this pen is primarily about the design than its writing ability.


There is one other flaw that should have been corrected before production. The screw fit between the barrel and nib section tends to work loose. Not a major thing but a little annoying – it could easily have been fixed with a simple recessed rubber seal or similar.

To fill it uses standard short international cartridges or a supplied convertor (nice and smooth).

Im summary, a great pen to admire and be seen with – that's if you dare take it out of the house.