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Posted by Allan Chochinov | 15 Mar 2007
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Comments (4)
The Financial Times has a great item by Josh Sims, titled "His nibs," that talks about fountain pens, power, and prestige. Here's the start:
If the masters of industry or politics were to sit down to sign some big merger deal or trade treaty, only to pull out a yellow Bic, a sense of the inappropriate might strike even the most ardent fan of disposable pens. In distinct contrast to the kind of pen found by the box-load in office stationery cupboards, the Montblanc Meisterstuck, one of the largest fountain pens on the market, is often referred to as the Power Pen, given its use for signing important documents by various leaders.Part of the appeal of the fountain pen is that it is symbolic--and enduringly so. Other pens may be much less expensive, lighter, require less maintenance and would be less sorely missed if lost (if missed at all). But the reason to buy and use a fountain pen is more psychological than practical. The fountain pen, which has seen sales growth of 18 per cent from 2001 to 2005, embodies a desirable degree of ceremony and prestige that lesser pens forego.
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Comments
I agree with the posting, and would like to add the 'forced-slowness' of signing/writing/drawing due to the ink flow in a fountain pen. It only seems appropriate for signing important documents that one takes the extra time to consider what one is signing/drawing/etc.
Cheers,
Ernest
Well.. that is a very obvious reason. But one has never address this issue of fountain pen as a "man jewelry". We don't get much jewelry except a watch, wedding ring. Fountain pens and cuff links to be exacturated.
Over the years I've used a myriad of pens from cheap ballpoints to expensive fountain pens and although one of the nicest "inexpensive" gel ink models I've come to appreciate was the Pilot Dr Grip, my only criticism was it's bulk. I recently bought a Uniball Premier 207 and found it to be just about the most perfect gel ink pen I've come across yet. Even though they cost about the same, the Uniball Premier 207 is far better feeling than the Pilot Dr. Grip (which uses the same refill as the G2) and is also a tad slimmer than the Dr. Grip. Writes nice and smooth too.
I have a good number of fountain pens, modern and vintage and the only ones that require any 'forced-slowness' are the ones with flexible nibs. And that's only if I want to take advantage of the flexible nature of the nib to create the line variation associated with flex nibs.
The rest keep up with me, however quickly I write or sketch.
As for the maintenance factor, I can get fountain pen ink online or locally, fairly easily. I've not had a pen get clogged up so far. I have had plenty of ballpoint pens dry up beyond restarting and just within the past couple of days had to go to two different stores just to find Parker Gel refills for my Jotter ballpoint pen. Yeah, ballpoints, etc., are much easier to maintain...