Fantastic Nibs and Where to Find Them

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

All fountain pen aficionados know that the soul of a pen is its nib. No matter how beautiful the body of the pen is, if it doesn't write well, it loses its purpose in life. I've chosen some of my favorite nibs and why they are, in my view, fantastic. With one exception, all the nibs below are factory nibs that worked perfectly straight out of the box. Although I own spectacular nibs ground by nibmeisters, I wanted to focus on nibs that anyone can buy without special grinding.

Pilot Metropolitan Fine

Many people say that the Pilot Metropolitan is the gateway pen to fountain pen addiction. I have to agree. The nib is steel but smooth and uncomplicated. I've bought three Pilot Metropolitan Retro Pops, and all three write consistently well.

Pilot Retro Pop Fine Nib

The turquoise Retro Pop is my all-time favorite grading nib coupled with Diamine Marine (less scary than red). Smooth, perfect flow and $15.00–what is not to love? You can find these pens with their stellar nibs at many vendors, including JetPens.

Lamy 2000 Makrolon Fine

I got my Lamy 2000 through Massdrop, and, unfortunately, the original nib was awful. One of the tines was longer than the other and the pen was unusable.

Lamy 2000 Fine Nib

But, because Massdrop is an authorized dealer, Lamy changed out the bad nib for a good one at no charge, and now this is one of my favorite writers. Lamy 2000s can be found at JetPens, Goldspot, Goulet, and, occasionally, Massdrop.

Franklin-Christoph Marietta with a Gold Masuyama Medium Italic

I love Franklin-Christoph fountain pens. I would buy one of each if I could. The best part is you can get a pre-ground nib by nibmeister par excellence Mike Masuyama, without having to stand in a long line at a pen show or get in his business queue (which is months long).

Franklin-Christoph 18K Gold Medium Cursive Italic Nib

This is one of my favorite writing pens. I opted for the gold Medium italic and it is just terrific–no scratchiness, just beautiful, precise lines. You can get Masuyama nibs on virtually any Franklin-Christoph model.

Pilot Custom Heritage 912 with FA Nib

I reviewed this pen a few months back on Pen Addict. As I said in that review, there's nothing really remarkable about the pen itself since it's a typical black pen.

Pilot FA Nib

Nevertheless, what makes this pen stand out is the FA nib. The FA nib has wing cut outs on the nib that allow the pen to flex, giving you an almost-but-not-quite vintage flex experience. I bought my Pilot Custom 912 on Amazon, but you can also find them at Goldspot and Goulet.

Pilot Custom Heritage 823 Medium

The Pilot Custom 823 is one of those pens that almost everyone adores. Its vacuum filling system, size, and simple beauty are all a testament to the pen's popularity. But the thing that sets it apart from all the other cigar-shaped fountain pens is its huge, gorgeous nib. I love this nib.

Pilot 823 Medium Nib

Here's the key, though. If you want a smooth writing experience with the 823 nib, I recommend you go with a medium (or larger) nib. With extra fine or fine nibs you may wind up with something scratchy that digs into the paper. It's not that Pilot extra-fine or fine nibs are bad, but they are much finer than Western pens and the medium nib on my 823 writes like a true fine–one of the smoothest fine nibs I own. Goldspot and Goulet carry these pens as do many other vendors.

Graf von Faber Castell Intuition Terra Cotta Oblique Medium

In order to get a factory oblique medium nib, I had to purchase this nib from Martini Auctions (no American vendors stock these nibs). The price for the pen was definitely competitive (less than some American vendors without the OM nib), so I didn't mind the fact that it took a little longer to obtain from overseas.

Graf von Faber Castell Oblique Medium Nib

It has a nice crisp line but none of the strict positioning that can come with a cursive italic nib. I like obliques since I tend to hold my pens at an angle. The Graf von Faber Castell Intuition in Terra is difficult to find these days, but you can get other models. I'd suggest Martini Auctions if you're interested in nibs other than the standard medium.

Sailor Cross Concord

I reviewed this nib a couple of months ago along with the Sailor Cross Point. The Concord is definitely my favorite of the two because its standard position writes like a normal fine nib. But if you want some swishy, fat goodness, you just flip the pen over and glide away.

Sailor Cross Concord Nib

Sailor Specialty nibs are expensive and right now are difficult to obtain. You can order them from nibs.com and now from Anderson Pens.

Omas Ogiva Factory Italic

This is the smoothest italic I've ever used. I don't know if it is just a medium or broad nib whose tip was chopped off (it certainly doesn't seem to have tipping), but that seems to be the case (see the discussion on FPN here and here).

Omas Ogiva Factory Italic Nib

Regardless, it writes as smoothly as Ella Fitzgerald singing "Summertime." Sadly, since Omas is now out of business, it's much more difficult to purchase any of their pens, especially those with special nibs. Keep an eye out for sales on FPN and other Internet sites.

Montblanc Heritage 1912 Fine

This nib isn't huge and it isn't ornate, but it writes beautifully. Of course, you wind up paying a premium for the pen, not because of the nib, but because of the safety pen mechanism and the Montblanc name.

Montblanc Heritage 1912 Fine Nib

I love the retro-feel of this pen (see my review here). It's substantial and heavy (the barrel is made of metal), but the nib has a vintage spring to it that makes it a joy to write with. I bought my Montblanc Heritage 1912 from a seller on FPN. It's available through Montblanc and occasionally other online vendors.

Pelikan M400 White Tortoise with Factory OBB Nib

Although I prefer the M600 size Pelikans, I bought this beauty from Rick Propas. It was part of a collection he was selling and came with a factory OBB nib at an unbelievable price. It is a spectacular writer, inked with Pelikan Edelstein Amber (the only pen lucky enough to warrant that ink).

Pelikan M400 OBB Nib

It's getting more and more difficult to find Pelikans with italic or oblique nibs, especially the BB and BBB size, so you either have to buy vintage or seek out vendors that have these nibs in stock. Expect to pay a hefty amount for one of these Pelikan nibs. Classic Fountain Pens is one source for special-sized Pelikan nibs. You can also contact Rick Propas to see what he has in stock.

Nibs can be hit or miss depending on the fountain pen brand. I've had bad luck with Visconti and Kaweco nibs. I've read several discussions about the lack of size consistency of Pelikan nibs. Lamy nibs tend to get rave reviews or the exact opposite, which I'm sure is a quality control problem. I've even read reviews of bad Nakaya nibs–something I never thought possible.

The reality is that nibs don't always write well straight out of the box. Every user's experience may vary. It's always possible that you will get a poorly aligned nib, or a feed that doesn't offer enough flow for a particular nib, or tines that are different sizes, or a nib that is just plain scratchy. That's why it's always good to read return and exchange policies for fountain pens. When you buy from individual sellers rather than vendors, you may not get a refund if the nib is not to your liking. So, as one of my pen friends wisely suggested, if you buy a used pen, factor in the cost of a nibmeister along with the cost of the pen.

The Nakaya Portable Cigar Spiketails (Dragonfly): A Grail Pen

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

My favorite creature on earth, next to kitties, is the dragonfly. Every summer I go on yard safaris, taking photographs of the insects that inhabit our yard. When I find a dragonfly, I feel like I have discovered gold. Nothing makes me happier than capturing dragonflies on camera.

Dragonflies are sky lions–carnivores who zip through the air like gravity doesn't matter. Not only are they incredibly beautiful, but they rid the air of pests.

I adore dragonflies, so when I saw that Classic Fountain Pens (nibs.com) had a Nakaya Portable Cigar Spiketails (Dragonfly) fountain pen in the preowned section, I went nuts. At $1,300 (used–yes, used), this was not a pen I could just buy outright. I knew I would have to part with some amazing pens in order to afford the Nakaya.

I chose to sacrifice two pens to buy my grail: an uninked Montblanc Oscar Wilde and an Omas Paragon Arco (old style). Parting with the Oscar Wilde wasn't too hard since I had never inked the pen and I hadn't bonded with it.

The Paragon was more difficult. It's such a unique and beautiful pen and I loved the nib. But, at the time, Omas hadn't gone out of business and I wasn't too attached to the Arco. Silly me.

So, I posted both pens on the classifieds at Fountain Pen Network and Fountain Pen Geeks and crossed my fingers. It took about a month to sell both pens (and I had to do several price reductions), but eventually I had enough money to buy the Dragonfly with a nib grind to boot.

What makes the Nakaya Spiketails so unique is that it is a hand-painted acrylic fountain pen. Unlike most Nakaya pens which are completely opaque, the Dragonfly is partially transparent with raised painted designs covered in semi-transparent red (Shu) Urushi lacquer.

The dragonfly wings and some of the swamp grasses are coated in gold dust and semi-transparent Urushi. In sunlight, the effect is absolutely magical.

The dragonfly design is genius, with the dragonfly's body curving gracefully along the pen and its wings encircling the cap.

The dragonfly is amazingly detailed.

The bottom of the pen portrays the swamp grasses that are the habitat of the dragonfly.

My pen came with a BB single-tone 14K nib. I had nibs.com grind the nib down to a medium italic. It writes beautifully, though I will say this isn't the smoothest nib I've received from them. I could send it back for more work, but I'm afraid this is one pen I just can't let out of my sight.

I realize some people don't understand grail pens, especially ones this expensive. "Why would you ever spend that much money on a pen?" I can't offer a reasonable explanation, because grail pens aren't reasonable. A grail pen is a pen you desire because it means something special to you. You can't justify this with logic. Ultimately, the reason one buys any grail pen is intensely personal. For me, a pen representing one of my favorite creatures on earth is meaningful to me. Also, this isn't just a pen I write with, it is a piece of exquisite art.

The Art of Fountain Pen Photography

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

My two main hobbies are fountain pen collecting and photography, so naturally I love to combine the two. Often, when I post photographs to Instagram or on Pen Addict, I am asked what tools I use to create my pictures. So here's my set up and how I use it.

I own two cameras with which I do all my photography: My Olympus OMD-EM1 and my iPhone 6s. For Pen Addict, I always use my Olympus with a 60mm Olympus macro lens and a Macro Arm Light. My macro lens has settings from 1:1 to infinity, so it is quite versatile.

I can shoot crisp 1:1 macros as well as full pen shots.

Fountain Pen Taken with Olympus OMD-EM1 and 60 mm Macro Lens

For Instagram, Facebook, etc., I use my iPhone 6s, often with the Moment case and Moment 25mm, 10x macro lens.

In both instances, I take photos without flash (I find it to be too harsh). The only room in our house that has adequate sunlight is our Florida room, so it's my fountain pen photography studio. Unfortunately, it's also the bedroom for my four cats, which means a lot of dust and cat hair appear in my photographs.

I should probably invest in a good light box, but I prefer natural sunlight, and I find the solid background of a light box rather boring. Despite the overuse of a mosaic table I made for my husband long ago for Father's Day (it's falling apart), and despite all the cat hair I have to clone out of my photos, I like my Florida Room studio.

I try to be as creative as possible when I do pen photography. As I said, I'm not fond of bland backgrounds, even though sometimes you need a plain background to set off a pen. I prefer trying to find options that present a pen in a unique way. Here are some examples:

Almost anything can be a pen prop, from lemon slices, to kitty paws, to typewriter keys. There's no reason to limit oneself to black or white backgrounds.

Another key component of my fountain pen photography is macro shooting. There's just something special about getting a close up of an O3B nib or the scroll work on a nib or a detailed shot of a pen's texture or design.

Danitrio Soft Stub, taken with Olympus OMD-EM1 and 60mm Macro Lens

I use both my Olympus and my iPhone for macro photography. Here are some shots of nibs taken with my Olympus and my iPhone with the Moment macro lens (I didn't edit these photos in any way):

Danitrio Macro Olympus

Danitrio Macro iPhone

Montblanc Macro Olympus

Montblanc Macro iPhone

Obviously, the Olympus takes better shots overall, but it is an expensive camera with an expensive lens attached. The iPhone 6s holds its own, and I find the Moment lens to be extraordinarily good, maintaining crispness from edge to edge. If you can't afford a DSLR or Micro 4/3 camera and a macro lens, but you have an iPhone (or Galaxy or Nexus), I highly recommend Moment lenses. They are top quality lenses with extraordinary glass.

I opted to purchase the Moment Case because I didn't want to glue the lens attachment clip to my iPhone. The advantages of the Moment Case are that it is easy to install and remove, the lenses screw on securely, the case makes the iPhone easier to hold, and the case comes with a shutter button that works just like a DSLR shutter button– press halfway to focus and all the way to shoot.

Olloclip is another brand that sells excellent macro lenses. Photojojo also offers the Iris lens set, and there's even a super-inexpensive rubber band macro lens.

What makes pen photography most enjoyable for me is being creative with shots and getting close ups of the details. You may prefer taking your pens outside and shooting them with beautiful landscapes in the background (West Texas is flat, brown, and ugly, so I don't have that option). The main thing is to experiment with equipment, lighting, and settings. Your pens are the perfect models–no tantrums, no frowns, no flyaway hair (unless you have cats). With a little creativity, some equipment, and good light, you can show off your pens in style.