My favourite EXPENSIVE fountain Pens

I picked three to talk about today and while they may not be my most used, they're my favourite for many reasons!
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[@paulherman5822]

Expensive can be subjective, like you said. I am more a vintage collector and user, on a fixed income. Took saving for the Parker 51 Vacumatic I own, the most expensive pen I have. Was $150. Basically because I don't like the aerometric filling system, and the tools to restore one would double what I paid. I tend to set a limit on what I'll pay, and other than the 51, tend to do my own restoration. Means I can get some pretty good bargains. Being a vintage Esterbrook fanboy, the most I've paid for one is $25 for an "Educational Sample" CH. Generally around $15-20 USD. Having no life, I have time to hunt and watch and pass on things. Thrill of the hunt is fun! 😉 It's how I found my 1912 Mabie Todd Swan C2 for under a third of retail. $60. 😁 A GLORIOUSLY flexible nib. (And I don't necessarily want flex. This is just incredible.) Next expensive is a 1940s Conway Stewart. Was still under $45, after the new ink sac. For the best bang for your buck, you can't beat vintage, IMO.

[@malcolmgay2206]

Totally agree And you are working with something that can be 100 years old and writes like it was made yesterday. They leave you wondering about where they been and who has used them before parting with them. Enjoy

[@marilyngardner4269]

I was so surprised you didn't mention one of your Aurora 88s. I continually feel like my collection is missing something without one, but I'd really have to try one before I'd buy it. I'd be hard pressed to name my top three favorite expensive pens. Possibly the Pilot Custom 912 with FA nib (but I added a two-slit ebonite feed), Sailor Pro Gear (broad nib), and Pelikan M800 (fine or medium nib). Honorable mention goes to the Pilot E95s; it's actually one of the very best writers I have, but points off for the small ink capacity and difficulty checking the ink level. It's still almost always inked.

[@impish22]

Thanks for making my Friday better.. !! how fun

[@tamaring2108]

Yay!! I love it! Fellow LOTR and all things JRRT!

[@BCSpecht89]

After watching your review of the Leonardo Momento Zero Arabian Nights special edition from Pen Venture I had to have one. I got it with a custom medium nib and it is a gloriously wonderful writer. I'm absolutely in love with it. Then, after watching your video on your birthday pen, the Benu Briolette in luminous amber, I bought one of those, as well--and loved it. Hmmm...I'm noticing a pattern forming here. I now own another Benu pen, a Euphoria medium nib in Watermelon Mojito from Goulet Pens. It's an absolutely wonderful writer and I love that one, too. You have turned me into a devoted Benu fan and I plan to get more. I have other "expensive" pens, but these are my favorites that I keep inked up for daily use. I am even buying special colored inks for them. I've truly fallen down the rabbit hole. I blame you, Kerry, and thak you so very much.

[@aresaurelian]

Falling can feel thrilling but it is when we reach the bottom of the wallet that it hurts.I never tried a Benu, must check them out.

[@PensandTea]

I’m sorry for your wallet but not sorry for your joy hahahah

[@BCSpecht89]

Benus are the eye candy of fountain pens with the added benefit that they write so well! Why not have some fun while you enjoy the writing experience?

[@GaryScott-pdx]

Expensive is a relative for me. When I started I felt tat anything over $100 was expensive but nowadays I purchase very few pens less than that amount. My favorite pen is my Visconti Bronze Homo Sapien. Even with a custom grid its not my favorite writing pen but I love the feel of the pen. The lava gives the pen such a unique feel. My second through X pen is really hard for me to pick one. I have a number of pen from makers like Turnt Pen, Mystic, London Pen… While these pens typically have a JOWO nib I am a sucker for the beautiful acrylics. When it comes to pens I’m not real critical of their writing. I get my pleasure from the look and feel of the pen. Probably why Mont Blanc pens are some of the least desirable pens for me.

[@yelenamijares7821]

Yes, we would be here for that!

[@kris.1095]

Love the nerd corner! LOTR is life! As for pens, $100 is about right because to me, expensive is anything I wouldn’t easily and instantly be able to repurchase if I lost it. Mine are: (1) Edison Premiere in Delphinium with a glorious EF steel nib. Brian Grey really knows how to tune a nib! (2) BENU Euphoria with a stock medium steel nib. It’s smooth and reliable, and the sparkles cheer me up. (3) Platinum 3776 Laurel Green with a soft fine 14k nib. The material looks like stained glass, and when I saw that Goulet had the soft fine nib in stock, I had to try it. It’s precise yet expressive. Honorable mention: Diplomat Aero in medium with Gena Salorino’s cursive italic grind. I love it and don’t reach for it often enough.

[@baroquer]

Inexpensive and awesome PARKER Jotter + gold plated "B" nib (Bock) = PRICELESS 🥰

[@wittwittwer1043]

I have some Wanchers. Two are collaborations between Wancher and Pilot. I also have the same Wancher urushi model you have, but with a plastic feed and a steel stub nib. I have many upper end pens, primarily Pelikan: M600, M700, M800, M1000. I have a couple of Parker SEs &c, but I have been buying pens since the early 1980s, and my income in the meantime has steadily improved. so I can spend more lavishly. I agree with Kerry on Benus. Although many of them are garish, they ARE well built and write well. My main dissatisfaction with them is the time it takes to unscrew the cap. My favorite Benu is the Euphoria Pomegranate, because the cap band and the section are all a matching color.

[@ichirofakename]

My top expensive pens are a Sailor Pro Gear , a Franklin-Christoph Model 20, and a Pilot 743 . If accepting vintage, I might replace the 743 with my Waterman 52v.

[@jolienkrispijn]

I looove these types of video's! The Benu is on its way to me at this very moment, ordered it a few days ago 🎉🎉 looking forward to try it out. My faves over 100 Euro are: Leonardo MZ arabian nights (thanks to your video) because it's beautiful and writes like a dream, thanks to Emy. Conklin Endura Deco Crest in orange/gunmetal. Mostly because it's beautiful. It writes too dry, so I need to get the nib tuned. And then my Cross Apogee, because it was my first gold nib and it also looks very cool.

[@timzusa]

Great video!

[@sruckel]

I use an ink syringe to fill the con-70. It lets me control the mess and lets me get a full fill every time. I can either drip a little on the feed and nib or dip it in the bottle. Just a thought

[@adamzappia2213]

I don’t even use converters in my Pilots. I just refill cartridges. Even in my Custom 845 and Custom Urushi. I just find it easier.

[@irafuchstraum]

My favorite pens over 100$ are Lamy 2000, Wancher Dream Pen Urushi Kuro-Tamenuri and the Pilot Custom 743 FA.

[@NotesFromPastAmy]

Benu Euphoria and Maiora Aventus are my top two at this time. Great video

[@frankbruno7122]

Nice work Kerry.. as usual.. and I love the swords! That was my idiom as a kid.. whatever sword I could make.. cape, and boots.. had to use my red cowboy boots.. but I was still part of the round table. And now.. a Lord of the Rings need I am.. Frank in Colorado

[@SimplyAubs]

Your Fantasy Nerd Corner *definitely* needs to be shone off in all it's glory!!! (Looks GREAT by the way!!!)(I have ideas..) As far as pens go...I kinda just "started" in February...but I would have to say...of those I tried (ok...let's be real, I only 'tried' them once I bought them! Hopefully, someday soon...I'll be able to find some pen clubs of something...) 1. Sailor Pro Gear Slim - Goulet Pen Company's collaborations with Sailor - with an EF 14k rhodium plated nib. Beautiful!!! 2. Pilot Custom 912 FA - I have 2 slit ebonite feed 3. E95S - champange & burgundy Now, I say that I am DONE! But I guess we'll see...🤪

[@donhall-aquitania1025]

Yes, total LOTR nerd here too. Awesome map and swords! Thank you. 5 of my 9 fountain pens were gifts including a Montblanc 146 from 34 years ago. I paid $74 for my TWSBI Mini and that’s the most I’ve spent.

[@archivist17]

The pen is still mightier... 😂

[@stricht8]

Good one!

[@nlamproplos]

My favorites in this range are a Dipomat Aero with a cursive italic nib, a Montblanc 144 that I inherited, and a Lamy 2000.

[@Calcprof]

Nakaya... most any urushi model, but I do wish I had a decoded twist. I do have a more standard Nakaya in Aka-Tamenuri

[@BrooklynneMichelle]

I live in New Zealand so anything over 100 NZD is expensive. I just this past weekend got a Lamy Dialog 3 for 500 NZD and I was so nervous and worried I wouldn’t notice the difference but WOW the difference is amazing! It’s my new favourite. Also yes I’d watch nerd stuff

[@konradyearwood5845]

$100 was a decent cut off point.

[@astromiggy8894]

i agree that expensive is relative but when it comes to pens i tend to have to categories. For steel nibs, the expensive range is above $150 and for gold nibs, the expensive range is above $500. For steel nibs, i enjoy writing with leonardo pens. I know they are just jowo nibs but theres something about their factory tuning that makes it really writes well and consistent. For gold nibs, its the pilot custom 845

[@adamzappia2213]

I love my 845, though my Custom Urushi nib makes the 845 nib feel ordinary. I’d say those two are my top two pens. My best writing steel nibs are my Jinhao 159 and a Lamy and Kaweco (both 1.1 stub/italic nibs). I’m yet to try an expensive steel nib and at this stage I don’t think I will as I’m trying to narrow down my little collection to half a dozen or so favourite pens.

[@run-a-milekyle3835]

912 with a Waverly nib is my favorite, followed by my new Benu Talisman.

[@cd3694]

Coming from gel pen world, I too remember thinking 20.00 for a pen? Are you kidding? And when I went ahead and ordered a Kaweco Sport, thinking it would be metal because it was 20.00, right? And I got this plastic pen and I thought “WTH!” Now I laugh at that memory because I’ve since dropped way more than 20.00 on a fountain pen 😂

[@deniseplasse5126]

My top 3 favorite pens. 1. Leonardo MZG (any model with gold nib and ebonite feed) 2. Pelikan M800 3. Sailor Pro Gear

[@markfourn8499]

Yes

[@dcarp71]

The map and swords are verra nice! I also love the Wancher steel nibs...so much that I bought a few to use in my Opus 88 pens. The combo of Opus 88 and Wancher nibs are my favorite "hacked" combination.

[@agnesrambling]

i am early today. I have heard of BENU long time ago from an artist in Singapore, but have never get a hold of it, probably the same reasons you initial had. Many western pen in gold nib are more expensive than Japanese gold nib pens. So I am missing out a lot of the western pens. Currently my favourite expensive pen are Graf von Faber Castell Intuition, platinum 3776 chartres blue in Rhodium finish, and Custom 74.

[@Elizabeth-ci5xy]

I wish we had an annual pen show in Singapore, or anywhere in close proximity really! 😅 I have 7 Benu’s, all Talisman & Euphoria models and I absolutely love them. You’re welcome to play around with them sometime while we grab a coffee somewhere!

[@Slaughter0tter]

I was able to pick up one of the Diplomat Zepp's in silver/rhodium at a significant discount, was still around ~$650 after tax. But it is beautiful, I thought it may be gaudy in person but its just really pretty. The gold fine nib on it writes amazingly. The pilot 912 FA with a FNF feed showcases shimmer, sheening and shading amazingly. The conklin Nozac 125 year anniversary edition is the pen I paid the most for, even if they zepp has a higher msrp. I love everything about the construction and the design, the omniflex nib gives me a hard time. If I had any other nib in it, I would have no complaints. I keep it inked up and use it but every time it fails to start on a word or crossing a T I get disappointed.

[@rarararey]

I am getting a Benu in a couple of days, and I have to say I jumped on getting it because of you!!! Excited to have and try it and will probably ink it with writer's blood.

[@lukeewart2784]

Why would you ever be sad or angry? Drink tea and chill! Thanks for the content - I am still looking for the ultimate super smooth fountain pen that is not too fine not too broad, not too wet, not too dry etc etc…..

[@adamzappia2213]

If you don’t want to spend much, I’d suggest not trying a Pilot Custom Urushi. If you are happy to spend a ridiculous amount though, go ahead... beautifully smooth and flow is perfect. The nib has the most amazing feel of any nib I’ve used. Mine is a medium and I usually like the width of a Pilot fine best, and I’m really struggling with the idea of selling my medium and getting a fine medium instead, but this medium is actually growing on and I’m thinking I want to keep it and get a FM as well, but I don’t think I could possibly justify the cost of keeping both.

[@FrankDAgostino77]

Oh, I'd be here for that nerdy goodness!

[@kevinlandon7578]

Pens and Swords!~

[@helenbugsynelson]

My history in the hobby is very similar in that I started out with inexpensive Chinese pens, worked my way up to inexpensive Japanese pens, and now I’m up to $200 and up pens, although at this price point I buy maybe one pen a year. My 90 year old mother always reminds me I can get a Bic for around $1! Bless her heart, she just doesn’t get it lol 😂

[@kanck7909]

My fav top 3 expensive fountain pens 1. Pelikan M605 transparent 2. Platinum 3776 shape of a heart ivories 3. Pilot metal falcon sapphire the 3P lol

[@crouserm]

Wow. While I haven't read the Tolkien cycle every year since 1975, there aren't many years that I haven't, so, yes.... Nice pens! Not able to speak to absolutes here, but one of my least expensive expensive favorites would have to be the Hardy Penwrights 10-T Traveller - Dupras "Middle Earth" #22138 -- please note the continuation of your Tolkien theme! Steel Jowo nib. I would get a gold or titanium nib, just because it is so splendid a pen, but honestly, it writes so well.... Another favorite costlier pen, the ensso Italia Copper, with titanium nib. Substantial in the hand, amazing bounce to the nib. I carry it to work at times despite the strain on my shirt pocket.... Peneider Avatar UR with iperflex 14k. Only a true vintage nib has better flex. Fabulous.... Thank you, Kerrie!

[@aaron3890]

I completely agree with you about the Benu Euphoria! I avoided them because I don't care for sparkles and I have plenty of Schmidt nibs, but when they went to the trouble of moving their whole business to Armenia because of russia's genocidal war against Ukraine I had mad respect for them and bought one of their pens just for that reason. I got the pomegranate version with broad nib and it is absolutely perfect in every way! The nib is wet and as smooth as smooth can be and the pen is just beautiful!

[@taccora]

My favorite "expensive pens" are my Pilot 742 with a falcon nib, Benu Euphoria (particularly my Cookies & Cream or Iced Caramel Latte), Pilot Vanishing point, and my Pilot E95s's

[@prasadpadhye7187]

Pelikan M 600 Montblanc Meisterstuck 149 and Pilot Custom 823 r my favourite

[@otsesom]

Yes! Show off the swords and other LOTR stuff you have! and then maybe a writing sample with a bunch of S-words?

[@lindaroberts9195]

Ginger Chicken is in at Wonder Pens Stationary Shop.

[@_quiara_]

I AM HERE FOR THAT NERD STUFF

[@joanwerthman4116]

FWIW, I use an ink syringe to fill a con-70 as well as to clean it.

[@moeharri]

This is the way.

[@adamzappia2213]

I just refill cartridges - even easier for cleaning and I always have some dry and empty and ready to fill.

[@galessi1226]

​@@adamzappia2213 ...What is the best way to seal a cartridge for future use?

[@adamzappia2213]

@@galessi1226 no idea. I just fill them when the ink runs out. I keep some Pilot black cartridges handy since it’s an ink I use a lot anyway and it’s there ready in an emergency if I run out of ink and I’m not home and I really need to use my pen.

[@jaygoodwin8833]

What do you do for a living?

[@Amber24426]

I’d say the $100 cutoff is a fair arbitrary delineation to make!

[@SidJ8300]

Wouldn’t be surprised if the Sword acts as a DIP PEN on weekends ! 😂😂

[@PensandTea]

🤣🤣🤣

[@tiantuatara]

Totally willing to nerd out, any time. Favorite pens: Pilot Custom 823, Pilot Falcon (with soft medium nib), and my pen from River City Pens (don't remember the model name) - I love getting small maker pens when I go to pen shows.

[@kan-zee]

1:55... $1 - $25 = inexpensive/ budget fountain pen $25 - $50 = Medium priced fountain pen $50 - $100 = Hi priced fountain pen $100 - $2,000 = Luxury fountain pen

[@andreahandte6662]

I know you love your BENU pens, so OMG you need to check out there 7 new releases with 18kt gold nibs on their KZbin page. Crazy BEAUTIFUL!!!! one of a kind pens!!! BTW I finally broke down and got the Briolette Luminous Amber, STUNNING!!!

[@PensandTea]

I saw them and I want one SO BAD lol but unfortunately my wallet is not ready for it

[@andreahandte6662]

@@PensandTea sadly my wallet isn't either :(

[@wesrobertson1192]

Hell yeah a sword video is in order 😂

[@barbaracollins5301]

It’s funny because I think expensive is $200-300 and inexpensive is below $50 for sure if not $20. So there you go.

[@oscarmedina1597]

I had been planning on getting a Pilot 912 with a Falcon nib, but the recent availability of the 743 changed all that. Nice list of pens; maybe I’ll get a Wancher some day.

[@ad6449]

here for THAT ….

[@radiofreealbemuth]

Benu's glittery and sparkly designs are just not my cup of tea.

[@LauraRPh]

LOTR nerd!! I knew I liked you!

[@SaraHagen-oz4lv]

Beware of the Feng Shui dragon with two swords behind your back 😉

[@jes6628]

holy guacamole

[@kanorah]

Here for that. Love LotR.