The Smoothest Fountain Pen - Is it Mont Blanc, Pilot, Sailor, Pelikan or Visconti
2024 ж. 28 Нау.
9 815 Рет қаралды
Which is the smoothest fountain pen?
Let's compare the top pens of the most revered fountain pen brands such as Mont Blanc, Sailor, Pilot, Pelikan and Visconti.
Each of these pens has a gold nib and a unique feeling to write with. While some nibs are springy others are stiff. But all of them are super smooth.
Which is the smoothest pen according to you?
#luxury #gold #luxurylifestyle #montblanc #pen #pilot #luxuryliving #sailor #amazing #youtube #brand
Two weaknesses of this comparison: EF nib not comparable to Medium nibs (actually Japanese medium and German medium not comparable) and second no nib tested for horizonta, vertical or reverse writing. Fountain pens, even when mass produced, are works of art. Comparisons are meaningless. Try to find the beauty and character in them. Maybe you will get to understand yourself and the world around you better. Im sorry if I sound critical.
I already mentioned the first one in the beginning of the video comparing smoothness of various pens and the nib sizes that I am testing. For the second, comparisons help people find the pens they are looking for. You dont get to try every pen thats being made. So such videos help people understand what they may get with a certain pen. I have viewed 100s of such videos and that certainly helped me find the pens that I love to write with.
Very interesting, and a bit surprising, video. My 2 cents is using the same inks in all of the pens would have been ideal. Nice pen collection you have there!
Inks are a factor in smoothness but not much. I have tried sailor, pilot and pelikan inks in all these pens and based on that too I have the same rankings. Pilot Iroshizuki is definitely smoother than Pelikan 4001. Next I will try Pelikan Edelweiss.
Diplomat fountain pens with gold nip is very smooth. The Diplomat steel nip is smoother than my MB gold nip
Really? So I need to buy one then. I dont yet have it and havent tried writing with it ever. But as you have suggested, I'll surely add it to the list. Isnt Diplomat used by US Presidents?
I bought a Diplomat Aero Volute with an Gold nib. It didn't write smooth at all and way too dry also. I checked the alignment etc... all good. At the end I polished the nib myself, spread the tignes with brass shims, it isn't really nice, but much better now. Maybe it was just a bad example...
@@marcorothley6039it hurts when that happens. Spending so much money to receive a mediocre product. My Pelikan M1000 had a crooked nib put of box. One of the tines was slightly bent and therefore shorter. I managed to rectify it but now it oozes ink. I had a problem with Mont Blanc Starwalker too and the company refused to acknowledge it.
@@Soon2berich Yeah, I was thinking hard about returning it, but it was a super cheap deal (guess because of other customers returning that exact pen, but I don't know...) and I like the look of it so much, so I kept it. With my modifications it is now working good enough but then again, the M nib writes more like a broad and I rather like finer nibs because I want to use my pens for note taking etc during the office day and with such a broad stroke I'd need loads of ink and paper. But that's nothing to really complain about, Sometimes I still can use it for bigger text like headings and such. But being one of my most expensive pens, it kinda was a disappointment all in all...
@@marcorothley6039 i can feel you. The same happened to me for my Pelikan M1000. I got it for 25% discount and they said that they can exchange medium with a broad due to limited stock, which I dint want. I prefer medium nib size for Japanese pens and fine for Western. Although I dont have a fine nib size yet, I do plan to buy a Visconti HomoSapiens Fine nib. I really hope that these brand selling such expensive pens have a better quality control.
Good start !!! Try also LAMY , LEONARDO OFFICINA ITALIANA and the best WINGSUNG 630 😉. I wait for these 3 SUPER SMOTH (GOLD) NIBS
There are so many pens I want to buy but so limited money I have. Therefore, I am focusing on buying pens which increase in value over the years and have good resale. For the rest, I just keep dreaming and imagining.
I would love to see your Comparison Video , using 5 Budget Brand Fountain Pens. Examples: 1) Pilot Kakuno 2) Jinhao Brand 3) Asvine Brand 4) Wing Sung 5) Moonman 6) Baoer 7) Pen BBS Then you have another Comparison Video (suggestion) , using 5 of the common Mid-Range Brand Fountain Pens . a) Lamy Fountain Pen b) Kaweco Fountain Pen c) Twisbi Fountain Pen d) Parker Fountain Pen e) Noodlers Fountain Pen
Sure, I will do that. But please give me a couple of months to add these to my collection.
I will interject and comment about CHEAP pens: Jinhao is hit or miss, but I just received 8 Jinhao 159, 9016 & 9019 and all write perfectly smooth! And I have two Hongdian fountain pens that are smooth too! Moonman are great too.
@@robjohnston6785 there are cheaper pens that write smooth. There is a pen that my grandma gifted me 25 years ago...no brand name or anything but its one of the finest writers I have. The difference is really visible when you use Pilot, Sailor or Pelikan vs any others. The smoothness combined with the softness of gold nibs levels up the experience. With Mont Blanc, I once dint use it for more than a year and after that also there were no hard starts. I guess such experiences create the differences in expensive vs cheaper pens.
I have tried and compared Pilot kakuno F, Pilot custom 743 FM, Jinhao M, fine, and extra f asvine M. jinhao was bought multiple times until I got the perfect tuned nib. All pens new and unused perfectly tuned upon observation grossly and microscopically. In term of smoothness: Jinhao 9019 F and M in the top followed surprisingly by Pilot kakuno M then F. pilot 743 FM was comparable to pilot Kakuno F. I was disappointed by the fact that the 10 dollars pilot write the same as the 250 $ pilot 743 FM. jinhao 9019 extra fine Asvine was good enough but not comparable to the other. Jinhao 9019 if you are lucky can be even better the the overpriced overrated Pilot custom 743-823.
@@rakanal-zahrani3887 please share the link to the video. I would want to see it. Not a lot of videos on fine and extra fine nibs
Thanks for an interesting video. I would like to see you try a Montegrappa, also a Platinum, and while not in the lofty price range, a Lamy..
I really wish to add Montegrappa to my collection but for every penny I spend on buying pens, I have to spend twice on my wife's jewellery. And also get permission from her.
Pilot Custom Uroshi fm nib is my favorite nib
It is really smooth but extremely wet. Out of these 5, it is surely the best. But overall M800 is my fav.
The pelican nib is really nice, but my problem is the pelican logo, I always avoid things with animal pictures...otherwise I might get the pelican 1005 ef nib for regular use
Try Visconti Homo Sapiens with Fine or Medium nib. Its equally good. But its a heavy pen. You can buy it from Appelboom website and use code "friends" for 10% off. They deliver to India in 5 days. There will be minimal customs fee. Including all that, it still cheaper than the price being offered by Indian vendors
I have been looking for visconti homosapien sliver max edison for a long time, all the websites are looking out of stock...
You can reach appelboom or makoba on whatsapp. They shd be able to arrange it.
thanks for interesting comparison, does Namiki use same/common nibs as standard Sailors have? cheers from Europe
Namiki is a Pilot brand. So their nibs are smoother and softer. Sailor nibs are soft too but have pencil like feedback. Also, Namiki nibs are huge. I tried Namiki at a pen shop in India. Planning to buy it from Appelboom website, so a big thanks to Europe for that.
an all rounder for EDC would be any pilot/platinum F/M nib dry enough to work on cheap paper, can use for signing if necessary
I prefer Pelikan M800. Almost as smooth. Harder nib feels more sturdy and lesser wetness than Pilot. I find Pilot is too soft and wet for an all purpose pen. The link also can be a big factor. Pelikan 4001 is a very dry ink...so works well on cheap paper.
Did you get one of the special nib grinds from Sailor? ~6 years ago, I tried several Sailor ProGear models, below KoP grade, and the one with a 'Naginata Togi' grind was 10x nicer than the standard nibs. It has just enough feedback to know that I am writing on smooth vs rough paper, but zero 'singing', let alone scratching. Another brand worth trying IMO is Leonardo Officina Italiano,. They have absolutely gorgeous resin, and the gold nibs are 'butter' when paired with ebonite feeds. The Ti nibs have flex, rather than softness. Paired with say, Leonardo Blue or the blood red inks, it is a very nice experience. However, skip the "Puro' models, as they are IMO pretty slippery to hold.
I havent tried any special nib grinds. Never imagined that there could be such a huge difference in writing experience. I will surely plan one now. For Leonardo and other brands, trust me, I wish I could buy them all. But on my salary, I can add just one to my collection every 3-4 months that too with my wife's permission.
I've got a Sailor 1911L with the old style nib that has those exact same characteristics. Medium nib, writes like western Extra Fine. 5% feedback just to have enough control when writing. Amazingly smooth and bouncy.
@@zveryok1 sailor pens are great. Especially the feedback which is just perfect.
Smoothness is not my sole criteria for judging a fountain pen. You are very fortunate to have these flagship pens.
Yes. Its just a factor in the overall experience. Thats why in my short reviews I compare a few more factors such as wetness, softness, grip size, feedback and more. In lengthy reviews I also consider the weight of the pen, how well the pen can be gripped and more
Smothest pen I tried is Montblanc Copernicus! You should try the Glacier solitaire Montblanc that belongs to that quality! Unfortunately the best nib quality can be found only in the limited edition of Montblanc . System converter can have some false starting in the writing that piston filling hasn't 🎉 Converter seems so not so good!
Thanks for the suggestions I'll look these up and try them. I too have observed that limited editions of Montblanc are better writers than normal ones.
Something that is awesome abt Montblanc is that even if you use the pens after weeks, there are no hard starts. Same is not true for Sailor, Pilot or Pelikan.
Montblanc Copernicus is smother but scratch the paper a little.
Heard a lot about this pen. Will check out some reviews and then plan to buy.
Interesting video. My Montblanc 146 pens are the smoothest in my collection. I don't have a Pilot Custom Urushi, however, no a Visconti HS yet. But when compared with Pelikan, Omas, and Sailor, my Montblancs win.
Thats very interesting. At my end, both my Pelikans beat all 3 of my Mont Blancs. My Sailor KOP too is better than at least 2 of my Mont Blancs. Pilot Custom Urushi's smoothness is at a different level. It actually is too smooth to write comfortably.
I think you should have used the same ink in all pens. Anyways, good comparison video. Nice 👌
I agree but I had already filled up different inks. Also, I find that wetter pens work better with dry inks such as Pelikan 4001 and drier pens or EF nibs work well with Pilot Iroshizuki. I will also try Edelstein soon.
I have heard recently that mont blanc tunes their nibs to have a certain feel and feed back. As a brand I don't care for sailor though I have never used one. I have heard visconti has had some really amazing nibs and some flops despite a huge price tag. of my pens I can easily say my pilot custom 823 in m is the smoothest. I have used a lamy and found their 18 nib to be close but had some pen related mechanical issues(cc) good writing but some mechanical related issues.
Mont Blancs generally have very stiff nibs and my experience with 149 and starwalker hasnt been good. Trust me Sailor nibs are amazing. You should try Sailor 1911. For Visconti, I have an EF and its super smooth so I can only image how good Fine or Medium nibs of Visconti would be. And yes for smoothness...nothing beats pilot. Although Pelikan is also very smooth.
I love the super wetness of the M1000. On good paper, it is great.
I agree. On good paper, you'll love the wetness but most of the times we have to sign on papers of low quality. Thus, for signing you cannot flaunt this pen.
I'm a Sailor fan because my Sailor KOP with a broad nib is glass smooth as well as being a phenomenal writer. A Naginata Togi nib is just as great.
I also like my Sailor KOP a lot and its way better than MB149. But I find MB Brothers Grimm to be slightly better than Sailor KOP. One of the major reasons for that will be that the nib feels quite sturdy compared to KOP nib which is very soft and bends over time. I had to straighten it a few times already.
I think the pelikan m800 nib is their best nib. M1000 is just a fancy signature pen. I feel like Pilots feedback to you would be "get good bro". I also don't like overly smooth nibs but that's because my hands Shake
Couldn't agree with you more. You've described all of them perfectly. I too find Pilot a bit too smooth. M800 is the perfect pen for me.
sorry, I meant Pilot nibs of course vs Namiki nibs
Yet to buy a Namiki. But I tried it at a shop and the nib is huge. It was as soft as Pilot. Cant wait to add it to my collection
Where is the Graf von Faber-Castell Magnum in this line up? Would pick it regarding smoothness before the Japanese and the Visconti for sure.
This ranking is amongst the top expensive and renowned brands that I have been able to collect till now. There are many other pens which are as smooth or smoother which I will own soon and then will update this list.
I see. The GvFC is in the 1000€+ tier.
@@mrk131324thats an expensive one. It may take me some time to add it to my collection. I'll surely update my list then.
Try a SCRIBO, that will have unparalleled smoothness.
Interesting. Thats the first time I am hearing about SCRIBO. I'll research a bit on these. They look mighty expensive.
@@Soon2berich They are on the expensive side, but they have great bodies, and are true successors of the great OMAS.
@@ironmic9244 I'll surely buy one. I actually have a dual purpose to buy pens. First, I love collecting pens. Second, they are a good investment too. The value of Mont Blanc, Pilot and Sailor increases by almost 100% every 5 years. I havent tracked this for rest of the brands. I have a Mont Blac limited edition and its value has increased 400% in 12 years.
Agree Pilot CU (M) too smooth; took about 1 year to get used to with a lighter touch. Wife's Pilot CU (FM) is less smooth and more usable. FM for the win!
Yes... FM is a better option for Pilot CU and Pelikan M1000
What is the smoothest fountain pen brand CONSISTENTLY that's what matters to mass public
Agreed. For that, I would say Pilot is the most consistent. But at the end, luck matters too. I have only one Pilot pen. So for me, all 3 of my Pelikans have been consistent.
IMHO, nothing compares to the ST Dupont top-line fountain pens. The Duponts are the SMOOTHEST ever.
I dont have any yet. Will surely plan to buy one soon
Lamy 2000. No contest. I have not tried Visconti though, but out of the rest, still, no contest.
No doubt that Lamy 2000 is a great pen but the league of others is different. Pilot Custom Urushi is extremely smooth, no contest there. For Visconti, the more I am writing with it, the more I am loving it.
@@Soon2berich I do have a Pilot Custom, I still do not find it as smooth as the Lamy 2000, or at least I do not find it more smooth. It might be that my needs are differently. As a left handed person, I of course push the tip against the paper rather than pull across it like a right handed person would. As such I find any pen that is not at least an EU medium, platinum covered gold nib, to be scratchy, depending on the paper (I don't mind it being scratchy, mind you, it is just not as nice of a writing experience). The 2000 has a "bounce" that none of the others (bar the Visconti, as mentioned) do, which is a lot more forgiving to the left handed "push" writing.
@@kinuuni this is a very interesting take and view point. Right handed people are oblivious to it. I am yet to try a top line Lamy pen but I concur on the statement about Visconti. How about Pelikan M800?, I find it to be great in all aspects.
P r o m o s m
The writing experience of the current Montblanc 149 is completely unworthy of its price. I recommend trying the first to fourth generations of the 149 instead. They offer better feedback, flexibility, and writing experience.
You are right. The current version i just not worth it. However, I liked the MB Heritage Rouge Et Noir.
Add NAMIKI EMPEROR N.50 in urushi
I so want to. But out of my budget as of now.
@@Soon2berich yeah it is expensive but really worth every penny.
@@yashjain5249 hope to add it to my collection soon
I am sure he is a wonderful man BUT: I CAN BARELY UNDERSTAND HIM. I get that English is the Lingua Franca of today. But I think that people like “Soon To Be Rich” should make videos in a language that they can speak more clearly like their native language. Friendly advice.
Strange. I can understand every word, despite an accent.
@spruceguitar Well, strange that you cant understand what I am speaking. May b English is not your native language. I interact with Americans all day and none of them have had difficulty understanding me.
Thank you so much for the kind comment. I do have a mix of US, UK and Indian English but more or less it's my native language as I have been interacting with global clients everyday for past 8 years. I actually have a much poor vocabulary in Hindi which is my native language.
It was not meant as an insult. It is my native language, I am Canadian. -Glad to hear that people can understand you as well as you say they do. -But I do not hear the tinge of UK accent, I must say. And I am very used to the British accent.
@@spruceguitar in India we are taught British English and we develop an Indian accent too. I have also lived in South India, so I have a hint to their accent too. Along with that I talk to Americans all day so its a mix of everything.