21 Best Fountain Pen Brands

Fountain pen can make handwriting more calligraphic beauty, and good fountain pen brands are more trustworthy.

Many countries in the world have some relatively top pen brands, especially Germany, the United States, Japan and so on.

Now, let's take a look:

1. Montblanc

If you want to get a fountain pen with excellent comprehensive strength in all aspects. Then one of the best German fountain pen brands: Montblanc, is your final choice.

Montblanc has been in the public eye since 1924 with the launch of the Meisterstück series.

It is made of solid materials, with excellent quality control, and even a tiny scratch is not allowed to appear. It has been popular in more than 60 countries just after its launch.

In particular, the Meisterstück 149, was popular for its stable and stylish shape, making Montblanc fountain pens a top-of-the-line fountain pen brand.

2. Pelikan

Among German fountain pens, Pelikan is the only brand that can compete with Montblanc.

In 1929, it produced the first fountain pen with piston inking patent. This in turn improved the pen's ink storage capacity, simplified the inking procedure, and gained a high reputation.

Piston inking is still standard for many high-end pens today.

The Pelikan fountain pen brand has been famous since its inception for its smooth, durable nibs, as well as its precise, high-quality inking mechanism.

This unique manufacturing process has not changed to this day.

3. Parker

Since the founding of Parker in 1888, the brand has continued to make better pens. Hemingway, who was a war correspondent, loved the Parker fountain pens.

Parker pens have also witnessed many major events, which are also of relatively historical value.

The peak of Parker's limelight comes after the 51st anniversary of the launch of the Parker 51. The Parker 51 has a lot of innovations in technology and design, and it is still popular around the world today.

Parker's Doufold, Premier and Sonnet pens are relatively high-end, while Urban is a mid-to-high-end series. The Parker IM series of products are generally for students.

4. Aurora

Aurora and Montblanc are both luxury pen brands, it treats fountain pens with the attitude of creating handmade gems.

Not only the workmanship of the fountain pen is excellent, but the shape design is world-class, and it also pays special attention to the grip of the pen.

The thickness and length of the pen grip are accurate, the size and weight of the pen body are appropriate. And the light resin barrel is very suitable for high-intensity writing.

Although it is difficult to compete head-on with Japanese fountain pens in terms of nib attainments, it is also comparable to German fountain pens.

5. Sailor

Among the Japanese fountain pen brands, Sailor has the highest nib skills. And Japan regards the "Arita-yaki fountain pen" as a national gift.

According to the types of nibs, Sailor fountain pens are divided into Steel nibs, 14K, 21K and Naginata Togi. Obviously, the nib is the soul of Sailor.

The best representative of Sailor nibs is undoubtedly Naginata Togi, but Naginata Togi has extremely high requirements for the control pen.

If you want to experience the manufacturing process of Sailor nibs, it is best to start from 21K.

Due to its high gold content, Sailor 21K is often considered to be soft. In fact, because of its sufficient thickness, 21K is even harder than some 14K and 18K fountain pens.

Combined with wedge grinding, you can change the angle to show different thicknesses. The damping is strong, and there is a noticeable rustling sound when writing, especially the M nib.

6. Hero

Among the Chinese pen brands, the Hero brand came into people's field of vision very early.

In the early days, Hero Brand chose to pay homage to the classic fountain pen. It imitated the Parker 51 and developed the 14K Hero 100, which was once popular because it was relatively cheap.

Hero 616 is the best choice for students to get started. If you are lucky enough to pick a better quality pen, the nib is smooth, the thickness is moderate, and the damping is moderate.

7. Waterman

Waterman is a French fountain pen brand as famous as Parker, Montblanc and Pelikan.

There are several important nodes in the development of the Waterman fountain pen.

It rose to fame with the release of the Man series, especially 1983's Man 100. Selected as one of the top five fountain pens in the book "Fountain Pens of the World".

The appearance design of Waterman pens is more personalized, and the pens also belong to the mid-to-high-end range.

It also has its own unique insights into the manufacture of the nib of the fountain pen, and it is also very smooth for daily writing.

8. Namiki

The Namiki brand was the first to apply the Maki-e technique to fountain pens, which is the pinnacle of Japanese fountain pen accomplishments. 

In 1996, the four limited edition fountain pens launched by Namiki and Dunhill were auctioned for a high price of 20 million Japanese yen. This is enough to reflect the quality of the Namiki fountain pen.

9. Sheaffer

Sheaffer was established in the United States in 1913. It was the first company to invent the pressure rod self-filling ink pen, one of the classic fountain pen brands.

Its inking method is also very unique in the pen world, and the brand's Recessed nibs and Targa nibs are also very classic.

10. Lamy

Founded in 1930, Lamy has a history of more than 90 years. It has adhered to the minimalist fashion design from the beginning, so it is favored by the Modern Design Award.

Many young people also like Lamy fountain pens because of their appearance.

In addition, the price of Lamy fountain pen is not high, and the quality is really good, and it is relatively durable.

Safari and AL-Star are arguably Lamy's signature. But the most recommended is Lamy 2000.

As one of the top fountain pen brands, Lamy has the smoothest fountain pen that touches the paper like an ice skating. Not recommended for those who are just starting to practice calligraphy.

11. Picasso

Picasso is one of the best Chinese fountain pen brands.

The brand has always advocated the art of life, and it is indeed outstanding in the design of the fountain pen.

12. Faber-Castell

Faber-Castell is a good fountain pen brand with a long history established in Germany in 1761.

Its design is elegant and natural, no matter from positioning or craftsmanship, Faber-Castell has its own distinctive characteristics and pursuits.

13. Nakaya

Nakaya is the only high-end famous fountain pen brand in Japan that can rival Namiki.

One of the biggest features of Nakaya is its extremely high degree of freedom in customizing the fountain pen. And almost any part can be customized according to individual requirements.

If you're giving a fountain pen as a gift, a custom-made fountain pen is the best way to express your feelings.

14. Cross

Parker is being caught up by Cross. Cross is a special fountain pen used by the President of the United States to sign executive orders.

Especially in the high-profile appearance in the popular TV series "House of Cards", the rows of Cross fountain pens on the table attract countless attention.

As one of the premium fountain pen brands, we would like to give a special mention to the Townsend series. 

Its quality is excellent: the nib is manufactured through 12 processes, 7 quality inspections, and finally a manual handwriting test.

15. Kaweco

Kaweco is a German fountain pen brand, its biggest feature is portability.

The Sport series is the classic line of Kaweco pens.

It is only 10.5 cm long with the cap on, making it easy to carry. Insert the cap at the end of the pen, and it becomes 13.5 cm just for writing. The year after its launch, it won a gold medal at the Leipzig International Fair.

16. Pilot

Among Japanese pen brands, Pilot dominates the mid-to-low-end market with a wide variety of special-shaped nibs.

Especially in the innovation of practical functions, no brand can compete with Pilot. Pilot is arguably the best fountain pen brand for beginners.

Pilot's flagship nibs come in sizes 5, 15, 20, and 50, and both the Pilot Custom and Heritage series use size 5 nibs.

The most representative of the Custom series is the Custom 74, which has a strong business atmosphere. Although its nib is soft and flexible, it is easy to control, slightly damped and comfortable to write. 

In addition, the ink is evenly distributed and the writing edge is sharp, which is very suitable for writing in Daily office use.

17. Montegrappa

Montegrappa is one of the Italian expensive pen brands whose pens are famous for their gorgeousness and solidity.

Its product line has two categories: ultimate craft and signature.

Among them, the ultimate craft mainly creates complex-shaped pen holders according to specific themes, and does not care about the grip at all. Mainly used for collection.

18. Platinum

Platinum is one of the three major Japanese pen brands alongside Pilot and Sailor.

And Platinum fountain pens have two major features. The first is that under the premise of tightening the cap, the fountain pen can still produce ink after long-term placement.

The second is the addition of ultra fine tip UEF and soft fine tip SF on the basis of the conventional nib thickness, which greatly enhances the practicality of the Platinum pen.

19. Visconti

Visconti is an Italian fountain pen brand, it often has a lot of bold ideas on the pen, thus accumulating a lot of niche fans.

Like all Italian fountain pen brands, Visconti pays more attention to the design than the nib, and there are some pens in gold and silver styles.

Of course, Visconti is best at fountain pens with the theme of art oil painting. The most cost-effective Van Gogh series is the main one, which is worth recommending.

20. Duke

The Duke brand is one of the earliest joint venture pen brands between China and Germany.

With rigorous German manufacturing technology and design, some high-end products are combined with oriental charm, creating an extraordinary design.

The designer uses the ergonomically designed pen holder, which is comfortable to hold and makes writing a pleasure.

21. Otto Hutt

Otto Hutt is a long-established German fountain pen brand, where the fusion of traditional technology and modern style is at the heart of Otto Hutt.

Every fountain pen, from the Design 01 Classic Lightweight Style to the Design 08, is hand-checked and tested to ensure flawless quality.

And individually engraved with serial numbers to reflect the value of each fountain pen as a unique piece of art.

See Also

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