Reply With QuoteI've had a few nice Cross pens in my time, and Lamy are quite nice too :D
Thought this would be the most appropriate place to post this. I am aware that there a few members who are into their pens on here and thought would be a good idea to pick your collective brains.
I am after a ballpoint pen with a budget of max £50 - so that will most probably rule out Mont Blanc and the other higher end pieces :evil:
Will be asking Mrs Bond to purchase one to give to Santa so suggestions on where to look are also welcome.
Thanks in advance for all your suggestions :)
I've had a few nice Cross pens in my time, and Lamy are quite nice too :D
bic? :D
ktmog6uk
marchingontogether!
+ 1 they,re a bit on the pricey side but if you pick one with plenty of service history you cant go wrong . :)Originally Posted by ktmog6uk
Parker Jotter. Best pen in the real world.
Not sure how their ball points stand up, but I got Mrs M to buy me a Lamy fountain pen about 2 years ago and I love it! Ok it's no Mont Blanc, but it's nice and smooth, asthetically pleasing and doesn't break the bank! Worth a look in my book
Come on! you know better than to buy on price rather than what you want!
Omega for watches.
BMW for cars.
Mont Blanc for pens
And marks and spencer for under wear.
I am a big MB fan, have 3 and a few leather bits. If yo9u must buy a non MB pen then Cross is about the best for the money. Just dont go for a fine ball point.
Lamy rollerballs and ballpoints are good (as are their fountain pens). I must admit, I almost always write with a fountain pen these days, generally a Namiki Pilot. I do have a Space Pen for those occasions when a FP isn't going to work.
Dave E
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
A site worth a look for ideas -
http://www.andys-pens.co.uk/
I bought one of the Faber-Castell coconut ones for £50 down from £110 RRP, and then spotted one on eBay BNIB which was £20 - so got two !!
Guess it is all down to personal preference - I had a Cross pen before the Lamy and now wouldn't go back. Those Spacepens are good too - esp. when its wet or your hanging upside down! :lol:
I really like Cross.
If you want it to be a bit special go for sterling silver if you use it often, 14K gold if you don't and black if you must. Avoid chrome.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Yes. But is that in budget? Alternatively...
Fisher Space Pen?
Mike.
I use a Faber-castell e-motion rollerball and you can use parker rollerball refills that are cheaper in this model. :wink:
.
Pretty much bang on...Yes. But is that in budget?
http://www.amazon.com/Cross-Sterling-Si ... B000F0QMBG
:D
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
CmdrBond,
With a ball-pen you are buying the refill as much as the pen. Part of the writing experience is about how it feels to write with the nib, the rest is how you feel about the pen case. I happen to like the way Cross writes and the simplicity of Cross designs (and Cross refills go in some other nice looking pens).
I only use my ball pen for writing on newspaper (crossword) and for lending to other people, otherwise I use a fountain pen.
In that price bracket I'd say that you can't beat Cross. I own a couple of MB and they do look lovely and have a nice balance, but IMHO they're not really a day to day pen as I don't think they are that durable (even when kept in a pen case). As an outside bet I'm also rather fond of the Parker ballpoints, not very trendy, but very practical :)
I recommend the steel Parker ball-point that sells for around £7. A design classic IMO. I`ve got 2 identical ones because I`me always losing one :)
Paul
The other way to buy a Mont Blanc is to do it with Tesco's vouchers and get four times face value at Goldsmiths. It was the only way I could afford to get my Black Rubber and Platinum Starwalker pens...
Other than that, Lamy and Rotring are nice (although, Rotring are now owned by Parker and they have 'adopted' some of the old styles)
You dont give much info on whether the 'look' of the pen is important too, with a £50 budget i'd say Cross should have something that suits. Faber Castell may have something that looks a little 'different' from the norm, or as someone mentioned earlier theres always a fisher space pen - a neat pice of design and engineering.
Personally i think you should push the boat out and buy a Month Blanc Starwalker 8)
i did have a nice set of Mont Blanc Le Grand, until one by one I started losing them. After forking out for replacements the first couple of times, they now remain firmly in the safe and i just stick to Bic's :)
As a pen collector, I would really advise you to keep away from MB´s ballpens, their modern materials "precious resin" are crap and I have come to know from very reliable sources that their refills are actually made with some of the cheapest materials out there....the recommendations of Parker or Cross are good value for money and there are also lots of othr options out there...vintage also being a good option.
I'm rather fond of a nice Waterman - I've got 4 that we're bought for me for special occasions.
Expert Black Ballpoint & Fountain pen my grandparents bought me for my 21 nothing expensive but they have huge sentimental value.
Expert Dune Red Rollerball that was a leaving present from a previous employer.
My favourite is a Sea green Carene that my in-laws bought me for my 30th.
I've also got a couple of cheapy promotional Watermans that I leave at work.
I like Watermans as they tend to be quite thick, I don't like thin pens so don't generally go for Cross or thin Parkers.
You need to go and try some to find out what weight and style you like in the hand.
The nicest fountain pen I've written with is a Dupont with a fine nib -the black standard one, as far as I know. I rather prefer it to a Montblanc (fine or medium nibbed). A vintage Pelikan writes very well, imho.
Regarding BP's I like the Cross pens and recently gave one as a gift and it appears to be going down very well.
Br,
AP.
Having had a couple of pens in my time, i can honestly say the most comfortable i have used have been the Zebra F-701. It's a lovely writer and very competitivley priced. It may not be a MB or Cross but i use mine everyday and have done for some condsiderable time.
http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Zebra_ ... point.html
I prefer the broad refills but I have to order those direct from Parker as the shops don't seem to stock them
The top item is good for sharpening pencils :D
I wont be filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, I am not a number, I am a free man, my life is my own!!!
Be seeing you
Toodle pip
Griff.
Under your budget & i'm guessing you wanted something a bit more 'special', but another vote for the Space Pen from me -I'm on my third one now (lost a couple) & have been using them for years.
Lamy fountain pens are damn good - well made, and don't break the bank. I love both the Parker Vector and Parker Jotter rollerball/ballpoint pens, with the advantage of refills being easier to find, too. They're not that 'special' though - for that I would look at a more expensive Parker, or Cross. Sheaffer does some nice stuff too.
There is also the 'tactical' area of the market if you want a tough go anywhere pen. These seem to be the market leaders-
http://www.tuffwriter.com/
Heinnie also do an interesting variety, some of which fall into the £50 budget. Else a trip to WHSmiths is in order.
I got a cross ballpoint for my 21st and still have it seven years later. The weight of a Cross pen is great and equivalent of much 'higher end' pens I've tried.
If you look around, you can probably easily pick one up within budget. I made the mistake of buying a fountain pen because it looked nice (lovely carbon fibre body) but within a month I was dealing with ink-stained pockets and the lid wouldn't screw down.
I always go for a Lamy Safari fountain pen and a Parker Jotter ballpoint.
Much as I have admired more expensive pens, I can never bring myself to buy one, as I am absolutely hopeless for losing them. I must have had half a dozen each of the above over the last ten years.
So, er, what would the pen equivalent of a WIS be?
History of the Parker Jotter: http://www.penlibrary.com/html/Parker_J ... ution.html
Then you, Sir, NEED a Fisher Space Pen... The original "Bullet" one, which, thanks to its small size is far more convenient to lose. :P
http://www.fisherspacepen.co.uk/index.p ... ode=WH401B
Mike.
Ah, 'tactical' as in 'weapon'. :D
I'm not sure about the pictures of pens draped sexily across firearms on that site, but I really like this pen stand:
Thanks to all who have given a response to the question. I took the advice and went into a pen shop - Pen Sense in Nottingham the other day and the very nice lady in there talked me through all the different types.
I think that a rollerball is going to be the choice and had a feel of some brands, but the one that I really liked was the Parker Sonnet and the rollerball is well within the budget and I think that will be the one I will ask Santa for :)
Good old Santa :lol:
I wouldn't trust Santa. Write to him every year and he still hasn't brought me anything I like. Treat yourself to something in case he lets you down.
Just thought I would post an update to this thread. I went along to the pen shop in Nottingham to get a better feel for various pens, and the first one I tried felt just the job. I did try various others, but kept coming back to this one -
Thanks to all who contributed for your help and advice :)
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