The Gentleman Stationer

I often get asked, at pen shows or by e-mail, what fountain pens I use on an everyday basis. I do change them up a lot, which is how I manage to keep up the pace on pen reviews, but there are several pens that are “constants” in my rotation.

What is a “Workhorse Pen”?

The term “workhorse” gets thrown around a lot in pen reviews, casually used to denote a pen that’s not necessarily fancy, but rather intended to serve as a utilitarian daily writer. I’m as guilty of this as any. The problem with such broad categorizations, of course, is that one person’s “workhorse” might be completely impractical for another. For example, the TWSBI 580 is commonly offered as an example of a reasonably priced pen intended as an everyday writer, but it doesn’t work for me as a personal “workhorse” because I can’t post the cap (more on this below).

So before I get started on this new series of pen reviews, I wanted to take a few moments to define my criteria for considering something a “workhorse” - something I’ll keep inked up nearly 100% of the time.

• The pen must post. Just as the watches that I wear need to have a “date” complication, the pens I use every day need to post. I often have a “busy” desk full of documents that I’m working on, or trying to sort out into some order that makes sense. I can’t worry about where I set the cap to write because it will go missing. I’m speaking from experience here. I have pens that don’t post, but they’ve been living in the Penwell.

• The pen must be well-balanced. For someone who takes perhaps a dozen pages of handwritten notes per day, my pen can’t cause my hand to cramp. If the pen is lightweight, there’s a broader range of lengths that will work for me, but a pen that’s too long, especially if it’s back-weighted when posted, is a nonstarter.

• The design must be understated. I spend a lot of time sitting in courtrooms/depositions/boardrooms taking notes, trying to be inconspicuous. I leave any flashy or “unique” fountain pens at home. Sorry, Visconti.

• The nib can’t be too wet to write decently on cheap paper. Most nibs can be tamed with smart ink selection, but some (i.e. most Omas and Visconti nibs) write far too wet with any ink for me to be able to use them at work.

• The pen must have a relatively large ink capacity. It pains me to say that I generally can’t use Sailor pens with nibs broader than a “fine”, since the Sailor converter has a ridiculously small capacity. Sure, I can use cartridges or switch pens in the middle of a meeting or deposition, but there’s no good reason why I should have to.