by Rowlandwithaw

Created on: November 09, 2010

The ‘best’ of anything is always difficult to define: the most stylish, most exclusive, best value for money etc. For the purposes of this article, I’ll define ‘best’ in terms of three categories of pens: Prestige, Collectable and Working.

With Prestige we are talking the Ferrari of writing pens. I use this comparison quite deliberately because like a Ferrari they are rarely used. A dealer once told me that most Ferraris spend the vast majority of their time in the garage. Similarly the Mont Blanc, arguably the pinnacle of pen craftsmanship and prestige, is the type of pen that heads of state, CEO’s and the like use to sign important documents, before being relegated to the desk or display cabinet (a glass fronted ‘pen garage’).

Which brings me to the next category the ‘Collectable’. Most collectors seem to prefer handmade and prestigious names rather than rarities per se – therefore a prestige pen can also be collectable. So in this category yet again we are looking at pens to be cherished, admired and cosseted rather than ‘used’ – though they are designed for that purpose! I was given a Mont Blanc Meisterstuck which is beautiful to write with, but due to the fact that it is huge, it’s a little unwieldy at first (or even on returning to use it) and first attempts often end up with MASSIVE lettering; more suited to be placed on a hoarding rather than in an envelope…….

Which brings me to the most interesting category ‘Working’. Now in order to choose the ‘best’ there are several factors to consider- do you want a pen with which to write elegant, carefully crafted letters sitting at your desk in your study? Or do you want a workhorse fountain pen to use wherever you happen to be?

If you want to use it solely at home you have fewer restrictions. I use the Mont Blanc only at home for two reasons. Firstly because I would hate to lose it and secondly it requires a bottle of ink. You can also find pens in this category which will also accept cartridges. The choice is one of convenience and variety. Most pens which take cartridges usually will hold a spare, which is useful and also in my experience cartridge pens are less likely to leak in your pocket, bag or briefcase. The benefit of using bottled ink is that you have a much greater range of colours available – though I noticed that Rotring have recently discontinued their range of

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