[Pen/Pencil Review] The Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen Medium Nib
I was supposed to get this done earlier in the evening, but FenCon duties distracted me. So I’m going to do a follow up to last week’s post – I discovered on Jetpens.com that the Pilot Metropolitan Roller Ball had a sibling pen – a fountain pen. I had to have one. Fortunately, my husband enables me a little in this.
The fountain pen matches the roller ball.. The pen barrel is silver coated brass with chrome accents. They also come in black and with designs. I picked the plain body. The silver plain body has a brushed finished with a slightly different accent finish. The grip is black plastic with chrome trim.
The cap fits tightly for a pull type fastener. Being a pull cap, there are ridges that can dig in if you hold the pen wrong. I find though that the length – about 6″ long with the cap posted – is a good length to keep the ridges from digging into either fingers or webbing. The cap does post tightly, but will slip off if you’re not too careful.
This pen is light but well-balanced. Its boilerplate calls it weightless and easy to hold – which is true. For being light, it sits well. And the diameter of the pen is in that groove between too narrow and too wide. It really is comfortable. Yes, this is pretty much the exact same as last week. Because the body is the same.
The medium nib tends to the small – and I believe it’s stainless steel – so it does have fine line ability. The writing action is smooth. I’m not sure yet how long the ink lasts in the converter, but there was some ink splatter if you bounce the pen. I saw some spray on my desk, and I have some spots on my skin. I put Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue in it.
It comes with a black ink cartridge. Pilot cartridges are proprietary, so keep that in mind. It also comes with an aeromatic converter – which is a squeeze bladder (functioning like an eyedropper). It’s advertised as a good starter fountain pen, and I will agree with that.
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 0.5 It’s a good pen. It’s comfortable. It has a solid feel and good action on the nib. But there is some concern over leakage and the spray factor if you bounce the pen.
2. Grip and feel – 0.5 – I’m taking this down just a notch because there’s no give to the grip. Though tapered, there’s nothing “squishy” about the pen. The ridges might dig in if you hold it wrong , and if you strangle pens, it’ll get tiring.
3. Material – 1 – This is a sturdy pen that’s also gorgeous. The body is lightweight but sturdy feeling. The silver coated brass doesn’t ding (and I’ve had this pitched in my purse) or chip. The clip is solid.
4. Overall Design – 1 – This is not only a functional pen, easy to use, and solidly built. It’s also gorgeous. It’s simple, elegant, and refillable. It’s sleek and functional. It’s a whole package. If you’re wanting to start using a fountain pen, this is a good one to start with. Just make sure you don’t jostle it too much when you writ
5. Price Point – 1 – This is actually affordable for a nice, functional fountain pen, especially since it comes with the converter. It’s only slightly more than the roller ball – $14.50 on JetPens. This is a pen you can carry throughout a career without worrying about replacing it if you lose it. And it is a good one to start out on if you want to experiment with decent fountain pens.
4 out of 5 Bronze Pencils
