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Having a "grail pen" without tons of pen experience only leads to disappointment and the search of the next grail...

Im going through the same phase - most of the grail pens turned out to be grail pens for other people and it will be different for me. And the funny thing some of my old pens that were meh right away turned out to be great all of a sudden. Turned out it’s a matter of comparison and experience with pens. Some pens remained shit regardless but some (like the lamy) showed me something that I haven’t seen there before

My biggest fear of getting a vintage pen is that it won't work properly and may be unrepairable.

-Great video. -Most of Noodler’s Inks are wonderful with a few that are incredible. -Some of the media recently suggested that the founder and owner of Noodler’s Inks was rascist. -This was a ridiculous accusation. RS. Canada

Thanks for such a relaxing review that was informative. I surely got to see a lot that I wasn't aware of untill now.

Nice video! I did a similar overview not too long ago. One of my favorites is the Bulk Filler. It’s a bit complicated to use, but essentially works like a draw filler with a rod that detaches from the seal. What you’re left with is something similar to a Japanese eyedropper (aka Opus 88) but with a seal locked into the back of the pen.

While I love a well-integrated piston filling system like the Lamy 2000’s, I cannot dispute the practicality and reliability of the tried and true cartridge converter system. As I primarily buy Japanese fountain pens, cartridge filling systems are largely the only game in town. A couple exceptions would include my Pilot Custom Heritage 92, and a Sailor Realo, but Japanese piston fillers are few and far in between.

I have several Parker 61's which are capillary fillers. If you never change the ink, the capillary fill is super easy and clean. They are a bear to clean if you must change inks. The Parker 61 was an upgrade from their 51 so the nibs are super writers.

That glow in the dark ink is a good idea. Btw, what Seiko watch are you wearing? Any watch collecting vids?

Rubbish, Mate

I’m new to fountain pens but I’ve seen a snorkel as well. I’m guessing they don’t have them anymore

A lot of people kinda turn their nose up at cartridge/converter pens but frankly? It's the best system out there, easy to clean, maintenance borderline absent (might have to grease the piston of the converter if you bother but I've never seen anybody do that) and convenience of use while traveling, the only thing better I can think of are Japanese eyedroppers but those are expensive and often unwieldly (the only compact option I know is the Opus 88 mini).

i have jotters with the F nib, but I have so many pens that i still have not used them. the Ms have been quite decent ...i agree the 51 is a joke pen, though ...for 5 dollars you can get the jinhao copy (which is probably manufactured in the same chinese factory)

you are on point give old 51 and vacumatics a try from 40s & 50s..... in modern given your prefacer you can try lamy 2000 as well

I honestly love my Parker 51s and Jotters, of course I have the ballpoint versions. The Parker fountain pens are awful. Great video!

Great advice I'm not that big fan of Parker (I have a few, mostly from the 70s) but most of them are okay-ish IMO. Keep up the good work 👍🏼

This is why I have largely stuck to Pilot and Lamy fountain pens, and have eschewed getting any modern Parker pens. Within the 50-100£ range, mediocre nibs and cheap bodies just don’t cut it anymore.

I 100% agree with this overall opinion of Parker 51 pens esp the build quality. I bought a 51 ballpoint from Amazon for 170 bucks. The second I unscrewed it and heard that squeak it went right back. Just a terrible pen at 30 down right slanderous at near 200

i haven't owned a parker for 20 years but always enjoyed them when i did. sad to see they've gone downhill. what's a modern pen brand at a reasonable price putting out a quality product, guys? do they exist at all anymore?

Awsome

There is no Grail pen. It's just a grail-shaped beacon. Bad, bad Zoot.

Great video. Agree with everything said. Wanted one because I am a huge vintage P51 fan and got it as a gift. It wrote terribly out of the box. Hard starting, scratchy, nibbling dry. Had to prime if it wasn’t used for a day and a half. I got it writing with some nib adjusting and smoothing. I can’t find a way to disassemble the nib to work on it further. I like the overall look, feel and balance but what good is it when it doesn’t perform. Then a year later I was gifted the deluxe version. The gold nib did write smoother and better but the flow issue only slightly better. I would not spend my money on one. Huge disappointment. If you know how to disassemble the nib or know of anyone who did please share.

The steel nib version is pretty bad from what I have seen. The 14k version is much better.

Did they really put a jotter nib on a "51"? The original 51 didn't have a regular nib like a modern jotter has.

I gave up on the idea of a grail pen. I bought a Lami Safari, a TWSBI Eco, a TWSBI Eco T, and then a TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR. All of them in extra fine.. I think I finally found a pen I'm happy with in the Diamond 580. I don't see the need to get any more.

I agree about the 51, it is a disaster. I have two Parker Black Flame IM Vibrant Rings; excellent pens!

The most consistent performance pen is my Pilot Varsity fountain pen

Heh the tablecloth made me think this was an atomic shrimp video. Little did I know alfieasthetic was also into pens. Anyway I'm not even interested in pens but it was a neat video, thanks.

What I've learned about "grails" after numerous years in several collecting hobbies is that your true grail will pick you, not the other way around. Often times your true grail ends up NOT being the one you expected it to be. For instances I've drooled over and even purchased many of my "grails," some of which were quite pricey, yet what ended up actually being the pen I love and use the most is a $100 Kaweco Special with a BB nib..... it is THE perfect pen for me even though it's wildly different than what I had always gone after in my other "grails." It hasn't ENDED my collecting but it has completely reduced my new acquisitions down to like maybe once every couple of years just to try out something new and interesting, yet the Kaweco Special remains my VIP.

Good points in this vid. It is funny how peoples experience with pens can differ. I have two modern Parker 51 pens that are really good, not as good as my vintage 51 though. On the other hand I hated my 3776.

You want a silky smooth fat, dry EF? Try the Jinhao 9019.

if you like extra fine nibs the pilot falcon extra fine is one of the finest lines you can get

The Parker 51 (original), is miles and miles better than the re-incarnation in the video. I have 4 of them, B,M and F versions of the Aerometric. For my daily diary, I use the P51 M/B version - for diary purposes, it is even better than a Montblanc which I sometimes use for one very good reason - the ink dries up so fast and therefore does not mess up other pages. I have yet to find another such pen. The Lamy 2000 I got a few years ago and practically never used again. A bit too wet I suppose.

Have you tried the Diplomat Excellence A2?

Nice selection of pens! Completely agree with you on “we never follow the path we set” regarding the grail pens we want to acquire!

Seeing that the owner of Noodler's is a notorious anti-Semite, I would be leery of patronizing his business.

I was expecting to see you lay down a swatch of each of the inks that was being talked about. I was disappointed...I expected to SEE what the inks looked like.

One of the four inks you list is also a favorite of mine: Diamine Oxford Blue, water-soluble but deep, intense, well-behaved and lovely. Noodler’s inks I really like are Anti-Feather Blue (well-behaved, more water-resistant than the Anti-Feather Black and a lovely deep blue) and Lexington Gray (very well-behaved and absolutely waterproof, a deep transparent gray that is also good straight or water-diluted and loaded into a waterbrush). I’ve seen much praise of Noodler’s Walnut, which is mostly water-resistant with just a bit of liftable brown-tinted wash. I’m still evaluating it. For a waterproof black I use Platinum Carbon Black, and I use De Atramentis Document Brown for a waterproof brown. In my experience DA Doc Brown needs extra time to fully set before rewetting; it varies with the paper. Noodler’s Lexington Gray, Platinum Carbon Black, and De Atramentis Doc Brown are good over or under watercolor washes.

Awfully nice pen. Kinda looks like a sport from a parallel universe, where it's produced by Pelikan 😂 The price seems a bit steep for a pocket pen however. I would love a video of you showing your favourite inks. I find it quite fascinating to see what other folks are using on the daily.

Different filling mechanisms for ink

Nice setup. I'm still looking for a suitable concept to edc my pens and this might be it. Would like to have a review of the new Kaweco, haven't seen much of it.

Come have me inside my new Catholic cathedral

Wow this is so good, have my baby's Gerald 🤤🤤🤤🤤

Pen - etration lol

no Beatles music allowed :(

Really decent

Seriously you need to get a life

Beautiful ❤️

There's actually a football pavilion in kings hill too...

Why are you wearing an xmas jumper?