I love taking these three favorite fountain pens out and seeing them next to each other:
Three of my favorite affordable starter fountain pens: left to right – Diplomat Magnum, Platinum Preppy, and Parker Vector
I love high-contrast colors, and green and black is one of my absolute favorite pairings. All three of these pens are winners, and I got all three of them for a combined total of around fifty dollars: all good starter pens: reliable, affordable little treasures that come in a variety of colors.
When I pull out a combination of pens like this and see how striking they are together, I feel like my little collection is coming together. The pleasure I feel from seeing my aesthetic realized and splayed out in such a simple, rewarding way is a daily bonus to being able to actually write with them. A benefit to mindfully choosing writing implements and office supplies: on top of being affordable, reliable and pleasurable to USE, my pens are aesthetically pleasing. Their beauty, efficiency and design inspires me . And the color green is scientifically proven to make us more creative than other colors do!
Specs on these pens, left to right:
- Diplomat Magnum Soft Touch in Lime Green – I paid $23.20 for mine with a broad nib in 2021 via Goldspot
- Platinum Preppy Black – I paid $4.50 for mine with a medium nib in 2021 via JetPens, and converted it to an eyedropper-fill using silicone grease ($3) and an o-ring ($2 for 4) ordered from The Goulet Pen Co. (the eyedropper conversion is super easy to do; you can find tutorials all over the internet guiding you through it, but don’t worry; the Preppy is great as-is / using nice big Platinum ink cartridges to start)
- Parker Vector – I do not know what this model is called; I bought it off of eBay years ago / this style of Vector is no longer made, but you can still get new Vectors and other beginner fountain pens by Parker, like the Vector XL I am eager to try for between $18.76 and $20.47
Even though these pens are “cheap”, mass-produced and accessible to anyone for purchase online (except the old retro Vector), seeing the three of them together makes them feel uniquely custom-made to order just because I picked them out and put them together according to my fancies and what has utility to me, personally.
These three pens are also delightful together because they’re made of different materials and/or with different finishes: the Magnum has the “soft-touch” feel (while *looking* like anodized aluminum the body is actually plastic with shiny chrome accents), the Preppy is clear resin (the kind that feels hard, smooth and shiny and clinks when you tap it compared to the chewy-feeling resin of the Magnum finished with a very subtle fuzz-like texture: matte, not shiny), and the Vector FEELS like it’s all stainless-steel (the end and the section where you grip it are brushed stainless steel, but the barrel and cap are actually made of hard plastic that seems painted, giving it a finish and cool feel in the hand like a painted toy car).
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Whenever we start collecting things according to our personal priorities, preferences and specifications, we make something special and unique, even if the individual components are far from one-of-a-kind. Even if we don’t have a big budget. This is especially true as the fountain pen market grows and different models are created to meet increased demand.
Even if you are in a room full of people who collect fountain pens, if you ask them to bring three office supplies to the table that they want to use (or just lay out and admire) each day, you’re not going to see many (if any) trios duplicated, and there will be a special unique charm to each combination that probably reveals quite a bit about their owners.
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What three pens totaling less than fifty dollars would YOU bring to the table as one of your favorite trios?
