Are Vintage Pens Practical?

Not only are most vintage fountain pens practical for everyday use, they often beat modern pens hands down in terms of both style and function. New pens are often intended more as status symbols than as functional writing instruments – the reverse of the situation 40+ years ago, when virtually everyone relied upon fountain pens as workaday tools. This is why so many expensive new pens write poorly out of the box, sometimes much less reliably than cheap fountain pens intended for student use.

"Practical", of course, is a loaded word. Many would think fountain pens of any sort are inherently impractical; those of us who are happy to pay a little more attention to our writing instruments in return for the pleasure of real writing would obviously disagree. Some vintage pens take more special attention than others. Many, however, are as simple and as sturdy as anything made nowadays. Old pens often use materials and construction techniques better than their modern equivalents, or available only on modern pens selling for much more.

For advice and recommendations regarding vintage pens most suitable for everyday use, click here.

For some notes regarding the use of eyedropper-filling pens (those without an internal filling mechanism), click here.