Fountain Pens

It all depends - you can buy really good fountain pens for less than £10 which are great for everyday use and beginners.

If you want something that feels a bit more exclusive, you can find fountain pens that range upto and over £1000. It all depends on your budget and what you are looking for? If you're a beginner, you might want to check out our guide Top Fountain pens for Beginners to find something that suits you.

Remember, a more expensive pen doesn't always write better. The cost is often associated with more exclusive materials. Lamy Fountain Pens have nibs that write about as good as any expensive pen and start in the £20 range.

Yes we offer engraving on many of our fountain pens. Look out for our 'Personalise Me' button on the product page of each pen or use the 'Can be Engraved' filter on the fountain pens category page.

Finding the right nib size for your writing is a very personal choice - but some quick advice is, if you write very small, choose a finer nib, like Fine or Extra Fine.  Larger writing can accomodate the wider nibs sizes.

The vast majority of people will happily use a Medium nib so if you're unsure, this is the one to go for.  But if you're a writing enthusiast who like to add flourishes to your writing, you might like the extra thickness of a Bold nib.

Our Fountain Pen Nib Advice guide goes into a lot more detail if you're still unsure which nib is best for you.

Yes, most fountain pens are actually geared towards right handed people.  Most can be used by both left and right handers, but depending on your writing style, for example the angle you hold your pen etc, you may find it slightly easier to use a nib that is angled with a left handed bias.

Lamy is the perfect choice for this. They have a left handed nib which can be fitted onto all their different ranges.  So there are lots of pen options here.  

Cartridges are ready to use, no mess, no fuss. Simply buy the right cartridge to fit your fountain pen, insert it into the pen and then you're good to go. However you don't get as much freedom when it comes to ink colour.  A converter will open up a world of colour options including glitter ink and flourescent inks.

Simply fit a converter to your pen, then choose any ink you like in any colour or brand, they all work.  Then follow our guide on how to use a converter.

Unfortunately this one is a difficult question to answer. Factors such as the cartridge size, how much you write, your nib size and also your paper type all play a part.

Cartridge size - some brands such as Parker and Lamy have larger ink cartridges.  These can last upto 50% longer than other cartridges as they hold more ink.

Your writing volume - obviously if you write for longer periods and your pen usage is higher, you will use more ink and the cartridge will not last so long. Even as short as a few weeks if you are a writer.

Nib size - A wider nib deposits more ink onto the writing surface and can therefore vastly reduce usage time.  Look out for this as often it is not even considered.

Paper type - Some papers are slightly more absorbent and they can absorb the ink quicker as you write, which means you will be using more ink.

You should aim flush a fountain pen on average 4 times a year for most fountain pens with standard inks and everyday usage. You might see pen enthusiasts cleaning their pens every time they refill it.  This is not really necessary unless you are using special inks like glitter inks or thicker inks.  However, most users of fountain pens actually enjoy looking after their pens, it is not just a writing instrument for them, it is an enjoyable hobby aswell and cleaning their pen is part of the routine.

You should also clean your pen when you change your ink colour aswell, for obvious reasons, otherwise the old ink colour will continue to bleed into the new ink colour.

We have created a handy blog to compare some of the Best Fountain Pens for Beginners HERE, with consideration for price, usability and ease of use.