Fountain Pens with Nib Size: FLEXI

Montegrappa is easily our favorite Italian luxury pen maker. The company is filled with master designers and artisans. Our Montegrappa Nazionale Flex fountain pen is a limited edition. Numbered 48 of 100, it is more than a pretty pen. It has a flexi 14k gold nib! You will write from extra fine to about 1mm wide. There is a little up-front pressure that gives quickly with a little pressure. It isn't a wet noodle, but you need to go gently on it until you learn to feel how it performs. We tested the pen with water, and its piston fills well. The color of the near mint condition pen is called "Indian Rainbow" and the trim is solid sterling silver. Comes with its original box, sealed bottle of blue ink and a pamphlet under the pad. 13.7cm capped.

Black hard-rubber Waterman 52s are quite common, but orange hard-rubber Waterman 52s aren't quite as ubiquitous. We restored this vintage pen with a new ink sac and a lot of polishing. The orange hard rubber looks fairly good in the photo, but there are still traces of the schmutz from aging and ink stains. You'll see the ball of the pocket clip is brassed, along with about 30% of the cap band, which gets a little worse as you work your way to the back of the cap. No cracks! Shallow barrel imprint is still legible. We think your favorite part will be the 14k gold nib. It is NOT a wet noodle, but you will write from a fine to about 2mm wide! The nib more than makes up for any brassing and discoloration. Click the headline for close-ups. 13.5cm capped.

Here's a rare treasure from way back in 1906! We love the gold-filled filigree on this Parker 33. This pen clearly did not experience the 1906 earthquake that destroyed San Francisco. However, the top of the cap has some sizable spots of brassing from wear. There's a little brassing near the tail, too. We polished them out, but it won't stay gleaming without continued polishing. Click the headline for a close-up of the original 14k gold nib. We love the old-timey "Lucky Curve" script. There are no engravings on the initial plate of the filigree. Only slight chocolate hazing of the black hard rubber. No cracks. The section unscrews easily. You will write an extra-fine to nearly 2mm wide line with its flexible nib. It isn't a wet noodle. 13.9cm capped.

Cartridge fillers are not a new phenomena in fountain pens. The first ones date back to around the turn of the 20th century. However, those early ones were not entirely practical and prone to their glass and clay cartridges breaking. On the American market, Waterman C/F pens introduced what we have come to know as the first cartridge pens with disposable plastic cartridges. These pens were Waterman's last hit in the 1950s and until the company was revitalized in the 1980s. This rare New Old Stock set is unused and pristine. From the "Fine Flex" chalk mark on the barrel of the pen to 4 unopened, still waxed shut original cartridges, this vintage pen belongs in a museum. Click the headline for close-ups. The steel nib doesn't feel flexi to us, but that is how it was advertised.

Grail pens such as this Waterman 0322 "Chased" pen from the early 1900s are intoxicatingly rare. What has become known as "repousse" in many pens Waterman called "chased" in its early turn-of-the-century catalogs. This taper cap with gold-filled overlay is a once-in-a-lifetime pen for us. Its 14k gold nib writes an extra-fine to 1mm flexi line, but the slender hard-rubber pen is so delicate, we don't really recommend writing with it much. Filling this eyedropper pen will be difficult as the section seems firmly screwed together and not wanting to separate. Engraved on the barrel cartouche are the initials E.H.L. You can see a couple bite marks on the end of the barrel and tip of the taper. Its biggest flaw is an upside-down "L" crack from the lip of the cap. Clear imprint on the taper cap. Overall, a very good vintage pen for its age. Click the headline for close-ups. 14.7cm capped.