I took this photo and the one below for my post about the Dialog, but did not wind up using it therein.
From left to right:
- Platinum Curidas
- Majohn A2 Press (Modified)
- Lamy Dialog 3
- Pilot Vanishing Point
- Oaso K016
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I’m very curious about retractable fountain pens. Which one is your favorite of the bunch? Price being no consequence.
Easily the Majohn A2, but only after I modified it to have an oblique nib. It was entirely too pointy before that.
Sans modification, probably the Curidas.
The worst of the bunch is the Oaso.
Just saw that the Majohn A2 has a lot of colors to choose from. God help me.
Check out the A1 as well, they have some different colour options that are really nice.
I have some Pilot vanishing points, and I still bought a yellow A1 since it’s such a beautiful shade of glossy yellow that I couldn’t find from Pilot. Also I was able to use my Pilot calligraphy nib with it, since they’re compatible (and I think that nib alone cost about 3-4 times the price of the Mahjohn lol).
Do it! You won’t be disappointed.
I’ve always been curious about a retractable but I don’t like to baby my pens at all, I think I would get lint or random debris into the mechanism too easily. I also don’t like pocket clips but every retractable seems to have them.
Well, there is a clipless version of the Dialog.
But if you would like to spend a lot less for a retractable, there are versions of both the Majohn A1 and A2 that are clipless as well. These are mechanical clones of the Pilot Vanishing Point, to the extent of even being compatible with its parts.
Edit: The clip on the Curidas is also removable. Duh. I forgot that somehow, despite it literally coming with a tool in the box to aid in removing it.
Those clipless Majohn clones look pretty nice. How well do you think they would survive a pocket?
They’ll probably be fine, although that’s highly dependent on what else you keep in your pocket.
I would conjecture that one of the metal bodied variants would probably be a little more durable, but if you’re going to have it sharing space with other stuff with your pocket maybe one of the silver, rather than painted, options would be a better bet. I’ve never found painted metal objects that have since had the shit beaten out of their finishes particularly attractive. But that’s just me.
Removed by mod
I hope you don’t mind me commenting on such an old post but this one in particular has been on my mind
How much do the clips interfere with the grip?
Not as much as you’d think. At first blush I thought the clip position on the wrong end would be weird, too.
Unlike most other writing implements, fountain pens have a distinctive and definite up versus down relative to the paper, i.e. you have to write with the nib’s top surface parallel to the page. On all of these, the designers were smart enough to orient the clip so it’s dead center opposite the writing surface, so it winds up on top of the pen as you write and out the way of your fingers. Your mileage may vary on how much this annoys you on ideological grounds, but the long and short of it is that it works. If it really bothers you, the Oaso K012 (far right, green) manages to have the clip in its traditional location although the jury’s out on whether or not this may eventually cause ink leakage issues to present themselves. (I never carry that pen, I only bought it for the lulz.)
Alright, you convinced me. I didn’t buy any of the ones you had but I got the jinhao 10 press on impulse. But after checking Amazon I could get the Oaso tomorrow, too, so I grabbed that one as well
I got a jinhao a handful of years ago as a gift. It was the first fountain pen I had in probably a couple decades so I just grabbed some ink from my college campus. It was decent and it opened me up to more options. But because over the years it has been very consistent I didn’t hesitate to grab the press to try
The pen still writes great; it’s my handwriting that sucks. This was my testing it after being cleaned
I also have a cross that I like and used a bit more because the jinhao had a converter and I only had the one ink. I have misplaced the cartridges but new ones are on order
I haven’t regularly used a fountain pen until the other day when I found some zebra disposables for cheap and reignited my love for fountain pens. Those I now use at every opportunity which is why I’m looking for the retractables specifically. I work in a warehouse and the one handed operation is key. I’ll bring the retractables with me and let you know how the Oaso does! It’ll be a bit; I have a trip coming up. It’ll come with but won’t be at work for a while
Ooooh I was bad though and bought a couple others, too 😅 I can’t help a fixation and I needed a little retail therapy. A pilot kakuno clear and a Cross Bailey. I already have a pen fetish for sure but fountain pens take that up to a hobby. I don’t mind dabbling a bit because I like writing and really like connecting my mind to my written thoughts through a medium that feels good. I’ve curated quite a collection of other pens but this is my next foray. Thank you for indulging me!
I love Dialog 3s, the twist is so satisfying. Not too great as writers but they’re fun enough to make for it
