...am I done buying fountain pens?

Pilot 823 via Stylophiles

Marlen Basilea

Perhaps one more pen and I am done, overdone, exhausted and sated with fountain pens.

Since buying the Sailor Sapporo, I've become more intrigued with Japanese pens and the Pilot 823 sounds like a very superior pen for a big bunch of bucks.

But, and that is a big but, it is clear as the nose on my face that I don't want to buy another fountain pen without holding it in my hand. If Karen hadn't shown me her Sailors, and I hadn't actually had a Sapporo in my hand at the Fountain Pen Hospital, I'm not certain I would own one today.


While I've been ogling the Marlen Basilea for months, it won't get purchased if I can't find one in the wild. Interestingly, a member of the Fountain Pen Network has one up for sale now, but not with a nib I want or a price I am willing to pay for a pen I haven't held and has been used.

In evaluating the two, I might go for the Marlen if I can find one during my travels because (a) it is different, Italian and (b) a colour combination that appeals to my aesthetics. I also believe it may have rhodium trim.

I also suspect the Pilot is not substantially different from the Sailors, although I could be proven wrong.

Perhaps I'll have my head examined just thinking of another fountain pen purchase, or perhaps after I buy all the grand-kids gifts this month, I'll decide that the coffers are more than bare and forgo all thoughts of anything but a Pentel Slicci.

Who knows!