Fine Writing: LAMY AL-star, Parker Sonnet & Faber-Castell E-Motion

A fountain pen is not a pen you throw away. It's personal, and it's meant to compliment your style and personality. Some may not realise, though, that its personal nature extends further than looks - different pens will also change the way you write and the movement of your writing. Some pens might make your writing look messier or neater, and the right pen can make your writing look just right.

I have a fair collection of pens, having been curious about fountain pens and inks for more than ten years. In this post, I'd like to compare three pens and show you how different my writing can look and how different the experience is using each of them.

The LAMY AL-star in Black-Purple (not sure why they called it Black-Purple when there is no purple in there at all - really more of a Bordeaux / black cherry colour) is the most light-weight and  cheapest of the three. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it has a pre-formed grip so that you don't have to worry about your writing angle when you're in a hurry. If you've never used a fountain pen, the pre-formed grip is great because it means that you don't have to worry about trying to get the nib set against the paper correctly in order for ink to flow, which can frustrate some people in the beginning; it's like training wheels for fountain pens. That being said, I'll add that some people also just prefer it in general in terms of comfort.

Here's a writing sample, which contains some comments about my compatibility in writing with it.

Makes my writing look messy and I never get quite the control of motion that I'd like, which irritates me, but I also have used this pen a very good deal (daily for several years), so I still want to put in a good word for it in general, even though it isn't my favourite.

This sample features Noodler's Navajo Turquoise. The AL-star runs about $65.

The Faber-Castell E-Motion is a much heavier pen, definitely out-weighing the other two, features a pear-wood finish in Dark Brown. I strongly considered the Rhombus White, but decided against it in the end. The grip here is plain and tapered. I'm not a fan of the taper with no flare at the very edge, and it's quite big so it doesn't fit my grip as well. I'm not a huge fan of metal for the grip section either, I'm coming to realise, because the grip is very much dependent on your hands not being too dry. If you've just washed them, you'll need to moisturise before this can be used comfortably. I'm being quite serious. Really. Too dry, no good. I'm glad though that it's not brushed steel, because that is the most slippery finish for a grip, and no amount of moisturiser will help.

It is very smooth, though, and that makes me like it quite a lot just the same. Also, the clip is nice, because you don't have to jam it onto fabric, you are able to press the top of the clip and open in so that the clipping-onto-fabric is gentler.

This sample is done with Noodler's Polar Blue. The E-Motion goes for about $155.


Finally, my favourite of the three, the Parker Sonnet - unfortunately, I am not having any luck finding the official name for its colour. The pattern is called a Ciselé and it's a dark grey lacquer finish with lighter grey/silver lines. The nib is 18K gold (not plated, but solid) and the grip is very grippy, not slippery at all (sort of a softer, almost lightly rubberised lacquer - I don't know how they achieved this finish).

It's my favourite of the bunch because the weight is just right, the pen is not too narrow or to bulky for me, the grip is the right distance from the tip of the nib so my writing comes out looking like my writing, and it yields an amount of ink that I like, smoothly. This is a medium nib. The sample is done in Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses.

This sonnet was selling for $300 but by some chance was in a shop nearby for half price just before the holidays (they were clearing stock and it had been there a long time, I suspect).



I hope this was interesting/helpful. Thanks for reading and have a god day!

A.