Your First Fountain Pen: A Genuine Beginner’s Guide
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The most common question we get at Glyph: “I’ve always wanted to try a fountain pen. Where do I start?” Here’s our honest answer.
If you’ve read The Thinking Hand, you know why handwriting matters. This is the practical follow-up: what pen should you actually buy?
We’re going to skip the exhaustive review culture and cut straight to what we stock, what we recommend, and why. Every pen mentioned here is on our shelves at 212 N. Washington Street in Havre de Grace — inked and ready to try before you buy.
Start here: what makes a fountain pen different
A fountain pen draws ink from a reservoir — either a cartridge you snap in, or a converter you fill from a bottle — and delivers it to the page through a nib. The nib glides rather than drags. You use almost no pressure. Over the course of a long writing session, your hand will thank you.
That’s the practical case. The aesthetic case is harder to explain until you’ve experienced it: there’s a quality of feedback, a sense of the ink going onto paper, that no other writing instrument quite matches. Most people who try a good fountain pen don’t go back.
The first question: what nib size?
Start with medium. It writes smoothly on the widest range of papers, shows ink color and character well, and is the most forgiving for new users. Fine nibs are great for small handwriting or precise work — but they’re less forgiving on cheaper paper, which you might be using while you’re getting started.
Our recommendations
Best beginner pen: Platinum Plaisir — $22
The Platinum Plaisir is our most recommended first fountain pen, and the price is a big part of why. At $22, the barrier to entry is low enough that you can try fountain pen writing without committing to a significant purchase — but the pen itself punches well above its price.
The Plaisir has an anodized aluminum body that feels substantial in the hand — not plasticky, not cheap. It uses Platinum’s proprietary cartridges (or a converter for bottled ink). The nib is smooth and consistent. It starts reliably, day after day, and doesn’t skip or hard-start even if you set it down for a week.
We carry it in Black, Blue, and Nova Orange, in Fine and Medium. Our recommendation: Medium nib, whatever color speaks to you.
Best for: First-time fountain pen users. Anyone who wants to try before investing more. A thoughtful gift at an accessible price point.
Best pocket pen: Kaweco Sport — $34
The Kaweco Sport has been in continuous production since 1935. That’s not a marketing line — it’s a genuinely remarkable fact about a pen that fits in a shirt pocket, takes a cartridge or the Kaweco mini converter, and writes with a smoothness that surprises most people the first time they use it.
The Sport is compact when capped and posts to a comfortable writing length. The screw cap means it won’t dry out in your bag. It’s the pen people take everywhere — to meetings, on planes, into journals. We carry it in Classic Black, Navy, and Green at $34, and in the premium AL Sport (machined aluminum body) in Black and Grey at $95.
Best for: Writers and journalers who want a pen they’ll actually carry. Anyone drawn to the idea of a pen with a real history behind it.
Best step-up pen: Retro 51 Tornado — from $38
Once someone has tried a fountain pen and decided they want something with a bit more presence, the Retro 51 Tornado is where we point them. These are American-made pens with distinctive lacquered finishes, solid brass barrels, and a design sensibility that makes them as satisfying to look at on a desk as they are to write with.
Most of our Retro 51 stock is rollerballs — which deliver the smooth, low-pressure writing experience of a fountain pen in a format that’s immediately familiar, without the learning curve of ink management. The Jefferson Fountain Pen ($95.95) is the full fountain pen option — heavier, more formal, and genuinely beautiful.
The Maryland Flag Tornado ($59.95) is a perennial favorite for visitors and locals alike. It’s also one of the best Father’s Day gifts we stock.
Best for: Someone who’s tried a fountain pen and wants to move up. Gift givers who want something distinctive and giftable.
What to pair with your first pen
The pen is only half the equation. Paper matters more than most beginners expect.
Ink: If your pen uses Kaweco or Platinum cartridges, start with those. When you’re ready to explore bottled ink, Diamine is our recommendation — well-behaved, reliable, available in a huge range of colors, and priced accessibly. We carry Diamine inks in the shop.
Paper: Cheap paper causes feathering and bleed-through that will frustrate you. Rhodia pads and Clairefontaine notebooks are the workhorses — smooth, fountain pen-friendly, and available at Glyph. The difference between writing on copy paper and writing on Rhodia is significant enough that we’d argue the paper matters as much as the pen.
Come try before you buy
Everything mentioned here is inked and on the shelf at Glyph Stationers in downtown Havre de Grace. We encourage you to try before you buy — write a sentence, feel the weight, see how the nib responds to your hand. The right pen becomes obvious the moment you find it.
We’re open Friday through Sunday at 212 N. Washington Street.
Glyph Stationers is a stationery boutique in downtown Havre de Grace, Maryland. We carry fountain pens from Kaweco, Platinum, and Retro 51 — inked and ready to try. Open Friday through Sunday at 212 N. Washington Street.