Finding the best gifts for pen collectors can be a challenge, particularly since most people don’t want to take the risk and expense of buying a pen. Fortunately, there are a lot of gifts for pen enthusiasts they are sure to enjoy, you just have to think about it for a minute. You don’t even have to search for fountain pen shops as all these items can be easily found online.

The first thing that pops into my head when I think of the perfect gifts for pen collectors is something to write on and there is nothing finer to write on than a Clairefontaine Triomphe tablet. These tablets come in a small (5.75″ x 8.25″) which is perfect for lists or short correspondence, and large (8.25″ x 11.75″) which is great for taking class notes or longer letters.

The paper is smooth, easy to write on, and made specifically for fountain pens guaranteeing that whoever the lucky recipient is, they will love it. Virtually no feathering or show-through makes sure their writing is sharp, clear, and allows them to use both sides of the page even with darker inks. Short of dedicated fancy stationery, this is the paper they want, guaranteed.

Hard to go wrong when the best gifts for pen collectors are under ten dollars!

Of course, how can you think of the best gifts for pen collectors and not think of ink? The problem is that there are so many colors of ink out there, how can you possibly pick one that they will like? That is actually the easy part, choose Noodler’s Apache Sunset.

So why this ink? Because I know of no one who doesn’t love it. This way, even if your recipient already has a bottle, they will love getting a second.

It is just fluid enough that it flows amazingly well without bleeding through or feathering, and dries fairly quickly. The colors are just mesmerizing and seem to change when drying. The ink has a good amount of water resistance but is not really considered tamper-proof but is an excellent permanent ink. It is just a good all-around beautiful ink. The color chart in the image above does not begin to do this ink justice. One of my favorite fountain pen gift ideas.

So what if you like the idea of ink as a gift but know they have a ton of Apache Sunset? Try Navajo Turquoise, Ottoman Rose, or Cayenne, three more of my favorites from Noodlers.

So let’s be different in our choice for the best gift for pen collectors and try a wax sealing stamp kit. Fountain pen users who belong to snail mail lists will be particularly fascinated with this one.

Many years ago letters and scrolls were sealed with wax and imprinted with a stamp. One would close the envelope, melt wax into a small spoon-like object, then pour the hot wax onto the envelope between the flap and back of the envelope, and finally use a metal stamp to press the wax into the paper while at the same time imprinting an image, letter, or other symbol into the wax to ensure the letter arrived unopened.

Now your pen collector can do the same with their very own kit! It’s fun and inexpensive, and yes, you can send them through the mail. I have had a few come off over the years but probably 90% or more have arrived intact.

I particularly like this kit because it comes with everything you need to get started and allows you to choose the letter that comes on the stamp. These make simply amazing gifts for fountain pen lovers.

This little gem is not just one of the best gifts for pen collectors out there, but for anyone who does research, writes books, is a student, etc. These Adjustable Elastic Band Pen Holders are just simply fantastic. I usually carry a highlighter, a gel ballpoint, and a small ruler very similar to the picture they use to demo the item in the image above.

I have seen people complain that they don’t work on paperbacks but I disagree. Most paperbacks are smaller so I just loop it over the entire book instead of just around the front cover, works fine. Where it does have a problem is with larger soft covers, in which case I tend to take the first 20 pages or so and loop it around that. Once I get where I am going I just slip it off and set it on the desk. This way everything is in a nice neat package when I leave instead of carrying several items.

This is another of the best gifts for pen collectors that are under ten dollars and is excellent for students.

This next item, Fountain Pens of the World by Andreas Lambrou is when you have a very special someone and you want to buy a very special gift. This book is widely considered one of the penultimate books on the subject out there and is on the bookshelf of probably every serious collector around the world. No, it isn’t cheap at well over $100, but it is the only expensive item on this list and I wanted at least one item for people who wanted something above and beyond the typical best gifts for pen collectors.

The description on Amazon reads:

“The authoritative and comprehensive text features countries not previously covered in other books, a new chapter on limited editions, and a chapter on materials from 1833 to the present day which defines processes such as lacquering, guilloche engraving and plastic identification. The development of design and logos is illustrated by specially produced line drawings. The text is complimented by many period advertisements.”

I hope this article has helped you find the best gifts for pen collectors.

Many of you are too young to know the answer to the question, what is a fountain pen, but that’s alright, it is never too late to learn about these fascinating writing instruments!

The short answer is that a fountain pen is a writing instrument that has a reservoir of ink stored internally and uses a combination of gravity and capillary action to draw ink from that storage on to the tip of the device and create a nice even line of ink on paper.

While there is evidence that fountain pens were at least being designed and constructed by Leonardo Da Vinci in the 17th century and maybe even earlier, we are mostly concerned with either modern fountain pens constructed in the 20th century or maybe a rare possibility of ones from the very late 19th century. Anything earlier than that would most likely be in a museum or well out of the price range of most typical collectors.

Fountain pens came about as a solution to the problems of the dip pen. These dip pens were nothing more than a nib (the piece of the pen that deposits the ink onto the paper, sometimes nothing more than a pointed end with a slit in it) and a handle. Quill pens, or pens crafted from the quill feather, are a type of dip pen.

When you wanted to write with a dip pen you typically dipped the nib of the pen into a bottle of ink and then started writing on a piece of paper. As the pen started to skip or sputter, you dipped it into more ink, reloading it so to speak. While this was effective when you were sitting at your desk it was not very practical for traveling and could be messy when in a coach, train, or on a ship.

A fountain pen solved these issues by moving the ink needed from a bottle on your desk to internal storage. Early models, stored ink in a chamber sometimes sealed with cork gaskets or in a rubber bladder. These could be refilled by unscrewing one end and using a dropper to put more ink in, or by inserting the fountain pen nib into a bottle of ink and using a piston or lever to draw ink into the pen’s reservoir.

Once full, the pen could then be taken away from the bottle of ink and used throughout the day just like some people use ballpoint pens today. Once the pen was low on ink it would start skipping or be hard to start and you could then refill the pen and continue.

Fountain pens were not perfect, they could not write upside down (pencils and later the Fisher Space Pen solved those issues), could not write in the rain or underwater (the pencil again), and of course, required you to carry a supply of ink with you in fear of running out. They also tended to leak more than they should have but ballpoints and rollerballs continue to do that to this day.

The parts of the fountain pen are pretty straight forward and include the nib (broken down into the tip, nib material, slit, and feed), cap, clip (optional, to hold it in your shirt pocket), barrel, and other pieces that vary from pen type to pen type.

Filling systems include an eyedropper filler where you unscrew the rear cap on a pen and use an eyedropper filled with ink to reload the pen, a lever filler where you stick the nib of the pen into a bottle of ink and operate a level on the side to pump ink into the bladder inside, a piston filler which is like a level filler but uses a twisting piston instead of a lever, a button filler which is a level filler that uses a button instead of a lever, a snorkel filler which uses a tube that extends from the feed under the nib to suck in ink but otherwise is pretty much a piston filler, and several other types of filling systems that all perform the same functions.

The next most interesting thing about fountain pens is the nib. This usually gold or silver colored tip is responsible for placing the ink on the page and as such has several characteristics that you may not have thought of. The first thing most people worry about with a nib is the width of the line that it draws. This typically ranges from fine (F) to medium(M) to broad(B). Certain manufacturers will also include extra fine(XF or EF), and double broad(BB), and some even more options.

Wilder variations include nibs that write differently when traveling in different directions (broader lines when moving up and down and thinner lines when traveling to the sides) and nibs with more than one ink slit.

Then there is nib flex. Flex is something you will find predominately in vintage pens although some modern manufacturers will refer to their nibs as flex or semi-flex when the amount of flex in them is minuscule compared to their vintage counterparts. What flex does is allow the writer to vary the width of the line with the amount of pressure they use pressing down on the page with the pen. This is how some of that beautiful calligraphy was done back centuries ago.

A word of caution; true flex nibs are not easy to find, not inexpensive for what they are, and can be difficult to use properly as they flex to a point, and then are permanently destroyed past that point. Many a newcomer has purchased a true flex nib, used it once, and destroyed it. Don’t be that guy. You can learn to use flex nibs properly by purchasing inexpensive modern semi-flex dip pens. Destroy one? Who cares, they are cheap and disposable.

So why use a fountain pen today? That is an excellent question! Today we tend to use our finger more than any actual writing instrument. From typing in our pin number in a grocery store for our debit card to signing a phone or tablet with our finger for a purchase at the hair salon, pens and pencils are quickly becoming something our parents used. Even schools are starting to no longer teach cursive writing which personally is pretty horrible (you don’t want your children to actually be able to read the Declaration of Independence and Constitution?).

The simple answer is that there is no simple answer. I personally love the fountain pen because it forces me to slow down, think about what I want to write and to make sure it is correct before I write it. There is no erase no backspace and no spell checker. If you misspell something or write something you don’t like, throw that paper away and grab another sheet to do it all over again. Yes, that sounds hard, but it is amazing how relaxing fountain pen writing can be to take your time and spend half an hour writing a page of a letter to someone.

Speaking of writing letters, that is an amazing part of using a fountain pen. We all love to be able to send a text message to someone and get an instant reply, or if we have a little more time or need to convey a lot of information, send an email which we expect to arrive within a couple of minutes at the most. There is something special about opening your mailbox (your actual mailbox, on the outside of your home) and seeing a hand-addressed envelope. That means someone cared enough to take the time to sit down and actually think about what to write.

Maybe I am old fashioned but sometimes I prefer getting a birthday card instead of just a text, an actual gift instead of a gift card, and a handwritten letter instead of an email. This is particularly a lot of fun when the fountain pen ink they use is a wild color, or even better, they used several different colors of ink! That tells me they actually put some time and effort into what they were doing instead of having their phone automatically send me a happy birthday text at 10:21 am (have to use an odd time so it doesn’t look like an automatically scheduled event).

What if you don’t have anyone to write letters to? Sure, it is possible all your friends are right there in town with you and it seems silly to physically mail a letter down the street. In that case, you can join what is called a snail mail list. These are lists of people who want to send and receive physical handwritten letters and are open to new people writing them.

Snail mail lists can often be found on forums catering to people who collect writing instruments such as Pentrace and Fountain Pen Network.

Another interesting reason to use fountain pens is that they are fantastic conversation starters. I have had people ask me what type of pen I was using because they had never seen a fountain pen (then ask what is a fountain pen), or start reminiscing about when they used fountain pens in their youth, or just complimenting me in such a cool pen having no idea what it is. It doesn’t even have to be a fountain pen; once my wife and I were in a cafe and I pulled out my Visconti Van Gogh Starry Night ballpoint and almost immediately a server stopped by the table and asked: “is that a Visconti?”

So should you get a new or used fountain pen? Vintage or modern? That’s entirely up to you. There are a ton of options for every taste and every price range. Contrary to common belief, right now in 2020, there are probably a hundred manufacturer’s around the world making fountain pens, and probably a thousand different models to choose from. I personally have vintage pens that cost $20 up to many hundreds of dollars, and modern pens that go from $7 up to a couple thousand.

Price in the fountain pen world usually denotes how rare the pen is, what was used to make it, quality of the piece, or a combination of the three. A limited-edition Mont Blanc  Ramses II LeGrand Fountain Pen will set you back a few thousand dollars and is a jaw-droppingly beautiful pen made of 18k gold and Lapis Lazuli. It is also a very good writer but is too heavy to use posted, and too heavy to carry in your breast pocket so it may not be the right choice for you. While certainly not the most expensive fountain pen, it certainly is only for those who really want something unique.

On the other end of the scale, the Pilot Varsity is an amazing disposable fountain pen that you can get for a few dollars each.

Want a cheap fountain pen that is also vintage? Nothing better than the good ole Esterbrook J that you can get for as little as $30 in good working condition. Keep in mind however that vintage pens may need work or may work fine right now and need work the second time you fill it because the fifty-year-old rubber sac that holds the ink finally tore.

Next, since I am talking about a vintage pen needing work, can you get these pens fixed? Absolutely, although maybe not locally. Most people either send off their pens to someone like Danny Fudge at The Write Pen, or to Greg Minuskin. I have personally used both of these people and they have always done excellent work. You can also find Danny and other repair people at most larger Pen Shows.

That’s right, there are pen shows! These are events where vendors, collectors, and repair people get together and put on a show. These are often sponsored by some of the larger vendors and generally cost a few dollars to get in. Some of the larger shows include the yearly ones in Los Angeles, Dallas, and Washington DC.

If you have decided to go shopping, looking for where to buy fountain pens locally could be a challenge. Vintage pens can be found at flea markets and antique dealers but more often than not need work before they can be used. New modern pens can be found at many office supply stores, large malls, and stationery stores. Other than that, take a look online.

Once you have some pens, then it is time to get ink and all the cool things that go with the pens to make it just a ton of fun.

Browse around the site here and you will find a lot of articles including topics such as fountain pen reviews, how to fill a fountain pen, and how to use a fountain pen.

I hope this article has helped you understand not only what is a fountain pen, but the culture around them as well.

Today I want to talk about the best cheap fountain pens you can buy because too many people seem to think that fountain pens are all these expensive collector’s items that no one actually uses. This list is also perfectly good as the best fountain pen for beginners list. While there certainly are pens that fit into that category, fountain pens are just like cars. Yes, there are the Bugatti Veyron Super Sports (which costs more than every house on my street, both sides, combined) of the pen world, but there is also the Toyota Yaris.

Following that logic, I don’t want to talk about best fountain pens under 100 because to me, that is almost midrange. You could say the best fountain pen under 50, but then even that is a little too expensive for me to call cheap. This will be the best fountain pens under about $30 and would be my first fountain pen recommendations to someone wanting to try them out.

Personally, when I am thinking about the best cheap fountain pens I think modern. While I love the inexpensive and reliable Esterbrook J, they cost substantially more than the other pens in this roundup and very often are in need of repairs as soon as you get them.

First on my list when I think of the best cheap fountain pens is the Pilot Varsity. These are available in fine (sometimes called small) and medium in a nice selection of colors and are good and reliable writers that can be had for under $2 each when bought in packs.

Do they write as well as my $2,000 Montblanc Ramses II? Well no. but if you do the math you get a pen that writes 75% as well (better than a Bic ballpoint ever will), is just as reliable, and you don’t worry about losing for about $1,998.20 less money. For this price, you can buy several packs and have them stashed everywhere just like most people do their ballpoints and still make a down payment on a car.

I have bought a lot of these cheap fountain pens over the years, as have many people I know, they never disappoint.

Next up for me is the Zebra Fountain Pen which for some reason seems to be one of the most common cheap fountain pens offered at many pen shows. I find this odd not because the Zebra is a poor pen, it is not, but because the Pilot Varsity is much more of a household name in fountain pen collector circles than the Zebra, and Pilot also makes a lot of really nice higher end pens in addition which I do not believe Zebra does.

But how does it stack up against the Pilot Varsity? Honestly, I have a hard time picking one over the other from a reliability or performance standpoint. I have had the Zebra seem to run out of ink or dry out so I could not use it a little more often than the Pilot but not enough to say it is a problem. I like the grip of the Zebra just a tiny bit better than the Pilot. The colors of the ink are also a little different so it gives you a little variety.

The Zebra pens are also a little more expensive but we are talking literally pennies here so take that with a grain of salt.

If I walked into an office supply store would I buy these over the Pilots? Probably not, but I have to admit that the main reason for that is because the Pilot Varsity is so popular that it is what I look for first strictly out of habit. What if I saw a display of the Zebras right at the front of the aisle? Then I would not hesitate to grab the Zebra instead of looking for the Varsity or other cheap fountain pens.

One of the really nice things about fountain pens is that for many of them you can use bottled ink and that means you have an absolutely amazing array of colors to choose from. There are probably several hundred colors currently in production, and of course many out of production and even some vintage inks are perfectly usable. Unfortunately, most of the inexpensive disposable cheap fountain pens are not made to be filled from a bottle.

The good news is that maybe you don’t need to fill a cheap fountain pen from a bottle, you can buy ones that already have the color ink you want in them. These Thronton’s Art Supply disposable fountain pens come in a 12 pack which includes 12 different colors. These are fantastic little fountain pens that write well and seem to hold a reasonable amount of ink.

I really have no complaints about these pens but I feel they are more aimed at artists (hence being from an art supply store) than daily writers. Where this becomes evident is that the ink seems more translucent than either the Pilot or Zebra. While this is fine for coloring, it is not so much for actually writing. It makes me think of painting with watercolors as opposed to acrylics.

Overall if you are more about the color than serious writing and reading what you wrote, these will do an excellent job. If however, you are a serious writer, use them for writing checks (yeah, who does that any more), or taking notes, then the Pilot or Zebra might be a better choice.

The last disposable I want to talk about is one I have not actually used but I keep getting people telling me to include them in the list, so here they are. I need to make time to order some and try them so later versions of this article may include first-hand information.

The Chinese Jinhao Shark Pens are unique in that they are quite cheap fountain pens coming in at less than $2 each in multi-packs, but do not contain any ink. Instead, they are converter fill allowing you to use any bottled ink you want. I have a lot of people telling me they love these pens for that very reason. I have heard, and see in some reviews, that some people have a hard time getting them to write but this could be more a problem with the ink they bought than a problem with the pen.

Over the years I have found that some ink is better than others and that some pens want a specific type of ink. Yes, I know that sounds crazy and if I had not seen it myself I would not have believed it. I have an Omas Paragon that will write with Omas ink and Aurora Black, but nothing else. It went back to Omas three times and went to two other high-end pen repair techs who all told me the same thing, use Omas ink. Great except Omas isn’t around anymore.

Fortunately, these pens are cheap enough that if you want to try some nice fancy ink you can try some of these. If they work, great. If they don’t, no big loss. Overall, I have to say the Jinhao fountain pen looks interesting.

Lastly, I wanted to include one cheap fountain pen that is not disposable and that costs a little more. The Parker Jotter is a stape of fountain pen users for their ballpoint pens, now, they make a fountain pen. Currently, you can get one of these for under $20 and it comes with a couple of ink cartridges to get you started.

I have never been a Parker fan personally, just not my style, but even I owned and used a vintage Parker Jotter ballpoint and now, a modern fountain pen. They write well, are very light, and if anything happens to them you are not crying about the loss. Sure, they are a lot more expensive than a Pilot Varsity, but they are reusable whereas the Varsity is not.

My only complaint about them is that they are fairly thin and I prefer a thicker pen, but as long as you are just signing your name or taking quick notes, this pen will do just fine and is an excellent cheap fountain pen.

Honorable mention goes to another iconic cheap fountain pen, the Lamy Safari. Coming in only a few dollars more than the Parker Jotter (around $20 usually), having been around a lot longer (in fountain pen form), and having as a slightly thicker body makes it a clear contender. I actually think it writes better than the Parker but that may just be me. Why didn’t it make it above the Parker? Because we went from talking about under $2 pens to now talking about a pen that costs over twice that much, I had to stop somewhere or we would be discussing thousand dollar limited editions.

The bottom line here is to try a nice disposable and see how it works for you. If you like disposable and only really use a few colors, stick with that. If you want a cheap fountain pen that you can reuse, try a Parker or Lamy. I would stay away from the Jenhao unless you really need the capability of using bottled ink in a disposable, or you can buy a converter for the Lammy and use bottled ink in it.

Good luck, and I hope you find the best cheap fountain pens that work for you!

When I started collecting pens I went looking for the best fountain pen book I could find. I purchased a lot of books on fountain pens, pencils, and related materials, more than I want to admit. The good part of that is that I have probably owned and/or read just about all of the popular fountain pen books so I am going to try to pass some of this on to you so you don’t have to buy quite as many as I did. Your significant other will be thankful.

Recommended Fountain Pen Book for beginning collectors

The first book that comes to mind when recommending books to future collectors is a pretty popular book, Fountain Pens Past & Present by Paul Erano.

This book was not the first or second book I bought, but when I finally did find it (in an actual book store, go figure) I was smitten. It has a very good selection of pens listed but where it really shines is that the first third of the book is probably the best introduction to fountain pen collecting in any book I have read.

The rest of the book, approximately two-thirds of the pages, is devoted to the pens and is broken into several sections based on age. This is quite different than most books that break things into manufacturers instead. This approach allows you to see pens from different manufacturers of approximately the same age which really helps you see how the pens evolved over time.

Most of the popular books seem to put a lot of weight on Parker, Sheaffer, Waterman, and a few others. This book includes those too but has a lot of other manufacturers too, manufacturers that I really enjoy. I know too many collectors who get into the big three and miss a lot of really cool pens in the process. This book makes sure that it doesn’t happen and includes both vintage and very modern pens as well.

Roughly 285 pages with some beautiful pen-pictures which include pretty accurate price ranges.

Looking for the classic book that everyone knows? Fountain Pens of the World by Andreas Lambrou is that book. Go to any pen show, there it is for sale. In fact, Andreas will most likely be there himself at his company booth, Lambrou pens!

This book breaks the pens down by region such as the US, UK, France, Germany, etc, and then by manufacturer. It also contains a section on limited editions and another section on materials and construction methods. It truly is the ultimate book about fountain pens.

With over 440 pages packed with some of the most beautiful images and the best information of all the books, I have ever seen. The only negatives are that the book can be a bit overwhelming to the novice and that it can be a little expensive. This book typically goes for the same price as all the other books in this section combined.

Next on my list is this book, Fountain Pens and Pencils by George Fischler and Stuart Schneider. This book has over three hundred beautiful pages jammed packed with beautiful pictures of pens.

To start with, let’s address the elephant in the room with this book, its lack of modern pens. If you are looking for a book with something newer than the mid-1980s, look elsewhere.

That being said, I still love this fountain pen book. It is full of beautiful images including more pens than most other books. The selection of pens chosen is fantastic. If you want a book that is cheaper than Pens of the World but almost as good, this is it.

Not the most popular, not the best selling, not the most pens, not the most manufacturers, but Fountain Pens: History and Design by Giorgio Dragoni and Guiseppe Fishera is an absolutely amazing fountain pen book and one of my favorites.

The first half of the book is an excellent introduction, history, and technical overview of writing instruments. It is almost as good as my favorite introduction in Fountain Pens Past & Present listed at the top of this page, and probably has better historical images.

The second half of the book contains about ninety-five pens, as opposed to many hundreds usually found in other books. The big difference is that instead of a picture and a price, with maybe a little description, you get an entire page of description for each pen and usually two to three pictures. This allows you to get more intimate with each pen and its manufacturer.

This approach of more detail with fewer pens I found to be an excellent companion to larger books with more pens since it really gives you a feel for each writing instrument. You can then transfer that feeling to other similar pens and have a better understanding of them all.

This fountain pen book presents an excellent selection of classic pens spread over a very nice group of manufacturers. Years later I still like to crack open this book and peruse the pages. Given how inexpensive it is, I highly recommend every new collector have a copy on their shelf.

Bonus book for Montblanc lovers

So I have to throw in The Montblanc Diary & Collector’s Guide by Jens Rosler because, well, I love Montblancs. It is considered too expensive and only covers older Montblanc writing instruments, but I don’t care. It is a wonderful book packed with more eye candy than should be legal. It is probably one of the finest books of its kind made for any manufacturer.

If you like vintage Montblancs from the days when they were writing tools first and showpieces second, you need this book.

Conclusions

While there are a lot of books on the subject, I would personally start you off with Fountain Pens Past & Present and Fountain Pens: History and Design. For the price of a large specialty pizza, you can have both books and a great start to your new hobby. After all, why spend money on more books when you could use that money to buy new pens!

I hope this article helps you find the perfect fountain pen book for you.

Looking for the best pen cases to carry your pens in usually starts because you have some nice pens and you are tired of the cheap cases that do little to protect your pens, look just as cheap as they were, and start to fall apart fairly quickly. You have decided it is time to invest in a nice case that will be with you for as long as you decide to carry pens, which hopefully is a very large number of years.

For those who just want something passable to get them through this month, I present the Laban Double Fountain Pen Case. This case is that cheap pen case you see at the pen shows, in pen stores, and is carried by a lot of online pen dealers. They don’t carry it because it is some awesome case, it isn’t, they carry it because it is a good bang for the buck case that has fairly consistent quality from case to case.

Yeah, I am kinda badmouthing it, but really for a sub $20 case it is pretty nice. One of the best pen cases to carry your pens? For the price, sure. But if you use it, expect to be replacing it sooner rather than later.

Now let’s take a step up to the Pelikan Fine Leather Black Triple Pen Pouch which is made by the same Pelikan that makes the legendary Souveran series of pens. In fact, just like their pens, these cases overdeliver in just about every way possible.

These real leather cases are soft to the touch yet seem like they would be very durable over the long term. While some people have reported a strange smell, probably from cleaning solutions, I have not had that experience. The case comes in 1, 2, or 3 pen carrying capacities.

Plenty of room in this case to fit a Pelikan M1000 or Montblanc 149 sized pen and since the flap simply slips under the hoop it will go down in size to fit much smaller like the Pelikan M400 or Montblanc 145 pens just as well. This truly is one of the best pen cases to carry your pen in at any price point.

Now if you want to splurge and get basically the previous Pelikan case in nicer leather (or in brown), try the Maxwell Scott Full Grain Leather Pen Case. This case is about 50% more expensive but once you hold it in your hand, you get why. The leather is just amazing. Not saying the leather in the Pelikan is bad or sub-standard, it isn’t, but this is the next level in one of the best pen cases to carry your pens in.

Handmade in Italy these come in either black or brown and will hold three thin pens, or two larger fountain pens easily. I love the brown with the slightly lighter stitching, really nice touch.

My only complaint here is that there is no divider between pens which of course is being pretty picky. The pens I carry are not ornate enough to cause damage to the pen next to it, and the lack of divider allows me to carry one really large (some Krones maybe, way bigger than a M1000 or 149), two typical pens for me like a M800 and a 146, or three small pens like Parker jotters. So I guess what I am saying is, I am used to having dividers but the lack of a divider is actually a plus.

Next up is a case I constantly hear mixed reviews about, the Montblanc Meisterstuck Siena pen case. These come in black, or black, and in 1, 2, and 3 pen capacities and runs a little over $100 for the two pen version. Yes, the repeated color was a joke.

So why the mixed reviews? First, some people just seem to hate Montblanc for whatever reason. Second, and most importantly is that these are hard leather cases.

Most people are familiar with soft supple leather, that’s what most pen cases are made out of, most jackets, purses, etc. Some of the leather in some purses and bags can be a little stiff, but even that usually pales compared to the leather Montblanc uses in their Siena pen cases. Think very thick and stiff plastic and that gives you an idea.

That being said, the leather is absolutely flawless, the stitching is perfect, everything is exact, and of course, even the largest standard Montblanc pens (149) fit perfectly. I also like the fact that it is divided into slots to keep your high end pens from scratching each other.

Even I was initially turned off by the feel of the leather. Then I thought about it. What happens when I have a Pelikan pen case with $1,000 worth of pens in it in my briefcase and I throw my 12″ tablet in there on top of them, let’s just say that could be very bad. What if I did the same thing with my pens in this Montblanc Siena case? No problem at all.

Funny, you buy a pen case to protect your pens then gripe because the leather protecting your pen is too protective?

So I bought the three pen version and actually used it, awesome sauce. It turns out this is my favorite pen case because it is simple, elegant, durable, protective, doesn’t show fingerprints, and will probably outlive me. Worth it? Oh heck yes. This isn’t one of the best pen cases to carry your pens, this is the best.

So now I want to go for something a little different, the Galen Leather Zippered 5 Slots Pen Case. This is different for two main reasons; first that it holds five pens, and second that it also holds an A6 note pad. It is also designed more like a book or binder than the rest of our cases.

While I personally have a Meisterstück medium notebook, not everyone wants to spend that kind of money, and you don’t want to take something that expensive out in the woods, or anywhere it might get hurt. That’s where this case comes in.

The quality is extremely good for the money with nice soft leather which doesn’t feel too thin, a nice soft interior to protect your pens and a really nice zipper that feels like it should be on something far more expensive. Every time I grab this thing I think I should have paid more for it, but I am glad I didn’t.

So far it has weathered everything I have thrown at it. One thing that always concerned me about carrying my Montblanc notebook was sitting it down on surfaces like the top of a brick wall, or the sidewalk while I sit on the curb talking to someone. I have no such qualms about this product and although there certainly are some scuffs and scrapes, it just gives it more character.

My only real concern is I am not a big fan of elastic loops for holding pens. They either wear out, stretch out, or they may contain chemicals from the manufacturing process that can discolor your pen barrels. So far I have not had any issues and I keep my really expensive pens away from the elastic.

Overall this is an extremely practical and useful case and probably the best book style pencil case I have come across, especially in this price range.

I hope this article has helped you find one of the best pen cases to carry your pens.