I agree. Gold is not always better. I love just switching things up. In the end, it all comes down to personal preference, handwriting styles and sometimes just the pen and ink pairing.
For those who want to know the gold percentage as a function of the karat number (k), gold% = k/24. If you want to know k for a certain percentage of gold (p) k = 24 x p. In the example of 21k the percentage of gold is 21/24 = 78,5%. When in the nib is engraved 585 meaning 58,5%, the karat number is k = 24 x 0,585 = which is 14,04 so you know it is a 14k gold nib.
It’s so cool to hear different perspectives on this hobby. I love it! I chuckled because my favorite and least favorite were the exact opposite of yours 😂. I love the Platinum 3776 so much. My least favorite is the Pilot vanishing point. I guess I prefer stiff to bouncy. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Like you, I have a pretty wide variety of both steel and gold nibs, and while I do love many of the ones with gold nibs, my favorite pen to just write with every day, is my Esterbrook Estie with a steel journaler nib. I adore that thing as it takes minimal effort to make my writing look really lovely, and I don't even have to slow down and conscientiously think about how I'm forming the letters the way I would with a standard nib. Honestly, I think it really comes down so much to individual preferences and the situation. For example, if I need to take quick notes at a meeting, or I'm just jotting down a note at my desk, I love the Pilot VP with a gold nib. Convenient with its clicker, but still fun to write with (so much bounce!). Plus you sometimes get questions, and any excuse to talk pens is a good thing to me. If I'm on the go, potentially on a hike or mini-adventure, I want something sturdy that I'm not going to have to be concerned about, so it's my Kaweco Sport Brass with a steel EF nib. Anyway, I could keep geeking out, but this comment has already gone on forever. TL;DR: It depends. Like what you like. 😍😍😍 Awesome video, as always! ua-cam.com/users/sgaming/emoji/7ff574f2/emoji_u1f604.png
I love writing with my Jowo #6 steel nib ground into a fine cursive italic! It is currently my favourite. And very true about personal preferences and situations and how one feels at any one time. And like Brian Goulet says to many questions… “It depends!” 😂 Thanks for watching and commenting!
Same page! I would recommend that Pilot VP 18k nib all day, it’s the softest, bounciest, wettest, smoothest gold nib I’ve tried. But then I sold my only Platinum gold nib pen because it was just too stiff for me. The writing experience is indeed so much more than just the material a nib is made of!🤗❤️👏
Thank you! I do need to try the M on the 3776 just to put my mind at ease but I do love the 18k on the Pilot VP - literally made me gasp when I first tried it!
Nice breakdown! Of course this is so subjective to each persons preferences. But I have tried 4 gold nibs. The only winner was the Pelikan (M400). It was so noticeably different than any other pen I'd ever written with. That uniqueness made it special and the only gold nib I have. The other gold nibs I tried that were equal to or worse than steel nibs were Pilot VP, Pilot E95s, and Sailor PGS 14k. I quickly returned or resold them. I'm super happy with the rest of my pens being steel! They are great!
After over 30 years of FP usage, I will say that any nib, whether steel 14C 18C 21C, is great if it is well tuned. Period. I have had 18C pelikan m1000s that were huge disapointments and Platinum Plaisirs that were just on point an amazing to write with. I love both these brands and many more but my point is that any FP is really at its best when it is well tuned. The rest is really personal preferences and how you use certain nibs in my opinion. I personally love the Platinum 3776; it is a stiff nib but for precise drawings, or kanji or arabic writings that are quite detailed in a limited space, margin note taking, crapy papers you got to write on etc etc, it's finer nibs are just great. And its broader and specialty nibs are a joy. You might want to try out the SF or SM nib they offer; it is absolutely not flex but it's got a good bounce to it. Btw most brands have the 18C nibs. They just use it on their higher models: like Pelikan m800 and m1000, Platinum İzumo and President (the President FP's nib is called the president nib because it is 18C. I'm not sure but I think the FP is not made anymore, but the nib is used in the İzumo. And I recommend trying it), Montblanc 149, the Pilot İshime, VP, Sterling FP and Custom Urushi and of course the Namiki line.... the list goes on and on really. I think it also depends on how you want to spend your money. Sometimes an FP is just another steel jowo or bock nib (as long as it is well tuned) but the pen itself is beautiful. And when it is made by a one person production it will cost more then some gold nibbed pens. And it is well worth it for many reasons. All this to say that I love my gold nibbed pens, but I would be lying if I said they are better then my steel pens. Some of the steels are superb writers: like the Diplomat Aero for instance. İt all depends on what I want at that time. Right now my EDCs are my Kaweco brass sport (steel), couple of Pilot Sterling FPs(18C) and couple of my Esties (Journaler and scribe nib). I have a few more inked for other purposes as well. But in my case I write from left to right, from right to left, in latin alphabet, in arabic alphabet, in cursive or print or calligraphy... or I draw or doodle with my pens. So really it depends on what you are looking for in a pen. But if you have just one pen that is well tuned, no matter what the nib material is, you're good to go in my opinion 😊 I love that you like the Lamy 2k! And if you like the feel of it then you might like the Visconti Homo Sapiens. The og lava one... if you get the chance to try it, ı would love to hear your thoughts on it
The Platinum President has indeed been discontinued. I think you make an excellent point about tuning. When a nib is properly tuned, it can make all the world of difference. Case in point the Visconti palladium nibs. No shortage of people who hate Visconti for that nib, but when it was tuned, it was one of the best nibs I have. I don't have it on my Homo Sapiens though.
@@ironmic9244 totally agree on the palladium nibs! What a fancy way of saying 'steel basically' that was 😏... I'll admit I was very sceptical at first but when I got the csi nib on that lava pen, it was a game changer; ground by Marc Bacas, I think Goulet still sells them. They do it on gold nibs now. The main reason why I am not tempted to get one in gold is because my palladium one is so perfectly ground and tuned. I don't need a good writing HS, I have one
So true that any nib, if well tuned, can be life changing! And you are right - currently, my money has been spent on really beautiful hand turned pens, but they have amazing Jowo nibs tuned by the makers themselves! So what we choose to spend our money on makes a difference.
@@muallaemine I really have to wonder why Visconti chose Pd? It was as expensive if not more than gold. You're right. Why get a gold one when you have one that writes. Did the pen go directly to Bacas to be ground, or did you have issues with the pen, and then send it off? Now that gold is back on their high end pens, things should start to improve. I suspect I got the Bock version, because I think I got the transitional nib, rather than their in-house nib now.
I've got a stealth e-motion and it's a far better writer than my Lamy 2000. Much less pickier in how you should hold it. Barely any sweet spot issue. Much more ergonomic despite being a heavier pen.
I have a few Pilot VPs with the gold nibs, and one special alloy nib. Probably my favorite steel nibs are on my Faber-Castell pens. They just write so butter smooth. And when they are in a medium nib, they are very juicy or wet.
Thank you for the video! I ALWAYS love seeing this debate rehashed. When I started my fountain pen journey, way back back in the beginning of 2018, I had a bunch of Jinhaos and a vintage Soyuz pen with a gold nib. There was no comparison. That Soyuz pen is still one of my favorite writing pens. I thought maybe it was just the low quality of the Jinhaos, so ended up getting.a twsbi pen. That nib was also lack luster. Shortly later, I got a Pilot VP and Platinum 3776. They were much more on par with the Soyuz. Ever since then I have expected to be disappointed by steel nibs. Not to say the steel nibs are unwritable, but my general experience has been gold is better. Many steel nibs are also the same across brands. It seems like almost every brand makes pens with steel nibs from Jowo, Bock, or Schmidt. It makes for a familiar, and dependable, but boring writing experience. I have tried all three and they have differences between them, but a new pen with a Jowo.schmidt, or bock steel nib doesn't give me any wow factor, like most(not all) of my gold nibs have. Let's explore specifics for a second. If you are thinking about purchasing a pen you'll want to consider things Let's compare Pilot vs Pelikan. Pilot nibs are my least favorite so I tend to like my Pelikan steels more. I even like my pelikan steels more then the 14k pilot nibs I have. The 18k vanishing points are different though. I like them a lot. However, Pelikan Gold nibs are a whole nother level. My favorite steel nib is My Narwhal Peter Draws pen. I think Narwhal tunes their nibs in house. This one is probably in my top 5 nibs. My other narwhals aren't quite as nice, but I think they are different nib sizes. It is still not to the level of my Pelikan Gold nib. I also want to say I have also been really disappointed with some gold nibs. Most recently a Visconti Homo Sapiens I bought used. It came bent and mangled I sent it off to JJ Lax he emailed me today that it is ready to ship back. I do think it is weird that a couple of my 18k nibs are stiffer then some of my 14k nibs. My assumptions is that it has to do with the shape or the particular metals of non gold percentage. I also have a lamy 2000 in fine and the sweet spot is so small I really have to work to write with it. To wrap up, when Diplomat started selling Aeros with gold nibs. The consensus I picked up from the reviews I read was that the difference was barely noticable, and wasn't worth the price difference. That tells me that all things being equal there is a slight upper hand to gold. HOWEVER, every nib making company tunes things slightly different, and factory machines make errors, and users have different preferences, and ink choices. There really are too many variables to give a definite scientific answer. My preference for gold is just a general guideline and I don't want to make to sound more then that. I also kind of like how every nib manufacturer has it's own personality maybe even if they are different models from the same pen maker they can write a bit different. I have found that depending on how much I like a steel nib by a company I can predict how much I am going to like a gold nib. Anyway, I am Interested in other's opinions! if anything I hope I gave people some stuff to think about why they like some nibs and not others, as thinkiing though this over the years has helped me avoid some disappointments.Though some trial and error was also done in that process as well.
I agree, there are some stainless nibs that far out perform some of the competition for sure. However, comparing some of the extraordinary SS nibs (Yowo LAMY and Pilot I am talking about you) The gold nib upgrades have in my experience so far reminds me of buying a car and picking between the base model vs the one with all the options. They are both amazing choices, but the later just has that *chef’s kiss*. However I have been highly dissapointed in gold nibs before, where as a very similar problem in SS is not really a big deal, the expectation for gold is and should be higher. But the dissapointment is sooooo much greater when it’s NOT what you expect.
Thanks Denise! I agree with you that if you are paying for gold, you expect the nib to write amazingly outside of the box! But any nib can be tuned to our specifications.
Pelikan, Visconti, and Montegrappa, and I'm sure the other Italian companies all make 18k gold nibs, too! As far as Japanese brands, only pilot has an 18k, and only Sailor makes 21k gold nibs on the regular (not many Italian or German brands do 21k). Gold nibs within the same brands do tend to feel and perform better than their steel counterparts in my experience, but only by a small margin. Like you said, there's so many more factors that contribute to the writing experience and all gold nibs have varying characteristics. Gold nibs generally are softer and bouncier, so that would really be the main reason one should want gold over steel, but some gold nibs are super hard anyways haha. I find Sailor nibs to be the hardest. Outside of that, most gold nibs have a nice bounce to them. My platinums do have a small bounce to them, which I was surprised to see.
Thank you for this! I love my Pilot gold nibs because they have that bounce that none of my other pens have. But it’s not the only reason I like it! Thank you for watching!
I love my 3776 in all nib sizes but I would say there is a noticeable difference between their F and M nibs - M is significantly wetter and smoother! My friend has a B nib and reports a similar experience - so I do wonder if your opinion would change if the nib had not been an F? Aside from that - there are definitely plenty of pens with steel nibs that I enjoy. But I think part of the hesitation is the question of "If I am going to spend over a certain price point - eg. $200-$400 - do I really want to spend that only to get a steel nib, when I can buy a pen in the similar price range and get a gold nib?" I think maybe that is why all the gold nibs I own are Japanese pens, and I have yet to pull the trigger and buy a European pen with a gold nib since I find that they tend to be priced significantly higher.
I think if I had tried the M nib on the 3776 my opinion would be different for sure. I do want to sell my F and possibly try a M on the 3776. I once felt that way - that if I was spending that much money, it had to be a gold nib. And my mind has changed on that. The nib is not the only factor in the writing experience. I have been spending my money on hand turned resin pens with really smooth Jowo steel nibs, and that is worth it for me.
I tried a Platinum 3776 but didn’t like the feedback, so I chose, instead, a Pilot VP. I have a newer Pelikan M205, and while it doesn’t have a gold nib, I despise the pen; but like my older pen and a couple of other Pelikan fountain pens in the cheaper range better than the despised, lol, M205. Maybe I got a bad nib? Anyway, I love a smooth writing pen, be it one with a gold nib or a steel nib. I haven’t tried a Sailor because I was told that they have feedback? Thank you for the video.
I do love my Pelikans but don’t find it that different from writing with my Esterbrook 🤷🏻♀️ Maybe that is just me. But another commenter here said smoothness is how well polished it is, which can be manipulated by any maker.
24 K = 100% gold, so 12K = 50%, you can do the rest of the math. Two toned nibs are usually plated to be two tone. All other things being equal, a gold nib is probably better, but it is never the case that all other things are equal. I love the Platinum 3776. But I also love soft nibs, e.g., the pilot FA nib. The VP is also nice. Smooth or feedback-y? Both can be nice. My favorite gold nib? The Pilot #15 WA nib, and probably the Pelikan 800 and 1000 nibs, especially in M or B. Of r perhaps an Aurora nib (very feedback-y). An Platinum makes a wonderful Music nib. Steel nibs? Some of Frankie Christoph's wonderful grinds (of Jowo nibs), TWSBI M and B's, Benu"s wonderfully wet Schmidt nibs. I also love the Bock titainium nib, and the wonderful SCchon DSGN monoc nib.
I do want to try a Monoc nib! And thank you for the calculations - I knew it was something like that but could not articulate it! Your comment is exactly why my answer at the end of the day is “it depends”! 😂
The Platinum 3776 is one of my favorite pens, especially in the medium, broad, and music nibs. I enjoy wtiting with them much more than the Vanishing Point. Some 3776 models are available with a Soft Fine or Soft Medium nib, and you might like that better because there's a bit more bounce, but I prefer the stiffer regular nibs. If you get a chance, try a medium or broad. I also think that hooded nibs (VP, Lamy 2K) give a different experience than nibs that are fully exposed, and I prefer the latter. (As a complete aside, there are 18K Sailor nibs on Taccia pens, which most of us can't afford. The owner of Taccia has exacting standards and prefers 18K over both 14K and 21K, so she contracts for rhose nibs from Sailor.) And I agree that steel nibs can also be fantastic. So many great options out there!
Thank you, Marilyn!! I love hearing what you have to say. I do need to try a Soft Fine or M in the 3776. But I also want to try an EF in the Pilot VP. And you are right - so many factors affecting nib performance, whether hooded or exposed!
Why would we choose? If there was one nib/pen that made us happier on all paper in all situations etc., we’d just need one pen? But there is mood, pen & ink combinations etc. There is such a thing as white gold, but I don‘t know whether that means two-toned nibs are white and yellow gold combined. Many Gold nibs are irididum dipped which hardens them
The thinner the nib of course the more feedback. Pilot F 18K vs Platinum F 14K is a HUGE difference and not apple to apple. Also sometimes it could be factory defect and you might get a bad batch of nibs. I'm repeating on Platinum because to me my 3776 performs very well even better than Sailor
This video was really informative - thank you! If I ever buy a gold nib, it will be for softness and smoothness... can you tell me how you got over the placement of the clip, on the Pilot vanishing point? I seriously am bothered by it being upside down.
I like gold nibs better in Japanese pens, especially Sailor. I haven't had very good luck with either of Kakuno's. With Pelikan I actually prefer my steel M200 over my gold M405. It is bouncier. I love my Schmidt and Jowo steel nibs! Very wet writers.
I haven't watched the video yet, but I wanted to throw my two cents in before I sit down with my knitting to watch. I have a good collection of both steel and gold nibs and I think it's just preference for the most part. When it comes to flex nibs, I feel like there's nothing better than a gold nib. Outside of that, some of my most favorite writers are steel nibs.
I have to disagree, a properly modified steel flex nib can outperform a gold nib in terms of line variation, softness and snspback. However commercially available gold nibs can outperform commercially available steel ones
I don‘t think the writing experience depends on the nib material, there are so many other factors to be counted in. I love my gold nibbed pens as much as my steel nibbed ones. Some pens you can only get in one form like the Pilot E95s and it comes at a lower price than many of the popular steel nib pens like Esterbrooks. Still I love my Esties and can‘t get enough of them. 😊
Steel, all the way. My 2 favorites are an old Montblanc Nobless and the Pilot Kakuno. I have a Montblanc Noblesse with a 14kt nib and I don't like it that much at all. I do not like vanishing points at all so I'm not sure if there's any other pilot gold nibs ;-D. I like the Jowos alot. TBH though, Nothing beats a Kakuno.
I am really impressed with my Pilot Kakuno. And my Pilot Falcon. Both pens offer stand out writing experiences. If the Kakuno came in a sf nib I would buy it in a heartbeat. I'll probably eventually buy another Kakuno anyway because that ef is shockingly fine and I'd like to try it with a larger nib too
I do love my Kakuno! I do want to try a Pilot VP with an EF nib to see if I would like it! If you don’t like the bouncy VP nib, you may like the stiffer nibs on the Custom 74! One to try for sure.
I am unconvinced that gold nibs are better. However, if you are interested in higher end pens, then you will end up paying the gold tax. Two superlative pens with steel nibs are Faber-Castell and Franklin-Christoph.
I prefer gold nibs now. To be objective, the writing performance is not better than the other for either material. Smoothness will depend on the polishing, as the same iridium tipping is on both gold an steel. Why I like gold better is because of the historical part of it. Steel nibs, being the newer technology, has not shown to me a functional advantage over gold. It has brought the cost down. That being the advantage of steel nibs, everything else being equal. But what gold does have over steel, is what Brian Goulet calls, "suspension," like that of a car. The final advantage, is what I call personalization. A gold nib overtime will adapt to one style of writing, truly making it "your" pen. This is why some people do not let others use their gold nib fountain pens. It take repeated use though, and with the amount of pens people have, that type of customization most likely will not occur. But if you have just a handful of gold nib pens, that are used regularly, it will. The analogy I will give are like Birkenstock sandals. Over time the cork in the sandal molds to the foot. And I just don't think that can be beat.
Thank you for this! I love this perspective and never thought of it this way. Like how a mattress molds to your body, a nib can mold to the way you write. Love that!
Love the birkies analogy.. they're great too and I love mine 😄 just like my FPs! And I'll have to say, I wouldn't give some of my more premium pens to anyone just because I wouldn't know how they'll handle them. Because as you pointed out: we have waaay too many pens to actually achieve the kind of customization that comes with regular use to not let someone else use our gold nibbed pens for that reason. But still we can be a little protective over our FPs for other reasons 😊
@@muallaemine Thank you. Too bad for men the Birkenstock sandals are just oogly. I can't find the Rameses, I think it's called. I tried them on, once, goodness were they hard, but I knew they would soften up. Good mens dress shoes also have the cork in the shank of the shoe, that makes them comfortable over time. Much rather just resole my dress shoes, then buy new that is cement pasted, and once their done, they are done. But back to pens :) I too am way overprotective of my pens. I treat them like Faberge Eggs. Or at least I attempt to. I have been seriously thinking of crunching my collection to about 10, but don't know if I can.
@@ironmic924410 pens!!! I am confident I have more then 10 pens inked up at the moment. I would be very content if I could size down to 50 actually. I can't seem to get tired of specialty nibs really. Therein lies my problem. I have many FPs I really wouldn't care about if it wasn't for the nib. Btw I am one of the weirdos who liked to brake into her birkies. but they have the soft soles now. They are just another level of comfort 😊
I agree. Gold is not always better. I love just switching things up. In the end, it all comes down to personal preference, handwriting styles and sometimes just the pen and ink pairing.
Very true! After a certain price point, gold isn’t going to perform necessarily better than other gold nibs at higher price points, either.
For those who want to know the gold percentage as a function of the karat number (k), gold% = k/24.
If you want to know k for a certain percentage of gold (p) k = 24 x p.
In the example of 21k the percentage of gold is 21/24 = 78,5%.
When in the nib is engraved 585 meaning 58,5%, the karat number is k = 24 x 0,585 = which is 14,04 so you know it is a 14k gold nib.
It’s so cool to hear different perspectives on this hobby. I love it! I chuckled because my favorite and least favorite were the exact opposite of yours 😂. I love the Platinum 3776 so much. My least favorite is the Pilot vanishing point. I guess I prefer stiff to bouncy. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Amazing how different our preferences are! I will probably sell the 3776 but would be open to trying one with a M nib!
Like you, I have a pretty wide variety of both steel and gold nibs, and while I do love many of the ones with gold nibs, my favorite pen to just write with every day, is my Esterbrook Estie with a steel journaler nib. I adore that thing as it takes minimal effort to make my writing look really lovely, and I don't even have to slow down and conscientiously think about how I'm forming the letters the way I would with a standard nib.
Honestly, I think it really comes down so much to individual preferences and the situation. For example, if I need to take quick notes at a meeting, or I'm just jotting down a note at my desk, I love the Pilot VP with a gold nib. Convenient with its clicker, but still fun to write with (so much bounce!). Plus you sometimes get questions, and any excuse to talk pens is a good thing to me. If I'm on the go, potentially on a hike or mini-adventure, I want something sturdy that I'm not going to have to be concerned about, so it's my Kaweco Sport Brass with a steel EF nib.
Anyway, I could keep geeking out, but this comment has already gone on forever. TL;DR: It depends. Like what you like. 😍😍😍
Awesome video, as always!
ua-cam.com/users/sgaming/emoji/7ff574f2/emoji_u1f604.png
I love writing with my Jowo #6 steel nib ground into a fine cursive italic! It is currently my favourite.
And very true about personal preferences and situations and how one feels at any one time.
And like Brian Goulet says to many questions… “It depends!” 😂
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Same page! I would recommend that Pilot VP 18k nib all day, it’s the softest, bounciest, wettest, smoothest gold nib I’ve tried. But then I sold my only Platinum gold nib pen because it was just too stiff for me. The writing experience is indeed so much more than just the material a nib is made of!🤗❤️👏
Thank you! I do need to try the M on the 3776 just to put my mind at ease but I do love the 18k on the Pilot VP - literally made me gasp when I first tried it!
I totally agree that gold May or may not be the best writing experience. I’ve got some steel nib pens I can’t do without.
Yes! My Esterbrooks are some of my faves!
Nice breakdown! Of course this is so subjective to each persons preferences. But I have tried 4 gold nibs. The only winner was the Pelikan (M400). It was so noticeably different than any other pen I'd ever written with. That uniqueness made it special and the only gold nib I have.
The other gold nibs I tried that were equal to or worse than steel nibs were Pilot VP, Pilot E95s, and Sailor PGS 14k. I quickly returned or resold them.
I'm super happy with the rest of my pens being steel! They are great!
Thanks for watching, Sunny! I love your perspective - we all have different preferences and what one likes over another can be so different.
After over 30 years of FP usage, I will say that any nib, whether steel 14C 18C 21C, is great if it is well tuned. Period.
I have had 18C pelikan m1000s that were huge disapointments and Platinum Plaisirs that were just on point an amazing to write with. I love both these brands and many more but my point is that any FP is really at its best when it is well tuned. The rest is really personal preferences and how you use certain nibs in my opinion. I personally love the Platinum 3776; it is a stiff nib but for precise drawings, or kanji or arabic writings that are quite detailed in a limited space, margin note taking, crapy papers you got to write on etc etc, it's finer nibs are just great. And its broader and specialty nibs are a joy. You might want to try out the SF or SM nib they offer; it is absolutely not flex but it's got a good bounce to it.
Btw most brands have the 18C nibs. They just use it on their higher models: like Pelikan m800 and m1000, Platinum İzumo and President (the President FP's nib is called the president nib because it is 18C. I'm not sure but I think the FP is not made anymore, but the nib is used in the İzumo. And I recommend trying it), Montblanc 149, the Pilot İshime, VP, Sterling FP and Custom Urushi and of course the Namiki line.... the list goes on and on really.
I think it also depends on how you want to spend your money. Sometimes an FP is just another steel jowo or bock nib (as long as it is well tuned) but the pen itself is beautiful. And when it is made by a one person production it will cost more then some gold nibbed pens. And it is well worth it for many reasons.
All this to say that I love my gold nibbed pens, but I would be lying if I said they are better then my steel pens. Some of the steels are superb writers: like the Diplomat Aero for instance. İt all depends on what I want at that time. Right now my EDCs are my Kaweco brass sport (steel), couple of Pilot Sterling FPs(18C) and couple of my Esties (Journaler and scribe nib). I have a few more inked for other purposes as well. But in my case I write from left to right, from right to left, in latin alphabet, in arabic alphabet, in cursive or print or calligraphy... or I draw or doodle with my pens. So really it depends on what you are looking for in a pen. But if you have just one pen that is well tuned, no matter what the nib material is, you're good to go in my opinion 😊
I love that you like the Lamy 2k! And if you like the feel of it then you might like the Visconti Homo Sapiens. The og lava one... if you get the chance to try it, ı would love to hear your thoughts on it
The Platinum President has indeed been discontinued. I think you make an excellent point about tuning. When a nib is properly tuned, it can make all the world of difference. Case in point the Visconti palladium nibs. No shortage of people who hate Visconti for that nib, but when it was tuned, it was one of the best nibs I have. I don't have it on my Homo Sapiens though.
@@ironmic9244 totally agree on the palladium nibs! What a fancy way of saying 'steel basically' that was 😏... I'll admit I was very sceptical at first but when I got the csi nib on that lava pen, it was a game changer; ground by Marc Bacas, I think Goulet still sells them. They do it on gold nibs now. The main reason why I am not tempted to get one in gold is because my palladium one is so perfectly ground and tuned. I don't need a good writing HS, I have one
So true that any nib, if well tuned, can be life changing! And you are right - currently, my money has been spent on really beautiful hand turned pens, but they have amazing Jowo nibs tuned by the makers themselves! So what we choose to spend our money on makes a difference.
@@muallaemine I really have to wonder why Visconti chose Pd? It was as expensive if not more than gold. You're right. Why get a gold one when you have one that writes. Did the pen go directly to Bacas to be ground, or did you have issues with the pen, and then send it off? Now that gold is back on their high end pens, things should start to improve. I suspect I got the Bock version, because I think I got the transitional nib, rather than their in-house nib now.
Wow, I am not sure it could be said much better than this!
I have some Faber Castell steel nibs that actually are smoother than some of my gold nib pens.
Love this!
I've got a stealth e-motion and it's a far better writer than my Lamy 2000. Much less pickier in how you should hold it. Barely any sweet spot issue. Much more ergonomic despite being a heavier pen.
I have a few Pilot VPs with the gold nibs, and one special alloy nib. Probably my favorite steel nibs are on my Faber-Castell pens. They just write so butter smooth. And when they are in a medium nib, they are very juicy or wet.
Amazing! Sounds like we both like juicy and smooth nibs!
Thank you for the video! I ALWAYS love seeing this debate rehashed.
When I started my fountain pen journey, way back back in the beginning of 2018, I had a bunch of Jinhaos and a vintage Soyuz pen with a gold nib. There was no comparison. That Soyuz pen is still one of my favorite writing pens. I thought maybe it was just the low quality of the Jinhaos, so ended up getting.a twsbi pen. That nib was also lack luster. Shortly later, I got a Pilot VP and Platinum 3776. They were much more on par with the Soyuz. Ever since then I have expected to be disappointed by steel nibs. Not to say the steel nibs are unwritable, but my general experience has been gold is better.
Many steel nibs are also the same across brands. It seems like almost every brand makes pens with steel nibs from Jowo, Bock, or Schmidt. It makes for a familiar, and dependable, but boring writing experience. I have tried all three and they have differences between them, but a new pen with a Jowo.schmidt, or bock steel nib doesn't give me any wow factor, like most(not all) of my gold nibs have.
Let's explore specifics for a second. If you are thinking about purchasing a pen you'll want to consider things Let's compare Pilot vs Pelikan. Pilot nibs are my least favorite so I tend to like my Pelikan steels more. I even like my pelikan steels more then the 14k pilot nibs I have. The 18k vanishing points are different though. I like them a lot. However, Pelikan Gold nibs are a whole nother level. My favorite steel nib is My Narwhal Peter Draws pen. I think Narwhal tunes their nibs in house. This one is probably in my top 5 nibs. My other narwhals aren't quite as nice, but I think they are different nib sizes. It is still not to the level of my Pelikan Gold nib.
I also want to say I have also been really disappointed with some gold nibs. Most recently a Visconti Homo Sapiens I bought used. It came bent and mangled I sent it off to JJ Lax he emailed me today that it is ready to ship back. I do think it is weird that a couple of my 18k nibs are stiffer then some of my 14k nibs. My assumptions is that it has to do with the shape or the particular metals of non gold percentage. I also have a lamy 2000 in fine and the sweet spot is so small I really have to work to write with it.
To wrap up, when Diplomat started selling Aeros with gold nibs. The consensus I picked up from the reviews I read was that the difference was barely noticable, and wasn't worth the price difference. That tells me that all things being equal there is a slight upper hand to gold. HOWEVER, every nib making company tunes things slightly different, and factory machines make errors, and users have different preferences, and ink choices. There really are too many variables to give a definite scientific answer. My preference for gold is just a general guideline and I don't want to make to sound more then that. I also kind of like how every nib manufacturer has it's own personality maybe even if they are different models from the same pen maker they can write a bit different. I have found that depending on how much I like a steel nib by a company I can predict how much I am going to like a gold nib.
Anyway, I am Interested in other's opinions! if anything I hope I gave people some stuff to think about why they like some nibs and not others, as thinkiing though this over the years has helped me avoid some disappointments.Though some trial and error was also done in that process as well.
great comparison, thanks for sharing Karyna
Thanks for watching!
Learning lots. Thanks.
I agree, there are some stainless nibs that far out perform some of the competition for sure. However, comparing some of the extraordinary SS nibs (Yowo LAMY and Pilot I am talking about you) The gold nib upgrades have in my experience so far reminds me of buying a car and picking between the base model vs the one with all the options. They are both amazing choices, but the later just has that *chef’s kiss*. However I have been highly dissapointed in gold nibs before, where as a very similar problem in SS is not really a big deal, the expectation for gold is and should be higher. But the dissapointment is sooooo much greater when it’s NOT what you expect.
Thanks Denise! I agree with you that if you are paying for gold, you expect the nib to write amazingly outside of the box! But any nib can be tuned to our specifications.
Pelikan, Visconti, and Montegrappa, and I'm sure the other Italian companies all make 18k gold nibs, too! As far as Japanese brands, only pilot has an 18k, and only Sailor makes 21k gold nibs on the regular (not many Italian or German brands do 21k). Gold nibs within the same brands do tend to feel and perform better than their steel counterparts in my experience, but only by a small margin. Like you said, there's so many more factors that contribute to the writing experience and all gold nibs have varying characteristics. Gold nibs generally are softer and bouncier, so that would really be the main reason one should want gold over steel, but some gold nibs are super hard anyways haha. I find Sailor nibs to be the hardest. Outside of that, most gold nibs have a nice bounce to them. My platinums do have a small bounce to them, which I was surprised to see.
Thank you for this! I love my Pilot gold nibs because they have that bounce that none of my other pens have. But it’s not the only reason I like it! Thank you for watching!
There are other pen models that offer 18K beside the Pilot VP. Pelikan M800 and M1000 are in 18K. Waterman Carene is in 18K.
Thank you! I have yet to try the Pelikan M800/1000 and a Waterman!
I love my 3776 in all nib sizes but I would say there is a noticeable difference between their F and M nibs - M is significantly wetter and smoother! My friend has a B nib and reports a similar experience - so I do wonder if your opinion would change if the nib had not been an F?
Aside from that - there are definitely plenty of pens with steel nibs that I enjoy. But I think part of the hesitation is the question of "If I am going to spend over a certain price point - eg. $200-$400 - do I really want to spend that only to get a steel nib, when I can buy a pen in the similar price range and get a gold nib?" I think maybe that is why all the gold nibs I own are Japanese pens, and I have yet to pull the trigger and buy a European pen with a gold nib since I find that they tend to be priced significantly higher.
I think if I had tried the M nib on the 3776 my opinion would be different for sure. I do want to sell my F and possibly try a M on the 3776.
I once felt that way - that if I was spending that much money, it had to be a gold nib. And my mind has changed on that. The nib is not the only factor in the writing experience. I have been spending my money on hand turned resin pens with really smooth Jowo steel nibs, and that is worth it for me.
I tried a Platinum 3776 but didn’t like the feedback, so I chose, instead, a Pilot VP. I have a newer Pelikan M205, and while it doesn’t have a gold nib, I despise the pen; but like my older pen and a couple of other Pelikan fountain pens in the cheaper range better than the despised, lol, M205. Maybe I got a bad nib? Anyway, I love a smooth writing pen, be it one with a gold nib or a steel nib. I haven’t tried a Sailor because I was told that they have feedback? Thank you for the video.
I do love my Pelikans but don’t find it that different from writing with my Esterbrook 🤷🏻♀️ Maybe that is just me. But another commenter here said smoothness is how well polished it is, which can be manipulated by any maker.
24 K = 100% gold, so 12K = 50%, you can do the rest of the math. Two toned nibs are usually plated to be two tone. All other things being equal, a gold nib is probably better, but it is never the case that all other things are equal. I love the Platinum 3776. But I also love soft nibs, e.g., the pilot FA nib. The VP is also nice. Smooth or feedback-y? Both can be nice. My favorite gold nib? The Pilot #15 WA nib, and probably the Pelikan 800 and 1000 nibs, especially in M or B. Of r perhaps an Aurora nib (very feedback-y). An Platinum makes a wonderful Music nib. Steel nibs? Some of Frankie Christoph's wonderful grinds (of Jowo nibs), TWSBI M and B's, Benu"s wonderfully wet Schmidt nibs. I also love the Bock titainium nib, and the wonderful SCchon DSGN monoc nib.
I do want to try a Monoc nib! And thank you for the calculations - I knew it was something like that but could not articulate it! Your comment is exactly why my answer at the end of the day is “it depends”! 😂
The Platinum 3776 is one of my favorite pens, especially in the medium, broad, and music nibs. I enjoy wtiting with them much more than the Vanishing Point. Some 3776 models are available with a Soft Fine or Soft Medium nib, and you might like that better because there's a bit more bounce, but I prefer the stiffer regular nibs. If you get a chance, try a medium or broad. I also think that hooded nibs (VP, Lamy 2K) give a different experience than nibs that are fully exposed, and I prefer the latter. (As a complete aside, there are 18K Sailor nibs on Taccia pens, which most of us can't afford. The owner of Taccia has exacting standards and prefers 18K over both 14K and 21K, so she contracts for rhose nibs from Sailor.) And I agree that steel nibs can also be fantastic. So many great options out there!
Thank you, Marilyn!! I love hearing what you have to say. I do need to try a Soft Fine or M in the 3776. But I also want to try an EF in the Pilot VP. And you are right - so many factors affecting nib performance, whether hooded or exposed!
Why would we choose? If there was one nib/pen that made us happier on all paper in all situations etc., we’d just need one pen? But there is mood, pen & ink combinations etc. There is such a thing as white gold, but I don‘t know whether that means two-toned nibs are white and yellow gold combined. Many Gold nibs are irididum dipped which hardens them
Very true - so many things can affect the writing experience!
What's the name and manufacturer of the multi-hued blue pen with the steel nib? It's gorgeous in its looks.
That is the Cool Tone PM turned by On A Whim Woodworks with a Bock nib. Love this one!
The thinner the nib of course the more feedback. Pilot F 18K vs Platinum F 14K is a HUGE difference and not apple to apple. Also sometimes it could be factory defect and you might get a bad batch of nibs. I'm repeating on Platinum because to me my 3776 performs very well even better than Sailor
Good to know. I did get a chance to try a M on a 3776 the other day and loved it. So maybe it's just the F that doesn't work for me on the 3776.
This video was really informative - thank you! If I ever buy a gold nib, it will be for softness and smoothness... can you tell me how you got over the placement of the clip, on the Pilot vanishing point? I seriously am bothered by it being upside down.
I don't mind the placement of the clip - it doesn't seem to affect how I hold the pen regularly.
@@KarynaLovesToPlan for me it's the visual. It just looks like it's a mistake.😅
I like gold nibs better in Japanese pens, especially Sailor. I haven't had very good luck with either of Kakuno's. With Pelikan I actually prefer my steel M200 over my gold M405. It is bouncier. I love my Schmidt and Jowo steel nibs! Very wet writers.
Love hearing this. I do love my Pilot gold nibs but also love my Jowo nibs!
Wow, so I’m to the only person to have had a “meh” experience with the Kakuno? I really thought it was just me. :)
I haven't watched the video yet, but I wanted to throw my two cents in before I sit down with my knitting to watch. I have a good collection of both steel and gold nibs and I think it's just preference for the most part. When it comes to flex nibs, I feel like there's nothing better than a gold nib. Outside of that, some of my most favorite writers are steel nibs.
I have to disagree, a properly modified steel flex nib can outperform a gold nib in terms of line variation, softness and snspback. However commercially available gold nibs can outperform commercially available steel ones
I believe anything that has been tuned can be made to our specifications and be amazing!
Whether gold or steel, I do buy only in-house nibs. 😊
That is really interesting. So which are your favourites then?
My VP is without a doubt my least favourite gold nibbed pen. It’s so interesting to me how individual it all is.
Really? That is so interesting. You may like the 3776 F or even the Custom 74 nibs better!
@@KarynaLovesToPlan I looooove my Custom 74 nib and my 823 nib!
I don‘t think the writing experience depends on the nib material, there are so many other factors to be counted in. I love my gold nibbed pens as much as my steel nibbed ones. Some pens you can only get in one form like the Pilot E95s and it comes at a lower price than many of the popular steel nib pens like Esterbrooks. Still I love my Esties and can‘t get enough of them. 😊
I agree - it's not just the nib, but the paper, the pen body, the ink! And yes, I love my Esties too!
Steel, all the way. My 2 favorites are an old Montblanc Nobless and the Pilot Kakuno. I have a Montblanc Noblesse with a 14kt nib and I don't like it that much at all. I do not like vanishing points at all so I'm not sure if there's any other pilot gold nibs ;-D. I like the Jowos alot. TBH though, Nothing beats a Kakuno.
I am really impressed with my Pilot Kakuno. And my Pilot Falcon. Both pens offer stand out writing experiences. If the Kakuno came in a sf nib I would buy it in a heartbeat. I'll probably eventually buy another Kakuno anyway because that ef is shockingly fine and I'd like to try it with a larger nib too
@@cinmingrl I have several Mediums and they are juicy and show up ink well. They are superb writers ay every nib size.
I do love my Kakuno! I do want to try a Pilot VP with an EF nib to see if I would like it! If you don’t like the bouncy VP nib, you may like the stiffer nibs on the Custom 74! One to try for sure.
nice
Thanks!
I am unconvinced that gold nibs are better. However, if you are interested in higher end pens, then you will end up paying the gold tax.
Two superlative pens with steel nibs are Faber-Castell and Franklin-Christoph.
Good to know. I have not tried either of those!
I prefer gold nibs now. To be objective, the writing performance is not better than the other for either material. Smoothness will depend on the polishing, as the same iridium tipping is on both gold an steel. Why I like gold better is because of the historical part of it. Steel nibs, being the newer technology, has not shown to me a functional advantage over gold. It has brought the cost down. That being the advantage of steel nibs, everything else being equal. But what gold does have over steel, is what Brian Goulet calls, "suspension," like that of a car. The final advantage, is what I call personalization. A gold nib overtime will adapt to one style of writing, truly making it "your" pen. This is why some people do not let others use their gold nib fountain pens. It take repeated use though, and with the amount of pens people have, that type of customization most likely will not occur. But if you have just a handful of gold nib pens, that are used regularly, it will. The analogy I will give are like Birkenstock sandals. Over time the cork in the sandal molds to the foot. And I just don't think that can be beat.
Thank you for this! I love this perspective and never thought of it this way. Like how a mattress molds to your body, a nib can mold to the way you write. Love that!
Love the birkies analogy.. they're great too and I love mine 😄 just like my FPs! And I'll have to say, I wouldn't give some of my more premium pens to anyone just because I wouldn't know how they'll handle them. Because as you pointed out: we have waaay too many pens to actually achieve the kind of customization that comes with regular use to not let someone else use our gold nibbed pens for that reason. But still we can be a little protective over our FPs for other reasons 😊
@@muallaemine Thank you. Too bad for men the Birkenstock sandals are just oogly. I can't find the Rameses, I think it's called. I tried them on, once, goodness were they hard, but I knew they would soften up. Good mens dress shoes also have the cork in the shank of the shoe, that makes them comfortable over time. Much rather just resole my dress shoes, then buy new that is cement pasted, and once their done, they are done. But back to pens :) I too am way overprotective of my pens. I treat them like Faberge Eggs. Or at least I attempt to. I have been seriously thinking of crunching my collection to about 10, but don't know if I can.
@@ironmic924410 pens!!! I am confident I have more then 10 pens inked up at the moment. I would be very content if I could size down to 50 actually. I can't seem to get tired of specialty nibs really. Therein lies my problem. I have many FPs I really wouldn't care about if it wasn't for the nib.
Btw I am one of the weirdos who liked to brake into her birkies. but they have the soft soles now. They are just another level of comfort 😊
I honestly feel gold nibs are included to justify charging so much for pens. I like some gold nibs, but steel has come on leaps and bounds!
I agree with that - steel nibs have definitely come a long way!