10 Grail Pen Brands that are BETTER than Montblanc 

I bought a humble Pelikan m205 steel nib years ago and still love it. I once tried a friend's m1000 fine 18ct and went weak at the knees. Pelikan has all my respect.

Love the Pilot Custom Urushi so much

ST Dupont would be on my list, and Platinum Izumo Urushi.

Your selection is quite complete ! Thanks 🙏

For me even grail pens must be solid everyday writers - the ones I turn to most frequently are my Pelikan M800 , Pilot Custom 823 and Visconti HS Bronze Age. My dream pen would probably be a Pilot Custom Urushi .

Hello,sir, thank you such a lovely video. May I ask what ink you were using when you were showing the Pelikan m800? Genuinely beautiful colour.

The Extra is my current Grail on pair with the Conid Bulkfiller Kingsize

Thank you for this introduction to to pen brands.

Good solid script handwriting. Certainly a bit more uniform and at times better decorated than mine. Impressed.

Just curious what about Otto hutt and Caran D’ ache? I was under the impression they make top pens. Excellent list by the way

MB is not terrible as a fountain pen. They used to be good long ago. Service is bad too. Without saying anything, they removed my ebonite feed from my MB 149 18k. I sent my pen for a repare of the filling system and when it came back, the ebonite feed was GONE en replaced by an ordinary Plastic feed. Incredible but true. Their answer was: that's the normal procedure..You are ripped if you pay 1000 Euro/dollar for a pen that is mass Production. I feel as I am stolen...I don't find any other words. That split ebonite feed is an engineering marvel and they took it away, certainly to keep it for themselves....Very bad service from Montblanc.

Do you know how i could repair an oblique mentmore nib tine crack repaired? The crack starts at the feed hole or whathaveyou and goes about halfway or a third out and stops and i cant press down on the nib though its my favourite writing tool.

What’s the ink in the Pelikan with om nib?

You have beautiful hands and beautiful handwriting. I have a Montblanc fountain pen. I am underwhelmed with it.

Well done. I was hoping that ST Dupont would be on your list. A dark horse, I know, but they deserve more love.

I love my Parker pens! I have a Silver Mistral Sonnet and it’s lovely!

Cam anyone tell me the exact model and year of that duofold? I love that cap!

A fantastic selection of fountain pens.

I really love Leonardo Momento Zero Grande but the last one i purchased the manufacturer did not apply silicone grease to the piston seal and shaft. Very neglectful. 😢😢

Thank you for the comparison Since I learnt by myself how to tune perfectly a nib, I only buy cheap pen and make them write perfectly

I have some of the pen mentioned. Pens I used in rotation are custom 823 (m), 743 (fa), FPR Jaipur v2 (flex), 1960 Pelikan 400nn (f) and Laban 325 (f). But so far my grail pen is the Pineider Avatar UR Deluxe, gorgeous 14k quill nib, bouncy but not a flex nib, enjoyable to write with.

In my experience, ST Dupont wins hands-down in all categories. Nothing even comes close.

My Conid Bulkfiller is always in my edc bag with my Montblanc flex calligraphy. Both of my Visconti Homo Sapien's had to go to a nibmeister for adjustments.

You have such an amazing penmanship 😊

The 1985-1990 Waterman Le Man 100 Opera fountain pens are my favorites followed by the Pelikan 800's:

Sailor KoP with King Eagle nib. I have also recently bought a number of Parker Sonnet pens, they're well made, cost nothing and write really well.

What was the Color of blue you used to demo the pelican brand?

I have a fondness for Caran d’Ache Ecridor that developed slowly over the years.

My ranga pen is luxurious enough for me, it is beautiful, writes very smoothly, and not crazy expensive like those precious resin

I would have to say the Namiki Emperor would be my grail pen. I do have the Leonardo Momento Zero Grande which is a fabulous pen. The Elastic nib is phenomenal.

Until I'll find a smoother nib, Pelikan is my choice.

Excellent review. I don't know why I always get bad writers from Leonardo...I love their materials but all failed me. Pilot and Pelikan had always worked for me if only Pilot's most beautiful materials weren't astronomically expensive. Sailor is another brand whose cheaper ones materials aren't good quality any more in my experience though the 21k nibs are great. I recently bought kilk and well, less bad than Leonardos. I was surprised by the perfect writer of a Gioia Penelope. That Pilot Emperor blue you showed is absolutely gorgous. I appreciate your honest reviews same as waski squirrel and ode youtubers. Not to plant a bad seed, just my opinion, but to me is disappointing when a youtuber reviews with all stars plus pens just to get brands to sponsor them. Hey nothing bad but honesty is a value that gets lost in this greedy world. Looking forward more of your videos. Thank you for your time🎉

Montblanc is one of my lovemark, but I can't afford for one right now,...I have in my collection: 1 Parker IM achromatic, 1 MonteVerde, 2 Ferris Wheel Carousel model, 3 Lamy (2 Safary and one Al Star), 4 Jinhao and a very beautiful Hongdian 231 Chinese Classical Fountain Pen

I like pens who looks different to bring in variety in the collection. Lamy dialog (capless) or Twisby. Also no name brands can deliver high quality. I just backed the Kickstarter campaign from Namisu. I‘m with a Namisu N1, strong related to the N2. Both pocket pens who grow to a normal size. The newest launch is also a pocket pen.

I would definitely recommend the Parker Duofold with a stub nib. Flawless, except that the nib has minimal (almost non-existent) flex. But since it's stubbed, you don't need flex at all. Another grail pen is the Sheaffer Balance from the late 90s, itself a "throwback" to their earlier pens of the 30s and 40s, which you can improve --- if you have the courage --- by grinding it to a stub on 3000 grit paper. Also flawless, if you like italic cursive.

Sir, your videos are really awesome and mind-blowing.. What do you say of Pilot 743 pen ? I think Pilot Custom 743 and Pilot 823 are all same. Difference lies in only ink filling system, rest everything are same .. Please explore Pilot Custom 743 medium point nib.. Warm regards, Vivek Kumar ( Dehri On Sone, Bihar , India)

Sailor KOP. A dream writer. Also a vintage Sheaffer Legacy I and II.

Aurora is my choice, I absolutely love mine

Off the top of my head I'd have to put my ST Dupont Olympio/Orpheo pens up there. But I have a lot of pens I also love from Sailor, Pilot and Platinum. Noteworthy are my Pilot Murex and Sailor Precious Wood pens. My grail would be to have a custom made Nakaya pen.

Excellent

ST Dupont and Yard O'lead -- the beast pens.

Thanks

I'm a little conflicted. There are pens I know I want, and would use regularly, and then there are "dream pens": WANT: Sheaffer's PFM, vintage Aurora 88 DREAM: Hakase, Santini Italia, ye olde Conklin Crescent Filler with a gold filigree.

Thank you for your commentary. Montblanc is still king, especially the nibs. Caveats being cost, presentation packaging, service and hype.

Pelikan, Yard-o-led, Graf Von Faber Castell, Nakaya, Namiki, Sailor, Platinum, Pilot - their high end lined ave excellent craftsmanship & they are excellent writers that are far better than MB. Lamy also produces far better writers than many MBs but are not ridiculously overpriced like MB. Lamy's are my everyday writers. Cartier, & ST Dupont also make finely crafted pens with far better craftsmanship than MB but are far costlier. They write fairly well too.

The Caran D'Ache Leman and the Waterman Carene and the Waldmann Imagination - All with 18kt nibs!

I bought two GvFC with the new Magnum nib (there are two models), the first with walnut and the second with ebony wood. Those nibs are STELLAR, they are the best I've ever used. While I concur with your general assessment of the 146 and 149, I possess a couple of both pens, they still make much better nibs than Visconti and many other brands. Their special editions are fantastic pens, for example, the Victoria Patron of Art Edition 4810 I would add Danitrio, Namiki, Nakaya, Maybach, Otto Hutt, Waldmann, and other brands, and while I wouldn't say I like their designs, there are two significant brands: Caran d'Ache -from Switzerland - and ST Dupont - from France-. I do not really know if bashing at some memorable brand like Montblanc is a really good strategy for any channel in this small community.

Onoto and the new Conway Stewart’s should be on the list too

Thank you

Caran d‘Ache (especially the Léman line) is sadly not included in your list… This Swiss brand deserves due mention, not least because of its timeless designs and engineering prowess…

Lamy Safari with a gold nib 😅

A good, but not comprehensive, list of high end pens. I favor the pen lines that have in house made nibs but, of course, most nibs can be tuned. That said, I love my 1990's Aurora 88 with its long sabre nib and my Sailor Realo with its Cross Nib. If whole pens are considered, my list wouldn't differ much from A Writing Guy's. I would like to see a video that classified pens according to style parameters; minimalist, rococo, formal, business, applied art and so forth. Perhaps a video that simply gave good examples might be more popular. Enjoyed this.

What is the pen at 2:15?

I have a number of montegrappa pens, they have all had problems. The nib, the clip or the decals. Really disappointed as they are eye catching

Where did you learn your penmanship?

St Dupont line D 😉

Funny, I have been in the “hunt” for almost 40 years…. What I have found is that ALL of the better brands manufacture decent products…. Sometimes QC is suspect, but, once tuned, EVERY single one has been both durable and consistent. What you find is that some are easier to use and “fit” your hand better - at a certain point, I decided to sell many of the pens I didn’t use…. A black Sailer KOP, Omas Paragon with the 14k flex nib, Watermen, DuPont Orpheo, etc…. Better they find use in another’s rotations than sit in the dark in a pen box till some undefinable point in the future where my estate is liquidated….

I recently got a grail Pelikan M900 Toledo, and am awaiting the arrival of a vermilion Namiki Yukari Royale. I have a Montblanc 149, but I believe they are over-rated, and to me the Faber Castell designs are aesthetically bombs; I decline to own one. I have many other brands as well, most of which write satisfactorily, but a couple of which had to be sent to nibmeisters to achieve that status.

I tend to favor the much older pens which commonly had flex nibs. They are more expressive than most modern pens. They were also made back when pens were engineered to last a century. I literally have some pens which are over 100 years old. Some of the old Watermans, Eversharps, Crescents, Parkers, will still be in use when your grandchildren have grey hair. They were designed to be rebuilt and put back into service. Most were fabricated with fairly typical shop equipment; the feeds and other parts can be created today with a modest amount of shop equipment. No custom injection molded parts. It doesn't hurt that the default nibs back then were 14k to 18k gold.

You might want to consider Conway Stewart.

Montblanc would be the representative fountain pen company in western side, and Pilot in oriental side. Pelikan has the QC issue in nibs, Aurora in barrels, and fabercastell does not have the in-house nibs.

nice

Parker has not been an American brand for decades

Nice

Nice vlog ..the name should be printed on screen while you review the pen so that audience connects

I like my graf von faber castell ❤

A couple years back I was comparing my 146, 1911L and 1776 all in black with gold accents and found that the red glow that MB enthusiasts claim to be a property of the "precious resin" is also present in my Sailor and Platinum, so, my hypothesis is that the so called "precious resin" is nothing more than PMMA plastic, remark on HYPOTHESIS, I'm not claiming it is with all certainty. The nib, on the other hand, is gorgeous, almost perfect. Unfortunately for it, my preference leans toward finer nibs, so I prefer Japanese nibs all the way. I find value in my 146? Yes I do, but I'd never ever pay full price for it, I got this one NOS for almost half retail price, so I'm happy with it. But what you say is totally true, for me Santini, Aurora, Visconti, Montegrappa, Caran d'Ache, ST Dupont and almost anything from the Japanese big 3 are way more desirable than MB.

FYI Parker is now a French pen company, only NOS & vintage pens come from the USA & UK.

I think you nailed it from a brand perspective. Out of all those you have listed, I prefer the Pilots. From top to bottom, they seem to outperform the others at every price point. For innovative design, I have to give it to Visconti. Isn’t funny that in the pen community, we really don’t talk as much about Montblanc? They are good, but there is so much else out there that outperform, and is far more exciting from a design perspective; and most of them are less expensive. I can get a Custom Urushi Pilot 845, for roughly the same price as the “precious resin” MB 149. Which would you choose?

😊

Custom 823, while an excellent pen, is not a luxury pen like the others. Other than that, good choices.

I don't think any of these compete with my older Omas pens. But I also like my Namiki and Sailors and Pelikans. I don't have too many Montblancs because I don't like paying for the marketing of an injection molded plastic pen... but their vintage pens in my collection are very nice. And NONE of these compare in beauty and styling to my Waterman Edson (also vintage-ish).

Waterman pens used to be considered better than plastic Mont Blancs. Are they collectible?

So beautiful Sir Rizwan Bhatti Pakistan Sohdra wazirabad

Any person will hold onto a belief they have committed to despite an avalanche of facts to the contrary. Intelligence is a factor though on whether any facts can get in and undo the false belief

Where are any Shaeffers? Or Cross? You also forgot Lamy from Germany :(

I bought a mb. Nos, the moment i touched it, i thought, its a plastic pen. 20.00 tops

ST Dupont. They make Montblanc look shoddy.

ONOTO and Nakaya belong on this list. While I’m a fan of Leonardo, it’s not up to the standards of a grail pen (yet?).

I believe now that Montblanc is no longer a luxurious brand but a brand that just scams its customers with outrageous prices (and can't even give nice packaging on special editions anymore) ST Dupont is the new Montblanc, by which I mean high end and expensive but also high luxury.

Where is Jinhao ? Wing Sung ? PenBBS ? This list is, the least I can say, incomplete...

#11: old used montblancs

Yeah, especially Parker, Aurora and Leonardo are better than Montblanc LOL Funny guy (I own around 60 rollerballs and ballpoints from Achim Velte to Visconti, even rare handmade pieces from Ancora, Marlen and others... and the build quality of most of the writing instruments from the brands in this video definitely isn't superior to Montblanc)

Most of the people are satisfied with 10 rupees ball pen .the need a pen to fill bank or p..office forms only.!!!!!

There are no grail pens

I am no Montblanc fanboy but I strongly disagree with you. None of the brands you listed comes close to Montblanc. If you use macro lens you will see the difference. Just look at the difference in brand name engraving on the cap band between Montblanc on one hand and Namiki or Sailor on the other. There’s just no comparison. I have only two Montblanc pens and many Pilot, Sailor, Delta and others. The only pen that comes close to Montblanc in the quality of finishing is Cartier. Best made especially when it comes to the quality of finishing is Montblanc, followed by Cartier, S.T. Dupont, then is a gap and then comes Graf von Faber Castell, Namiki, Sailor and so on. I have emotional attachment to my Delta Dolcevita Oversize but most of Italian fountain pens are all flair, no substance. I had £1000 ASC pen that under close examination had poorer finishing than £20 Lamy. Of course I sold it at the profit, taking advantage of the Arco Brown fad. Anyway, I don’t want to like Montblanc, most of the time I have aversion to Veblen goods but unfortunately Montblanc still makes the best fountain pens.

It sounds like you are reading company advertising copy and not offering your own opinions. Your channel is not blocked at this end. PS why do all of you egoist YT content creators always start with the admonition to 'subscribe to my channel'? A first time viewer, I haven't yet had the chance to view, let alone assess, the content. Why not stick all the advertising at the end (so we can take in the content and skip the bullshit self-promotion)?

BETTER THAN,,,,,,and the word MONTBLANC. Therein lies the problem. So why is MontBlanc the Standard. Wake up

I agree that Montblanc is by no means a in a class if its own. It's overpriced, but fundamentally it's no different from other well made black plastic pens like a Pelikan Souverain 800 or the corresponding Sailor and Pilot. They're not that different in price either. The majority of the alternatives you mention, are in my collection and they're fine pens. For writing Sailor is in a class of its own, due to the marvelous Naginata nibs by father and son Nagahara. (Both retired...)

oh you think Aurora CAN compete with the others. oh really they CAN? How generous :D I like some Leonardo 's pens but compared to Aurora looks half the quality and even the Montblanc itself has lower quality material and nibs except for the flex one. Aurora is definitely higher level of most of the pen you mentioned with a silky feedback and very refined nibs and pefect feeds. Optima is a little too short, I prefer Talentum or 88 if you want piston mechanism but I prefer Talentum for design and size anyway. This is the only real Italian producer that make everything inhouse. If I had to pick a flex nib I'd definitely buy a Scribo but I don't like their design. Maybe La Dotta is not that bad.

Totally absurd review as bad as the coffee you place there for hours.