My first fountain pen and my new favorite pen in general! If you’re looking for a good beginner fountain pen then I recommend this one. It’s not too particular about the angle which I like the best. It also writes so unbelievably smooth! Which makes for a good writing experience, but depending on your paper can affect your control. I also like that it comes with two filling options so you can customize as you please! It’s so gorgeous and I’m looking forward to writing more with it!

This, and a TWSBI Eco, are my first experience with fountain pens. What can I say, I absolutely love them. I liked the idea of substituting something beautiful and durable for cheap plastic throwaways, but I was apprehensive that it would be finicky, difficult to use or messy. Using those pens has been none of those things, it feels completely natural and even manages to make my typical doctor's scrawl look more beautiful.This pen is a nice size for my medium sized woman's hand, nicely balanced and flows smoothly. Very comfortable to write with.When used with Pilot Take-Semi Iroshizuku ink, I find that it writes very nicely on both quality fountain pen paper as well as od backs of envelopes and scraps from the printer that I have lying around the house.I'm ... MoreThis, and a TWSBI Eco, are my first experience with fountain pens. What can I say, I absolutely love them. I liked the idea of substituting something beautiful and durable for cheap plastic throwaways, but I was apprehensive that it would be finicky, difficult to use or messy. Using those pens has been none of those things, it feels completely natural and even manages to make my typical doctor's scrawl look more beautiful.This pen is a nice size for my medium sized woman's hand, nicely balanced and flows smoothly. Very comfortable to write with.When used with Pilot Take-Semi Iroshizuku ink, I find that it writes very nicely on both quality fountain pen paper as well as od backs of envelopes and scraps from the printer that I have lying around the house.I'm absolutely delighted with my purchase.One aside to Jet Pens, you have a wonderful web site and resource for newbies, but please consider using less plastic bubble wrap in packaging (made me sad since this is an effort to reduce plastic waste).

I recently gave this color Metro to a friend who is just starting to use fountain pens. I loved the color so much that I ordered one for myself the next day. This is my fourth Metropolitan (all different colors and nibs) . I love the weight and the heft of it. The finish is very pleasing. The quality out of the box is high. I'm always surprised how well these pens write, especially given the price point. The nibs are smooth with good flow. I never have hard starts or blobs of ink. I can get a little line variation if I try. I much prefer a heavier pen, so my Metros get a lot more usage than the few resin pens I own. I like to play around with tweaking nibs, so I've been swapping the nibs from my inexpensive Plumix pens, grinding, polishing, and experimenting before ... MoreI recently gave this color Metro to a friend who is just starting to use fountain pens. I loved the color so much that I ordered one for myself the next day. This is my fourth Metropolitan (all different colors and nibs) . I love the weight and the heft of it. The finish is very pleasing. The quality out of the box is high. I'm always surprised how well these pens write, especially given the price point. The nibs are smooth with good flow. I never have hard starts or blobs of ink. I can get a little line variation if I try. I much prefer a heavier pen, so my Metros get a lot more usage than the few resin pens I own. I like to play around with tweaking nibs, so I've been swapping the nibs from my inexpensive Plumix pens, grinding, polishing, and experimenting before putting them to work in the Metro body. It's great fun, and the risks are low. I wouldn't attempt that with a more expensive pen. If I could only have one pen, and it had to be under $50, this would be the pen.

I received my Pilot Metropolitan "Retro Pop" pen, medium nib, about a week ago, as my daily writer is at the pen doctor. In a nutshell, at this price point I couldn't be happier.PROS:PERFORMANCE. The first time I touched pen to paper the ink started to flow and it has written consistently with nary a skip or blotch. I use Diamine "Sargasso Sea" ink and the pen seems to like it right well. I've used pens costing far more that didn't write as well, or as consistently, as this one does.APPEARANCE. The pen is easy to find, being garish purple and all... Actually it is quite attractive though probably appealing to an age group a couple of generations ahead of mine.FILLING. The pen came with an ink cartridge as well as one of those squeeze-type refillable ... MoreI received my Pilot Metropolitan "Retro Pop" pen, medium nib, about a week ago, as my daily writer is at the pen doctor. In a nutshell, at this price point I couldn't be happier.PROS:PERFORMANCE. The first time I touched pen to paper the ink started to flow and it has written consistently with nary a skip or blotch. I use Diamine "Sargasso Sea" ink and the pen seems to like it right well. I've used pens costing far more that didn't write as well, or as consistently, as this one does.APPEARANCE. The pen is easy to find, being garish purple and all... Actually it is quite attractive though probably appealing to an age group a couple of generations ahead of mine.FILLING. The pen came with an ink cartridge as well as one of those squeeze-type refillable cartridges: you unscrew the end, pinch the sides of the cartridge together, stick it in the ink jar, release and let vacuum do its work. A little sloppy but it seems to work well and it holds an adequate supply of ink. I did also order one of those "Con-40" refillable cartridges but the amount of ink it seems to hold is pretty minuscule. For now I'll stick with the squeeze cartridge.CONSPOSTING. Be sure to post the cap securely. It seems to have a habit of loosening up if you don't.LINE WIDTH. I ordered this pen with a medium nib, being fully aware of the Japanese Pens' reputation for having a line width smaller than what you'd think. True for this pen: the "medium" is about the same, maybe even a little narrower, than a couple of "fine" pens I have.BOTTOM LINE$25 is a pretty good price for a pen that performs as well as this one does. No one will ever mistake it for (say) a Sailor 1911 L or some other pen in a similar price range, but it is a good little writer. I can't speak to its durability, but for now--I'm a happy boy.

The second of my first two fountain pens. I thought it would be interesting to check out, mild curiosity.I took my trusty Pilot G2s to the shop today where they will live out their lives and not get replaced. This and my LAMY Safari are now my go-to office pens. Just amazing.Smooth nib, comfortable grip. Real pretty and also a great workhorse. I love it.

A Solid Choice

My overall experience with using the Metropolitan has been solid and enjoyable. It has performed flawlessly in providing a good line of ink and the balance posted is fine for my needs. I believe it is a solid value and based on other reviewers comments will be part of my 'stable' for a long time.Prior to getting the Metropolitan with a fine nib I had a Kaweco Sport and a Lamy Safari - both with fine nibs. It took a bit to adjust to the different feel on paper and narrower line of ink but no other issues. All three have been reliable with start up and ink flow, although the metropolitan has been slightly wetter I have only used Pilot ink with it. I can openly recommend any of the three as a starter pen option. The Metropolitan is smaller in circumference, the Kaweco ... MoreMy overall experience with using the Metropolitan has been solid and enjoyable. It has performed flawlessly in providing a good line of ink and the balance posted is fine for my needs. I believe it is a solid value and based on other reviewers comments will be part of my 'stable' for a long time.Prior to getting the Metropolitan with a fine nib I had a Kaweco Sport and a Lamy Safari - both with fine nibs. It took a bit to adjust to the different feel on paper and narrower line of ink but no other issues. All three have been reliable with start up and ink flow, although the metropolitan has been slightly wetter I have only used Pilot ink with it. I can openly recommend any of the three as a starter pen option. The Metropolitan is smaller in circumference, the Kaweco is a shorter pocket pen, and the Safari has a snap cap that has not come off but doesn't seem quite as secure as the other two pens. If I could only have one of the three, as a starter pen, well that is a very tough scenario that I don't have a clear answer to since they have slightly different attributes. To a degree, like Brian, my list of one would be more than one.

Beautiful writer for a beautiful price

My go-to pen for my carry-around notebook is a Papermate Inkjoy in the teal color. I had been looking for a fountain pen replacement so I could refill my ink instead of chucking a pen. I love this pen. I bought it because it was an affordable pen that I wouldn't be heartbroken if I dropped it and broke it. It has a smooth transition from the pen body and the cap so it slides into the elastic holder-ring easily in my notebook. The nib just glides across the page like kids in socks across a freshly swept floor. The color of the pen is actually darker than in the pictures, so keep that in mind.

Cigar pen of the year!

1. The cigar type band is the reason I bought this pen and the main reason I like it. 2. I bought the medium nib and found many inks from my starter kids are wetter and bleed through. However, using these inks, many worked well, so it it just a matter of trial and error.3. the ink capacity is 5-7 days, or 5-6 A5 notebook pages (Lechtrum or Moleskin) regular notebooks. This was great for getting use to inks that I liked and enjoyed using. With that being said I might have wanted to get the more fine tip as it may add more options for inks than what I am experiencing. In addition, this might expand the time needed between inking up. My solution is to use my parker pen when I run out of ink and I am somewhere. If you will be out for some time then refilling may be more ... More1. The cigar type band is the reason I bought this pen and the main reason I like it. 2. I bought the medium nib and found many inks from my starter kids are wetter and bleed through. However, using these inks, many worked well, so it it just a matter of trial and error.3. the ink capacity is 5-7 days, or 5-6 A5 notebook pages (Lechtrum or Moleskin) regular notebooks. This was great for getting use to inks that I liked and enjoyed using. With that being said I might have wanted to get the more fine tip as it may add more options for inks than what I am experiencing. In addition, this might expand the time needed between inking up. My solution is to use my parker pen when I run out of ink and I am somewhere. If you will be out for some time then refilling may be more difficult; but all you need is a cup and a sink to empty it and a towel and ink to fill it up. To be honest it is easy to refill (5 minutes).

My favorite pen

This is my third Metropolitan pen, black and red along with this one. I could have gotten a pricier fountain pen but the second that I held my first Metropolitan pen in my hand I knew this was the pen for me. I am also very picky about what pen I use in general and before these pens Pilot gel was about the only pen I liked using. For me the right pen means clearer thoughts and clearer hand writing. This has a great grip, wonderful control and smooth flow. Now I am coming up with reasons just to write!

Retro Pop Rocks!!

It's my red pen. That is to say, it's married to red ink. Specifically, Noodler's Widow Maker ink. It's a fantastic "red." Combined with Pilot's 1.0 mm Stub nib, the BEST stub nib going, this pen has done more to improve the appearance of my handwriting than any other. The line variation is, at once, beautiful and effortless. I'm finding more and more that my less expensive pens often outperform my more expensive ones. How much of that is based on expectations I can't say, but I do know that the Pilot Metroplitan Retro Pop is one of my most reached for pens. Like I said, it Rocks!!