on saleDiplomat Magnum Fountain Pen - Hot Pink

This pen is inexpensive, as fountain pens go, and it feels it—it's extremely lightweight in the hand, and the plastic threads on the barrel have more than a little friction when you unscrew them. That said, it's engineered to impressive precision, especially given the price point; I personally prefer pens with a little more heft to them but this is a solid contender, especially if you have mobility issues and the extra weight might be a liability.

What first caught my eye on the Diplomat Magnum was the color, price, snap cap, and another German company since I'd already been writing with a Lamy Al-Star (Medium) for 6 months, and dip pens for years before that. I liked the look of the breather hole and etching on the polished nib. What made up my mind to purchase was hearing Brian on the Pencast saying the Diplomat Magnum had a softer nib than some gold nibs (Ep. 49, Q&A Section 41:45). When the pen arrived, I went through the "5 Steps for Getting Started with a New Fountain Pen" video, which included a cleaning to prevent a waxy feel from the leftover machining oils. After inking it with Waterman Tender Purple and confirming the soft nib, I found more to love: pearlescent finish, ink windows on both sides, solid finial, caps tightly, and still writes after 3 days unused. Did I mention the Fine nib is smooth? I have small hands - Small glove size, for example - and the pen feels comfortable with or without the cap posted. Just be gentle with the cap, as others have had it crack if pushed down too hard. The faceted section supports my "dynamic quadrupod," aka 4-finger, grip well. I like that the bottom of the clip curves out so it's easy to slip into my backpack pen slots. If I lose this, I won't hesitate to contact Goulet to buy another. So far, I've had it for 3 months shy of 2 years, and I happily write with it nearly day.Also, I bought the "Water-Resistant Black" sample set to see which worked best with the Magnum. I primarily use my Magnum on my planner, which is ordinary copier paper. Out of the 8, Noodler's "Black Eel" worked the best for me to prevent the first stroke from not writing or skipping in the middle of a word. Runner up was Noodler's "Heart of Darkness." The least cooperative was Sailor's "Kiwaguro Pigmented Black," as it often would not flow to write and I'd have to run it under the faucet for a couple seconds to get it to write again. Others tested were Noodler's Black, Noodler's X-Feather Black, Platinum Carbon Black, DeAtramentis Archive, and DeAtramentis Document Black. The secret to why the Black Eel ink worked best on the Magnum is that it's a lubricated ink. In dry environments - like mine in the semi-arid Midwest (think 20% humidity in the winter while the humidifier is on) - the lubrication included in the eel ink keeps it from drying out. It's also gives me more time - around 30 seconds to a minute - to leave my cap off while waiting for the next enlightening line from a sermon or lecture. Otherwise, I cap the pen whenever I pause writing, and that doesn't bother me; the nib is worth it. Other lubricated inks include the entire Monteverde and Private Reserve brands, and any of the Noodler's Eel line, including Purple Heart. Of those brands, I currently am using the Monteverde Blue Skies and am having the same good results. The secret to the Diplomat Magnum is lubricated ink!

I love this pen, especially for everyday use. It's not bulky in my purse. Fits comfortably in my hand. Writes beautifully. The grip is much narrower than I'm used to, but once I got used to it I really like it.

Great pen

I ordered this pen to allow a second ink color. I purchased the same model in iridescent blue earlier and it has been my go to for journaling. I just wanted some color variety. The nub writes smoothly, ink flow is even, and the converter fills nicely. Fabulous pen, a great value, and cute too!