Platinum Preppy Extra-Fine: Quick Look

The Platinum Preppy is a staple pen in the fountain pen world, and this new one with an extra-fine nib simply blows me away. For under $10, it's hands-down one of the most affordable and reliable fountain pens out there for new and veteran fountain pen users. The nib writes surprisingly smooth, and very, very fine.

The design of the pen is slightly different than the Preppy you have come to know. The dimensions and shape are exactly the same, but the aesthetics are different. On the ‘new' Preppy, the nib is now polished steel instead of colored to match the pen color. The feed now matches the pen instead (though the black pen has a gray nib). I think the fine and medium nib Preppy will also move to this new style eventually, though it'll surely take time as the old stock works its way through.

Let's be honest, the aesthetic appeal is only one factor with these pens, it's really how it writes that matters. The reason these pens are so popular is because they're inexpensive and they're a good value. They write well for the price, the caps seal really well so the nib goes a long time before drying out, and the pen easily converts to an eyedropper to give you a large ink capacity.

The way this extra-fine nib writes is actually the most impressive thing I find about this pen. Since Platinum is a Japanese brand, I'd expect their EF nib to be quite fine, and that totally lives up to my expectations. What I didn't expect though, was how smooth it would write. For a sub-$10 pen, I'd expect an EF nib to be pretty scratchy-feeling, but I was wrong. This is surprisingly smooth, honestly smoother than the Preppy fine nib! Check out the line it writes in comparison to all of the other pens I carry in the Nib Nook.

The Preppy comes with a proprietary Platinum ink cartridge in a color that matches the pen, and you can also use a Platinum converter to use bottled ink (sold separately). The converter itself actually costs more than the pen, and if that really just bugs you, you can convert the pen to an eyedropper-fill with an o-ring and some silicone grease (see my video showing that here).

I don't know how hard I need to try to sell you on such an inexpensive and well-respected pen, so I'll just leave off by saying that the solid reputation that Platinum has for the Preppy has firmly been cemented even further with this new extra-fine pen. If you like extra-fine nibs, I can't think of a reason you wouldn't appreciate this one.

Pick yours up at thegouletpens.com today.