Pilot Metropolitan in Box

Thanks to our friends at Jetpens, I’ve been testing out this Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen for a few weeks now.  Coming in at a price of below $15 at Jetpens, this pen falls square in the “beginner fountain pen” category, which is not a bad thing at all, just a way to classify a great every day writer.

Pilot Metropolitan and Aerometric Converter

I usually don’t dwell on the price of the items you see written about here because people have large variance on what they consider inexpensive or expensive due to their own personal situations, but at $14.50 I think we can all agree this is a very inexpensive fountain pen.  The fact that it comes packed in a pretty nice (medium weight cardboard stock) box with a magnetic closure is impressive when you consider that the quality and build of the pen do not suffer at all.    In addition to the nice box Pilot also throws in one black ink cartridge and one aerometric converter that you see pictured in the back of the box above.  With the cap posted the pen measures an even 6″ and with the pen closed (the cap covering the nib) it comes in at 5.4″ and has a .5″ diameter.

Pilot Metropolitan Close Up in Box

The very subtle design of this pen is accented with what I wold still consider a very subtle design.  The matte black finish of the cap and body is augmented by a narrow glossy black band with diamond shaped hash marks in a grey color that zig zag across the band.  In addition you can also see that the accents of this pen such as the cap and the band between the body and section are finished in chrome.

Pilot Metropolitan Nib and Section

The glossy black section of the pen is easy to hold onto, and sets a nice contrast to the silver toned highlights of the nib and band that flank it on each end.  In addition to this nice contrast, if you click on the photo above you can see that the nib has a pattern of stepped rectangles that come to a peak towards the narrow end of the nib.  Something about the nib and this pattern remind me of the top of an elegantly designed skyscraper such as The Chrysler Building, which adds to the overall class and subdued design of this fountain pen.

Pilot Metropolitan Close Up in Box

Because the Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen has a brass barrel under the matte black finish, this pen has a pretty good heft behind it instead of feeling like cheap plastic like some other beginner fountain pens.  With the cap posted or without, the pen feels very well balanced in your hand, and the nib requires very little pressure to lay down a nice solid line of ink.  Typically I only write with fountain pens that have a fine or extra fine nib, but the Pilot Metropolitan only comes with a medium nib.  I’m not sure if the incredibly smooth writing experience stems from the fact that its a slightly wider nib that I’m used to or if its just that this nib is particularly smooth.  Either way though, the writing experience with this fountain pen was completely unexpected in how smooth and easy it was.

Pilot Metropolitan Nib and Section

Writing with the Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen in my Black n Red Notebook was an absolutely fantastic and peaceful writing experience.  Between the great quality of paper and the buttery smooth nib on this fountain pen, I was amazed at how great of a writing experience you can get for such an inexpensive price.  Because this is a stainless steel nib, the ONLY minor bad thing I could say about this pen is that you wont get any flex out of the nib, but for a $15 starter fountain pen I don’t think that is an unreasonable thing anyway.  I cant say it emphatically enough, if you have never used a fountain pen before, this would be an amazing place to start, and even if you have used one before, you might still want to pick up a Pilot Metropolitan just to have a reliable and high quality every day writer that you can not stress over scratching up or misplacing.  The Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen comes in black, silver, and gold and has a few different patterns on that small center band, so click on that link and see if any of those options look appealing to you.

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