Dryden Designs Fountain Pen - Medium Nib 0.5mm | Includes 6 Ink Cartridges (3 Black, 3 Blue), Notebook Clips and Ink Refill Converter | - Silver.

This is my first fountain pen and I have been really enjoying it. It took a couple days to really get the hang of it. At first the writing was a bit streaky, but I don't know if that was user error, or just getting the ink flowing well. After a couple weeks, the ink flows smoothly and reliably. I have had no issues with leaking. I think I might have preferred a fine tip, but this one writes very nicely and I still love it. The pen itself is a nice weight, although I prefer to write I posted. It also looks very nice. Overall, I'd say this is a great pen and I like that it came with ink cartridges.

As a long-time fountain pen user I was a little skeptical. I was looking for a nice, smooth-writing and aesthetically pleasing pen for my wife who has never used a fountain pen. When I came across the Dryden pens they appeared to be what I was looking for without breaking the bank. I'm a sucker for a new pen so I bought two - one for me too. I chose the Mysterious Blue for my wife and added Serenity Blue ink from Waterman to match her pen. I bought the black pen for myself. When they arrived two days later I was pleasantly surprised! My daily writing instrument is a Waterman. The Dryden pen is slightly thinner but not too much so. It actually fit my wife's hand very well. It's 0.1oz lighter than my Waterman - hardly noticeable. The color and design is very nice. My wife said "it's beautiful!" The nib is medium. Filling the black one took six tries before it would draw ink up into the converter. The blue one drew immediately. The pen is well balanced with the cap on the end. The cap pushes onto the end but does not snap in place. It seems snug enough however. Putting pen to paper, the ink flow was immediate with no skipping. That was impressive. All fountain pens take a little breaking in. The nib does not scratch across the paper. It was very smooth - not quite as smooth as my Waterman but I suspect it will improve with use. All in all I'm impressed with the quality and engineering of these pens especially at this price. Compared to a Mont Blanc or a Waterman the metal edges and workmanship is not quite as refined. The clasp is stiff and not very smooth. I had to gently and slightly bend it to get it to clip on a piece of paper or in my pocket. But again - it's new and I'm sure will loosen up over time. It's a great first introductory pen for a novice and I'll enjoy using it too. I'll probably buy more of them for gifts. I give it 5 stars. You are getting more than your moneysworth with greater value and quality - something that's rare these days.

This is a really nice fountain pen. Works great. Easy to clean. Very smooth and refills are easy to install.

This pen is beautiful and appears to be well made. The size and weight are perfect for me. It writes smoothly and its medium nib is responsive to subtle changes in my pen positioning. In other words, I can use it both for careful hand lettering projects (addressing wedding invitations, etc.) and for my every day writing. When it writes. Randomly, the pen will skip mid-word and then stop working all together. It doesn't seem to be "operator error." It happens to me when the ink cartridge has plenty of ink and when I have been careful to store the pen vertically. I find myself asking to borrow a pen in the middle of meetings, and wasting way too many expensive envelopes . I have owned this pen for about 8 months, but much of that time it has sat, unused in my bottom desk drawer. Even though I really wanted to love this pen, in the end, it was undependable. Updated 1/2/2018: Michael Dryden reached out to me within hours of me posting the original review to offer a replacement pen or refund for my purchase price. He added, "It is most likely that your pen was slightly defective but we have since upgraded and revamped our collection." The replacement pen works beautifully and consistently. I could not be happier with the exemplary customer service I received from Michael Dryden and Dryden pens. I will order from them again.

UPDATE #2 coming soon: Michael Dryden sent me a black version of this pen. I believe they have changed some production techniques to ensure better quality. I am currently testing the pen out, but I do see some initial improvements. More to come. UPDATE: I am dropping my review from 3 stars to 1. I purchased this pen less than a month ago. As you can see from the second photo, the gold band with the threads has detached from the barrel. I will be sending this back and I will not be purchasing any other Dryden pens. I am really surprised at how many 5-star ratings this pen received. This is my second fountain pen. My first was the Jinhoa X750. The one thing the Dryden has going for it is its weight. I like my Jinhoa, but it is a heavy pen, and if I am practicing my penmanship with long exercises, my hand starts getting sore. The Dryden has a good weight for longer writing sessions. But my praise for the Dryden begins and ends there. So what do I not like about the Dryden? Let's start with something irrelevant to how the pen performs, but what is, I believe, a sign of the overall quality. The felt bag in which the pen is delivered has the name of the company printed on it. Well, it actually has "Dnyden" printed on it. They didn't even spell their own name correctly. I have to wonder about a company who would allow a product to go out with their own name misspelled. Next is the cap. It will not stay on the end of the pen. When I write I have to set it aside. Every other pen I have owned (most of which were not fountain pens admittedly), the cap stays on the end of the pen when I write. Poor quality or design I do not know. Either way, it's a part of an overall poor product. I'm concerned about the gold finish also. It looks cheap. I fully expect it to fade over time. A sign of cheap materials and production. Now on to what is really important, how does it write? Actually, it's not bad. I do seem to see a bit more ink on the page than with my Jinhoa. But I'm not entirely certain whether that's because of the pen or the fact that I have two different inks in them. Either way, if someone were asking me for a recommendation, I likely would not recommend the Dryden Luxury. There are sub-$10 pens that perform better.

Because of these Dryden’s I am in love with using fountain pens! This one is so beautiful; bought it to complete a set similar in appearance of ballpoint and similar pens plus an old mechanical pencil. It is so smooth, feels so good in my old, aging hands, and I love to find a reason to pick it up just to write with it in a journal for the heck of it! Love it! I am a beginner, if you haven’t guessed, to fountains- wished I would have found them a long time ago. I have gotten another brand but love the Dryden the best! A finely made pen for the excellent price! I want to have one color of each! Oh so rich in color! I just love to sit & look at them - I have 3 now! I highly recommend the Dryden! You won’t be disappointed! I was not bribed to write this, by the way! Buy one & you will see what I am talking about! Oh - the Royal Red will knock your socks off! Get her! She is a beauty to behold! Oh - and the blue- beautiful color! The Royal & Blue look so good side by side - not the darkest blue or the lightest but the middle blue color - OMGosh - handsome for sure! Treat yourself & get one of these fountains; they come in medium nibs, which I recommend - I think the Med is so much smoother than the fine nib - my personal take - get one!

I've owned this pen for a couple of years now, but I only use it occasionally as I just don't enjoy using it. This is at best an adequate pen, better pens are available for lower prices. It is basically a cheap pen branded as a luxury item available at a discount price, just like Wordsworth & Black, Beiluner, and Scriveiner pens. The pen writes ok once I get the ink flowing, but if it sits for a day or more it's a struggle to get it writing again. It has a relatively thin body so it's not as comfortable to write with as a pen with a thicker body like a Pilot Metropolitan for example. The pen has weight to it, due to the metal construction, but it didn't add any value for me. The pen does not post well, although it is actually more comfortable to write with the cap off as it feels unbalanced when posted. The converter doesn't seat well but I have not had a problem with the pen leaking, yet. Overall just not worth the price when compared to other brands like Pilot, Lamy, Kaweco (Sport). If you are looking for a pen that looks luxurious but also something very reasonably priced, get a Jinhoa, they look great, are decent writers and you can't beat the under $10 price.

This Dryden Luxury Fountain pen is a substantial Luxury Fountain Pen. Even, smooth writing, with excellent ink flow provides a smooth and even writing experience. The Nib is a medium Nib and is easily filled with bottled ink via the ink converter or this wonderful pen also accepts ink cartridges [International Standard Size] making it very easy to use whichever way is convenient for the user. I like using bottle ink, but I am glad to know that this high quality pen uses the ink cartridges as well, making it very versatile. This Dryden Luxury Fountain pen is Ergonomically designed to achieve a delicate weight-comfort ratio and to suit both left and right handed writers. This pen also has a gentle but firm grip and is substantial without any strain to the wrist. This is a modern, classy, architecturally savvy pen. With this Dryden fountain pen, each mark I make is distinctively mine, making deliberate, intimate and immediate writing enhanced by a high quality, top of the line. refined nib. What is great about this pen is also that Dryden cares about its customers as much as their wonderful pens. They offer a LIFETIME MONEY BACK GUARANTEE on this pen. I am very happy with this Dryden Luxury Fountain Pen and its performance.