Is A Gold Nib Better Than A Steel Nib? #fountainpen

Thanks for watching my very chatty thoughts on whether gold nibs are better than steel. What are your thoughts?

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[marjoriemarlowe]

I agree. Gold is not always better. I love just switching things up. In the end, it all comes down to personal preference, handwriting styles and sometimes just the pen and ink pairing.

[snarkywordsworth]

Like you, I have a pretty wide variety of both steel and gold nibs, and while I do love many of the ones with gold nibs, my favorite pen to just write with every day, is my Esterbrook Estie with a steel journaler nib. I adore that thing as it takes minimal effort to make my writing look really lovely, and I don't even have to slow down and conscientiously think about how I'm forming the letters the way I would with a standard nib.

Honestly, I think it really comes down so much to individual preferences and the situation. For example, if I need to take quick notes at a meeting, or I'm just jotting down a note at my desk, I love the Pilot VP with a gold nib. Convenient with its clicker, but still fun to write with (so much bounce!). Plus you sometimes get questions, and any excuse to talk pens is a good thing to me. If I'm on the go, potentially on a hike or mini-adventure, I want something sturdy that I'm not going to have to be concerned about, so it's my Kaweco Sport Brass with a steel EF nib.

Anyway, I could keep geeking out, but this comment has already gone on forever. TL;DR: It depends. Like what you like. 😍😍😍

Awesome video, as always!

[Tria]

It’s so cool to hear different perspectives on this hobby. I love it! I chuckled because my favorite and least favorite were the exact opposite of yours 😂. I love the Platinum 3776 so much. My least favorite is the Pilot vanishing point. I guess I prefer stiff to bouncy. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[CreatingCuteArt]

Same page! I would recommend that Pilot VP 18k nib all day, it’s the softest, bounciest, wettest, smoothest gold nib I’ve tried. But then I sold my only Platinum gold nib pen because it was just too stiff for me. The writing experience is indeed so much more than just the material a nib is made of!🤗❤️👏

[antoniomonteiro]

For those who want to know the gold percentage as a function of the karat number (k), gold% = k/24.
If you want to know k for a certain percentage of gold (p) k = 24 x p.
In the example of 21k the percentage of gold is 21/24 = 78, 5%.
When in the nib is engraved 585 meaning 58, 5%, the karat number is k = 24 x 0, 585 = which is 14, 04 so you know it is a 14k gold nib.

[ordinarynights]

I love my 3776 in all nib sizes but I would say there is a noticeable difference between their F and M nibs - M is significantly wetter and smoother! My friend has a B nib and reports a similar experience - so I do wonder if your opinion would change if the nib had not been an F?

Aside from that - there are definitely plenty of pens with steel nibs that I enjoy. But I think part of the hesitation is the question of "If I am going to spend over a certain price point - eg. $200-$400 - do I really want to spend that only to get a steel nib, when I can buy a pen in the similar price range and get a gold nib?" I think maybe that is why all the gold nibs I own are Japanese pens, and I have yet to pull the trigger and buy a European pen with a gold nib since I find that they tend to be priced significantly higher.

[impish]

great comparison, thanks for sharing Karyna

[sunny]

Nice breakdown! Of course this is so subjective to each persons preferences. But I have tried 4 gold nibs. The only winner was the Pelikan (M400). It was so noticeably different than any other pen I'd ever written with. That uniqueness made it special and the only gold nib I have.

The other gold nibs I tried that were equal to or worse than steel nibs were Pilot VP, Pilot E95s, and Sailor PGS 14k. I quickly returned or resold them.

I'm super happy with the rest of my pens being steel! They are great!

[organfinatic]

I have a few Pilot VPs with the gold nibs, and one special alloy nib. Probably my favorite steel nibs are on my Faber-Castell pens. They just write so butter smooth. And when they are in a medium nib, they are very juicy or wet.

[KenchanKrafts]

Pelikan, Visconti, and Montegrappa, and I'm sure the other Italian companies all make 18k gold nibs, too! As far as Japanese brands, only pilot has an 18k, and only Sailor makes 21k gold nibs on the regular (not many Italian or German brands do 21k). Gold nibs within the same brands do tend to feel and perform better than their steel counterparts in my experience, but only by a small margin. Like you said, there's so many more factors that contribute to the writing experience and all gold nibs have varying characteristics. Gold nibs generally are softer and bouncier, so that would really be the main reason one should want gold over steel, but some gold nibs are super hard anyways haha. I find Sailor nibs to be the hardest. Outside of that, most gold nibs have a nice bounce to them. My platinums do have a small bounce to them, which I was surprised to see.

[glldvmi]

I have some Faber Castell steel nibs that actually are smoother than some of my gold nib pens.

[MrsinTN]

I tried a Platinum 3776 but didn’t like the feedback, so I chose, instead, a Pilot VP. I have a newer Pelikan M205, and while it doesn’t have a gold nib, I despise the pen; but like my older pen and a couple of other Pelikan fountain pens in the cheaper range better than the despised, lol, M205. Maybe I got a bad nib? Anyway, I love a smooth writing pen, be it one with a gold nib or a steel nib. I haven’t tried a Sailor because I was told that they have feedback? Thank you for the video.

[muallaemine]

After over 30 years of FP usage, I will say that any nib, whether steel 14C 18C 21C, is great if it is well tuned. Period.
I have had 18C pelikan m1000s that were huge disapointments and Platinum Plaisirs that were just on point an amazing to write with. I love both these brands and many more but my point is that any FP is really at its best when it is well tuned. The rest is really personal preferences and how you use certain nibs in my opinion. I personally love the Platinum 3776; it is a stiff nib but for precise drawings, or kanji or arabic writings that are quite detailed in a limited space, margin note taking, crapy papers you got to write on etc etc, it's finer nibs are just great. And its broader and specialty nibs are a joy. You might want to try out the SF or SM nib they offer; it is absolutely not flex but it's got a good bounce to it.
Btw most brands have the 18C nibs. They just use it on their higher models: like Pelikan m800 and m1000, Platinum İzumo and President (the President FP's nib is called the president nib because it is 18C. I'm not sure but I think the FP is not made anymore, but the nib is used in the İzumo. And I recommend trying it), Montblanc 149, the Pilot İshime, VP, Sterling FP and Custom Urushi and of course the Namiki line.... the list goes on and on really.
I think it also depends on how you want to spend your money. Sometimes an FP is just another steel jowo or bock nib (as long as it is well tuned) but the pen itself is beautiful. And when it is made by a one person production it will cost more then some gold nibbed pens. And it is well worth it for many reasons.
All this to say that I love my gold nibbed pens, but I would be lying if I said they are better then my steel pens. Some of the steels are superb writers: like the Diplomat Aero for instance. İt all depends on what I want at that time. Right now my EDCs are my Kaweco brass sport (steel), couple of Pilot Sterling FPs(18C) and couple of my Esties (Journaler and scribe nib). I have a few more inked for other purposes as well. But in my case I write from left to right, from right to left, in latin alphabet, in arabic alphabet, in cursive or print or calligraphy... or I draw or doodle with my pens. So really it depends on what you are looking for in a pen. But if you have just one pen that is well tuned, no matter what the nib material is, you're good to go in my opinion 😊
I love that you like the Lamy 2k! And if you like the feel of it then you might like the Visconti Homo Sapiens. The og lava one... if you get the chance to try it, ı would love to hear your thoughts on it

[hrudeepg]

What's the name and manufacturer of the multi-hued blue pen with the steel nib? It's gorgeous in its looks.

[kschmidt]

I totally agree that gold May or may not be the best writing experience. I’ve got some steel nib pens I can’t do without.

[kristiw.]

This video was really informative - thank you! If I ever buy a gold nib, it will be for softness and smoothness... can you tell me how you got over the placement of the clip, on the Pilot vanishing point? I seriously am bothered by it being upside down.

[TheUndecidedFrog]

There are other pen models that offer 18K beside the Pilot VP. Pelikan M800 and M1000 are in 18K. Waterman Carene is in 18K.

[deniseplasse]

I agree, there are some stainless nibs that far out perform some of the competition for sure. However, comparing some of the extraordinary SS nibs (Yowo LAMY and Pilot I am talking about you) The gold nib upgrades have in my experience so far reminds me of buying a car and picking between the base model vs the one with all the options. They are both amazing choices, but the later just has that *chef’s kiss*. However I have been highly dissapointed in gold nibs before, where as a very similar problem in SS is not really a big deal, the expectation for gold is and should be higher. But the dissapointment is much greater when it’s NOT what you expect.

[VicariousVicshort]

Thank you for the video! I ALWAYS love seeing this debate rehashed.

When I started my fountain pen journey, way back back in the beginning of 2018, I had a bunch of Jinhaos and a vintage Soyuz pen with a gold nib. There was no comparison. That Soyuz pen is still one of my favorite writing pens. I thought maybe it was just the low quality of the Jinhaos, so ended up getting.a twsbi pen. That nib was also lack luster. Shortly later, I got a Pilot VP and Platinum 3776. They were much more on par with the Soyuz. Ever since then I have expected to be disappointed by steel nibs. Not to say the steel nibs are unwritable, but my general experience has been gold is better.

Many steel nibs are also the same across brands. It seems like almost every brand makes pens with steel nibs from Jowo, Bock, or Schmidt. It makes for a familiar, and dependable, but boring writing experience. I have tried all three and they have differences between them, but a new pen with a Jowo.schmidt, or bock steel nib doesn't give me any wow factor, like most(not all) of my gold nibs have.

Let's explore specifics for a second. If you are thinking about purchasing a pen you'll want to consider things Let's compare Pilot vs Pelikan. Pilot nibs are my least favorite so I tend to like my Pelikan steels more. I even like my pelikan steels more then the 14k pilot nibs I have. The 18k vanishing points are different though. I like them a lot. However, Pelikan Gold nibs are a whole nother level. My favorite steel nib is My Narwhal Peter Draws pen. I think Narwhal tunes their nibs in house. This one is probably in my top 5 nibs. My other narwhals aren't quite as nice, but I think they are different nib sizes. It is still not to the level of my Pelikan Gold nib.

I also want to say I have also been really disappointed with some gold nibs. Most recently a Visconti Homo Sapiens I bought used. It came bent and mangled I sent it off to JJ Lax he emailed me today that it is ready to ship back. I do think it is weird that a couple of my 18k nibs are stiffer then some of my 14k nibs. My assumptions is that it has to do with the shape or the particular metals of non gold percentage. I also have a lamy 2000 in fine and the sweet spot is so small I really have to work to write with it.

To wrap up, when Diplomat started selling Aeros with gold nibs. The consensus I picked up from the reviews I read was that the difference was barely noticable, and wasn't worth the price difference. That tells me that all things being equal there is a slight upper hand to gold. HOWEVER, every nib making company tunes things slightly different, and factory machines make errors, and users have different preferences, and ink choices. There really are too many variables to give a definite scientific answer. My preference for gold is just a general guideline and I don't want to make to sound more then that. I also kind of like how every nib manufacturer has it's own personality maybe even if they are different models from the same pen maker they can write a bit different. I have found that depending on how much I like a steel nib by a company I can predict how much I am going to like a gold nib.

Anyway, I am Interested in other's opinions! if anything I hope I gave people some stuff to think about why they like some nibs and not others, as thinkiing though this over the years has helped me avoid some disappointments.Though some trial and error was also done in that process as well.

[marilyngardner]

The Platinum 3776 is one of my favorite pens, especially in the medium, broad, and music nibs. I enjoy wtiting with them much more than the Vanishing Point. Some 3776 models are available with a Soft Fine or Soft Medium nib, and you might like that better because there's a bit more bounce, but I prefer the stiffer regular nibs. If you get a chance, try a medium or broad. I also think that hooded nibs (VP, Lamy 2K) give a different experience than nibs that are fully exposed, and I prefer the latter. (As a complete aside, there are 18K Sailor nibs on Taccia pens, which most of us can't afford. The owner of Taccia has exacting standards and prefers 18K over both 14K and 21K, so she contracts for rhose nibs from Sailor.) And I agree that steel nibs can also be fantastic. So many great options out there!