Am I enough of a paranoid to write about my favorite pen on my blog, like others do? I guess yeah.

I am fond of fountain pens. I like them because writing with one feels like being in heaven. Strong, definitive lines, if you use a medium nib. The feeling of creating something great. The very pleasure of it.

The classic aesthetics of fountain pens have always intrigued me. But no, not right from the beginning! Like every first grader in Germany, I had to use a fountain pen in school. Oh boy, all the ink - it got everywhere. I gladly switched to rollerball pens when my teachers allowed it.

After years of writing with rollerball pens and pencils, I finally found back to fountain pens. The pure looks of a fountain pen that my father had received as a goodbye present from one of his teams did it for me. No wonder, it was a Montblanc Meisterstück: Black lacquer finish, gold appointments and a golden nib with a platinum inlay.

My father never used it, and so it found its way under the Christmas tree that year. I enjoyed writing with it very much, and used it in school all the time. After a short while, however, ink started to surround the base of the nib, and I couldn’t find a way to make it stop.

I sent the pen to Montblanc for repairs several times, and each time they replaced some of its innards and made me pay a stiff price. After the fourth repair of that kind I went to the Mont Blanc store and complained. Their arrogance made me angry, and I’ve had no use for a broken pen.

So I sold it on eBay (for the original price), and went on.

And then I found my current and very beloved fountain pen: The Cross Century II. It looks similar to the Mont Blanc Meisterstück, but it’s a little bit less luxurious. No platinum, and a less sophisticated design - concerning the looks of the pen.