Platinum Carbon Desk Fountain Pen, Super Fine (DP-800S#1)

The smoothest extra fine nib (actually ULTRA fine by western standards) I have ever owned. Excellent for drawing and sketching, as well as fine writing. Previously only a scratchy dip-pen could write this fine. But this is a smooth fountain pen. Unbelievable, until you have tried it. It is well worth the added expense of buying a converter to feed it from the ink bottle, and thus abandon those pesky cartridges. I love it. So I bought two of them.The only down-side is its pointy end. It is uncomfortable for some people to point sharp things towards their eyes. This obviously happens when you are writing. (Not quite so bad if you wear glasses!!)Sadly, I am one such point-averse person who wishes that Platinum had produced a blunt-ended version of this pen (like for example the less-pointy shape of the Pilot Plumix Penmanship fountain pen, or indeed the superbly crafted, ultra smooth but inexpensive Platinum Preppy fountain pen.)

Hi I just got this for my birthday yesterday, after ‘really wondering what it would be like. I’d seen the many reviews here and took a chance ,) I don’t write reviews(!) but to going back to my pen this morning, I thought to the comment/s? here, that said the lid was plastic and as I checked all was airtight, I realised see exactly why it needs to be! It’s a glossy and high quality black lid that is a solid plastic so that it fits snugly up to the gold line, to keep the lid from being rigid to a cool/warm pen and so always keeps it air tight! Et voila, a brilliant pen! V pleased!! Oh and the clear plastic lid, it comes in, is only for protection with the packaging and can be chucked ,)

The almost perfect pen at a remarkable price. Having compared this pen with another Platinum pen I own that cost well in excess of £100 I can honestly say there is no difference regarding the quality of results achievable with this pen. Whilst the body casing of this pen is obviously a lower grade/cost plastic it still manages to feel and look good. I would strongly advise purchase of the Platinum ink reservoir at the same time as the pen and a bottle of Platinum Carbon Ink, in the long run these two additional items more than justify themselves by comparison in cost and environmental impact of disposable cartridges. I only have one negative comment about this pen and that is that whilst perfectly functional the lid is a total design anathema, it does the job ok but looks and feels like a spare part from a totally different pen, Platinum pride themselves in their design skills but clearly had an off day when it came to the lid of this pen. That said I really don’t think you could buy a functionally better fountain ink pen at this price.

Very smooth to draw with and the ink is really nice — a deep black and dries fast. I was able to use a light ink wash over lines I drew with this pen about ten minutes later and they stayed put just fine.It’s not as fine a line as I had hoped, but coming from using mainly tech pens that was likely naive of me.It’s super-nice to write with, even though I bought it to draw with I ended up choosing it to fill in a huge form the other day and I find it easier to be neat with than the usual ballpoints I would reach for.Really good value.

I was curious to try one of these, after having used a similar Rotring Art Pen; these are less than half the price. They are as utilitarian as a disposable biro (the cap is truly horrible) but I am not disappointed with the pen which produces a reliable, clear, black line. It is not as smooth to use as the Art Pen and is amazingly noisy but produces a slightly finer line. The line is comparible to a technical pen such as an isograph.The carbon black ink is as black and waterproof as you are ever going to get out of a fountain pen and is comparable to proper indian ink. However, I notice that the line bleeds on my favourite cheap sketch pad, where the Rotring ArtPen ink does not. This is a touch irritating but clearly it is fussy about paper. The other issue is that if the ink is allowed to dry in the pen, it will be a bear to clean out (edit, I'm told it is actually quite easy). I'm hoping my ultrasonic tank will do the job when that day inevitably comes.

It makes quite a fine line, which is good for detail sketching work, or when you want a finer line. I tend to sketch mainly with a Platinum Preppy fountain pen medium, and the two pens compliment each other. This Carbon Pen has an unusually long body and is awkward to carry around, so I just cut off an inch or so and filed it smooth . . .sorted! The cap fits snugly, so feels safe in a sketch bag.The excellent waterproof Platinum Carbon Black ink is reported to clog up fountain pens, but I have found both this pen and the Platinum Preppy to be fine even after a few days non use.

Bought 2, 1 doesn’t work !

Takes a long time to get it going (first time). Writes fairly.Not the most refined piece of plastic.. why such an ugly tip?What about the top.. even more ugly, and looks bad... but fits well, oddly enough.Overall you get what you pay for but not more