Fountain Pen# 2 -- Pilot Metropolitan

Contents

• Pen

• Pen Display Case (Clear Plastic Top Cover)

• Con-20 Style Converter

• One (1) Blue/Black Ink Cartridge

Nib Style - Fine (F) or Medium (M)

Color / Model Numbers

• Classic
• Black
• MRFC1BLKFBLKP (F)
• MRFC1BLKMBLKP (M)
• Gold 
• MRFC1BLKFGLDP (F)
• MRFC1BLKMGLDP (M)
• Silver 
• MRFC1BLKFSLVP (F)
• MRFC1BLKMSLVP (M)

• Retro Pop

• Green / Marble
• Red / Wave
• Orange / Flower
• Purple / Ellipse
• Grey / Hound Tooth
• Turquoise / Polka Dots

• Animal Print

• Purple / Leopard 
• White / Tiger
• Black / Crocodile
• Gold / Lizard
• Silver / Python

My Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen (Fine Point) arrived from Amazon and its a beautiful writing instrument.  The online reviews were largely accurate in describing this as an excellent starter pen and indeed the immediate sense of quality could be felt just by holding it.

There is a certain weight and heft that exudes a sense of quality.  And the overall look and feel is best experienced by actually holding and wielding the pen; for $13 this is a phenomenal deal.

It even comes with a fairly decent display case, ink converter and single ink cartridge.  I had also ordered a dozen blue ink cartridges and loaded one into this pen (unfortunately several of the cartridges exploded during transit, but Amazon was generous enough to refund the dozen cartridges; I was able to salvage about 6-7 cartridges).

As I tried writing my first few words and sentences with the Pilot Metropolitan it made me realize how much better it is compared to the Pilot Varsity; as it should be expected.  And oddly it makes me even more curious to eventually try a higher end pen like the Platinum Century # 3776, but for now the Pilot 

Metropolitan will suffice.

This will be my go to pen for the next few months and start me on my journey.  My only concern at this point is whether to indulge further and purchase a proper Ink Converter and some quality ink, but I'll wait a bit.

Overall, very happy with this pen thus far 

One Month Review 

It's been a month since I've had the Pilot Metropolitan and also the Platinum Century to compare against and for most part I'm finding that I use the Pilot more often while at work due to the screwless cap.  While the Platinum is more comfortable to use and has a nicer nib, the Pilot is just easier to use for quick note taking.

When I do need to write for a considerable length of time, the Platinum is preferred, but for jotting down quick notes it's cumbersome.

I'll likely need to invest in a CON-50 Ink Converter so I can tell how much ink is left as I've run the Metropolitan dry in the middle of a business meeting.

Update 12/31/17
I have one small problem with the Metropolitan.  Because of it's snap cap if I do this repeatedly in rapid succession this tends to cause the ink to splatter a bit and increase the chance for the ink to leak.  This usually happens if I need to cap & uncap during a meeting when taking notes and by habit I've learned to leave the pen uncapped for extended periods when necessary or have had to opt back to rollerball/ballpoint pens for those specific situations.

While a screw on cap takes more time, it minimizes the issue of ink splatter due to a snap cap.