Pilot Prera

After a year of “I’ll get it next time,” I finally pulled the trigger and got one of my grail pens. It was a rollercoaster finding one in stock though, cuz when I was windowshopping at Pensachi with the intention of checking out later in the evening after work, the listing was already sold out hahaha. Was legit heartbroken and just thought ”maybe it wasn’t meant to be” till someone pointed out that it was still available over at Amazon JP and was actually cheaper. A few weeks later and it finally arrived and it’s much more beautiful in person than in photos, the size did surprise me though despite owning a Pilot Prera.

I quickly saw how much I preferred FPs, and the community. I then moved to a Ltd Edition, Ebony Conklin All American, a Kaweco Steel and Brass sport as well as the Aluminum, a Pilot Prera, a Sailor Compass some additional Lamys, a Noodlers Ahab and Triple Tail and two TWSBI Ecos and a TWSBI AL R, a Muji, some other Jinhaos etc.

Pilot Metropolitan would be a good choice. My other recommendations would be Lamy Safari, Kaweco Sport, Pilot Prera and Platinum Plaisir. Go with whichever of those you think she'd like the most based on design and size; they're all nice pens.

Pilot Prera. Everything about it is wonderful, and no pen cap snaps shut with a more authoritative click. It’s beautifully engineered.

I'm not sure what your price point is for "budget" but the Pilot Prera with a F nib is a Japanese fine (closer to a North American/Euro EF) but smooth as butter when writing. (I own 3 of the solid color ones.).

Fountain pens come to mind. As a good inexpensive starter I like Lamy Safari or a Pilot Prera. Just be sure they come with a converter or buy it separately so you can use bottled ink.

Pilot Prera with a F nib! The nib is very smooth and fits the size of my writing. I also like how lightweight the pen is- I can write for hours!

The cap has an amazing snap-on-off mechanism, which I believe also carries over to the Prera. The easy deployment of the nib makes it very nice as a daily carry. (And combined with Pilot’s nibs… 🥰) Similarly, the size of the pen measures about the same as the Prera — I barely noticed a difference when I asked to compare the two in store.

I would personally recommend the Kakuno or Prera if you want a lighter pen. Kakuno come in three nib sizes. The Metro is a little on the heavier side. Kaweco EF nibs are pretty consistent too.

Ohh I have 3 of the same pens as you. The blue pilot prera, the TWSBI eco black and gold and the IWI handscript fountain pen.

What are the two pens on far left and the pen on the far right and the red one in the middle?