Steel nibs are extremely versatile, some can provide a soft experience too. Especially the m200 from pelikan and Faber Castell steel nibs. You can even go flex with some nib modifications. Gold certainly is nice, but there’s a ton of gold nibs which are stiff as nails, or don’t really add anything to the writing experience. But when you do get a good gold nib, it can be a glorious experience. I just guess it comes down to how much you wish to pay for that experience

I had this mind-blowing moment a few months ago. I realized that stiff steel nibs may be more suitable than gold nibs for me because I have a very small handwriting. They offer more control because they are less flexible (although it is more about the size than the material for small nibs). I also realized how much of a snob I became after "entering" the hobby. I came back on the right path though. Now I can enjoy fountain pens like I did in school, just for what they are.

Emy, I appreciate your willingness to explore topics like this! I'll take design and craftsmanship in a well-tuned steel nib over a poorly-made or tuned gold nib any day.

1. Thanks for providing this analysis. Coming from a luxury retailer, it carries a lot of weight. 2. I like to draw with flex-nibbed fountain pens, such as my current Pilot 743 and my vintage Waterman 52V. I would be interested to hear your opinion on steel vs. gold in flex nibs. 3. I have always assumed that gold nibs were manufactured with more care and QA than steel nibs. Do you disagree? 4. Some specialty nibs are only available in gold, I'm sure.

Gold, steel, palladium, titanium…the material does not matter that much. Geometry, hardness, tipping, grind, feed, ink, etc. all matter more than the material itself when it comes to writing.

Yes to all you have said here! I have gold nibbed pens which I enjoy so much, and yet, I have steel nibs I have used for long enough that they have developed the line variation over time that some gold nibs offer right out of the box. In terms of "edc" pens one might be willing to risk at work, some of my precious old steel nibs would be a sad loss to accident or misplacing. Thank you for this excellent reflection!

Love the glasses, Emy. 🤓. Welcome to the club.

Just had a discussion about this on Reddit. I love steel nibs. I have gold nibs but they are in storage because they were so expensive and I have anxiety using them based on fear of losing and damaging them.

Love the glasses! I can totally relate, my eyeballs get all blurry without my glasses when watching the computer monitors

Food for thought, Emy! Those glasses are pretty groovy, btw

I've been subscribed to your channel for a while, but this is my first response. I love your channel, well done. I prefer steel nibs. It's not about the price, but I feel like I have more control over my writing than with gold nibs. Gold nibs sometimes give me the feeling that they want to go their own way. I prefer stiff nibs and some also write very smoothly. Greetings from Belgium.

I like the glasses! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the steel vs gold debate.

a brilliant topic, also I must add there are a lot of steel nib pens that write much better than many gold nib ones, like Otto Hutt, Diplomat, Leonardo and so on , an strange experience for me, was I liked the writing of my diplomat aero with steel nib much more than the gold nib on a very pen, I end up keeping the steel one and sell the gold nib one

Thanks for getting this out, Emy. I think whenever I've had a choice, I've gone with the steel nib, since as you point out, the cost difference is hard to justify. That said, I'm pretty happy with my gold nib pens as well. Sometimes, it's worth paying more for that last 10%, but in general, it's really not necessary. One could say something similar about cartridge converters vs. piston fillers as well, I think. I also always think about how telescopes are just these big complex machines designed to push a drop of silver or aluminum (the coating and the primary mirror) around the sky. Fountain pens are essentially a bunch of pretty stuff designed to push a drop of tipping material around a page.

Interesting, appreciate the honesty! You asked about your glasses, I think they look badass 😉

Thank you!

Love the glasses!

With my limited experience, the feel of tuned gold nibs are far better than tuned steel nibs. I have 2 Leonardo steel nibs (M and B) and both required tuning. The B nib was really bland, so much so that I simply sold it quite recently. On the other hand, all of the gold nibs I had (tho some needed tuning) works well and feels very interesting.

Please take care Emy! You look cool though! Theoretically speaking, I think gold has properties that gives it the "Better" writing experience, like conducting better ink flow and also, being non-corrosive, and also having a softer feel (not all cases). But i do have cases, in my experience, where the steel actually writes better than the gold nibs, my two TWSBIs are actually my top 3 writers in terms of feel and ink flow... Would like to hear from all :) Sad and disappointed that Leonardo are discontinuing the ebonites on the steel nibs! :(

Nice glasses! Hope your sight will be calmer now :) Great video, thank you! Very interesting viewpoint. I have 1 pen with gold nib, which i love. But also love my steel nibs and they can be as enjoyable as the gold nib. And I agree totally on not bringing your expensive pens in situations where they can be damaged. There are so many nice affordable pens on the market.

Before steel nibs could be manufactured to be stainless, steel nibs were a disposable commodity used for dip pens only, and gold was the only material suitable for fountain pens. Not any more. On the other hand: doing things in a hurry is the problem, not the pen, is another angle to the topic. But I agree absolutely with you! If I needed another pen, a gold nib would be alluring because of the golden sheen! Preciousss!

Many steel nibs at least on the vintage pens are tipped with precious metals such as iridium which adds to their smoothness. That is where vintage pens shine.

Leonardo is specific case, because their. steel nib pens are quite expensive, and have exactly the same body materials. For Japanese pens i'd never go for steel nib, because entry-level 14K gold pens from Japan (Sailor, Platinum, Pilot, their entry level offerings) cost roughly the same as steel nib Pelikan M200 in Europe . some even cheaper, ex. Pilot Elite / E95s

Like many things in life, the steel vs gold nib discussion depends on a number of factors (including personal preference) such as tipping material, desire for the physical qualities of one over the other, aesthetics of steel vs gold, etc....

For whatever reason, I often find that a well-adjusted, well-ground, stiff steel nib is smoother than gold one, other things being equal. (BTW, this is why small nibs are often better than large ones: because they flex less; they are stiffer and therfore smoother). Moreover, some people just prefer the feeling of a rigid, stiff nib, as long as it is smooth. It is smoothness that everyone values. Softness per se only provides the benefit of changing the thickness, and this some ppl don't need nor like. As an example, consider a high-quality rollerball pen: it can be extremely smooth and yet very stiff. That's why they are so popular and main contenders to fountain pens. And a little advice for the future: If fountain pen makers don't improve their products in terms of smoothness under small variations of the pen (angle of rotation, inclination, and pressure), they are going to lose the battle against the ballpoint pen and the rollerball. Lets face it: Most pens today, including expensive ones are scratchy. (Or feedbacky, to use a widespread euphemism 😅). The only thing that has prevented rollers from overtaking fountain pens for the masses is the high price of refills. But this is ending soon, as ballpoins get better and more rollers are designed to be refilled with ink.

I would never take a gold nib ( or any pen ! ) to a construction site LOL.

Tony Stark vibes! nice glasses :) I think if you put in my hands a steel nib or gold nib fountain pen and write with it, with the eyes closed, I don't think I will notice a huge difference. Nice video! greetings

Thank you for this useful video! For me, steel can be better than gold for: bad paper (at work), fast closure (snap on capping), any ink, and Price! Whereas gold nibs usually come with ebonite feed, the experience is more luxurious, but also needs quality paper, not a very wet ink... My best nib experience comes from a Diplomat Aero, has a steel nib which makes any ink interesting. Besides, some modern steel nibs aren't that stiff, a bit of push shows some ink variation

I've not had the best experience with steel nibs and iron gall, even the milder modern formulations. After a year, there will always be a little bit of pitting on the underside of the nib that gradually gets worse. I've never had any such issues with a gold nib, but I guess most people don't use iron gall as much as I do.

I don't loan fountain pens to people. I usually have both a ball-point with me as well--a cheap one--and I will loan that. OR, I will offer to take a note for them, either on paper from a notebook that I carry with me, or on paper that they supply. The reason for this is that a friend of mine and I were wedding guests. Both of us signed the attendee register. He loaned his Montblanc 149 to someone who didn't have a pen. When that person was done, he jammed the cap back on, and bent the nib.

Just curious how are gold plated nibs compared to steel nibs on cheaper fountain pens like Parker pens

We have been melting ore and forging steel for so long that we mastered it..steel is gold made cheap..☺

Hi Amy, firstly you look a lot like George Michael with the glasses 🙂. My experience with steel and gold nibs is mixed. I have very good writing pens with steel nibs (Waterman, Twsbi,..) and also good writing pens with gold nibs. But I can only compare Leonardo, of which I have one with a steel nib. Honestly I wish I had bought that one with a gold nib too as I much more appreciate the same pen with a gold nib. So I guess it depends on the manufacturer, the grind of the nib etc.

I think you look better with the glasses, it makes you look more italian (and for some strange reason, it makes you look more credible). Actually, I watched first some of your videos with the glasses and then those without. Something felt wrong! Embrace your new look!

Emi, would you care to comment on how a brand like Sailor can offer 14K/18K nibs at affordable prices? Is it just sheer manufactured quantity/volume or some other or combination of factor/s?

My Faber castell emotion stealth writes significantly better than my Lamy2000. Extremely smooth, no sweet spot issue. Much more comfortable section and similar firm writing experience.

Disappointed to hear Leonardo stopping the ebonite feed with steel….

A gold nib doesn't make you a better writer too. It all comes down to experience and practice. People think if I buy a gold nib my writing will improve dramatically. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Gold nibs won't make you a better writer.