It uses a thick, oil-based ink that is dispersed by a small ball in a socket at the head of the pen. The cartridge uses gravity to force ink down the reservoir. A fountain pen uses a nib in the ...

This is One Thing, a column with tips on how to live. Growing up in Saudi Arabia, I learned cursive with a fountain pen in the third grade as part of the standard curriculum. I wasn’t good at ...

These form part of the Yasmin McMullon Collection of gold fountain pens, ball points and mechanical pencils.

When fountain pens first came along ... One problem was that while the ball worked better than a nib, it had to be an absolutely perfect fit, or ink would either get stuck or leak out everywhere.