We are an authorized retailer for Aurora, Bexley, Namiki & Pilot, and Pelikan. The new pens we offer are carefully selected models that we hope will appeal to a broad range of users. We’re always happy to help you in choosing a pen or a nib customization that you’ll find pleasing; if you have questions about the suitability of a pen you’re considering, feel free to send mail.

If the nib’s no good, it doesn’t matter how fancy the rest of the pen is — it’s not a good pen.

Unless otherwise requested at the time of sale, we tune each new pen or nib at no extra charge before shipment. We fill the pen with Waterman Blue-Black ink and write with it on paper from the same fountain pen friendly pads we sell, adjusting as necessary to bring it up to the RichardsPens.com “factory” standard for smoothness and flow. Our clients have named this procedure “Binderizing.” The result is an adjusted nib, not a customized one. Different inks or different papers can produce different results. Any special adjustment to accommodate your flow preference or a specific ink or paper comes under the heading of customization, and there will be an additional charge for that work.

How Fine is Fine?

 IMPORTANT INFORMATION  Different manufacturers’ nibs don’t all produce the same stroke width. This means that the fine nib on your favorite pen may or may not produce the same stroke width as the fine nib on a pen you’ll get from us. The only way to measure and compare stroke width is to make real strokes with real ink on real paper.

We want you to love your new pen from the instant you take it out of its box, but we can’t guess at your ideal stroke width. Because we adjust all nibs for flow and smoothness, our nibs are likely to produce strokes a little broader than “out of the box” nibs. This is not a defect! It’s your responsibility to be sure you understand what you will receive when you purchase a nib from us.

If you are unsure about stroke widths, please check our stroke width chart for illustrations of stroke sizes that our nibs produce. To do this, right-click the image (Macintosh users control-click) to download the chart in PDF format (for Adobe Reader). The chart is designed to print on U.S. letter-size paper (8¹/2"×11"), and it should also print well on A4 paper. After you have printed the chart, find some fountain pen friendly paper and make strokes on it with your own pens for comparison.

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The handcrafted  specialty nibs on our NIBARAMA page give you a fun and easy way to explore line variation, ultrafine points, and other nibs not generally offered. We offer handcrafted nibs for your Pelikan M2nn, M4nn, M6nn, M700 Toledo, and “1931” and “1935” limited editions), and for your Namiki (Pilot) Vanishing Point. I regrind standard nibs into italic, oblique italic, and stub italic points that yield beautiful line variation yet retain superb ease in the hand. Each nib is painstakingly hand finished, smoothed, and adjusted for proper flow.

In general, vintage pens are pens that were made many years ago. Exactly how old a pen must be to qualify as “vintage” is a matter of opinion; for arbitrary reasons, I consider pens introduced before about 1960 to be vintage.

All of our vintage pens are fully restored to good writing condition unless otherwise noted. Except for pens that are described as being in mint or NOS condition, these are used pens. I guarantee all of my restoration work (resacking, nib adjustments, etc.)

From time to time, we also have specials and consignment pens. Some of these pens are modern, some are vintage. We offer them with the same guarantee that we make for our vintage pens.

 Esterbrook Renew-Point Nibs

We have a small stock of Renew-Point nibs. Most are NOS; those that are not NOS have been tested and reconditioned as needed.