Monday Pen

My Pelikan 400, my Cross Townsend, and my S. T. Dupont are all fairly formal pens. I use them either for writing in my journal (the Pelikan) or for signatures (the Cross - when I have it with me - and the S.T. Dupont). My next good pen wasn't a pen at all. It was a pen and pencil set from Rotring (fountain pen above, mechanical pencil below). I use them -- each a Rotring 600 with lava finish -- as working instruments, especially the mechanical pencil.

Both have a solid metal body with good weight and a hexagonal shape that sits securely on a desk without rolling off. The fountain pen has a stiff nib that is perfect for detailed work, whether correcting papers or drawing diagrams. The mechanical pencil comes in models taking different lead diameters. Mine takes 0.5mm, which is perfect for scratching out derivations on a notepad or sketching crude diagrams or figures. I used the fountain pen frequently, until I got myself a Namiki Vanishing Point fountain pen. You'll hear about that one in a few weeks.