Reddit mentions of Waterman Carene Medium Point Fountain Pen, Black (S0700320)

Carene is also going for an [insane price on Amazon] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waterman-S0700320-Carene-Medium-Fountain/dp/B000J3TZBS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479574728&sr=8-1&keywords=waterman+carene) - I've heard people say it has one of the smoothest nibs they've used, I'm thinking of investing.

The TWSBI Diamond 580AL is a great pen, piston filler and demonstrator for £58.99. That would also give you about £11 free for some ink and maybe a Rhodia dot pad staplebound or wirebound.

If you wanted to get a couple of inks and writing pad then you could go for the slightly cheaper TWSBI Diamond 580RB £46.99 leaving you £23 to spend on ink and paper.

If you wanted to push the £70 to the limit and just get a classy pen with a solid 18kt gold nib for £72.72. It wouldn't leave you anything over for ink or writing pads but it would be a classy pen.

The other option would be to go the cheap fountain route and buy 2 or 3 Jinhao X450's off Amazon or eBay, they typically sell for around £6-10 each, then you have a lot more to spend on ink and writing pads. If you go the Jinhao route then I would avoid the 250 range, they are fine nibs as opposed to the 450 medium nibs, and my experience are the fine nibs tend to be quite scratchy and I had one where the nib just wouldn't friction fit into the pen. I have 5x Jinhao X450's and not had a single problem with any of them.

Most fountain pens should last you in the region of decades baring dropping and the like. Beyond the suggestions in the wiki I would make the following suggestions. Feel free to ask more questions if you have any.

Cult pens are a UK based supplier with good customer service and a broad selection. If you are looking for a piston filler pen to use with bottled ink I'd suggest taking a look at some Pelikans, their M200 range is a good pen with a steel nib, I've had one on mine since the mid 1990's for some more money you can get an M400 (same size gold nib), or an M600 which is slightly bigger (M800s and M1000s bigger again). Otherwise take a look at the TWSBI Eco.

If you are after a cartridge/converter pen then take a look at the Pilot Capless (about £150) a bit of a marmite pen but it's one of my favourites. Otherwise a Waterman maybe Carene.

I don't want to merely keep up the current FOTM that TWSBIs are bad, but I have been really disappointed with mine so far. I bought the 580 Rose Gold because it looks like the world's sexiest demonstrator for a price that seems too good to be true. The biggest problem is ink flow, if you simply uncap the pen and start to write you'll soon find your nib dry and lacking ink, while seeming smirking as you look back at the ink visibly moving around in the barrel. In order to write, you actually have to twist the top of the piston a smidgen, then air is allowed in through the feed somehow. I can't really explain the physics, I can only say that for that amount of money, the feed should really just work. I'd expect this from my x250, but not from a pen more than 10x the price.

If you did go with the Lamy 2k, I'm sure you would enjoy it. It's a classic and something I have definitely enjoyed using. While the barrel does taper a bit more than I was expecting at first, I found that it actually made writing more comfortable when writing for longer periods. Just something to consider if you tend to hold your pens quite close to the nib.

If you are willing to wait a bit longer, I would actually recommend the Waterman Carene. You can find it on the UK Amazon site for quite a cheap price. This is an amazingly smooth writer, and is a pretty good bargain for this price.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000J3TZBS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1