Fountain Pen Cartridge Guide

Cartridges

Most European fountain pen brands (for example Caran d'Ache, Faber-Castell, Michel Perchin, DuPont, Montegrappa, Stipula, Pelikan, Waterman, Montblanc, Monteverde, Sigma, Delta and Rotring) and some pen brands of other continents (for example Bexley, Retro51, Tombow and Acura) use so called "international cartridges" (AKA "European cartridges" or "standard cartridges" or "universal cartridges"), in short (38 mm in length, about 0.75 ml of capacity) or long (72 mm, 1.45 ml) sizes, or both. It is to some extent a standard, so the international cartridges of any manufacturer can be used in most fountain pens that accept international cartridges. Also, converters that are meant to replace international cartridges can be used in most fountain pens that accept international cartridges. Some very compact fountain pens (for example Waterman Ici et La and Monteverde Diva) accept only short international cartridges. Converters can not be used in them (except for so-called mini-converters by Monteverde).

Many fountain pen manufacturers have at various times developed their own proprietary cartridges, for example Parker, Lamy, Sheaffer, Cross, and Namiki. Fountain pens from Aurora, Hero, Duke and Uranus accept the same cartridges and converters that Parker uses and vice versa (Lamy cartridges, though not officially, are known to interchange with Parker cartridges also). Cartridges of Aurora are slightly different from cartridges by Parker. Hero, Duke and Uranus have made few fountain pens that take international cartridges. Corresponding converters to be used instead of such proprietary cartridges are usually made by the same company that made the fountain pen itself. Some very compact fountain pens accept only proprietary cartridges made by the same company that made that pen, for example Sheaffer Agio Compact and Sheaffer Prelude Compact. It is not possible to use a converter in them at all. In such pens the only practical way to use another brand of ink is to fill empty cartridges with bottled ink using a syringe.

Fountain pen cartridges are closed by a small ball of plastic, held inside the ink exit hole by glue or by a very thin layer of plastic. When the cartridge is forced inside the pen, a small pin pushes in the ball, which falls inside the cartridge.

While cartridges are mess free and more convenient to refill on the go than bottle filling, converter and filling systems are still sold. Non-cartridge filling systems tend to be slightly more economic in the long run since ink is generally less expensive in bottles than in cartridges. Advocates of bottle-based filling systems also cite less waste of plastic for the environment, a wider selection of inks, easier cleaning of pens (drawing the ink in through the nib helps dissolve old ink), and the ability to check and refill inks at any time.