Two is one and one is none.

I wrote in my Pilot Myu review that, while I liked the pen, I think I would prefer the Murex instead. So, in the true nature of science and science only (cough) I sought after a Murex to test my hypothesis (to get reliable results I suppose I need at least two more Myu pens and two more Murex pens).

Design

The thing that sets this pen out from the rest is that it’s an integrated nib, but not to the same extent as the Pilot Myu (I am conscious that this is a Murex review, so I will refrain from drawing comparisons, I will make a comparison post of them in the future). The nib is part of the same construction as the section, which is super unique – there are only a handful of pens that are like this – it’s a beautiful design and it isn’t surprising that these pens are so highly sought after.

The Murex is a sleek, professional looking pen. In fact, when it’s capped it is almost boring, and I think that’s part of the fun – it works! There are other Murex designs out there, such as with black stripes etc. and I prefer this design, but even on those pens there is still a sleekness to the profile that has me reaching for the pen.

The grip is knurled, which I think is important because it’s an all metal pen and the section could get slippery as a result, so this is something that will give a better hold on the pen for those long writing sessions.

Nib

Gawking over the design aside, the writing experience of the nib has its own character. It is smooth and works reliably. The nib is also very stiff; this isn’t a pen that you get to do some fancy calligraphy writing.

My only desire is if this pen wrote a little wetter, but you can see that it keeps up well and writes a good line (the ‘g’ in dog was due to misalignment).

Feel

As I mentioned, you should’t be put off because of the all metal section. The grip sorts that out. The pen fits well in the hand and there’s no need to post (that was my experience anyway), but posting doesn’t make it an unusable size or anything like that.

Filling

It’s best to just use a syringe and fill Pilot cartridges than to fiddle about with converters; the only reliable Pilot Converter (the Con-70) won’t fit in this, the Con-50 probably won’t either. The Con-20 will, but it’s awful and I don’t know why you’d want to do that to yourself. But the option is there, for those of us that gain pleasure through discomfort.

Would I Buy It?

I did and I don’t regret it – this is a wonderful pen and I think for the collectors it is amongst the greats like the Lamy 2000 that will just end up in one’s collection over time.

The thing I love about these pens is that they are a marvel of economics. Originally the pens sold for dirt cheap, as my back of an envelope maths suggests:

The pen sold for 5,000 Yen; this pen was made in February 1980 according to the nib stamp. The average exchange rate (Yen:GBP) was 559.0026:1 over the month of February 1980. So this pen would cost £8.94, and working out for inflation that equals £38.62 today. Yet this pen regularly goes for £200 or so – giving you a nice tidy RoI that my poker graphs would be envious of. Why? Supply and demand. These pens aren’t produced anymore, and there is a lot of demand for that, so the equilibrium shifts and the rest is history (as is the £113 in my bank account, which is a good price in my opinion).

If Not This, Then What?

The Myu is an obvious contender if you want a completely integrated looking pen, though it is smaller. If you wanted to stay vintage then the Pilot Falcon (AKA Parker 50), Sheaffer PFM or Parker T1 should also be considered. If integrated nibs aren’t you’re thing but you’re in the market for vintage and somewhat historical, Mabie Todd (these will have typical vintage gold nibs too).

For modern pens you’d be looking at various Sheaffer models (Legacy Heritage (which is essentially the PFM), Targa, Imperial) that are still in production or the Waterman Carene. If it’s a price thing, then you’d be looking for custom perhaps, high end gold nibs – though here you’re experiencing diminishing rates of return and I think the Murex is unique enough to mitigate what you lose by buying a Pelikan M800, for instance, instead. Of course, it doesn’t mitigate ink capacity and this is also common workhorse territory.