Top: Platinum Prefounte Night Sea. Bottom: Platinum Prefounte Crimson Red

So, as if there weren’t already a wide variety of great sub 20 dollar fountain pens, Platinum decides to drop a 10 dollar pen on us. These new pens are not only inexpensive, but debuted with 5 different colorways, and 2 nib options (Fine and Medium). I knew that I had to order these and see exactly what this pen was all about, and maybe replace a pen on my best starter pens list?

Platinum already offers a great value fountain pen with the Platinum Preppy. The Preppy is such a bargain for what you get, a platinum nib, and a cartridge/converter filling system that you can eyedropper as well. The Preppy has a very simple and practical design, the Prefounte is basically a classier version of the Preppy. I am not sure if that’s what Platinum is marketing it as, but that’s what it is.

The pen comes in a very simple plastic box, and a proprietary Platinum blue ink cartridge. The pen features Platinum’s Slip and Seal cap which boasts that you can leave the pen capped for one whole year without it drying out on you. Now which one of you has pens that remained inked and capped for a year without use is beyond me, but still what an impressive feature (if it works). I ordered two, the Crimson Red and Night Sea both with medium nibs. When I received these pens it became apparent to me that I should have ordered a fine for this review, but at the time 2 mediums made sense to my past self… Which I hope decides to remind me why we got 2 mediums.

I personally don’t like cartridges because I feel incredibly confined to what I am able to do with the pen so I ordered some converters. Which effectively brought this pen to the price point of some of my other favorite starter pens. While you can eye dropper this pen, that is something that I personally am not too fond of because, 3-5ml of ink is a huge commitment. Still it is an option if you choose to go that route.

The nibs surprised me, I have other Platinum Pens, in Medium, Fine, and Soft-Fine, which all lay down fairly dry lines… These Prefountes however…. are gushers. They lay down a pretty thick and wet line, which don’t get me wrong, they’re not bad… It’s just not exactly what I was expecting from these platinum nibs.

I was a little disappointed with the plastic bodies of the pens, they show scratching a lot. For 10 dollars I am not complaining, I just want to state that with these colors, and the material I have noticed a fair amount of scratches and they haven’t left my desk… So either they came that way, or they scratch easy… Which again not a complaint, merely an observation. I also really like the weight of the pens, they’re well balanced and feel really great when they’re posted.

Posted Comparison. From Left to Right: Pilot Vanishing Point, TWSBI ECO, Platinum Prefounte, Pilot Metropolitan, Platinum Prefounte.

My overall opinion on these pens is a little complicated. They would be great starter pens, though I don’t think that they are any better than the pens that I listed on my starter pens list. The eyedropper aspect is awesome, so this would be a good test pen if you have never done that before, keep in mind you’ll need to buy extra o rings, and silicone grease. Another thing you have to consider, the cost of a platinum converter is roughly 8 dollars. So if you’re like me and need a converter, you’ll have to take that in to account as well.

Capped Comparison, From Left to Right: Pilot Vanishing Point,TWSBI Eco, Platinum Prefounte, Pilot Metropolitan, Platinum Prefounte.

Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or comments please feel free. I can also be reached @greatwarpanda on instagram and twitter.