Have you tried the Lamy Safari? I have three, with blue, green and red ink, respectively. They’re my go-to work-a-day pens. Also a great starter pen.

I had Sheaffers, a Diplomat, Parker and even a stirling silver Montegrappa. The Sheaffer, Parker, Montegrappa, Bibelot and some others were stolen in a burglary and I didn’t bother replacing them. But I bought a new Lamy Safari within a week.

What’s your favourite ink? I have red, green and blue Caran d’Ache in the office, which flows nicely, and a specialty brown mix at home, along with Parker blue and Waterman South Sea Blue.

For me, part of the pleasure is watching the ink transfer onto the page – the way it glides, shines for a moment, than sinks into the paper and goes solid.