Fountain Pens
TWSBI ECO vs Pilot Metropolitan
Buy the Pilot Metropolitan first if this is your first fountain pen - it costs less, writes out of the packet and looks like a pen you would use at work. Buy the TWSBI ECO instead if you already know you want bottled ink, because it is a piston filler and the Metropolitan is not.
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These are the two pens this site puts on more pages than any others, and they are recommended for opposite reasons. The Metropolitan is the cheap pen that does not feel cheap: a brass barrel, a Pilot steel nib, and a price that has made it the default first recommendation for a decade. The ECO is a clear plastic demonstrator with a built-in piston, which means bottled ink from the first fill and a visible ink supply.
The decision is not about writing quality. Both nibs are competent steel nibs and neither is the reason to choose one over the other. The decision is about how you want to put ink in the pen, and everything else follows from that.
The two pens
Quick picks
Ranked for the beginner buying their first setup. Every pick names who it is wrong for.
| # | Product | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Pilot Metropolitan A brass-bodied pen with a nib far better than the price suggests, and the one most consistently handed to beginners. | The default first pen | $27.37 · View on Amazon #ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded |
| 2 |  TWSBI ECO A piston filler with a clear barrel at the price other brands charge for a cartridge pen, so the ink is visible and the refill is free. | Using bottled ink from day one | $38.99 · View on Amazon #ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded |
| 3 |  Pilot CON-40 converter The screw converter that fits the widest range of Pilot pens, including the ones with narrow barrels. | Bottled ink in a Metropolitan or Kakuno | |
| 4 |  Waterman Serenity Blue, 50 ml The ink most often recommended as a first bottle because it is well behaved on ordinary paper and washes out of a pen easily. | The safest first bottle |
1. The default first pen
Pilot Metropolitan
A brass-bodied pen with a nib far better than the price suggests, and the one most consistently handed to beginners.
#ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded
The brass body is the reason this pen feels like it costs more than it does. It gives the pen weight in the hand and a cold, solid grip section, which is the single thing most people notice moving up from a plastic school pen.
The nib is a Japanese Fine. That matters more than the letter suggests: Japanese grades run narrower than German ones, so a Pilot Fine lays a line closer to what a European maker would call extra fine. If you write small or on thin paper, that narrowness is doing you a favor.
The catch is filling. The Metropolitan takes Pilot's own cartridges, not the international standard ones every other brand shares, and the converter you need to use bottled ink is a separate purchase.
| Nib grades offered | Fine and Medium (stub also sold separately)Source: Pilot Metropolitan, Fine (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
|---|---|
| Nib width in mm | Not publishedPilot does not state a millimeter width for the Metropolitan nib in this listing. Japanese Fine runs narrower than a German Fine — see the nib size guide. |
| Body | Brass barrel, painted finishSource: Pilot Metropolitan, Fine (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
| Filling | Pilot proprietary cartridge, or a Pilot CON-40 / CON-70 converter (sold separately)Source: Pilot CON-40 converter (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
| In the box | Pen with one black ink cartridge and a squeeze converterSource: Pilot Metropolitan, Fine (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
What it does well
- Brass body at a plastic-pen price
- Japanese Fine nib puts down a narrow, controlled line
- Extremely widely stocked, so replacements and spares are easy
What it does not
- Proprietary Pilot cartridges, not the international standard
- Converter is sold separately
- The painted finish scuffs if you pocket-carry it with keys
Skip this if you want to use bottled ink on day one without a second purchase, or if you already know you prefer a broad, wet line.
2. Using bottled ink from day one
TWSBI ECO
A piston filler with a clear barrel at the price other brands charge for a cartridge pen, so the ink is visible and the refill is free.
#ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded
A piston filler holds far more ink than a cartridge and costs nothing to refill after the first bottle. That combination usually starts at three times this price, which is why the ECO turns up on every beginner list that takes bottled ink seriously.
The clear barrel is not just decoration. You can see how much ink is left, which removes the most common beginner surprise: a pen that stops mid-sentence with no warning.
TWSBI's own guidance on choosing a nib is unusually plain: extra fine if you write small, fine for a normal hand, medium if you write large, broad for headings and signatures.
| Nib grades offered | Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, Broad, Stub 1.1Source: TWSBI, ECO product page (read 2026-09-01) |
|---|---|
| Nib width in mm | Not published |
| Filling | Built-in piston — unscrew the end cap, dip the nib, screw it backSource: TWSBI, ECO product page (read 2026-09-01) |
| Cap | Inner cap for a seal when stored; the cap posts on the barrelSource: TWSBI, ECO product page (read 2026-09-01) |
| Ink included | No — the pen ships emptySource: TWSBI, ECO product page (read 2026-09-01) |
What it does well
- Piston filler at a cartridge-pen price
- Clear barrel shows the ink level
- Five nib grades including a 1.1 mm stub
What it does not
- Requires a bottle of ink before it will write at all
- Clear plastic sections have a reputation for cracking if over-tightened
- No cartridge option, so it is not the pen to travel light with
Skip this if you want to write the day it arrives without also buying ink, or if you need cartridge convenience for a bag or a commute.
3. Bottled ink in a Metropolitan or Kakuno
Pilot CON-40 converter
The screw converter that fits the widest range of Pilot pens, including the ones with narrow barrels.
Pilot sells several converters and they are not interchangeable. The CON-40 is the small one that fits nearly everything; the CON-70 holds far more but only fits wider pens.
The CON-40 has agitator balls inside it, which look like a defect and are not — they stop ink clinging to the walls.
If you own a Metropolitan and want to use a bottle, this is the part.
| Type | Screw-type converterSource: Pilot CON-40 converter (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
|---|---|
| Fits | Pilot fountain pens that take the CON-40, including the Metropolitan and KakunoSource: Pilot CON-40 converter (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
| Capacity | Not published |
| Larger alternative | The CON-70, for pens with a wider barrelSource: Pilot CON-70 converter (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
What it does well
- Fits the widest range of Pilot pens
- Cheap enough to buy two
- Screw fitting will not fall out
What it does not
- Small capacity
- Not interchangeable with the CON-70
- Pilot does not publish the capacity
Skip this if your Pilot takes the larger CON-70 — buy that instead and get double the ink.
4. The safest first bottle
Waterman Serenity Blue, 50 ml
The ink most often recommended as a first bottle because it is well behaved on ordinary paper and washes out of a pen easily.
A first bottle should be forgiving in two ways: it should behave on the cheap paper you already own, and it should rinse out without a fight when you want to change color. Serenity Blue is chosen for both.
It is a straightforward dye ink with no shimmer, no pigment and no unusual additives. That is exactly what you want while you are still learning which problems are the pen, which are the ink and which are the paper.
Waterman does not publish a drying time or a water-resistance figure for it, and neither does anyone else selling it, so we do not quote one.
| Format | 50 ml bottleSource: Waterman Serenity Blue (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
|---|---|
| Type | Dye-based, for refillable fountain pensSource: Waterman Serenity Blue (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
| Published drying time | Not published |
| Published water resistance | Not published |
What it does well
- Easy to flush out of a pen when changing colors
- Standard dye ink with no unusual additives to complicate diagnosis
- Widely stocked, so it is easy to replace
What it does not
- Not water resistant — a wet page is a lost page
- The color is deliberately unremarkable
- No published performance figures of any kind
Skip this if you need writing that survives water, or if you want the ink itself to be the interesting part of the setup.
Side by side
| Pilot Metropolitan | TWSBI ECO | |
|---|---|---|
| Filling | Pilot proprietary cartridge, or a CON converter bought separately | Built-in piston - unscrew the end cap, dip the nib, screw it back |
| Ink in the box | Black ink named in the listing title | No - TWSBI states the pen ships empty |
| Body | Brass barrel with stainless accents | Clear plastic demonstrator |
| Nib grades offered | F and M | EF, F, M, B and Stub 1.1 |
| Nib scale | Japanese - narrower than the same letter from a German maker | Not stated; sold on the European lettering convention |
| Can you see the ink level | No | Yes - that is the design |
| Cap | Snap cap | Screw cap |
| Price band | The cheaper of the two | Roughly half again as much |
| Published weight | Not published | Not published |
One row is doing most of the work. A piston filler has no cartridge option at all, so an ECO owner needs a bottle of ink on day one and the pen does not write until it arrives. A Metropolitan owner can put the cartridge in and start, and decide about bottles later - or never.
The case for the Metropolitan
It is the cheapest pen that does not announce its price. The brass barrel gives it a weight and balance that reads as expensive, and that is not a vanity point: a pen that looks like a serious object gets taken out in front of other people, and a pen you are faintly embarrassed to use is a pen that stops being used.
It is also the lower-commitment purchase in every direction. Less money, ink in the box, a snap cap you can open one-handed, and no decision about bottles until you want to make one. For a first fountain pen that combination is worth more than any individual specification.
The nib runs to Japanese grades, which means a Pilot Fine is close to what a German maker would call an extra fine. That is useful on thin paper - a narrower line feathers less - and it catches people who order the letter they are used to. The nib size guide sets the two scales against each other.
The case for the ECO
The piston is the argument, and it is better than it sounds. A converter is a small plastic reservoir you fit into a cartridge pen; a piston is the barrel itself, so the ink capacity is the inside of the pen rather than a part inside the pen. An ECO holds far more than any converter, which means a page of writing does not end in a refill.
The clear barrel is the other half, and it is the most underrated teaching tool in this price band. You can watch the piston draw ink, watch the feed wet itself, and see exactly how much ink is left. Three processes that are invisible in every other pen on this site are visible in this one, which makes it the pen that teaches you what a fountain pen actually does.
TWSBI also offers the widest grade range of the two, including the Stub 1.1 - so an ECO is the only one of these two pens you can buy with a calligraphy-style nib. If that appeals, the stub page is the argument for and against.
Where each one is genuinely worse
- The ECO ships empty. TWSBI states this. Budget for a bottle in the same order, or the pen sits in its box waiting.
- The ECO's per-grade listings come and go. This site has had to repoint the ECO's ASIN three times since launch because TWSBI churns colorway and grade combinations - the grade you want may not be the grade on the shelf today.
- The Metropolitan's converter is a separate purchase. The CON-40 fits it and costs about a quarter of the pen, which narrows the real price gap between these two more than the sticker suggests.
- The Metropolitan's cartridge is proprietary. Pilot's fitting is not the international standard, so the cheap multi-brand packs do not fit. The compatibility guide has the full picture.
- A clear pen stains. Pigment and shimmer inks mark a demonstrator barrel permanently, which rules out a whole category of ink if the transparency is why you bought it.
- A screw cap is slower. The ECO's cap is a few turns rather than a pull. More secure in a bag, more annoying for a one-line note.
The third option, which is usually the right one
Buy the Metropolitan and a CON-40 converter together. That gets you a brass pen, a cartridge to start on, and bottled ink whenever you want it - for less than the ECO alone, in most price conditions. It is the setup the starter kits page is built around, and it is the honest answer to "which of these two" for most first-time buyers.
What that combination does not give you is the piston capacity or the window. If being able to see the ink is the thing you want, no amount of converter buys it, and the ECO is the pen.
If you buy either one, buy paper too
Neither pen fixes a bad sheet. Both will feather, show through and dry slowly on copier paper, and a new owner usually blames the pen. A cheap well-sized pad removes the most common bad first impression - the notebooks page has the options, and the GSM guide explains why the weight on the cover is not the figure that predicts it.
Which to buy
If this is your first fountain pen: the Metropolitan, and add the converter when you want a bottle. It is less money, it writes immediately, and it is the pen you will keep carrying.
If you have used a fountain pen before and know you want bottled ink: the ECO. The capacity is real, the window genuinely teaches you things, and the grade range is wider.
If you cannot decide, note that the two of them together still cost less than most single pens in the under $100 roundup, and that owning both is how most people find out which kind of pen owner they are.
Questions people actually ask
Is the TWSBI ECO or the Pilot Metropolitan better for a beginner?
The Metropolitan, for a first fountain pen. It costs less, the listing names ink in the box, and it does not require a bottle before it writes. The ECO is the better pen for someone who has already decided they want bottled ink.
Does the TWSBI ECO come with ink?
No. TWSBI states the pen ships empty. It is a piston filler with no cartridge option, so a bottle of ink is a required purchase rather than an upgrade.
Can the Pilot Metropolitan use bottled ink?
Yes, with a CON-40 converter, which is a separate purchase that costs roughly a quarter of the pen. The pen itself takes Pilot's proprietary cartridge rather than the international standard.
Which has the better nib?
Neither, meaningfully. Both are competent steel nibs and the writing experience is close. The difference is the scale: Pilot uses Japanese grades, so a Pilot Fine is close to a German extra fine, while TWSBI is sold on the European convention.
How much more ink does the ECO hold?
Neither maker publishes a capacity figure, so no number is quoted here. Structurally the ECO's reservoir is the barrel itself while a converter is a small insert in a cartridge pen, which is why a piston filler holds substantially more.
Is a demonstrator pen a bad idea?
Only for certain inks. Pigment and shimmer inks stain a clear barrel permanently. With ordinary dye ink a demonstrator is fine, and the visible ink level is genuinely useful.