How we choose

This page exists because the honest version of our method is also our strongest argument. We are not going to claim a test we did not run, so what is left has to be good enough to stand on its own — and we think it is.

1. What we actually do

• Compile what makers publish. Nib grades, filling systems, cartridge types, paper weights, sheet counts, capacities. Every one of those figures on this site links to the page we read it on.
• Check compatibility against documentation. When we say a converter fits a pen, that comes from the manufacturer’s own statement of what it fits — see the compatibility guide.
• Read the field and report where it disagrees. Where established publishers and buyer feedback split — as they do on LEUCHTTURM1917 bleed-through — we publish the split rather than pick a side.
• Track prices from a live feed, daily. No price is typed into our copy. Figures come from a data layer with a freshness gate; when nothing fresh exists, the button reads “check price” rather than showing a stale number.
• Mark the gaps. Of the 195 specification rows on this site, 47 say “not published”, because that is what the maker publishes.

2. What we do not do

• No hands-on testing. We have not written with these pens, filled them, cleaned them or carried them.
• No owned units, no samples, no lab.
• No credentials. Nib & Notebook is written by an enthusiast, and we will never describe the author as an expert, a specialist, a veteran or a long-time anything.
• No paid placement. Nobody has paid to appear here and nobody could.
• No invented figures. Not a rounded “typical” value, not a number transferred from a comparison chart, not a price from memory.

3. How a pick is chosen

The criteria, applied in this order, on every roundup:

1. Does it suit a beginner? Narrow nibs over wide ones, forgiving inks over interesting ones, published specifications over reputation.
2. What does it commit you to? A proprietary cartridge, a fixed hand position, a bottle you have not bought. The cheapest pick to change your mind about ranks higher than the most impressive one.
3. Does the maker publish anything checkable? A product whose maker states a figure beats one that asks to be trusted.
4. Price, last. The gap between the cheapest and most expensive pen we recommend is smaller than the gap between good and bad paper.

Every pick carries a “skip this if” line. That is a hard rule across all 54 pages here. A recommendation with no stated downside is an advertisement.

4. Where the numbers come from

• Specifications cite the manufacturer’s own product page where we could retrieve one, and the brand’s own retail listing where we could not. Which of the two is used is stated in the citation, every time.
• Prices come only from the live data layer, and every price on the site carries the date it was checked. A price older than 48 hours is not shown at all.
• Product identifiers. 47 of the 48 products here are pinned to a specific retail listing that we read on 2026-09-01 and verified against the brand name in its title. The rest link to a retailer search, because we would rather send you to a search than to a listing we could not confirm.
• Consensus claims name the publishers they come from. “Widely recommended” without a name is not a source.

5. What we are not able to tell you

Ink drying times in seconds. Water-resistance ratings. Lightfastness. Nib widths in millimeters for most pens. Paper weights for several well-known notebooks. None of these are published by the people who make the products, and none of them appear on this site as numbers.

We could estimate them. Sites do. But an estimate presented as a specification is the exact thing this page exists to refuse.

6. How to challenge us

If a figure here is wrong, or a source has changed, tell us. Email info@nibandnotebook.com or use the contact form. We correct errors in place and change the page’s updated date when we do — the editorial policy sets out the process.

7. How we are paid

By commission, when you buy through a link here, at no extra cost to you. That is disclosed above the first buy button on every commercial page as well as in the full disclosure. It does not change the picks or their order, and the cheapest recommendation on this site is a six-pack of disposable pens.