I had recently seen the Pilot Metropolitan pop up on JetPens but noticed that most of the color options had sold out immediately. Then I heard Brad of The Pen Addict Podcast discuss his rather blah reaction to it and his general aversion to all things gold. So… guess what I bought? Yup. The gold dot version of the Pilot Metropolitan ($14.50). Mostly, because it was the only one left on JetPens but also because I thought it might annoy Brad.
If gold is not your color either, the Pilot Metropolitan is also available in silver or black and the decoration in the middle can be plain, zigzag or dot in any of the colors, you’ll just have to wait until the other color options are back in stock.
Back to the Pilot Metropolitan. It has a soft metallic sheen on the body and a dot pattern just below the cap for added interest. The pen comes in nice packaging. If you wanted to gift this pen to a new fountain pen user, the packaging belies its humble price point. The pen comes with a Pilot ink cartridge and the older Pilot rubber bladder squeeze filler, it looks similar to the CON-20 but a little bit lower end. I went ahead and upgraded to the CON-50 converter ($8.25) but it still kept the whole pen purchase under $25.
The pen measures 5.5″ capped and about 5″ uncapped. Because of the conical shape, posting the cap seems a little awkward though it did fit, I’m not sure it would stay posted without repeated adjustments. If posting the cap on the end of your pen is an absolute must, this pen may not be for you.
The nib is a Japanese M which is about the same as a European F. When writing, it did seem a tad wider than my Kaweco F nibs but not enough to be considered a clearly wider nib. The nib has been worked into flat planes rather than a smooth arc which gives it a different look and its etched with a series of dashed lines. Its really quite a handsome nib.
The Pilot Metropolitan, filled with a CON-50 and ink, and capped is 27gms, which makes it almost as weighty as the Lamy Studio. Unposted its 17gms, making it just a little lighter.
When this pen hit the paper — that’s when the real magic happened. Wow, is it a smooth writer! It was comfortable and skated along the paper with little to no friction. Not as slick as some gel pens but it had no scratch at all. It was a lot more pleasing experience out of the package for me than I ever had with my Lamy AL Star.
I compared the Pilot Metropolitan to pens of similar nib size and price point. It is very comparable. To be honest, though, I would most likely compare the Metropolitan’s overall size and feel to an entry level Lamy and I’d favor the Metropolitan for writing enjoyment. Yes, the Lamy has a wider selection of nibs and a wider selection of barrel colors but if what you want is a classic looking pen with a M nib, this would be my first recommendation.
As of this review, JetPens is entirely sold out of the Pilot Metropolitan but Goulet Pens has some of the gold pens left.
