Small Packages

You know what they say about good things

Jul 13, 2026

The author’s collection of Pilot Petit 1 fountain pens, a total investment of less than $30.for the set. One color is apparently missing, and it may cost more than the initial purchase price of all the rest together in order to acquire it.

One of my favorite writing experiences comes in the form of a fountain pen about four inches long and purchased for under $4.00. It’s safe to say in my experience that this pen of small size and price tag consistently outperforms other pens several hundred times its value in my collection (I’m looking at you, Montblanc). Never a skip or a hard start. Always a smooth line on the page. Always a pleasure to hold and manipulate.

And there are the colors. Cartridges to match the bright children’s room palette of the barrels: vibrant pink, baby blue, bright orange, candy apple red, spring green. There are also the more “adult” hues of black and blue-black (My only complaint is that the cartridges are proprietary, and that there are no converters, proprietary or not, which will fit the pen).

This is the Pilot Petit 1. This is a product made by the same people who make one of my favorite premium fountain pens, the Custom 823 and my recently acquired Shosaikan exclusive Custom 743 in sakura pink. Pilot also makes the Namiki Emperor, a functional work of art in urushi. The Petit 1 was part of a series of “Petit” pens, the Petit 2 being a brush pen and the Petit 3 a ballpoint, all with the same barrel. I purchased all my Petit 1s when Japanese book retailer Hakubundo had a retail store in Kakaako in Honolulu, shut down about five years ago as a casualty of the COVID pandemic. Unfortunately, at around the same time, Pilot discontinued the Petit line. This fantastic little pen is no longer available. I’ve seen per-owned Petit 1s on the secondary market going for $35.00 to $45.00, which is about ten times its original retail price.

The Petit 1’s steel nib is as smooth and precise as any in Pilot’s lineup and at the time of its production was the best value in fountain pen writing experience. At under four U.S. dollars a pen, it delivered performance expected from Pilot’s superior design and quality control. The experience was enhanced by a transparent feed which would become vibrant with the fun colors of the ink cartridges formulated for each pen. The plastic of the barrel and cap is not as durable as the acrylics of high-end pens (Montblanc’s Meisterstuck line is made of something they refer to as “precious resin”), but the material is serviceable, and I have never experienced any problems with chipping or cracking. Not bad for less than five bucks.

The Pilot Petit 1 is what I’d call a pocket fountain pen, similar in size to one of my favorites, the Kaweco Sport, and I’d use them interchangeably as an everyday pen if I thought getting my hands on the now out-of-production proprietary Petit 1 cartridges was not next to impossible. Like the Kaweco Sport, they fit neatly in a shirt breast pocket and when posted are surprisingly ergonomic and easy to use.

Size comparison of the Kaweco Sport and the Pilot Petit 1, uncapped and posted and capped. In both cases, they are nearly identical in size.

I keep my Petit 1 collection within reach of my home writing desk in an adorable little tray made by local ceramics artist Mariko Merritt. Just looking at the colors brightens my mood. I read somewhere that the Petit 1 came in eight colors. I have seven. My research has led me to conclude that I may be missing one in something that looks like a medium or royal blue (I have the blue-black and a light blue but I’m probably missing the shade between them) and I may try to hunt it down on the secondary market just for the sake of having a complete collection.

My Petit 1s are kept on this cute little tray by my favorite ceramics artist Mariko Merritt. The tray is as colorful as the pens it houses.

One of the projects I have planned for my Pilot Petit 1 collection is to eventually convert them into eyedropper pens, where the barrel is entirely filled with ink., increasing its capacity. Online retailer Jet Pens has a tutorial on how to do this specifically with the Pilot Petit 1. Interestingly, though instructions mention the use of an o-ring, it’s considered optional, and the instructional video does not include o-ring use. I have the silicone grease and pipettes for filling, so I have everything I need to make the conversion. About a decade ago when the pen was still in production, it would have been the ideal pen to experiment with eyedropper conversion. Today, the irony is that the Petit 1 is now a collector’s item worth ten times its original value even preowned, which might make the owner reluctant to screw with its original filling system.

While the original inks which went with the pens is no longer available, I am excited by the prospect of using other inks which might be a good match for each pen, including Pilot’s Iroshizuku line. Filling the entire barrel of the pink Petit 1, for example, would allow me to write two chapters in Iroshizuku Hana Ikada or Tsutsuji without having to change pens. My smallest pens might have the largest ink capacity as a result.

I’ve never done a side-by-side comparison between the Petit 1, my least expensive fountain pen (at the time of retail purchase) with my Montblanc Meisterstuck 149, my most expensive fountain pen. It would be a ridiculous mismatch, not just in terms of value, but in terms of size. I don’t have to do this. I know how each pen performs. And I can tell you it’s David over Goliath by first round TKO.