Fountain pen sales are mysteriously rising. Are people trying to hold on to the past?

Maybe, or maybe fountain pens just look good in all senses. They are a nice item to have and show, and the ink flows nicely on paper.

Nonetheless, they are probably the most expensive choice of pens you can find.

If you like fountain pens or never have tried one, you might like to use a rollerball pen.

A liquid ink or rollerball pen combines the features of a fountain pen with those of a ballpoint pen.

These pens use a water based liquid or gelled ink while ballpoint pens use an oil-based ink. To transfer the ink on paper, rollerballs use a small metallic ball.

Rollerball pens don't need a lot of pressure compared to their ballpoint counterparts, which makes them a great option for those who have arthritis or those who have never had the chance to use a fountain pen in their lives and would like to experience how it might feel to write with one.

In this sense, the ink looks great on paper, it is defined with a high contrast.

Despite using a small rolling ball to spread the ink, the rollerball is the only pen that could write like fountain pens do without being as expressive and expensive as the latter.

In relation to colors, rollerballs have a greater catalogue of colors to choose from compared to ballpoint pens.

Lately, less people are using pens to write, and whenever they have to scribble some words on paper they just grab whatever is close to their hand.

It seems that pens are becoming a thing of the past.

Nonetheless, handwriting is part of our personality. A computer will never capture in its entirety the emotions involved in our message.

On the other hand, it might seem that a pen is just a pen. A means to an end. Trust me, it is not that simple.

I think that writing is more than just drawing letters on a piece of paper. To materialize a our ideas and convey a message, we need a certain flow.

A rollerball contributes to the flow by making the writing process a comfortable one. The ink just looks good on paper.

As any other product, rollerballs come with certain disadvantages, mainly concerned with the ink. Since the ink is water-based, rollerball pens run out of it quicker than ballpoint pens. The ink might also bleed through the paper and it could also smudge. It also dries slowly.

It is best to try all the options in order to improve you writing experience. These pens will not probably tell you what to write but at least you will be able to concentrate more on your writing when you use the proper tools.