The Big Kids:
Aurora -  One of the major Italian players.  I can't say their site is hugely informative.
Caran d'Ache - Swiss manufacturer, whose name is a French spelling of the Russian word for pencil-- not at all convoluted.  I've only had to do with their arts supplies, but if the quality of those carries through, the fountain pens are probably pretty good.
Cross - I don't yet have one of these, but I hear good things.
Lamy -  As yet, I have only the Safari, their entry-level pen.  If the more expensive ones are close to as good as this, they're worth the money.  All very modern in shape.
Montblanc - A lot of pen enthusiasts wonder if you aren't paying mainly for the name with these guys.  Since I can't begin to afford one, I can't comment.  Their ink is good, and their ink bottles are great for getting all the ink possible into pens.
Parker  - Of modern Parkers, I have only the very cheap Reflex.  Lots of history to the name, and they make an assortment of both traditional and modern styled pens.
Pelikan - I can't afford a good one, and haven't found a cheap one.  Reputed highly, and their inks are very nice.
Pilot - None in my collection yet, but opinion of owners is VERY high.  While availablilty is not great in North America, they make a disposable fountain pen which is a good way to see if you like the way they write (although it undoes many of the points of superiority of the fountain pen-- it you like that particular pen, you'll only get to use it once).  Pilot also handles the upper-echelon Namiki line, which is a better place for the real enthusiast to look.
Platinum - A japanese pen-maker of long standing.  Their fountain pens tend towards expensive, and their website is an exercise in frustration.  Have a look, but you're probably going to want to check out a retailer's site who carries their stuff rather than wrestle this site too much.
OMAS - Like FIAT, the name is an acronym.  This is the other major player from Italy, with a long history of well-made pens.
Rotring - Alas, since I put this link in place, they've given up on fountain pens to concentrate of technical stylographs.
Sailor - Very well reviewed Japanese pens, although their entry-level pen is still a little above my own reach.  If you have the knowledge of nihongo, I encourage you to try the home site, where the entry level pen is very achieveable indeed.
Sheaffer Pens - The Javelin is a good entry-level pen, and they still make lower-than-entry priced cartridge pens that are pleasant enough to use.  A nice blend of traditional and contemporary styles.
Waterman - Phileas and Hemisphere I endorse entirely, and have heard only good of the more expensive entries.  Good inks, too.


No, you probably haven't heard of them (unless you really like pens):
Airmail Pen Company - Makers of Wality, from India.  The ones I've got are good value for money, and they actually make an eyedropper-fill pen.
 Bexley -  Makers of fairly traditional pens of very high quality.   They're one of the hold-outs of traditional materials and techniques in the west (the one in the east is Nakaya).
Conklin - In years past, a bigger name-- synonymous with crescent fillers.  They still make crescent fillers, too, with an endorsement from Mark Twain.
Conway-Stewart - A giant in Britain during the heyday of the fountain pen, the name has been resurrected.  Very cool, but very expensive pens.  They also have a US website, but I'm jigged if I can see the difference other than the end of the address line.
Dani Trio - Extremely cool pens made in Japan, these range from somewhat expensive to the borders of lunatic expense.
Edison - This one is a cottage industry; one man, three styles of pen, and a high degree of  personalization.  Was previously "Pencraft".
Faber-Castell - I'm more familiar with them as a pencil maker, but they have some fountain pens (including Porsche designs) and some crazy-expensive limited run pens.  How expensive?  The have their very own website.
Guider Pen Works - Indian pens made in a very traditional way, and in many case of very traditional materials.
Hero - A somewhat elusive fugure on the web, they make reasonably good, reasonably priced pens which will remind the pen fancier of other, more notable brands.  Knock-off?  I'm hesistant to use that particular tarry brush, since they do use their trademark on the pens.
Krone - An Italian maker with a well-developed sense of whimsy.  Reviews of their pens question practicality more than technical merits.
Manuscript - I refer to them as the heir to Osmiroid's low-cost calligraphy pen empire.
Mentmore - Another resurrected pen name, like Conklin and Conway-Stewart.  Happily, the prices seem reasonable.
Nakaya - Bringing the care and attention to pens that us Western folk associate with the Japanese approach to sword-making.  Of course, the prices are in accord with the care and attention.
Retro51 - Highly whimsical, not too expensive.  Their site is fun to poke at, and you'll have to do a lot of poking as they stir all the styles of pen they make into one bunch-- fountain, ball, whathaveyou.
Yard-O-Led - A very oddly named English company, originally specializing in mechanical pencils (really?).  They make very pretty, pre-1900-style writing instruments, but not for the light-of-wallet.


The Fountain Pen Network - A web-forum, crawling with knowledgeable folks who will share what they know.
Pentrace - A similar site, with a little more structure to it-- there's areas for articles and reference material, which is good, because I find the forum somewhat hard to navigate.
Lion & Pen - Something of a web-zine for fountain pens.  There's some very useful and informative articles here.
Dave's Mechanical Pencils - Not pens as such, but affiliated items.  A blog, with links to FAQs and useful guides.
ParkerPens.net - Very specialized, but very useful within that specialization.
ParkerPens.ru - A similarly focused site, but in Русско, which sadly leaves me mainly with a very clear sense of the limitations of Babelfish.
Parker51.com - Even more specialized, and even more useful within that.  Astonishing depth of information, for a website.
Parker75.com - Same sort of thing.  Parkers seem to get extra attention.
Pen Hero - Lives up to the name.  Amazingly informative, and beautifully photographed.  There is also a much larger links page than this one, although some of them have gone stale.
Pen Museum - Once, alas, a physical place, but now simply an on-line resource.  Some of the directions for repairing pens make me cringe a little, so don't treat it as the ONLY resource.
Penpedia - One of these new-fangled wikis.  The chap running it cares deeply about pens, and it's rapicly swelling into a majestic resource.
Penroom - Site of  The Birmingham Pen Trade Heritage Association.  It's not a hugely informative site, but if you're planning a trip to England and dig pens, it's probably worth knowing about.
Penspotters - Man, I wish this guy would update his site.  What he's got is brilliant, but he hints at more to come which is lamentably slow to arrive.
Richard's Pens - While he is also a seller of new pens, the amount of reference material to be found here is stunning.  I sometimes think I'm wasting time offering informative content when I can just post a link to him.
Sheaffer Flattops - A recent entry and highly specialized, but worth a look.  There are some catalogues for sale there also-- I think at the prices he's posted that they're reproductions.
Stylophiles Online - A webzine, aimed more at high-end modern pens than the vintage lines.  If you're thinking about spending a LOT of money on a pen, it's definitely worth a look.
Vintage Inks - Because if you've got an old pen, you need something to feed it.  Very informative about the inks in use when the fountain pen was king, and if you're sufficiently intregued you can even buy some.
Werner's Info-Page - If you want to find out something about Pelikan pens, this is your chap.  Auch auf deutsch, naturlich.


Basic Handwriting - It's meant to offer instruction tips for kids, but something I have found in regards to learing new skills:  don't be proud.  If you haven't done it before, all you've got on a toddler is better control of your limbs.
Calligraphy by Caliken - This chap has an amazing and regular hand.  It's not writing in the general sense, but if you're inclined to pretty up your paper, you can go FAR worse than emulating him.
Incompetech - Not handwriting instruction as such, but they have a generator for different styles of lined paper that are very useful indeed; you get to set your own line spacing.
The International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers and Teachers of Handwriting -  Very serious about handwriting, these folks.  If you're not feeling up to their lessons, at least look around the site for inspiration.  They started out as merely literate, like you and me....
JFP - There's two different styles of writing offered here.  Both sort of bridge the gap between calligraphy and common hand-writing.
Paperpenalia - Good tips aimed at adult who want to brush up their skills.  I highly recommend a look in here.
Pelikan - Pursuing the school market, they have downloadable worksheet fonts.  This page is entirely in German, but I don't think the fonts care what language you speak.
Worksheet Maker - Prints custom copy sheets.
Demo Video - A very talented calligrapher and a very talented pen, in the same place.  I recommend looking at the other videos this chap has made.