Pen Review: Dryden Designs Modern Classic

Posted on by Laura

Dryden Designs Modern Classic Silver Metallic

I got a fun email last month — Donna Padua, working for Dryden Designs, a pen company that was new to me, said she’d like to send me one of their fountain pens if I’d agree to write a fair and honest review.

I said sure, if they’d be okay with me doing something different: I’d bring it to my next pen club meetup, and pass it around, and see what everyone else thought, too. My fellow pen clubbers tend to be much more “on it” when it comes to all the newer brands and newer pen models.

A few days later, the Modern Classic in metallic silver arrived on my doorstep, sent by Dryden Designs through Amazon.

I like the Amazon idea. I tend to buy new pens mostly from pen retailers, but Amazon does reach a lot more people in the US, and it has good return policies. With the price of the Modern Classic starting at $25.95, it will qualify for Amazon’s free shipping, too. Basically, Dryden Designs is making it as easy as possible to buy this pen.

But what did I (and my pen club) think of the Modern Classic?

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16 thoughts on “Pen Review: Dryden Designs Modern Classic”

  1. I purchased the black and silver modern classics Dryden pen you talked about, as well as the blue one, red one, green one, purple one a pink one as well as a brown barreled Jinhao, and a turquoise barreled pen whose manufacturer i’ve forgotten the name of right now. I’m still waiting for the turquoise on to come in, but I’ve gotten the rest of them all to work and I love them.
    I mis-clicked when I ordered some of them and three of them are medium nib which I find I do not care for as well as I do the fine nib. I honestly cannot say enough about the quality and smooth writing these pens produce. As far as the fountain pen users who already have a base knowledge, It would seem to me the important thing would be performance over looks.I understand it has to look nice,but in the end as long as the novel gets finished and the pens write smoothly that would be the talking point.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks for chiming in! Great comment. So glad you are happy with yours. As to the question of whether a pen’s looks are worth discussing, or considering, well, I think so, but that’s sort of a version of an eternal debate, isn’t it? 🙂 “Just a tool” or “something more”? I have found that the majority of experienced users have to like the looks of a new pen, before buying it, since they already have pens that work, and don’t need more. A lot of people do feel more inspired to use a particular pen when the pen is attractive to them. But there are also plenty of users who really don’t care about the looks, as long as the price is right and the nib is good. Both ways are fine, it seems to me. I’d wager most of us buy some things one way (focusing on the aesthetics) and some things the other (focusing on price or convenience or dozens of other factors).

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  2. This is so nice! It’s got a vibe like a lower-end Cross, with that easy availability and that ‘works for anyone and anytime’ design, but more…honest? (Ie because it’s so much cheaper). Am I making sense? lol. But yeah: can really see this as a first FP purchase for people, so it’s great that it’s so nice to write with!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. I got the black and gold medium nib for Christmas two years ago from my father-in-law and it’s never worked. Tried both converter and cartridge, no go. Not to mention, I think it’s hideous. There is no color combo I dislike more than black and gold. I also think it’s far too heavy for how skinny it is.
    I don’t know how new the company is, but they are definitely making boring corporate gift pens and I am not the target audience.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. That’s terrible!

      The corporate gift pen look is strong with this one — and I think you hit on it, that more in-the-know fountain pen fans aren’t necessarily the target. 🙂 But mine is a nice writer, and I think it would be a good pen for someone who’s more fountain-pen curious and doesn’t know where to start. Only if it worked, of course. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

          1. That’s what I thought at first, but then I saw the other colors on Amazon, not to mention the in-laws are pretty notorious for regifting stuff they get from their works hahaha.
            I mean, if it’d worked, I’m sure I would’ve been able to find it a nice home. 🙂

            Liked by 1 person

  7. Hi. Last week my daughter gave me a Dryden pen for my birthday! I am an experienced fountain pen person and had never heard of the brand. It has a fine hooded nib and is called Decadent Purple. I filled the converter with Monteverde Charoite. The pen writes beautifully. The nib is really smooth writing . Now I have heard of the brand twice.

    Liked by 1 person

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