Pen Sets - A Useless Gift?

Pen Sets - A Useless Gift?

I've been meaning to cover pen sets and why these are even a thing for some time.

As much as I've wanted to talk about (ok, get some things about fountain pens off my chest) various subjects, YouTube stymied me somewhat, so now that I'm free to blog about pretty much anything, I have this freedom of speech (almost)!

What do I mean when I talk about pen sets? Well, these are those gift-boxed sets containing (typically) a fountain pen, a ballpoint pen and/or a rollerball pen.

To anyone who doesn't really use pens, these gift boxed sets look lovely, however there is a very good chance that the recipient will only use one of these pens.

For example, the recipient uses ballpoint pens: The fountain pen in this set is unlikely to ever see the light of day, and similarly, if the recipient uses fountain pens, then being presented with a "devil stick" has the potential to cause mild offence!

I even enquired with a well-known UK stationery retailer about pen sets, asking them if these pen sets were ever really bought by their typical fountain pen customers. I unsurprisingly didn't receive a reply.

Even for the collector, pen sets seem to be a bit too niche, particularly when the cost of these sets is often somewhat higher than buying the individual pens outright. However, you will have a nice big gift box to add to your ever-growing collection of cardboard pen boxes that you (I at least) refuse to part with.

What prompted me to write about pen sets?

I am a fan of the Monteverde Ritma fountain pens and 2024's special edition colour is Espresso (link to Cult Pens product page HERE) - A nice coffee coloured pen set containing a fountain pen, ballpoint pen and a rollerball pen (plus a gel refill to convert the ballpoint pen to a capless rollerball, plus a bottle of ink).

Why would anyone want all three types of pen?

Maybe it's just me, but having all three types of pen (four, if you choose to use the gel refill) seems ridiculous.

If anything, why not include a mechanical pencil in a pen set? That would at least stand a better chance of being used. Maybe.

I'm no environmentalist, but this is a lot of production and packaging, especially for a pen set which I'm guessing the majority of recipients will only use a third of the contents at the minimum.

Pen sets really do seem to be a problem looking for a solution. I don't think that I will ever understand why these even exist and I am convinced that 99% of pen sets remain largely unused, except by only the most avid of collectors who absolutely adore a particular brand/model.

I will almost certainly buy the Monteverde Ritma Espresso fountain pen because I love the magnetic cap, though this is a very heavy pen, plus I like coffee. However, this, like all pen sets, is not a product that I would buy - Nor would I buy it for anyone else due to it not being a suitable gift.

Here is my Cult Pens referral link to get 10% off all orders from Cult Pens (you may need create a new account if you have used Cult Pens before) - should you for some reason decide to buy one of these pen sets!