In 1884 Lewis waterman patented the first practical fountain pen. A fountain pen is a nib pen that contains an internal reservoir of water-based liquid ink. From the reservoir, the ink is drawn through a feed to the nib and then to the paper. The typical fountain pen requires little or no pressure to write. Filling the reservoir with ink may be done manually or by a dropper or syringe which transfers ink directly through the nib into the reservoir. Some pens employ removable reservoirs, in the form of pre-filled ink cartridges. Fountain pens are sophisticated, individualized writing instruments and it can never be replaced with the keyboard. For those who like to write manually, for them there is nothing better than a fountain pen. There are  a wide variety of ink colors to choose from, and a wide variety of nib sizes and shapes. School children improve their handwriting by using a fountain pen.

Human beings have a number of means to convey their thoughts and feelings. Man's first writing instrument was his finger. Later on pieces of metal or bone were used. The ancient Greeks used a stylus to mark on wax-coated writing tablets, while the early Egyptians used hollow reeds as writing tools. During the middle age, quill pens which were made from bird feathers became the writing tool.  The feather was split and sharpened from the end. Steel pens which has steel tips called nib did not require any sharpening which the quill pens needed. Though, they still needed to be dipped in an inkbottle because they did not contain their own ink.

The steel pen was gaining lots of popularity; attempts to design a more practical writing instrument were being made. Although both the quill and steel pens had to be dipped in ink, the fountain pen was the first to hold its own ink within a self-contained reservoir. The fountain pen became the most popular writing instrument because of its practicality and ease of use. The fountain pen was popular for its elegance and prestige, both as a writing instrument and a as a collector's item. The barrel of fountain pen can be made from variety of materials. The expensive pens are made from materials such as brass, silver, or gold. Modern pen manufacturers generally use less expensive materials for pen barrels. Handmade pens can be created from wood or almost any other material that is solid, stable.

It is available in a variety of designs and styles. Some are mass produced while others are custom-designed. In custom-designed pens, the creator must decide in advance what special features the pen will have and choose the suitable tools and process to use based on those features. All of these design variations require some extra preparation and materials, but make the pen unique, and sometimes, more valuable. Today’s fountain pens are taken as luxury items with diamonds and pure gold. Good quality steel and gold pens are available inexpensively today, mainly in Europe and China.