Fountain pen glossary

Cigar shaped pens are generally wide, thicker pens with round ends (or finials) that make them look like, well, cigars. 

The Angular body shape adds conical finials and a shaped body, with the widest part being around the cap band.

The Flat Top has a lot of straight lines - it features flat finials with a straight cap and a straight body.

Cinched Pens have a defined 'waist' around the cap band. The cap and body separately widen at their respective centers, and narrow at the ends.

The Torpedo changes the profile of the pen by taking the base cigar shape and extending the ends of the pen from a rounded look to a very sharply narrowing of the ends.

The Classic body type has flat finials and a slight slope to both the cap and the body.

Tapered Pens have the widest point set at the top of the cap, and the entire pen slopes down from that point.

The Blimp is my name for a pen that is very front-weighted in its profile, with the widest point being the cap. In many examples it can be like a pen that starts as a cigar and ends as a torpedo.

The Umbrella body type is usually a pocket pen. The cap is substantially larger than the body, making the pen look like a folded umbrella.

Some pens are made at one set diameter the entire way through. These 'tube' pens don't show a step down between the cap and body.