At first glance, the Pilot Cocoon looks like nothing more than a Pilot Metropolitan in a fancy box. It does bear a striking resemblance to the Pilot Metropolitan in its outer appearance, though the lovely midnight blue anodized color is not something spotted in the Metropolitan line. In its fancy box is an ink cartridge and a CON-50 converter which is a nice treat. But the big news is hidden under the friction-click cap. Its hides a beautiful little fine nib. If you prefer your fountain pen nibs on the slender-to-hairline side of the range, than this little discovery will be of particular interest to you.
Out of the box, I loaded the Cocoon with Caran D’ache Storm and set about testing if this nib was worth the price bump. Turns out, it glides just as smoothly on paper as its wider cousin but with a fine delicate line which is much more to my tastes.
The Metropolitan is definitely the better deal, pricewise, especially if you prefer the medium nib. Actually, the Metropolitan is a ridiculously good deal at $14.50. But even at the $40-ish price point ($25 higher than the Metropolitan), I do not feel cheated or ripped off. Its easy to compare the Cocoon (and the Metropolitan) to the Pilot Prera as well, though the branding on the Prera nib say “super quality” suggesting it may be a slightly higher quality nib. In the end, the Cocoon is a beautifully simple fountain pen with a great quality, steel nib and an ink converter.
Is it worth the price difference to the Metropolitan? That’s a personal preference. I still believe that if you find a good quality fountain pen under $50 that you like using everyday, you have yourself a good pen and a good deal. This is just one of those cases where it doesn’t feel like there should be a $25 discrepancy between a medium nib fountain pen and a fine nib.
PS: A big thank you shout-out to Yvonne (@Woosang on Twitter and ADN) for sending me this lovely pen in a fabulously Aussie-centric care package. I am truly touched by your generosity and I do love this pen.
(J Stationery stocks the fine nib Pilot Cocoon for $39.95 in five different colors. JetPens carries the Pilot Cocoon in the medium nib in four colors or the silver body with a fine nib for $45)
Thanks for the review. I’ve always liked the Pilot line, they are one of the few brands that i enjoy the nib performance right out of the box regardless of the price point. I’m with you on this one though I’m not seeing the $25 premium over the Metro. The Metro’s medium I think is an average medium by not being overly wide so I just don’t care for a Fine that much more. I’m curious enough to Google what the Pilot marketing spin is on this model compared to the metro.
Bob
I kind of feel that the big price difference between Met and Cocoon is more about the mark-up than Pilot’s weird pricing. In Asia, metropolitan is not available and the Cocoon has the same price as the Prera, around 3,000yen/30 dollar listed price and 25 dollars street price. That somehow “converts” into nearly 50 dollars here (despite that yen is going pretty weak against US dollars)….
You are most welcome. It was collecting dust here 🙂
i wonder if the cocoon is the same as the Pilot MR fine? (as I understand it, the MR is the asian or european version of the Metropolitan, but it comes in a find nib)
I do like the blue.
Oh… that color would be enough to make me buy it. It’s lovely. “Cocoon” is so much cuter than “Metropolitan” too. (Side note: I agree. Yvonne is amazing.)
I prefer a fine nib, too, which is why I haven’t bought a Metropolitan yet. I looked at these on both JetPens and JStationery and there is no mention of a converter being included, so I don’t understand why it is more expensive. It’s a lovely pen, and I like the colors available.
The Metropolitan – outside USA, Europe and Japan – is sold under the name “MR”, which is basically the same, but comes with an nib option. So there is no need to pay so much more for the Cocoon… although the colors are very nice.
Hmmm…I recently (June) acquired a Pilot Metropolitan in Fine point. Evidently, that distinction is gone.
The Metropolitan sold in the US market can only use Pilot’s proprietary cartridges & converters. The MR (and possibly the Cocoon) can also use standard international cartridges & higher capacity converters.
I just looked up this review because someone on some list I read posted that the Cocoon is the same as the Metro but takes a better converter than the horrendous CON40. After all this time, do you think the converter is better? They even implied it could take a standard international one. I like my Metro but the converter is just… well, you know.