The Platinum preppy fountain pen, made in Japan features a translucent polycarbonate barrel with a smooth stainless steel nib. It may very well be the best value fountain pen in the world - it writes as well as pens many times its price, is refillable with Platinum cartridges and can even use bottled ink when coupled with a Platinum converter. It also has Platinum's famous 'slip and seal' Mechanism which means the cap is air tight and prevents the ink from drying out.