Fountain pen ink cartridge compatibility guide

For an ink cartridge or converter to fit a fountain pen, two things need to match: the opening must fit securely onto the pen’s feed, and the cartridge or converter must be the correct length and shape to fit inside the pen barrel.

Most European fountain pens use the 38mm International Standard (often called “universal”) cartridge. Brands listed as “proprietary” usually only work with their own brand.

Piston fillers, vacuum fillers and eyedropper pens have their own built in ink reservoirs, so they don’t require cartridges or converters at all.

Universal short cartridges (38mm)

Caran D'Ache
De Atramentis (waterproof ink)
Faber-Castell
Graf von Faber-Castell
Herbin
Kaweco
Midori
Monteverde
Pelikan (make long and short)
Super5 (waterproof ink)
Travelers
Twsbi
Visconti
Worther
Yard-O-Led

Universal long cartridges (70mm)

Pelikan

Universal converters

Faber-Castell
Graf von Faber-Castell
Monteverde push in
Monteverde screw in (fits Monteverde, Conklin, Delta)
Monteverde mini (for shorter universal pens)
Pelikan (push firmly to fit in Pelikano/Twist)
Super5
Worther

Proprietary cartridges

Cross (Classic Century & Spire take Cross Slim)
Lamy
Monteverde (to fit Lamy)
Parker
Pilot
Platinum (waterproof ink option)
Sailor

Proprietary converters

Cross screw in
Cross push in (Townsend & older Century Classic)
Lamy Z28 (for Safari, Next, Al-Star, Joy)
Lamy Z26 (for metal Lamy)
Pilot Con-40 (0.6mL, fits all Pilot)
Pilot Con-70 (1.1mL for Custom, Heritage, metal Falcon, Justus, Kakuno)
Platinum
Sailor
Sailor mini (for PG Slim Mini)

Pens that usually take a universal

Acme
Ancora
Bexley
Caran D'Ache
Cartier
Colibri
Conklin
Conway Stewart
Delta
Diplomat
Faber-Castell
Graf von Faber-Castell
Itoya
Jinhao
Kaweco (excluding Sport, takes mini converter)
Laban
Midori
Montegrappa
Monteverde
Nemosine
Nettuno
Ohto
Omas
Online
Otto Hutt
Pelikan (entry level pens only)
Pentel
Pineider
Retro 51
Schmidt
Stipula
Super5
Tombow
Traveler’s Company
Twsbi Swipe
Visconti
Worther
Waterford
Yard-O-Led

Pens that take a proprietary converter

Aurora (take Aurora or Parker)
Cross (Classic Century and Spire take Cross Slim)
Inoxcrom
Lamy
Montblanc (most also fit universal 38mm)
Nakaya (take Platinum)
Namiki (take Pilot)
Parker (some models only take smaller 38mm Parker Quick Mini)
Pilot
Platinum
Rotring
Sailor (Chalana model takes Sailor Slim)
Sheaffer (except VFM uses universal 38mm)
ST Dupont (some take universal)
Waterman (some older models take universal 38mm cartridges)
Wing Sung (take Parker, Aurora)
Zebra

If your pen isn’t listed in our compatibility guide, there’s a good chance it accepts International Standard cartridges.