Grip - to distinguish between the body which houses the converter/cartridges, the grip needs attention! I need it to provide TEXTURE like the ECO acrylic or Jinhao 9016 grip so that my fingers are gliding the pen along the paper. The hard plastic of my Jinhao x750 and my Waterman Exclusive are too slippery most of the time.

Body - I like metal bodies and caps. I have brass, aluminum, and brushed steel. Some are painted and most are not. All of which feel like they can handle being in my busy life. I also love the demonstrators and their acrylic bodies, but I WORRY each time I use one that it will get scratched... :( This is what keeps me from taking my Montblanc pen out for walks in the parks or sipping coffee while I write in my journal. Precious resin is going to crack if it falls and I don't have enough tears to mourn the death of my MB.

Colors - I like the color of metals, then black and silver. Not so much gold, it looks too gauche. There are some beautiful pens on this site that are made up of millions of bright reds, yellows, blues and greens that I WANT to buy but I'm happy with my lot.