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If you asked me which fountain pen is German, plastic, smoothly textured, with a faceted barrel and grip, two little ink windows on the barrel and a weird hollow ring at the end, I'd take my Lamy Safari Charcoal out of my pocket to present it. I mean these two pens have so much in common aesthetically that I'd say Diplomat wants to steal Lamy's thunder.
Anyway. Let's talk fountain pens for beginners. The (?) marks a pro that might be a con and vice versa.
Pilot Metropolitan [EDIT it's on Massdrop now] Pros + Inexpensive (you get two pens for 23 dollars on Massdrop) + Metal body and cap + Pilot = quality + Interchangeable nibs if you get other Pilot pens (Metropolitan, 78G, Plumix/Pluminix, Prera, Penmanship and a couple other models use nibs that you can swap around) + Nice heft that feels great in hand + Asian nib sizes + Comes with a converter for bottled ink + Very professional looking pens Cons - Two nib sizes (F, M) but you can get other pens to swap nibs - Thin grip section that can get a little slippery - Proprietary c/c - No ink windows on the barrel - No way to see the ink level if you use the provided converter (you have to buy the transparent CON50 converter) The Pilot Metropolitan is the pen that I'd recommend you to get first. Virtually indestructible. You can get both a fine and a medium nib if you join the drop on Massdrop. And because they're Japanese nibs, they're pretty damn fine. The fine could be the finest nib you'll ever need. And the medium is absolutely great, even smoother and fine enough for everyday use (finer than a lot of European medium and fine nibs). If you have small hand writing, go for the Metro. You get a cartridge AND a converter with the pen.
Lamy Safari Charcoal Pros + Inexpensive, but more expensive than the Metropolitan or the Diplomat + You can buy extra nibs (and not entire pens) that are extremely easy to swap + A very wide range of nib sizes (EF, F, M, B, 1.1, 1.5, 1.9) + Textured body and grip that feels great (only the Charcoal is textured) + Great and unique looks + Ink windows + Comes with a plastic case/sleeve + Light as a feather (?) + Juicy nibs Cons - Converter sold separately - Plastic body (but very well made) - Proprietary c/c - Grip could be a love or hate thing - Nibs can be hit or miss (some write a little dry or are scratchy) When I was considering which would be my first fountain pen, I was between the Metropolitan and the Safari. In the end I went with the Metro, because I could get two pens for a great price on Massdrop so I could try both fine and medium nibs. Awesome pens. Recently I decided to overcome my distaste of faceted grips and bought the Charcoal Safari. And I'm telling you that if I had gone for it in the first place, I might have never bought the Metropolitans. I prefer the Safari's textured but still smooth grip over the Metropolitan's grip (which feels thin and slippery in my big and sweaty fingers). And the Safari forces you to learn how to grip the fountain pen in the correct angle so that it writes. It feels great. It looks great. It writes great. The nibs swap easily and with their wide range of sizes they can give you an entirely different experience. But they're broader than the Pilot's nibs. And incosistent.
Diplomat SoftTouch Pros + Inexpensive + Standard international c/c + Ink windows + Smooth writer + Light and comfortable (?) + Line variation-flexy nib (?) Cons - Plastic body - Flimsy clip - Non-interchangeable nibs - Annoying little facets on the grip (?) - Line variation-flexy nib (?) Having owned both a Pilot Metropolitan and a Lamy Safari, I'd be willing to get this pen to try out that springy nib. But I don't know if the little facets on the section would be comfortable for me, because I don't like them on the Sheaffer Prelude (but I do like the facets on the Lamy Safari where they are bigger and there's enough space for my entire fingertip). Also, I don't know if a soft nib is a good choice for a beginner because beginners don't even know which nib size they like. Maybe if you had already tried the offerings from other pen makers and the different nib sizes, this would be nice.
All in all, I'd say this is a perfect third fountain pen. The first one would be the Metro, with the fine nibs to get you started. The second one would be the Safari, with its wide range of nib sizes to try something new and broader. And this would be the third one for the springy nib.
But you know what? Get it anyway. It looks awesome.