History of A. A. Waterman

Much of the history of this company and its successors remains to be discovered and documented. A. A. Waterman started in business before 1900, experienced a number of transformations and successors and ceased production about 1930. Most of the pens the company produced are collectible

Waterman’s Music and Artists Pens

India ink is more like paint than normal fountain pen ink. It is prized by composers and arrangers for writing music, by artists for sketching and drawing, and by architects and engineers for ruling lines because it dries quickly to a rich opaque and permanent black. The principal ingredients in India ink are carbon black, shellac and denatured alcohol. Once dry, India ink is very, very difficult to remove or redissolve, even in alcohol. The fact that it does not readily redissolve is the reason that India ink cannot be used in normal fountain pens.

History of Corona

Corona started in business in 1923 and ceased production about 1933. Since the company made relatively few pens, all are collectible. Key Persons, Key Dates, Key Events...Janesville, Wisconsin was founded in the 1830s as an agricultural community on the Rock River in south central Wisconsin. Soon, with the building of the American railway system, it became a transportation hub. Janesville is located about 100 miles (160 km) from Chicago and about 80 miles (130 km) from Milwaukee. Both cities were major ports on Lake Michigan but freight moving further west had to go by train. George S. Parker had come to Janesville to teach telegraphy in a school for those seeking railroad positions. His entry into the fountain pen business spawned a sizable group of competitors

The History of Giant Pens

Eventually most collectors see or hear about a monster sized or ‘giant’ pen. They have questions... "When, why and by whom was it made? Why is it so big? Who would buy or use such a pen? Why is it so expensive?" How is a ‘giant’ recognizable? It is really big, much, much bigger than a Duofold Senior, a Montblanc 149, even a Waterman #58. The ‘giant’ is so large that it seems, at first, unreasonable and certainly uncomfortable. It has a very large nib, often #10 or #12 size, and equally vast ink capacity, sometimes more than an ounce.

The First Parker Pen

Often it is hard to separate fact from speculation. I believe the following to be fact. Before founding the Parker Pen Company (1889), George S. Parker worked as an instructor at the Valentine School of Telegraphy in Janesville. He also sold John Holland fountain pens as a sideline. Parker complained (in a magazine interview) that the Holland pens often did not work and that he was obliged to repair and modify them for the purchasers. It was from this experience that Mr. Parker said he learned to make fountain pens and also developed the ideas which lead to his first Patent for a pen feed.

The History of Conklin Pens

The company pioneered the manufacture of self filling fountain pens and is closely identified with its home of Toledo, Ohio. It started in business about 1897 and ceased production after World War Two. Its most collectible pens include the early “Crescent” filling pens (before 1925), metal pens, the large plastic pens of the 1920s and 1930s, and the “Nozac” piston filling pens of the 1930s. The company was also famous for its mechanical pencils and its fountain pen desk sets which were some of the most elaborate on the market.

The History of Pelikan Pens

The business was founded in Germany in the 1830s and entered the pen business in 1929. Most collectible pens include early pens (circa 1929-1940, especially the unusual reptile pattern plastic pens of the 1930s), metal overlaid pens, plus a few recent limited editions. The company continues in business manufacturing pens, inks, artist’s colors, etc

mass-production

The manufacturers of fountain pens apparently have not seen such increase in sales since the year Lewis Waterman made the 3 key inventions that allowed the mass-production of quality writing instruments. While ballpoint and rollerball pens were reported to kill the market of fountain pens, and hi-tech presented by email and cell-phones was to eliminate writing as activity, something unpredicted happened - and changed the world of writing instruments.

Improper Fountain Pen

Each Sheaffer fountain pen, as almost any fine writing instrument using ink, can get clogged. The ink flow can be stopped by two main factors: improper care and bad ink.Improper fountain pen care implies, for example, keeping the fine instrument in the wrong position. When not used for some time (over several hours), a pen should be put in uphold position, the nib up.Fountain pen can get damaged if wrong ink is used for filling and writing. No pen-o-phil in the world will ever recommend waterproof or Indian ink for fountain pens! It is like one of the commandments for any pen lover. Unless you want to make serious damage to your precious pen, never use waterproof or Indian inks in it.

vintage fountain pens

Fountain pen collectors classify pens manufactured before 1965 as vintage fountain pens. Fountain pen lovers have stored and passed on pens from one generation to another. Pens appreciated for their looks, designs and efficiency in writing may be stored, in some cases with little or no practical writing use. A vintage pen does not only have nostalgic or display value; many vintage pens are used actively for writing purposes, too. And it’s true that vintage pens aged thirty to fifty years surpass the new fountain pens in the writing department for the reason that then they were considered as the main tool for writing, unlike now. As more skilled labor went into producing fountain pens, vintage nibs are smoother than their modern counterparts.

Characteristics of ballpoint pens

Compared to rollerball and fountain pens, ballpoints require more pressure to write. Ballpoints lack the free flowing supply of ink that other types have requiring the writer to apply more pressure to the page. As a result, they are less likely to leak. Their robustness makes them suitable where a firm press is required, namely for carbon copy-type forms where a layer of carbon paper transfers the writing, but not the ink, to subsequent copies. In such use other types of pens are quickly damaged beyond usability.
Normal ballpoint pens are widely believed to be unusable in microgravity, e.g. in earth orbit, but that is reported not actually to be the case [10]. They have difficulty writing on surfaces with low adherence (such as plastics, shiny surfaces, and wet or oily surfaces)[11]. Due to the pen's reliance on gravity to coat the ball, they can not be used to write upside down; though there are special pens that do work upside-down.

Montblanc

Elegant feminine design
Montblanc Diamond in cap-top
Black precious resin barrel
Black precious resin cap with MontBlanc Diamond cap top
Platinum-plated trim and clip

Fixpencil

In the year 1924 Arnold Schweitzer acquires the "Ecridor Pencil Factory" (founded in 1915) in Geneva, creates a new company and gives it the name Caran d’Ache Swiss Pencil Factory. Five years later the the world's first all-metal mechanical clutch pencil, the Fixpencil, seen the light of the day. One year after that ecridor mechanical pencils in hand-engraved models in gold and silver make their debut. With its long tradition of precious expertise handed down through the generations, Caran d’Ache devotes its passion and rigour to designing and producing exceptional products devoted to the art of writing: writing instruments, art and drawing materials

French Caricaturist

The Caran d’Ache, Maison de Haute Ecriture, Limited Edition wins two trophies including the Grand Stylographe Trophy 2008. This great tribute to fine Swiss watchmaking, a winner in all the categories, is awarded the Grand Stylographe Trophy 2008 and also wins the Trophy for Design and Artistic creation.The name Caran d'Ache has very interesting history. The company’s founder, Arnold Schweitzer, admired the work of a famous French caricaturist of the Belle Époque, Emmanuel Poiré. While Emmanuel Poiré's first work glorified the Napoleonic era, he went on to create "stories without words" and as a contributor to newspapers like "Lundi du Figaro", he is sometimes hailed as one of the fathers of the comic.

Gold Plated

The Baron is a beautiful medium sized pen with 24kt Gold Plated hardware. The nib is gold and platinum two-tone. An ink cartridge and an ink pump are included

Wooden Pen

The contemporary style of the Patriot Pen combines the natural beauty of the wood with optimum writing comfort. Features include a twist action knurled cap on the top of the pen and heavy-duty clip along with quality components throughout. The Patriot Pen includes a Parker® style refill with premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth consistent writing.

Eagle pen

A Fountain pen was first patented in US in the year 1884 and writing with it eeamined in vogue until quite recently but these days writing with it has become a lost art. I have shopped around for fountain pens in US and the cheapest ones I have found cost around $15 and they write so bad that Pakistani ‘Eagle’ brand can beat then anytime and anyplace. Eagle is an international brand but their product in Pakistan was one of the best or at least it feels like it after all these years of nostalgic memories

Amazing Pen

Niyati Enterprises has come up with an elegant variety of metal pen. The company specializes in providing large and fine varieties of these pens. It comes with attractive design and shape to make it an ideal saleable commodity. It is available in customize sizes and specifications to make it more customer friendly. It can be useful for gifting purpose as it incorporates exclusive style and design

Pilot Vpen

In my quest to find an inexpensive and economical fountain pen, I've previously looked at two options. The Pilot Vpen (a.k.a., Varsity) is quite an ordinary looking pen with a good nib, but no way of refilling its ink, and the unique look of Bic Select X Pen was otherwise betrayed by its cheap materials and the various ergonomic factors that made my hand cramp. Last on my list is the Parker Reflex (the red pen on the left). Can Parker pull off a quality starter pen for less than $10, or will all three of these writing instruments be confined to my junk drawer (a.k.a., the pen graveyard)?
Whereas the body of the Vpen looks like a regular wavy-paint dollar-store rollerball and the X Pen looks like a retro submarine, the Parker Reflex is much more spartan in its design. Its unassuming outside appearance is essentially a long and thick coloured stick, its only design attributes being a glossy plastic body, an inlaid matte black plastic round at either end, and a wide stainless steel spring clip in the shape of a stylized arrow (a Parker trademark). The plastic on my candy apple red model is somewhat pearlescent under bright light, a not unpleasant effect when matched against the clip and end pieces

Parker Esprit

The Parker Esprit offers a unique combination of style, compact size and functionality. Available in 4 colours and 4 types, including a dual function ballpoint and PDA stylus, the Esprit is telescopic allowing the full-sized pen to slip into its 125mm tall, fragrance styled canister. The fountain pen takes short cartridges and is supplied with 1 black and 1 blue cartridge

Nice Fountain Pen

People have been writing for thousand of years, painting on walls, scraping rocks and finally using ink and a quill to write things down on paper. The pen is one of the most useful objects ever invented, it's the corner stone of history, as it began with the invention of writing. The idea behind the fountain pen is pretty simple; to hold the ink inside the pen instead of dipping the quill in ink. The first mention of the fountain pen goes back to an arabic text from 969 AD.One of the first fountain pens ever produced was the french Bion model dating back to 1702. The problem related to the invention of a good pen is highly technical because the reservoir tended to leak. The first mass produced pen was created by John Scheffer in 1819. Scheffer managed to resolve the question of the reservoir as he made one out of sheep gut that wouldn't leak as much. The rest is history with numerous inventions; from John Parker's piston refillable pen in 1832 to the Lewis Waterman pen of 1884 that was recognized as the first safe pen. A safe pen in those days meant that your hands, and your shirt, would remain clean

Masterpiece of the Jeweler's Art

The Limited Edition Mystery Masterpiece, a joint creation between Mont blanc and Van Cleef & Arpels, is the most expensive writing pen ever created. Can you imagine, it costs $730,000! This amazing pen is truly a masterpiece of the jeweler's art. Each pen has 840 diamonds and more than 20 carats of gemstones set in a Van Cleef & Arpels patented "Mystery Setting" that conceals the stone settings. A groove is made on the culet, the bottom facet of the stone, which is then slid onto the threads of the lattice design so that the stones can be held in place side by side without any visible support. There are three variations, set either with rubies, sapphires or emeralds, and accented by diamonds. The three variations of these marvelous pens are limited to three releases each for a total of nine. The unique work took over a year and a half to create by skilled artisans.

La Modernista Diamonds

Another most expensive pen in the world is La Modernista Diamonds. It was made by the Swiss company Caran d’Ache in 1999 in homage to Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926), the most famous of Modernist architects. This amazing fountain pen was sold in Harrods, London, for $265,000, becoming the most expensive pen in GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS in 2001. La Modernista Diamonds is made of rhodium-coated solid silver components. It boasts of an 18-carat rhodium-coated gold nib and is set with a total of 5,072 Wesselton diamonds weighing in at 20-carats, as well as and 96 rubies totalling 32-carats. The pen was hand-made by master jeweler Robert Perron and it took him six months to complete this true masterpiece of writing instruments.

David Oscarson Pen

David Oscarson Pens are another ‘tasty’ item for obsessed pens collectors. They are known for their matchless elegance and artistic mastery. The most expensive of them is Pierrot White Fountain Pen that costs about $4,900. Through Pierrot White Fountain Pen, David Oscarson has introduced a unique collection representing the old world craftsmanship in an awesome range of designer pens. In fact, David Oscarson is the first pen making company to integrate five colors of hard enamel and three levels of Guilloché on each fountain pen, which is efficiently finished in Rhodium vermeil with natural backgrounds.

Faber-Castel Pen

Very expensive pen in the world is Pen of the Year 2008 manufactured by Graf von Faber-Castel Pens. The core feature of the Graf von Faber-Castell Custom Pens is wood in its noblest and most inspiring variations. And in Pen of the Year 2008 the outer layer of the barrel is made of carefully selected Indian satinwood. No fewer than 84 Satinwood rectangles are individually hand-made for the filigree herringbone pattern. This marvelous pen is crowned by a chessboard-facted citrine gemstone, platinized fittings and an 18-carat bicolour gold nib, carefully run in by hand. It comes in an exclusive wooden case with a beautiful brochure and a certificate for the pen collector. It’s price is $2,000.

Westminster Teal Pen

Most expensive pens in the world with the price of $1,800 is Conway Stewart Westminster Teal Pen. British pen company Conway Stewart have released the latest version of this popular pen this time in teal enamel. The pen takes its design cues from the palace of Westminster with its Gothic style engraving on the cap and barrel. The small diamond-shaped recesses mimic the detail on the palace and the tiny oak leaves are a symbol of England. The teal color of course doesn't have anything to do with the Gothic style, it just looks cool. The pen is available in an edition of 100 fountain pen or rollerball writing modes.

New York Fifth Avenue Pen

Each of the 1,929 luxurious New York Fifth Avenue rollerball and fountain pens hand-made by S. T. Dupont required around 160 hours of pristine supervision, which resulted in taupe- and brunette-colored lacquer fountain pens worth $2,400. These amazing pens are painstakingly embellished with a gold relief overlay, which features a central globe design. Each of these pens proudly narrates a story of cultural infusion that is truly depicted through these fine writing instruments. You can very well witness the artistic skills exhibited by S.T. Dupont through their art of lacquering and jewelry detailing, which is best visible in New York Fifth Avenue pens.

Handcrafted Pen

La Dona Menagerie Fountain Pen handcrafted by Cartier Pens belong to the most exquisite designer range of writing instruments. Their price is about $4,000. Cartier La Dona Menagerie is named after the 1940’s, cine star Maria Felix, who was also known as "La Doña- the Mexican Marilyn Monroe." It was on her request, the luxury jewelry designer Cartier customized an extraordinary crocodile necklace in gold. This astonishingly beautiful necklace inspired Cartier to design and develop 888 individually numbered fine pieces of La Doña pens, the second offering in the Menagerie Collection. Made of expensive materials, such as gold, peridot, citrin, Cartier pen has a gold-plated nib, which is carved with a crocodile head.

Greek Art Pen

OMAS Limited Edition Pens are sold at the price of $16,500. These extraordinary pens celebrate Greek art. The Corinthian style votive monument erected by Lysicrates is skilfully recreated on the cap and the grandiose Laocoon sculpture dominates the barrel. The clip of the pen is one of the columns of the votive monument, a daring technical solution to give the pen as a whole that purity of line typical of classical art. The cap has a pure diamond set on the end of it, to remind us that rulers of old once wore diamonds as a symbol of their strength, courage and invincibility. The number of these writing is limited to 50 pieces

Rollerball Pens

Grayson Tighe Limited Edition fountain and rollerball pens are sold for a fair price of $22,000.00 - $24,000.00. They are 18K Gold Victorian Royalty executive custom made collectors pens. The Gold is meticulously Ornamental Turned. This is a very old practice of decorating lathe-turned objects with complex patterns that, being applied to metal, creates a visual display of life and light manipulation to the surface. The nib of Grayson Tighe fountain pens is custom hand-made in Germany with 18K yellow gold. It’s engraved with a specially designed Acanthus leaf, tipped with Iridium, and two toned with Rhodium. Grayson Tighe rollerball pens have an advanced refill that has a 1 Year cap-off time

The newest collection encompasses nature's

The newest collection encompasses nature's finest elements. Onyx exudes a gentle black luster that is deep and engaging, yet is incredibly durable. Genuine mother of pearl and abalone is hand crafted in panels that reflect light and create truly one of a kind patterns. With generous weight and a smooth twist mechanism, the Onyx ballpoints offer writing that is controlled and balanced.

INVENTORY OF BALL POINT

The first great success for the ballpoint pen came on an October morning in 1945 when a crowd of over 5,000 people jammed the entrance of New York’s Gimbels Department Store. The day before, Gimbels had taken out a full-page ad in the New York Times promoting the first sale of ballpoints in the United States. The ad described the new pen as a "fantastic... miraculous fountain pen ... guaranteed to write for two years without refilling!" On that first day of sales, Gimbels sold out its entire stock of 10,000 pens-at $12.50 each!

Hand-crafted wooden pens

These are hand-crafted wooden fountain pens made by my wife's father, Jim Mauldin (of Winder, Ga.; phone 770-867-5944). (He'll gladly make one for you, too!) They have round iridium points and take international cartridges as well as piston converters. Idea: Have Mr. Mauldin make you a pen out of your favorite piece of wood, perhaps a piece of a well-remembered tree or house, or an exotic tropical hardwood. Mechanical pencils can also be custom-made.

Sheaffer Snorkel

Apparently from the 1950s, this is a Sheaffer "snorkel-filling" pen. The close-up shows the snorkel extended. Unlike other fountain pens, this one does not require wiping with tissue paper after filling. The rest of the filling mechanism is the familiar Touchdown system described below. This pen belonged to my wife's uncle, the late Kelly Lindsey.

Sheaffer Skripsert cartridge pen

Sheaffer Skripsert cartridge penThis is a cartridge pen from the early 1960s. Cartridges became popular in the 1950s and 1960s as ballpoints began to take over and inkwells were no longer provided in offices and schools. The pen is still in good working order but I do not use it. It belonged to my grandmother, Nellie Aaron Covington

Rollerball pens combine the ballpoint design with the use of liquid ink and flow systems from fountain pens;
Space Pens, developed by Fisher in the United States, combine a more viscous than normal ballpoint pen ink with a gas pressurized piston which forces the ink toward the point. This design allows the pen to write even upside down or in zero gravity environments.[4]

Disposable pens

There are two basic types of ball point pens: disposable and refillable.
Disposable pens are chiefly made of plastic throughout and discarded when the ink is consumed; refillable pens are metal and some plastic and tend to be much higher in price. The refill replaces the entire internal ink reservoir and ball point unit rather than actually refilling it with ink, as it takes special high-speed centrifugation to properly fill a ball point reservoir with the viscous ink. The simplest types of ball point pens have a cap to cover the tip when the pen is not in use, while others have a mechanism for retracting the tip. This mechanism is usually controlled by a button at the top and powered by a spring within the pen apparatus, but other possibilities include a pair of buttons, a screw, or a slide.

Ballpoint pen

A ballpoint pen (Hungarian: golyóstoll, also eponymously known in British English and Australian English as a biro and pronounced /ˈbaɪroʊ/ bye-roe in Britain and Australia but sometimes /ˈbiːroʊ/ bee-roh" elsewhere, named after its credited, though contested, inventor László Bíró), is a modern writing instrument. While many people attribute credit for the invention to Bíró, recent debate has arisen arguing that a young student at The University of Illinois named Miles Ford actually created a similar invention and often goes without credit. A ballpoint pen has an internal chamber filled with a viscous ink that is dispensed at the tip during use by the rolling action of a small metal sphere (0.7 mm to 1.2 mm in diameter) of brass, steel or tungsten carbide[1]. The ink dries almost immediately after contact with paper. Inexpensive, reliable and maintenance-free, the ballpoint has replaced the fountain pen as the most popular tool for everyday writing.

WATER MAN

In Europe, the German supplies company which came to be known as Pelikan and was started in 1838, first introduced their pen in 1929, based upon the acquisition of patents for solid-ink fountain pens from the factory of Slavoljub Penkala from Croatia (patented 1907, in mass production since 1911), and the patent of the Hungarian Theodor Kovacs for the modern piston filler by 1925.
The decades that followed saw many technological innovations in the manufacture of fountain pens. Celluloid gradually replaced hard rubber, which enabled production in a much wider range of colors and designs. At the same time, manufacturers experimented with new filling systems. The inter-war period saw the introduction of some of the most notable models, such as the Parker Duofold and Vacumatic, Sheaffer's Lifetime Balance series, and the Pelikan 100.

FOUNTAIN PEN

A fountain pen is a pen that contains a reservoir of water-based liquid ink. If it uses ink cartridges instead of having a built-in ink reservoir, it is often called cartridge pen. From the reservoir or the ink cartridge, the ink is drawn through a feed to the nib and then to the paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action, so most fountain pens require no pressure to write.
Filling the built-in reservoir with ink usually involves operating an internal mechanism which sucks ink from a bottle through the nib into the reservoir. These mechanisms are typically pistons or rubber sacs. Cartridge pens are filled by simply replacing the empty ink cartridge with a new factory-filled one.

permanent markers

A dip pen (or nib pen) consists of a metal nib with capillary channels, like that of a fountain pen, mounted on a handle or holder, often made of wood. A dip pen usually has no ink reservoir and must be repeatedly recharged with ink while drawing or writing. The dip pen has certain advantages over a fountain pen. It can use waterproof pigmented (particle-and-binder-based) inks, such as so-called India ink, drawing ink, or acrylic inks, which would destroy a fountain pen by clogging, as well as the traditional iron gall ink, which can cause corrosion in a fountain pen. Dip pens are now mainly used in illustration, calligraphy, and comics (notably manga).

writing instrument

A ballpoint pen dispenses viscous oil-based ink by rolling a small hard sphere, usually 700–1200 µm and made of brass, steel or tungsten carbide.[1] It automatically sends ink out from a little ball.The ink dries almost immediately on contact with paper. This type of pen is generally inexpensive and reliable. It has replaced the fountain pen as the most popular tool for everyday writing.
A rollerball pen dispenses a water-based liquid or gel ink through a ball tip similar to that of a ballpoint pen. The less-viscous ink is more-easily absorbed by paper than oil-based ink, and the pen moves more easily across a writing surface. The rollerball pen was initially designed to combine the convenience of a ballpoint pen with the smooth "wet ink" effect of a fountain pen. Gel inks are available in a range