A fountain pen is a writing instrument that uses a metal nib to apply water-based ink to paper. It is distinguished from earlier dip pens by using an internal reservoir to hold ink, eliminating the need to repeatedly dip the pen in an inkwell during use. The pen draws ink from the reservoir through a feed to the nib and deposits the ink on paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action. Filling the reservoir with ink may be achieved manually, via the use of an eyedropper or syringe, or via an internal filling mechanism that creates suction or a vacuum to transfer ink directly through the nib into the reservoir. Some pens employ removable reservoirs in the form of pre-filled ink cartridges.
A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity which had to be periodically recharged by dipping the tip of the pen into an inkwell. Today, such pens find only a small number of specialized uses, such as in illustration and calligraphy. Reed pens, quill pens and dip pens, which were used for writing, have been replaced by ballpoint pens, rollerball pens, fountain pens and felt or ceramic tip pens. Ruling pens, which were used for technical drawing and cartography, have been replaced by technical pens such as the Rapidograph. All of these modern pens contain internal ink reservoirs, such that they do not need to be dipped in ink while writing.
The Parker Duofold is a range of fountain pens produced by the Parker Pen Company.
The Parker Pen Company is a French manufacturer of luxury writing pens, founded in 1888 by George Safford Parker in Janesville, Wisconsin, United States. In 2011 the Parker factory at Newhaven, East Sussex, England, was closed, and its production transferred to Nantes, France.
The Parker 51 is a fountain pen first introduced in 1941. Parker marketed it as “The World’s Most Wanted Pen,” a slogan alluding to restrictions on production of consumer goods for civilian markets in the United States during World War II. Parker's continual advertising during the war created demand that took several years to fulfil after the end of the conflict.
The Waterman Pen Company is a major manufacturing company of luxury fountain pens and inks, based in Paris, France. The firm was established in 1884 in New York City by Lewis Waterman, being one of the few remaining first-generation fountain pen companies, as "Waterman S.A."
SAKO, Limited is a Finnish firearm and ammunition manufacturer located in Riihimäki, Tavastia Proper in southern Finland. It also has owned the Tikka brand of bolt-action rifles since 1983, and is now owned by the Italian firearm holding company Beretta Holding.
Rotring is a former German manufacturing company of technical drawing tools and writing implements. Established in 1928 as a fountain pen manufacturer, Rotring is currently a brand owned by Newell Brands after its acquisition in 1998. The name "Rotring" directly translates to "red ring" which is still placed around the barrel of their pens today. The company's name was changed to Rotring in the early 1970s to match the trademark.
The Parker Jotter is the Parker Pen Company's second and best-selling retracting refillable ballpoint pen. The first was the Hopalong Cassidy ballpoint.. Since 1954, over 750 million have been sold worldwide. It is priced between $6 for lower end models, and $20 for higher end models, such as special editions. Its refill has a ballpoint tip originally called the T-Ball, with a unique textured surface that greatly reduces slipping and failure to transfer ink onto slick paper, known as "skipping." The technology is now commonly used in the pen industry. The pens are also a popular advertising medium. The external design of the Parker T-Ball refill is a configuration copied by many other brands of refillable pens.
Lamy is a German pen manufacturing company. Josef Lamy, who was a sales representative for Parker Pen in Germany, founded the business in 1930 by purchasing the Orthos pen manufacturer. Lamy was a pioneer in the use of moulded synthetic plastics to make their products.
OMAS is an Italian manufacturing company of writing implements, founded in 1925, put in liquidation in January 2016, and revived in 2018. Their products of great quality and luxury and have always been manufactured in their factory located in Bologna.
Brionvega is an Italian electronics company that is known for manufacturing futuristic television sets and audio equipment, its contributions to post-second world war technological and social advancement in Italian industry, collaborations with well known industrial designers and architects, and its impact on the aesthetics of 1960s Italian design.
Caran d'Ache is a Swiss manufacturing company of art materials and writing instruments. The company, established in 1915, produces a wide range of products including colored pencils, graphite pencils, pastels, fountain pens, ballpoint pens, mechanical pencils, markers, gouache paints, and ink cartridges.
Arflex is an Italian company that makes and sells contemporary furniture.
Marco Zanuso was an Italian Modernist architect and designer.
The Shanghai Hero Pen Company is a Chinese manufacturing company which is popular for its Hero fountain pens. It was founded in 1931 as the "Wolff Pen Manufacturing Company", and was renamed in 1966 to the current name. Hero is commonly referred to as "Huáfú" which is the Hanyu Pinyin transliteration of the firm's abbreviated original Chinese name.
The Grillo telephone was manufactured in Italy by Italtel, a subsidiary former state-owned telecommunications company SIP. The "Grillo" was designed by Richard Sapper and Marco Zanuso, and introduced in 1967. It was a popular and iconic symbol of 1960s Italian design, and remained in production until 1979.
Kuretake is a Japanese manufacturing company of writing implements. The firm began its activities manufacturing sumi ink and brushes and then expanded its range of products, producing mainly pens.
Sheaffer Pen Corporation is an American manufacturing company of writing instruments, particularly luxury fountain pens. The company was founded by Walter A. Sheaffer in Fort Madison, Iowa, and incorporated in 1913 to exploit his invention of a lever-filling fountain pen. The brand was sold by French company Bic to A. T. Cross Company in August, 2014. In August, 2022 the brand was sold to and is currently owned by William Penn Private Limited, a multi-brand retailer and distributor of writing instruments and accessories.
Kaweco is a German brand of writing implements, originally introduced by the Heidelberg Pen Company for its dip pens line in 1889. Kaweco became a public limited company in 1921, then being taken over by the Knust Woringen and Grube company (KWG), after Kaweco went bankrupt in 1930.
