Fountain pens

Fountain pens

The fountain pens are generally expensive, more fragile and more difficult to maintain than the ball-point pens. Nevertheless, less manual pressure when using is required a fountain pen, which allows longer and comfortable sessions of writing.

A range of greater red colors exists for the fountain pens that stop the ball-point pens.

Nowadays almost everybody uses ball-point pens instead of fountain pen. Those that are become fond of to the fountain pens, know the difference between one or another one, not only by the aspect but by the writing.

Main in a fountain pen it is that he is functional, aside from its design.

The pens that the collectors want are the made ones between 1900 and half-full of years 30. They mainly look for peculiarities and pieces of crafts, some with precious stones including in the design. Also very the adorned ones with recorded serpents by hand, those that have drawings of cupidos or heads of Aztecs are wished.

Some of the first fountain pens that became were authentic works of art.

All the fountain pens can be seen in catalogues.

History of the Fountain pens

From old times the way looked for to create a fountain pen with a red deposit and thus not to have to depend more on the inkpot. Several attempts became but they did not work well, the flow of the red one was irregular. It was in 1833 when an insurance agent called Lewis Edson Waterman, created a system of feeding in the pen that allowed a red flow controlled on the paper. He was compound of a mechanism that the pressure balanced inside and outside the deposit. This was obtained by means of three fissures in the shot tray, which caused that the air ascended until in interior while the red left by plumín. Thus it was as the first modern fountain pen were born, call Ideal Waterman´s Fountain Pen.

In 1894, George S. Parker, improving the red flow, patented new a feeder that was curved in its end and that touched the interior of the deposit. This allowed that after writing, which exceeded of red in plumín, outside attracted by capillarity towards the interior of the pen, therefore the spots in the fingers were avoided when the hood was unscrewed. To this system Lucky Curve was denominated to him.

Later an automatic system was created to fill of red the fountain pen, since the only way to do it in that then era with a dropper.

In 1929 Pelikan first pen of piston develops in Europe his, was model 100 and since then, manufacturers mainly of Italy and Germany, adopt this mechanism to their pens.

Until year 1920 the manufacturers of pens had been centered in the technical details without giving much importance to the outer aspect. As of this year they begin to improve the designs, forms and colors. Parker sent to the market the Duofold model in year 1922, era of orange, great red color and something more face, but she was a great successful.

Until the this then fountain pens they made with ebonite, reason why the possibilities of colors very were limited. He went so the manufacturers began to look for new materials and after several attempts they found the answer in plastics.

In 1924 Sheaffer it introduces his first Lifetime pens that were of celluloid. Later the injected one in molds arrived thermoplastic.

In years 50 and 60 there was a declivity in the sale of fountain pens, this was due to the aparción of the ball-point pen, patented by Hungarian Laszlo J. I turn in 1938.

Many companies of pens closed due to the revolution of the ball-point pen but in years 80 it returns to appear again the demand of fountain pens.

In years 90 the feeding system improves creating the motor red assets, a system that allows that the pen works in different pressures and temperatures. Also it appears a new system of filling desarrolado by Visconti, is the High Vacuum Power Filler and allows to use the red that there is in a stores depot when the red of the master depot finishes.

Marks of Fountain pens

Italian: Delta, Visconti, Omas, Aurora, Montegrappa, Anchor, Columbus, Ducati, Dupont, Jaguar, Lalex, Marlen, Mazzuoli, Nettuno, Equipment, Renzetti 1909, Signum, Stipula, Torrini, Visconti

North Americans:

Parker, Waterman, Sheaffer, Wahl Eversharp

Japanese:

Pilot (Namiki), Kamakura, Eastern Hero

Chinese:

Ginkoshen, Haolilai

German:

Killing, Kaweco, Pelikan, Soennecken, Lamy 2000

French:

Mon Plaisir