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Because this is a pen website most readers will probably associate the name De La Rue with fountain pens.  The company did, after all, start producing high quality pens before 1900 and quickly became a major force in the pen industry. This was, however, only a minor part of the De La Rue business empire, the main concern being the printing of a huge range of products, including stamps, banknotes, greetings and playing cards. The company was extremely innovative and are credited with the invention of the typographical printing process in 1831, an envelope folding machine in 1846, a banknote counting machine in 1957, the 'through...

It's hard to ignore artificial intelligence these days, so I thought I'd put it to the test.  I entered 'Poem about vintage fountain pens' into an AI server and it immediately came back with: In days of old, when words were bold, And pens were made with care, The fountain pen was king of all, And none could quite compare.   Its nib was smooth as silk it seemed, As thoughts flowed to the page, Ink spilling forth like liquid dreams, A timeless, handwritten age.   The barrel, oft adorned with gems, Or polished to a sheen, Its curves and...

I've just restored a Wyvern 202 and it occurred to to me that I could use the blog to remind anyone new to these pens that the section is a left hand thread. I've seen a few of these pens with severely gouged sections caused by the unwary attacking the section with jawed tools.  When turned the right way  these pens usually come apart easily with a little gentle heat, I use a hairdrier. It's also worth remembering that the pen also has a breather tube, not a common feature of button fillers.

Paper Mate made their name in the early 1950s with a range of ballpoint pens, largely due to a huge advertising campaign in 1953 which cost around two million dollars, a record spend for a pen company at the time. It wan't until much later that they entered the fountain pen market with a high quality, metal bodied pen made in West Germany.  There is some speculation that the pen was made by Montblanc, and the Paper mate does bear a passing resemblance to the Montblanc Noblesse, but I think the jury is out on that one.   Whoever made the...

The Parker Classic fountain pen was introduced in 1986 to replace the Parker 180, to which it bears a striking resemblance.  I recently came acroos this example: The colour is listed as 'Laque Tourmaline', a very vivid pink.  It takes its name from the gemstone, tourmaline, which is found in a variety of bright colours, usually with some pink involved.   It's a rare colour, this is the first one I've seen 'in the flesh' and is ourageously attractive, if not subtle.