PenHero Articles

Vertical stripes became popular in the 1940s, appearing on pens from nearly every company. Sheaffer had already used them in the 1930s on the Balance, and some other companies introduced some striped models in the late 1930s, but by the early 1940s the pattern showed up more frequently: on the new Parker Duofold, Eversharp Skyline, and models from Conklin, Moore, Eclipse, Wearever, and many others. Venus joined the trend, applying vertical stripes to its Autograph and President pens, both intro …

In the 1936 catalog, the Conklin All American line was essentially a downgraded version of Conklin’s “General” series. The new sacless vacuum-filling models, though priced for the moderate market, featured fit and finish comparable to higher-end Conklin pens of the same year. They were offered with attractive snakeskin-patterned celluloid in three colors—Reptilian Pearl-Gray, Reptilian Gold-Green Vein, and Reptilian Foliage-Red Vein—prized by collectors today. The …

The Waterford Kilbarry line was a mainstay of the Waterford pen brand. It featured a gently streamlined cylindrical fountain pen, capped rollerball, and twist-action ballpoint. The base pen was made with all with brass caps and barrels which were then given a barleycorn guilloche engraving. The brass base was chrome-plated and then overlaid with transparent lacquer in red, blue, black, amber, and Emerald Isle green. The Kilbarry Edge line, launched in 2009 and was available through 2013, was a …

The Classic Pens CP5 Celebration Pens is the fifth limited edition in the Classic Pens CP series, and one of six two pen editions. Produced in 1999 through a collaboration between Classic Pens, the Parker Pen Company, and the R. Murelli R.S.A.R.L. an independent, specialty guillocheur company in Domont (Val-d'Oise), France. The edition pays homage to the iconic Parker Duofold. The series celebrates both the original 1920s Duofold and its modern counterpart by offering two complementary versions …

The Waterford Marquis Arista Prism line was a clear “one of these things is not like the other” moment for the brand when it was introduced in 2008. The Marquis Arista Prism didn't seem to fit into the Waterford line at the time and had a short life. Made of lightweight, colorful resins that would be difficult to engrave or personalize, and priced similarly to the Marquis Claria line, the Arista Prism felt completely out of place. Even so, they are fun pens and hard to find now. Rea …

The Waterford Pallas line launched in 2006 with two colors— Translucent Black and Translucent Ocean Blue—featuring platinum-plated trim. Each model included a medium-nib fountain pen, a capped rollerball, and a twist-action ballpoint. Waterford pens were produced under license by Hampton-Haddon Marketing Corp. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from the mid-1990s to the late 2010s. The company was founded in 1977 by Stephen Zipf and the late David Peters and specialized in private-label …

As detailed in my previous article on the World War II era Secretary Fountain Pen (c. 1944–1945), the Newark, Senator, Secretary, Camel, and Progressive Products brands form a single interconnected story spanning from 1925 into the 1950s. This article covers the earliest and most obscure chapter: the founding of the Newark Pen Company in 1925 through 1938, just before its merger with the Camel Pen Company. Read the story about these interesting pens here: https://www.penhero.com/PenGaller …

These two pens were photographed in late 2005 for the Winter 2006 issue of the Pennant. Both are Yotsubishi pens, easily identified by the four-diamond logo on the top of each clip. One features a striking tiger design painted under clear lacquer using the traditional urushi-e technique. The other is a nighttime or deep-ocean scene using a combination of two decorative techniques. The fish are shown in dull, dark tones rather than bright colors, which fits this setting where colors are harder t …

When Sheaffer introduced the Fineline cartridge pen in 1955, it marked another major player entering at the beginning of a revolution that changed fountain pen design as dramatically as the lever filler had in 1913. Until the arrival of easy-to-use, low-cost ink cartridges, all fountain pens were bottle fillers of one type or another. The only portable ink supply was a glass bottle that you had to carry with you. Sheaffer introduced converters a bit later than some competitors and has offered s …

At first glance, the stunning pair of 1950s Japanese fountain pens in this article appear to be classic examples of Kamakura-bori. In reality, they represent an even rarer decoration technique—carved artwork that penetrates deep into the wood caps and barrels themselves. Both are decorated by the Japanese artisan Shoukei around 1957 where the carving technique uses cuts that go through thinner layers of urushi coating and deep into the wooden substrate—plum wood on one pen and olive …