I'm trying to pin a range of dates on a few of the Osmiroids floating around my collection, and need some help.

1) The 65 has two body styles-- an earlier, more traditional round-ended cigar-shaped version, and a later one with obliquely cut cap-top (as seen on the excellent advert on Richard's site). I've a boxed set using the later model with a 1974 copyright notice, but a single data point doesn't make a trend. So, does anyone know the model runs of the different styles?

2) Closely related-- anyone know when the 75 appeared/vanished?

3) On the late 65s I see variation in the marking. On the barrel imprint, beside "ENGLAND" there is a BF or a KF. Production facilities? Some other esoteric point of interest? Sure wish I knew....

Hi Ernst'

The Osmiroid 65 in fact had 3 body styles and several sub variants and 2 nib styles. the earlier rounded top and bottom, lever filler with the screw in nibs, it came with both gold plated and chrome plated trim. the middle of the the styles was the oblique cut off top came as lever filler, sac squeezer and cartridge filler, both of these were screw fit cap models. The last full version used inset nibs rather than the open screw in nibs, to change nibs on these it was necessary to change the entire nib unit, these were most often seen as part of calligraphy sets.

The Osmiroid 75 was current form about 1958-1960ish, it was current throughout my school years and still availalbe, whether it was still in production or not I couldn't be sure in 1975.

Perrys, the makers of Osmiroid had a production plant in down on the Solent near Southampton, at one point I think they were made somewhere near or in Birmingham whether this has any relevance to the markings that you mention I have no idea, I have never noticed them but I'll see if I can find out anything.

hope this helps.

cheers, John

I think you were the exact smart person I was hoping for on this one. Just scraping along for clarification-- the body which accepts the "easy change" sections is actually a 65? I know that there's a couple of patterns there as well, with and without a cap-grabbing ring on the section (or cap-breaking ring, if on older section is fitted on a newer body), but I wouldn't have thought that the name would have jumped across the divide between nib unit and section replacement.

Of course, I also have trouble with the idea that "Mini" = "BMW", and Kitkats are no longer made by Rowntree.

Hi Ernst,

The first of the easy change section models were imprinted 65, later they carried no imprint at all on the barrel. The later unimprinted pens were not as well made as the 65 marked ones and these were not as well put together and used worse materials than the earlier open nib pens and some of these tend to shrink quite badly, but not all so it seems that batch control on the materials were not as good as it could have been.

They make the 'Mini; less than a mile from where I am sitting writing this, I also have several seriously vintage BMW motorcycles, I can't make the connection either. The give away that the Mini is definitely made by BMW is that there are more BMs per street round here than there are in Munich, they are more common than Ford Mondeos on Oxford's streets.

Cheers, John