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grasshopper
Hi everyone.

I know it’s derived from the French word but I’m just wondering if Parker has the rights to the term/word “Cisele”, or is it a generally accepted one for any pen that has the square engraved design, as opposed to the diamond shaped or other non-square engraved designs?

Thanks in advance.


G.
Kaweco
Hi Grasshopper
There are some relations of the word "cisele" in English, French and German.
The craftsmen scratched or hammered with a chisel thin lines or wave- patterns in the surface of the object. This is in English: "chase" and in German "zisilieren".
The "chisel" is "der Meissel".
Guillot was a French engineer, who invented a machine which could scratch fine petterns on the surface of pocket watches, tobacco- containers and, last not least, writing equipment. In Germany they call "chasing" after the inventor "guillochieren"
(speak: gee-lou-sheern) and IMO there is a "Faber- Guilloche".
I had never heard, that only the square pattern should be a "Cisele", it could be, that it is a trade mark.
pic: three patterns in BCHR
cheers, Thomas
grasshopper
Hi Thomas,

Thanks for the excellent information! cool.gif And especially for the cool pics - I do love BCHR pens too and have a soft spot for them, however the fact that those with chasing that are in beautiful condition always come with steep prices, makes me hold myself back from getting a few.

It's relevant that you brought up "guilloche" too as this gave me more of an impression that "cisele" is strictly applied (at least by Parker, by way of Andreas Lambrou in this FPOTW book) to the square pattern. Based on my understanding of his book, Andreas used other descriptions and/or names when labelling pens with engraved patterns which are of the non-square design e.g. barleycorn, vertical lines, square pattern (which are not quite the same appearance as the Cisele ones), diamond pattern, fluted.

Does anyone know of other brands who have used the term cisele, ciselle, cisele with the accents above the Es etc? Can this term be safely applied for non-Parker pens?


G.
Michael Wright
This is very much IIRC, but I seem to remember someone who sounded as though they knew what they were talking about saying that Parker's name for that pattern, when it was introduced, was "cross-hatched."

Michael

hoping that someone with better knowledge will confirm or deny
grasshopper
Ok, I’ve just managed to find the following information from Lih-Tah Wong’s Parker75.com (Mr Wong is a generally renowned expert in 75s) regarding the cross-hatched engraved pattern that is commonly referred to as the Cisele:

QUOTE
This is the pattern that started the commercial launch in 1964 of the Parker 75 family. It is a very distinctive pattern rumored to have originated from a cigarette case owned by Kenneth Parker that was made by a 19th-century English silversmith. This pattern was produced for the entire production lifetime of the Parker 75 family and so there are more of this model than any other Parker 75 model.

When first introduced, it was known simply as the sterling Parker 75 in the crosshatch grid pattern. Evenly spaced lines engraved around the barrel and cap, and down along their lengths form the square grid pattern.  A patent for the design as applied to a writing instrument was filed on June 5, 1964 and finally granted on September 27, 1966.  Today this pattern is so recognizable as a Parker 75; there was even a 75 cigarette lighter, knife, and souvenir keychain in this pattern.  Of course other pen manufacturers followed suit with similar designs in this classic pattern.


QUOTE
When production of this family was started in the Meru, France factory, however, the name Ciselé (French word for "engraved") was given to this pattern. This name has stuck and is now applied to this pattern, regardless of whether it was made in the US or France.



In his website, Mr Wong also refers to similarly (crosshatch grid engraved pattern) designed pens made by other brands as being of Cisele design.

I suppose this is not necessarily definitive but this is all I can find so far.


raf.
Kaweco
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