A.w.faber

[pingis]

I have an A.W. Faber fountain pen. It has an original box and instruction sheet in Swedish. It is marked AB Vara Tegelbruk (the brickyard of Vara, Sweden). I would guess it was made in the 1960's but I might be wrong. Any information would be appreciated.

[Inksomnia]

Normally Faber-Castell pens have number at back, just before piston turning knob. That number is easy way to identify pen. Unfortunately, I have A.W.Faber-Castell pen that have no number, so number may or may not be there. Look for the number, it will help a lot.

 

It looks lot like AW Faber 994.

[pingis]

Thank you very much Inksomnia. Thanks to you I found the number. It says 993 M. Is that good or bad news? I also noticed there is a tiny sticker on the backside of the box where it says Faber-Castell Füllhalterfabrik G.m.b.h. Vorm Osmia Dossenheim Bei Heidelberg. What does Vorm Osmia mean?

[pingis]

I just had a look at the nib (while I had my magnifying glass in my hand). On the nib it says A.W. Faber 14 K 585.

[Inksomnia]

It's good that you found the number, much easier to identify. Pen is from 1952, made from celluloid. The M is nib size. Usually Faber-Castell nibs are really nice writers, at least vintage ones.

 

Osmia was fountain pen maker and then Faber-Castell bought it. They used name Osmia alongside faber-Castell, but dropped it some point. So nothing to worry about. Faber-Castell used to be A.W.Faber, so they naming is really confusing sometimes.

[Kaweco]

.................. What does Vorm Osmia mean?

vorm. is the short cut for "vormals", that means formerly or eastwhile (tidigare). As inksomnia told. there was a connection between Osmia and Faber. IMHO Faber had never been making fountain pens, in the ealy 20th they had been the repersentants for KAWECO writing equipment in South America, France and Finland. Then Osmia made fountainpens for Faber and in 1929 Faber took the wellknown trade mark. Since 1935 Faber purchased Osmia shares and got the mayority in 1950. 1953 Faber purchased the last shares from the former owner Georg Böhler. During these times the imprint Osmia changed step by step from Osmia to Osmia/ Faber Castell to AW Faber- former Osma and then to Faber Castell without the "Osmia- Diamond". Actually the fountainpens and propelling pencils had been made in the old Osmia works.

Kind Regards

Thomas

Edited March 5, 2017 by Kaweco