What Is Your Favorite British Pen From Non Pen Company?

[Hanoi]

I occasionally run into some silver Dunhill fountain pens that I really like but I let them go because I don´t consider Dunhill a pen company. What about you guys? Just like Parker made lighters as well as pens but I rather buy Parker pens and Dunhill lighters.

[northlodge]

Stephens (Ink),

Ingersoll (Watches), &

James McClean (bookmaker)

 

woukld all be on my top 10 list,

 

I will stop there in oder to let others contribute

[peterg]

Dunhill Namiki not a pen company?

[eachan]

1920s Kenrick & Jefferson Supa Pen.

Edited August 30, 2018 by eachan

[MercianScribe]

1920s Kenrick & Jefferson Supa Pen.

 

Plus one! I'm mainly all about fine and flexible, but my K&J Super Pen, hard-as-nails medium though it is, has been in everyday use for about eight months. Juts a beautiful writer, and born a couple of hundred yards away from me too!

[northlodge]

1920s Kenrick & Jefferson Supa Pen.

 

Were these not all made by Mabie Todd?

 

And of course Mat originates from West Brom not Kyoto ;-)

[sansenri]

That's what generally happens when non pen makers sell pens (often either fashion brands, luxury car brands, and few others) , they are usually made by expert pen companies and very often designed especially for the company.

That means that a Dunhill pen could be a very nice pen indeed (I am no expert in English pens so would not have a clue as to whom manufactured the Dunhill pens).

One Italian example though

this Gucci pen was clearly not made by Gucci (in fact it was made by Stipula for Gucci)
it's in dark red ebonite, the cap and finial are in silver and the nib is 18k (possibly Bock)

 

[eachan]

 

Were these not all made by Mabie Todd?

 

And of course Mat originates from West Brom not Kyoto ;-)

 

The early ones were. Later ones are harder to identify but the last were made by Burnham.

[Jerome Tarshis]

Dunhill Namiki not a pen company?

 

Dunhill not a pen company. Dunhill has sold many kinds of merchandise. Namiki a pen company. Outsourcing was known in times long past. Dunhill Namiki a confected name, not exactly a company name. Given a little capital, one might look forward to peterg Namiki pens.

Edited November 8, 2018 by Jerome Tarshis

[bbs]

Boots Onoto pen!

[soapytwist]

The Onoto was made by a company that made more profit from printing banknotes, stamps and playing cards than making pens.

 

https://www.delarue.com/

[peterg]

Pitman (education).

John Bull (magazine) and National Security (subsidiary of a carbon paper manufacturer). Both may or may not have manufactured pens at one point.

[MercianScribe]

 

Dunhill not a pen company. Dunhill has sold many kinds of merchandise. Namiki a pen company. Outsourcing was known in times long past. Dunhill Namiki a confected name, not exactly a company name. Given a little capital, one might look forward to peterg Namiki pens.

 

Dunhill started out as a tobacconist I think, and then went into motoring goods, and then motorists' tobacco goods! A quick look at Wiki suggests he was the first real major luxury variety goods designer.

 

Pitman (education).

John Bull (magazine) and National Security (subsidiary of a carbon paper manufacturer). Both may or may not have manufactured pens at one point.

 

Thanks... never got round to looking up John Bull. Have two near noodle eyedroppers from John Bull, or whoever was making them. The nibs are generic as far as I remember.

 

 

Were these not all made by Mabie Todd?

 

And of course Mat originates from West Brom not Kyoto ;-)

 

Hahaha, that's right, West Brom, via Birmingham and North Wales, to the Kanto plain... A substantial proportion of my pens are West Midlands in origin, mind!

[MercianScribe]

Ah yeah, K&J were a famous office stationers, but I seem to remember reading a contemporary account from a worker that at least mentioned they at least had a nominal pen works on site in passing. The literature in my SupaPen box certainly suggests they were in very heavily on the design side and had a particular aesthetic in mind.

I love my Typhoos, btw... one of them is a sturdy thing for its slimness, and a damn good writer. Never looked up who made them, either... but there were a surprising variety, and I love the idea that a lot of people must've been into collecting the cards and looking forward to some quality writing equipment with their morning cuppa!