What pens are still made in the USA and Europe?

[Dace]

Hello,

 

I am new to this forum but not necessarily new to fountain pens. While I own a few, they are not high end fountain pens which as we all know is perfectly okay. I am a public accountant and my trusty Lamy Safari is often referred to as the “fancy” pen by others in my firm which I find amusing. The purpose of this post is to ask a simple question. I tried searching various terms and could not find any other similar posts. I am wondering if anyone knows which pens are still made in the USA or Europe. If anyone has a list of information I would greatly appreciate it.

[JohnCruzNg]

Mabie Todd and Edison pens are still made in the USA.

Edited December 18, 2009 by JohnCruzNg

[ianyer]

Bexley is a good quality pen that is still made in the US. Their home page is http://www.bexleypen.co

 

Lanier pens are also made in the US. Their home page is http://www.lanierpens.com/

 

I own two Bexley pens (although they are rollerballs and not fountain pens) and they are very nice. I do not own any Lanier pens as they look to be made from kits with custom wood added to the outside.

 

Hope this helps.

[I am not a number]

There is a recent thread on British pens here.

[jar]

Lots of pens still made in Europe, Conway Stewart, ST Dupont, Cartier, Pelikan, Diplomat, Montblanc, OMAS, Aurora, Grifos, Visconti, Yard-O-Lead, Ferrari, Caran D'Ache and likely many others I've missed.

[Tsujigiri]

The Europe one is easy; I don't think many European pen companies outsource to China. A lot of American companies like Cross, however, outsource key components of their pens. Bexely seems to be the only company that mass-produces well-respected pens in America now. And then there are Edison's custom creations...

[RitaCarbon]

Bexley is a good quality pen that is still made in the US. Their home page is http://www.bexleypen.co

 

Lanier pens are also made in the US. Their home page is http://www.lanierpens.com/

 

I own two Bexley pens (although they are rollerballs and not fountain pens) and they are very nice. I do not own any Lanier pens as they look to be made from kits with custom wood added to the outside.

 

Hope this helps.

 

+1 for Lanierpens. I got two - classic and cigar, both in box elder green. The warm touch of wood with the precious look of marbel. It was a gift. I was surprised at first, because I didn't know the brand. It's nice to hear about Laniers here on FPN.

[dandelion]

Lots of pens still made in Europe, Conway Stewart, ST Dupont, Cartier, Pelikan, Diplomat, Montblanc, OMAS, Aurora, Grifos, Visconti, Yard-O-Lead, Ferrari, Caran D'Ache and likely many others I've missed.

 

...Faber-Castell, Lamy, Wörther, Kaweco, Cleo Skribent, Delta, etc etc - the list can get very long...

 

Yes, and - the more I think of it - it is slightly peculiar (and a good thing) that none of the big European pen companies have outsourced their production to China.

Maybe the European pen manufacturers early realized how it would devaluate the brand if they should try to do that. High end pens is luxury goods that are harder to sell if they are made in China.

Recent studies also show that it - in the long run - isn't necessarily profitable to outsource production as it might seem in the beginning. I am nevertheless happy about the fact that Europe have a LOT of pen manufacturers that still make their pens in Europe.

[georges zaslavsky]

Lots of pens still made in Europe, Conway Stewart, ST Dupont, Cartier, Pelikan, Diplomat, Montblanc, OMAS, Aurora, Grifos, Visconti, Yard-O-Lead, Ferrari, Caran D'Ache and likely many others I've missed.

 

...Faber-Castell, Lamy, Wörther, Kaweco, Cleo Skribent, Delta, etc etc - the list can get very long...

 

Yes, and - the more I think of it - it is slightly peculiar (and a good thing) that none of the big European pen companies have outsourced their production to China.

Maybe the European pen manufacturers early realized how it would devaluate the brand if they should try to do that. High end pens is luxury goods that are harder to sell if they are made in China.

Recent studies also show that it - in the long run - isn't necessarily profitable to outsource production as it might seem in the beginning. I am nevertheless happy about the fact that Europe have a LOT of pen manufacturers that still make their pens in Europe.

Me too. Quality control is also a very important thing when you buy a pen.

[drunken spider]

 

Me too. Quality control is also a very important thing when you buy a pen.

 

 

Which is often better in the far east than in western countrys (although perhaps Germany could be an exception).

 

Obviously the high end stuff made by craftsmen who take a great pride in the quality of their work will have good QC wherever it is made. But when it comes to factory produced stuff I would probably be more confident of something made in the far east than in Britain sadly :embarrassed_smile:

[eric47]

Lots of pens still made in Europe, Conway Stewart, ST Dupont, Cartier, Pelikan, Diplomat, Montblanc, OMAS, Aurora, Grifos, Visconti, Yard-O-Lead, Ferrari, Caran D'Ache and likely many others I've missed.

 

Stipula (I beat Deirdre ). Montegrappa should have always been European, but let's hope post-Richemont it returns to being Italian.

[Scripto]

Hello,

 

I am new to this forum but not necessarily new to fountain pens. While I own a few, they are not high end fountain pens which as we all know is perfectly okay. I am a public accountant and my trusty Lamy Safari is often referred to as the “fancy” pen by others in my firm which I find amusing. The purpose of this post is to ask a simple question. I tried searching various terms and could not find any other similar posts. I am wondering if anyone knows which pens are still made in the USA or Europe. If anyone has a list of information I would greatly appreciate it.

 

 

Dear friend,

 

I too find it rather amusing that people would refer to a Safari as fancy. Many of the pen manufacturers are outsourcing their pens to China and Taiwan. Some of the European pen companies outsource some of the components and assemble them in Europe or vice versa! Lamy is an amazing company that insists on the Germanship of its pens although some of the designers are non Germans.

 

Cross, Sheaffer, Parker are one of the the worst culprits in terms of outsourcing. I'm not sure Sheaffer has a US factory anymore!! Krone pens are the funny ones; they're made by Marlen and many of marlen's pens are made in China. Loiminchay's pens are either Taiwan or China made. Danitrio pens are made in Taiwan but finished in Japan. I personally think it's disgusting to only lend a name to a pen that was neither designed nor manufactured by the company itself. As for Chinese pens, well, they're good actually. I think it's a matter of time before they start their upmarket pen ventures. Duke started to do this and their pens, even the inexpensive ones are very good.

[Penman222]

There are two German companies that make great "entry level" pens that are still affordable to the average user - Lamy and Pelikan. Parker "45"s were made in the UK until a couple of years ago I think. I would assume that any of the current crop of lower priced Parker/Cross/Waterman fountain pens are now stamped out in China. Please note that I am a big fan of the Hero 616 which is a "supercheap" Chinese pen, so just understand what you are buying and adjust your expectations accordingly.

[Ondina]

Lots of pens still made in Europe, Conway Stewart, ST Dupont, Cartier, Pelikan, Diplomat, Montblanc, OMAS, Aurora, Grifos, Visconti, Yard-O-Lead, Ferrari, Caran D'Ache and likely many others I've missed.

 

...Faber-Castell, Lamy, Wörther, Kaweco, Cleo Skribent, Delta, etc etc - the list can get very long...

 

 

Waterman, Inoxcrom, Romillo (Romillo), Kynsey (Kynsey) Stipula, Stypen (bought by Sandford recently), Cesare Emiliano, Giuliano Mazzuoli...and many more.

Edited December 20, 2009 by Ondina

[dandelion]

Does anybody know why the (big bulk of the) American pen industry got outsourced to the low wage countries while the European pen companies have continued to produce most of their pens in Europe? It is a huge difference between US/Europe in this respec and it would be interesting to know more about it.

[flodoc]

Having just retired as Manager of Import/Export Compliance, I can tell you that most country's import laws require that goods be marked with the country in which the last substantial transformation occurred (country of origin). Assembly is considered substantial transformation (painting, plating, fabricating individual parts and packaging are not considered substantial transformation). So, if a pen is marked "France" it was at least assembled in France if not completely fabricated and assembled there. Many companies outsource the tedius labor and capital intensive fabrication and production of components to low wage countries and perform the assembly in their "headquarter" country. Therefore, if a pen has a country marking, it was (or should have been)at least final assembled and checked for quality in that country.

[pengem]

Hello,

 

I am new to this forum but not necessarily new to fountain pens. While I own a few, they are not high end fountain pens which as we all know is perfectly okay. I am a public accountant and my trusty Lamy Safari is often referred to as the “fancy” pen by others in my firm which I find amusing. The purpose of this post is to ask a simple question. I tried searching various terms and could not find any other similar posts. I am wondering if anyone knows which pens are still made in the USA or Europe. If anyone has a list of information I would greatly appreciate it.

[pengem]

Why do you believe that being made in the usa or europe is better. look at cars. american cars and german cars are inferior in quality to japanese and some korean cars. Lamy pens are of questionable quality. making some of these pens in china would improve the quality. Italian pens are exotic but a joke in quality-look at their cars. we should look forward to the improvement that will occur when there is a shift to asian factories ill buy a mercedes again when they stop making them in the usa and germany

[buffalowings]

Why do you believe that being made in the usa or europe is better. look at cars. american cars and german cars are inferior in quality to japanese and some korean cars. Lamy pens are of questionable quality. making some of these pens in china would improve the quality. Italian pens are exotic but a joke in quality-look at their cars. we should look forward to the improvement that will occur when there is a shift to asian factories ill buy a mercedes again when they stop making them in the usa and germany

 

 

when that day comes, you go to the store and buy your "lamy" "pelikan" or whatever european brand, you use your pen for a month or two, and the solid gold nib starts turning silver, oh wait, when they meant 18ct, they meant plated, then you read about a recall on the internet, turns out the lacquer is carcinogenic and the gilding is really impregnated with lead

 

my 2 cents

[dandelion]

It is a very big difference if the outsourcing is made to improve quality or if it is done to cut costs. Outsourcing to cut costs is not bound to improve quality - it is only a cost oriented measure. I think it is unnecessary to turn the discussion into country/region bashing. I think the original outsource discussion is more interesting in regards to company policies, because it is an interesting difference in approach between European and US pen companies here. I also believe that the European pen manufacturers actually produce the pens in Europe - they not only assemble the pens to be able to put a made in Germany/France/UK etc sticker on the pens.

Edited January 24, 2010 by dandelion