Mentmore Auto-Flow

[maxrhino]

I managed to get my hands on one today.

Whilst I know a little about some of the smaller UK manufacturers

I know nothing of any consequence about Mentmore.

 

There must be one amongst us who could enlighten me.

How do they rate on the whole as far as quality and collectability is concerned.

Whilst this one is not perfect it is not a bad find for a blustery saturday morning.

It would have been nice to see a mentmore nib on it as all it has is a split warranted 1st quality.

 

Thanks for any info forthcoming.

 

 

[demeter]

Others can tell you more, I'm sure, but Mentmore is the classier version of Platignum...or is it Platignum is the cheaper product of Mentmore. The direction is right anyway. Supposedly Mentmore has risen again and now produces contemporary pens - check out Andy's Pens in England. Some of the older Mentmores are quite beautiful, as you can tell with your pen.

 

Andrew

[Oxonian]

Hi Phil,

 

Mentmore are or were the parent company of Platignum, this was a brand name used on their cheaper general market/student range of pens, many with either tipped or folded point untipped steel nibs from 1926-8ish, may be a year or two earlier, later when the Mentmore name was dropped from pens, due to internal restructuring of some sort in the group's declining years Platignum became the dominant brand. Not all Platignums have steel nibs by the way some have very good 14ct ones that are or can be as good as any Mentmore made over the years.

 

Mentmore's upper range pens over the years were the Diploma, the Auto-flow, the Supreme, Imperial and a couple of others, they did several 'Ladies' pens in smaller sizes the names of which escape me just now.

The Diploma in its earlier, open nib version was a lever filler and used a good sized and usually very pleasant writing nib, this was for several years the top of the everyday range. The Auto-flow was effectively the button fill version being similar in size and furniture, the nibs were in general but not always roughly the same size and of the same quality as the Diploma, the other open nib pens with the Mentmore name on them like the Supreme are either uncommonly seen and/or rather later. Later in the company's life in the late 40s into the mid 50s the pens were redesigned with single colour surface patterned plastic bodies and semi hooded nibs, including the slightly quirky looking 146, all of them are under rated by many people the nibs are as good to write with as any, and I mean any nibs of the period.

 

Mentmore from early on made pens under other names and for retailers including at one time for W.H Smith and I think Boots, many of these are what otherwise would likely have been marked as Platignum but some are unmarked Auto-flows. The Mentmore group also made advertising pens for various companies and even newspapers for commercial giveaways again mostly but not totally of Platignum sort of quality. I can do a bit of ferretting around if you want more detailed and probably more accurate info on dates and things.

 

Cheers, John

[maxrhino]

Cheers John.

 

That's enough to be going on with.

Don't want to be taking up too much of your time.

[demeter]

John,

 

Thanks for the more in depth and fair account, than my breezy, probably silly words.

 

Andrew