It's most likely European, probably German... and that's as far as I got with this Mystery Piston Filler

[Theroc]

I acquired this pen a few years ago. It appeared to be in pretty bad shape, but when I took it apart recently, I was amazed by the quality of it. And after I cleaned it and rebuilt it, I had a gem of a pen on my hands.

 

 

The pen measures 135mm capped, has a max diameter of 15mm, and is entirely unmarked.

 

 

It appears to be made of high quality resin, which is up to 3mm thick at some points. I only cleaned and rebuilt the pen, I did not buff it or polish it.

 

 

The somewhat flexy 14kt Gold nib is marked "WARRANTED 585 14Ct. OSMI-IRID POINT <54>"

 

 

The entire piston filler mechanism is made of brass, the threaded fixture that secures it is made of aluminum.

 

 

An unmarked German piston filler is not uncommon, but I've never seen one of this quality. I have a Soennecken 444 Extra in my collection and I struggle to identify anything, apart from the clip, that declares it of higher quality.

 

 

The clip has suffered quite a bit of plating loss, yet the cap and barrel barely have any scratches. Perhaps, any identifying marks the pen may have had in the past, were printed, rather than engraved, and where buffed off by a previous owner?

 

Anyone willing to venture a guess as to the provenance of this pen?

[Mr.Rene]

Hi!

It looks like some european or germany pen...OSMIA maybe? but I have seen Osmia always printed...

Regards.

 

[Theroc]

5 hours ago, Mr.Rene said:

OSMIA maybe?

 

Yes, the way the clip attaches to the cap does resemble some Osmia's, but I've never seen an Osmia (or any other pen) with that clip style. I do suspect the clip may not be original, however.

[shalitha33]

Possibly a TEMPO-CHAMPION from Austria ?

Based on an auction of a pen with a similar clip, the double bands on the barrel. plus a matching filling knob.

Nib on the auction doesn't match. But same brand seems to have "Warranted 585 osmi-irid" marked nibs. This is entirely based on google search results. Imprint on these looks to be on the side of the cap and not the barrel.

Probably some one that know more about pens from this part of the world can help ?

 

[Theroc]

3 hours ago, shalitha33 said:

Possibly a TEMPO-CHAMPION from Austria

 

Oh, wow. Certainly has the same clip and end cap. Pretty confident this is it.

Thanks for the tip. You cut short my investigation by about 18 months 😅. Never heard of the brand, and really don't know anything about Austrian pens in general. It will be fun trying to dig up more info. Thanks again.

[Theroc]

OK, so after a few quick searches I found that the brand name seems to be Tempo. The pens are usually engraved: Tempo-Champion, Tempo-Favorit, Tempo-Lady, etc. some of these pens have 14kt nibs marked Tempo, others Warranted 14kt Osmi-Irid. The Tempo-Champion is the most similar to my pen. However, I found another Tempo-Champion (as engraved on the cap) that has little semblance to my pen or the one Shalitha33 kindly shared.

Furthermore, I have not found any reference to an Austrian brand, Tempo. Except according to one seller offering a few. FPN's list of FP brands does not mention it. It does mention Champion, though.