St Dupont pens build quality - exterior versus internal

March 9

Dear forum,

I am starting this thread to see if there is more knowledge available with regards to the build quality of older type St Dupont fountain pens. After searching this forum and the net extensively, I have come across many references to the excellent quality of manufacturing of StD pens in general and of course also many comments on the poorer quality of counterfeits versus the real deal. Common sense items such as magnetic 18K gold nibs, the well known fake serial number 5J0HB45, the no-fins feed and the unfinished underside of the clip aside, the one thing I find more difficult to asses is the finish of the inside parts.

Several contributors have commented that the inside of the barrel and cap should be equally well finished compared to the outside, but I find this very hard to decide without clear pictures of what good looks like versus bad. I have a few StD pens, a Classique, a Plume Ultime (aka Gatsby I), a Gatsby II and an Olympio guirlande Chairman design, of which at least three are real.

Looking at the insides, there are a few things that I noticed with regards to build quality:

1. The section part with the threads for all pens except the Olympio is simple plastic, which is consistent with all the other authentic examples that I have seen, but does look a bit out of place for a well built StD pen. So the excellent external metal/lacquer build quality is not equal to the good, but plastic internal part.

2. The Classique and Plume Ultime pens, both real, are perfect outside, with correct markings and smooth inside of barrel and cap. These are a thin body metal pens and I cannot tell whether made out of sheet metal or brass.

3. The Gatsby II (real) and Olympio (undecided) are both heavier pens, with a brass body and covered with chinese lacquer. Externally both are perfect, with the correct markings and the leaf symbol and both with perfectly executed non-magnetic 18k nibs and the correct feeds. But the insides of the barrel on both pens are not as perfectly finished as with the other two. The brass barrels are obviously thicker, being heavier pens and the insides, although well finished, do show some (regular) marks of the turning process to hollow them out. So the real Gatsby shows some turning marks, similar to the (undecided) Olympio.

So here I am wondering about the following:

Are all StD pens always perfectly smooth on the inside of the barrel and how rough does the inside of counterfeits look by comparison? Does anyone have pictures or can provide a good description?

Is it possible that earlier thin metal StD pens have a different making process, so are automatically smooth inside, versus later brass bodied pens which are thicker and require turning to create the bore for the converter?

Can owners of genuine Olympios/Orpheos please provide pictures or a good description of the inside barrels of their pens? Does smooth inside mean perfectly polished, or are there a few circle marks on an otherwise smooth brass surface from turning?

Final point on my Olympio, it has Made in France on one side of the clip and the serial number on the other side. Underneath the clip is perfectly smooth. As I understand it, this was an earlier series and later Dupont put both markings on only one side of the clip. Is that correct? Are there known fakes of both versions? All the fakes I have been able to identify have both markings on the same side of the clip.

Thank you for reviewing and your comments!

March 10

Just had a look at my black Chinese lacquer Olympio Palladium trim (mod. MS 480674) made in 2005 I believe (stamped E 05 on the edge of the cartridge casing, if that's the meaning), which I'm pretty certain is genuine.

Both markings are on the right side of the clip. The "leaf mark" is hot stamped in gold on the lacquered surface of the cap towards the bottom right. On the inside of the brass barrel there are evenly spaced parallel machined grooves to "shave off" weight, thus it seems to be actually turned on a lathe from a solid rod (i.e. no cast parts).

Hope this helps.

March 11

Thank you Lamarax, this is very helpful indeed. What you describe as “parallel machined grooves” is exactly what I can see in the barrel of my Olympio. Thank you for checking and commenting.

March 13

Well, what better excuse could there be for buying another St Dupont Olympio pen than needing a “definitely this one is real” example to compare with my undecided one. I absolutely love Dupont pens in general for their smooth nibs and the Olympio in particular for its size & design + the chinese lacquer on these is sooooo nice!. So I am looking forward to an incoming vertigo lacquer version and will report back here once it arrives.

I also thought about getting a cheap counterfeit one to compare (there is one for sale on the Bay - not cheap!), but hey, why encourage the fake market.

March 16

On 3/10/2025 at 12:19 AM, Penman57 said:

Common sense items such as magnetic 18K gold nibs

Just as an FYI for readers of this thread: I don't have a real Olympio (yet) but I purposely bought a used fake one for a couple of bucks to study. Its nib is not magnetic.

March 16

Thank you PithyProlix. Would it be possible to share a more detailed description of your pen inside and outside and ideally a few good resolution pictures? That would help with a comparison against authentic pens. Especially the nib, since you say it is not magnetic, so it must be a different fake series versus the ones that were reviewed here in the past.

March 16

On 3/13/2025 at 5:10 PM, Penman57 said:

Well, what better excuse could there be for buying another St Dupont Olympio pen than needing a “definitely this one is real” example to compare with my undecided one. I absolutely love Dupont pens in general for their smooth nibs and the Olympio in particular for its size & design + the chinese lacquer on these is sooooo nice!. So I am looking forward to an incoming vertigo lacquer version and will report back here once it arrives.

I also thought about getting a cheap counterfeit one to compare (there is one for sale on the Bay - not cheap!), but hey, why encourage the fake market.

Well, I'm in general a sucker for Swiss made products, Caran d'Ache in particular😉

Lately, I've been searching for a plain black lacquer Léman with a lacquered section (older issue; ring on the body, not on the cap), but for the love of me I haven't been able to find any.

March 17

There are a few for sale here in Switzerland, but not all black. There is a black(barrel)/black(section) with a metal cap and a black/metal with a metal cap and an all blue one. If you want, I can be on the look out for you and let you know if I see a full black one. Prices are between 300-450 euros.

March 17

3 hours ago, Penman57 said:

There are a few for sale here in Switzerland, but not all black. There is a black(barrel)/black(section) with a metal cap and a black/metal with a metal cap and an all blue one. If you want, I can be on the look out for you and let you know if I see a full black one. Prices are between 300-450 euros.

That'd be great, thank you! I've discovered one NOS in blue at a local shop (@ ~450€), but it comes with a <F> nib, for which I don't particularly care about.