Pens from Poland?

[mr T.]

I've been fortunate enough to grace the company of a woman from Poland and am wondering what pens, if any, were ever manufactured in Poland as well as what pens can be found there.

 

Wiland fountain pens are manufactured in Poland.

[ehemem]

I've been fortunate enough to grace the company of a woman from Poland and am wondering what pens, if any, were ever manufactured in Poland as well as what pens can be found there.

 

Wiland fountain pens are manufactured in Poland.

 

And they are beautiful!

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/150276-wiland-muki-2009/

 

http://www.wiland.eu/muki-en.html

[Brutto]

Zenith-9 used to be made in Poland, though they were ugly. I enclose some pictures. I managed to win it at a Polish auction site and now use it regularly. It writes nicely with a medium line, though the cap does not post and the plastic seems to have wilted a little over time. Still, it has no cracks and is reliable. Please note the size of the feed, more like in early Parkers 21 than like in the actual Parkers 51. Funnily enough, I did not even know twenty-five years ago that cartridge-filled pens were made in Poland, as cartridges were sort of hard to find in our stores. But this is Polish;, I bought it without the original box, but I have seen others sold in the original boxes at other auctions, and the text on the box read “Cartridge-filled fountain pen” („Wieczne pióro na naboje”). The factory was in Częstochowa, and they still make fountain pens (one model that is cheap and even trashy, but at least looks serious, writes well and is a viable alternative to the Chinese products, as well as several models of pens for children with silly pictures on the barrels) and of course a much larger offer of ballpoints. Wiland is more of a curio, making only 21 pieces of each model.

[Brutto]

And some mug shots of my current Zenith Omega. I have been using it for two months now, and there is a mark on the barrel from the cap. In the previous one, the thread cracked after fifteen months of use; in the one before that, after more than three years. Maybe it is not bad for a pen that costs the equivalent of $5. It writes with a line slightly thicker than a Hero 616 and is great for doing crossword puzzles, printed on spongy paper. The cartridges enclosed with the pen are allegedly made by the same producer, but you cannot buy them separately (as far as I know). Hungarians and Russians used to make fountain pens, but have stopped altogether, so we are not doing all that badly, are we? I wonder how many fountain pens are made in America. No offense, but I know of only one US producer, which is Noodler’s.

[Brutto]

A thousand apologies for the quality of the pictures. I took them using my scanner, definitely not made in Poland.

[Brutto]

And since I am in the mood for scanning and posting, here is my cartridge-filled ballpoint made by a Polish company called “Granit.” An interesting gimmick, cost me a bit more than $2 in a stationery store in Poland. Similar pens are made by another company in Poland, called Stanisław Majewski, but they are targeted at children and have silly pictures on them. “Granit” make a fountain pen priced similarly to the Waterman Hémisphère, which you can see here:

 

http://www.biurpol.poznan.pl/pioro-wieczne-sonata-ps-granit-p-1728.html

 

Sorry, meanwhile I read that Bexley continues to make fountain pens in the US. But it is discouraging, this fashion for outsourcing.

[Tefolim]

Imitations of Parker 51 (or of Chinese Heroes) were made in Poland in the 70s and 80s, and now we have at least one large manufacturer of cheap fountain pens, made in enormous quantities and available in most stationery stores and supermarkets. The name is “Zenith Omega” and the price equals $5 or so. They don’t look much, with the body and cap made of plastic, and low-quality plastic too, and with the feed very often misaligned (so when you buy one, make sure you may choose one you like), but then they are dependable and write a nice wet though fine line. I have been using them for a dozen years. At least they don’t dry out. The nibs look like IPG, but at least they have the company name engraved on them. For ten times more, you may buy a “Granit Sonata,” apparently also with an IPG nib, though the rest is made of celluloid. I haven’t seen one in real life yet, only pictures. I also have a Polish Parker 51 wannabe, at least 25 years old (they stopped making them as soon as Communism ended here), cartridge-fed, and it's a good writer, too.

China sold machines for manufacturing "100" Hero,"581" Hero and "215"Lucky to Poland during 1961-1962 and Poland accepted the machines after they did product the fountain pens

[WJM]

I have one of those Zenith pens, manufactured, as far as I know, in 1960's. It feels rather poorly made, the plastic seems very cheap, compared not only to Parker 51 but also to at least some of its Chinese copies, including Hero 616.

 

I think I filled it maybe once (it's a squeeze filler) a few years ago, and from what I remember it performed very badly - poor flow and leaking from the ink window area. Then again the pen is old, probably something could be done about it, but I never bothered.

 

On the photos compared with Parker 51

 

 

Edited March 29, 2018 by WJM

[Roman-pl]

If this topic is still "alive", I would like to mention about "Przemysław Marciński - Bespoke Fountain Pens" - www.pmarcinski.pl - ver. Eng: www.pmarcinski.pl/en/

[AidenMark]

If this topic is still "alive", I would like to mention about "Przemysław Marciński - Bespoke Fountain Pens" - www.pmarcinski.pl - ver. Eng: www.pmarcinski.pl/en/

 

 

Nice, custom builds too.

[Kodiac136]

If this topic is still "alive", I would like to mention about "Przemysław Marciński - Bespoke Fountain Pens" - www.pmarcinski.pl - ver. Eng: www.pmarcinski.pl/en/

Looks like quality worksmanship. I may have to check one of these out sometime.

[Roman-pl]

Looks like quality worksmanship. I may have to check one of these out sometime.

 

In two days there is Pen Show Day 2018 in Katowice, where Przemysław Marciński exhibits his FPs. I will take a closer look at them - and I will write something next week.

[Ed_Usinowicz]

If this topic is still "alive", I would like to mention about "Przemysław Marciński - Bespoke Fountain Pens" - www.pmarcinski.pl - ver. Eng: www.pmarcinski.pl/en/

 

Thank you Roman-pl for the info. I went to Przemyslaw's website to have a look. The pens are so stunning that I just ordered one! I'm looking forward to your report from

Katowice.

 

Ed

[Roman-pl]

 

Thank you Roman-pl for the info. I went to Przemyslaw's website to have a look. The pens are so stunning that I just ordered one! I'm looking forward to your report from

Katowice.

 

Ed

 

My upload is "not allowed" so I can't post the picture from Przemysław Marciński table on Pen Show Poland 2018 in Katowice. We had very nice conversation about his pens, nibs, quality, materials - especially wood in fountain pens production. No photos... But - YouTube link: 5:30-5:45 -

Edited April 8, 2018 by Roman-pl

[Ed_Usinowicz]

Thanks again Roman-pl, loved the video!

[Roman-pl]

'Curio' from Poland: http://www.pmarcinski.pl/3163-2/ - PM Jaga 2018 (exclusive edition)