Pens Inspired by History

Tom Hessin's pens are very much inspired by history, especially that of the UK's industrial past. They started in Birmingham, in the traditional pen-making Jewellery Quarter, and their own history is five generations of pen makers, going back to 1870.

The pens they are producing now are all inspired by the history of their surroundings and family. For example, the Ironbridge fountain pen from their Revolution collection takes inspiration from the smoke and steel of 18th and 19th century Birmingham. Or the Charles collection, taking its name from the family name of the founders, Andrew Charles and then his son Thomas Hessin Charles.

While the pens clearly take inspiration from history, the actual manufacturing and styling are quite modern.

The modern Parker 51 pen takes inspiration, very obviously, from the classic Parker 51 pens that go back to the 1940s. Not only was the original 51 such a beautifully simple and stylish design that it still looks modern, but it also brought in features and innovations that have become common in all sorts of pens to this day.

The feed was a new design, wrapping the nib in a 'collector', which held a supply of ink right around the nib, ready to go. It was originally intended to use super fast-drying ink, which didn't stand the test of time, but it made the ink feed so reliable that many rollerball pens today have a very similar design, with fine fins to absorb extra ink and keep it ready to feed to the tip.

The Aerometric filling system was introduced a bit later in the 51's run, but became the standard for most Parker pens for many years. The simplicity and convenience of cartridges and converters won out in the end, but the Aerometric system was the standard for a long time.

Taking inspiration from their history is very much what Kaweco do - the old Kaweco company went out of business many years ago, but the brand was brought back by Michael Gutberlet, who loved their old designs. He had years of manufacturing experience, so he could apply modern standards and techniques to bring back classic designs he loved, and it turned out, he wasn't alone!

The Sport is probably the best-known of their pens, with its handy size in your pocket extending to a full-sized pen in use.

Cross has made a lot of interesting new pen designs over the years, they certainly don't just sit on their history. But many of their most successful designs go back a long time, with that distinctive slim profile and low clip.

They were originally founded in 1846 by Richard Cross, but the A.T. Cross name and the name of the Townsend pen comes from his son, Alonzo Townsend Cross. Their background was in making complex jewellery, and they brought that expertise to making luxurious writing instruments, beginning with pencil holders.

It's perhaps not quite right to say Pelikan's Souverän range is inspired by history, it's just had very much the same design for a very long time. The styling, including the green marbled resin, goes back to 1929. It's been modernised over the years, making the piston-filling mechanisms last longer and longer, but it's always been refinements that than huge changes.

While Faber-Castell dates back to 1761, their luxury brand, Graf von Faber-Castell, was launched in 1993 by Count Anton-Wolfgang von Faber-Castell. But that meant he had a lot of history to draw on for their designs and styling.

The obvious thing would have been to use a style similar to that of other luxury pen brands, but that's not what they did. Instead, they created the 'trumpet' finial design and externally sprung clip, a style that was common on old mechanical pencils around a hundred years ago.

The result is perfect - rooted in history, connected to Faber-Castell's long history of pencil making, but distinctively different.

While the sort of mechanical pencils that inspired Graf von Faber-Castell's designs were made by many different companies back when they were popular, not many are still making them. That might be just Yard O Led - still making mechanical pencils, but now also ballpoint pens, rollerballs and fountain pens, the same way they have for over 200 years. They've been hand-making these pencils in the same factory since 1934, in Birmingham, England.

There's a factory tour on YouTube, showing how they make these beautiful pens.

Retro 51 is very different - founded in 1990, and using modern colours and styles, but with an emphasis on vintage quality and ideals. The result is a bit of a mix of the modern and the retro, but done very nicely, in a way that resonates for a lot of people.

We have a couple of items to mention here that might be older than you'd think from looking at them. Perhaps more 'ahead of their time' than 'inspired by history'. Firstly - the Lamy 2000. It looks like a super modern fountain pen (also available as a ballpoint, pencil, or even a 4-colour multipen). But it's actually been in production since 1966. Certainly a design that's stood the test of time!

Going back slightly further, Pilot originally created the Capless fountain pen to celebrate the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, first releasing the pen in 1963. A retractable fountain pen is an unusual thing even now, but back then it must have been quite amazing.

As you'd expect from a Japanese company, Pilot have been gradually improving the Capless ever since, including adding the slimmer Decimo model for those who found the original a little too chunky.

OK, this isn't a pen, but what good is a pen without ink? And Herbin has been making inks since 1670. Jaques Herbin was a French adventurer, who acquired the formulae and methods to make sealing wax and ink on his travels. On returning to Paris, he set about making his own wax and stationery, with the company he established moving into ink production in 1798.

While the ink formulae have almost certainly been changed over the years to meet modern standards, the style and presentation remains very rooted in their history, with many of their ink bottles still having wax seals over their caps.

A perfect example of being inspired by history, Moleskine is a modern company, set up in 1997 to make notebooks of a style that was popular among creatives for many years previously. The likes of Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and Bruce Chatwin had all been said to use these little black notebooks, which had been made by a number of companies over the years. But the last one had gone out of business, so the current Moleskine company set up to continue the legacy.