5 replies to this topic

[akiva gordon]

Just received this lovely ancora lusso. Another one of the early Italian pen companies. This pen is from the 40's and is made of a beautiful greyish celluloid.

[simp]

Congratulations,
Ancora is one of the most interesting italian brands.

Simone

[Gobblecup]

Thanks for sharing Akiva, I always enjoy seeing vintage Italian pens, especially Ancora.

[Daedalus1]

Is Ancora still in the business of making fountain pens?

[david i]

Hi Daedalus,

 

Akiva won't be able to answer, as he passed away unfortunately. A loss for all of us.   I did bit of peeking about.

 

Link Ancora1919.com site:

 

The Ancora pen company was founded on the shores of Lake Maggiore, Italy, in the early part of the twentieth century. Giuseppe Zanini received his first fountain pen as a gift, and fountain pens became his gift to the world with the inception of the Ancora pen company at Sesto Calende in 1919. His earliest wish was simply to make beautiful pens, but his long-range desire was to create every piece of every Ancora pen in his own factory. Zanini's untimely death in 1929 bequeathed the fruition of this dream to his son Alfredo, and within a year, all parts of the company's ebonite and celluloid button-filled pens were produced within the Ancora factory.

Eighty-five years later, Giovanni Santini is fulfilling the original mission of the brand: to produce exquisite pens with passion and care and share them with those who appreciate the timeless fervor that created them. Santini collects vintage pens and owned a pen shop in Turin for a number of years. But it was his work as a pen repairman that gave him the initial impetus to make his own writing instruments. Santini resumed the production of Ancora pens in 1998, and the passion he puts in the pens today is the same passion Zanini had for his products.

Ancora pens are known for their interesting designs and moderate price points.

The Product
Ancora pens are known for their interesting designs and moderate price points. "Our limited editions are under SI,000 and our everyday fountain pens sell for under $200," says Dick Egolf, principal of Luxury Brands USA, the exclusive U.S. distributor of Ancora. "La Perla (the pearl) is our bestseller," he says. The cartridge or converter-filled fountain pen is priced at $250; its nib is 18-karat gold, as are all Ancora fountain pen nibs. The Perla collection also offers a capped convertible pen that accepts rollerball, gel or ballpoint refills. The pens are made from colorful resins and have sterling silver appointments. The caps of the pens are threaded and offer a well-crafted fit when posted and when the pen is closed. When asked to sum up the brand, Egolf says: "Creativity - quality and unique designs."

Pen production takes place in Pavia, about fifty miles south of Milan, where the company fittingly resides in a 1913 Liberty-style building. "We have a small but very complete factory in which we produce all the parts for our pens. We have no mass production—everything is handmade," says Santini. Ancora is one of the very few companies that produces all the parts of its pens, including its ebonite feeders and most challenging of all, its 18-karat gold nibs.

The company is known for its micro-painting, an example of which is the recently introduced Jules Verne limited edition fountain pens, each depicting a scene from Around the World in Eighty Days and Twenty-Thousand Leagues under the sea (88 pieces of each). The Four Seasons — a collection of fountain pens, each of which depicts a painted scene showcasing each season — was also introduced in 2005.

Cappella Sistina, or the Sistine Chapel limited edition (33 pieces) that was introduced in 2004 also employs micro-painting. It features a rendition of Michelangelo's Last Judgment hand-painted on mother-of-pearl. "The mother-of-pearl requires a lot of work. It must first be cut into strips, glued perfectly on the barrel and then polished. The micro-painting alone takes two days for one pen!" says Santini, seeming incredulous at his own statement. "But we like the idea of offering this very high quality work in small editions," he says. "I think it's a way to offer our customers something more than a 'normal' pen."

Ancora also produces limited editions with unique metal overlays, such as the Nautilus — a pen-size rendition of Verne's famed submarine. The Cellini, in sterling silver of vermeil, is another example of the brand's stunning metalwork.

If it can be said that Ancora has a signature style, its use of mother-of-pearl would undoubtedly help define it. In addition to its use as the "canvas" for the micro-painted pens, pearl has also been used in collections such as the early Elite Series and Capri and Amain. Most often the pearl is cut into slabs to form a faceted overlay on the barrel or cap. But in the Paua and Ravenna models of the Elite Series, the shell is broken into fragments and then glued to the barrel like a perfectly executed free-form mosaic. "We prefer to use materials and techniques that cannot be mass-produced," says Santini, who designs all the pens.

With a variety of stunning collections in its wake, the first pen Santini designed, the Unica, remains his favorite. "I will always like the Unica, perhaps because it was my first. We used a pinkish mother-of-pearl over a black body with gold appointments—very elegant," he says. "It has a depression filling mechanism recalling the one first employed by Ancora in the 1930s, only more reliable." Another signature of the brand is its use of vivid resins, one example of which is the new Prima collection. Prima is available in primary colors with a contrasting resin gripping section, bottom tassie and cap crown.

Luxury Brands is making great strides in Ancora's rise to pen stardom in the United States. Egolf credits a strong marketing program and excellent customer service with part of the brand's success in a competitive market. "Ancora is a great brand—very unique, very Italian and a great price point," he says.

Ancora is currently distributed in five countries. "We have not made distribution our first goal," says Santini. "We are more interested in being well represented in regard to our style and exclusivity," he says. "It's quality, not quantity that we want."

The English translation of the Italian ancora is "anchor." By continuing to eschew mass production in favor of hand craftsmanship, the brand is securing its future to the strong traditions of the past. Thus it remains true to its founder and its name.

[Daedalus1]

I'm sorry about Mr. Gordon. Rest in Peace.

What a post! Thankyou. My grandparents were from Calabria, in the south of Italy. I remember a few beautiful green and bluish black fountain pens in their possession. We're talking about a fleeting memory...1955 or there about. My grandmother was a schoolteacher in Italy before they immigrated in 1904, and my grandfather could not read nor write, so the pens would have been hers. They were hardworking, honest, and struggling for survival, as were most of their contempories. They had no money, so those pens were no doubt hers, carefully chosen, and and purchased here. I have no idea what they could have been, but a Waterman in dark green celluloid triggers my memory. I also think that at least one of those pens was an Aurora 88 with a hooded nib. Which one it was is gone forever.

Thanks again for your answer.

Tony