Vintage Italian pen series
#1
Posted 27 April 2013 - 04:12 AM
So we kick things off with the pen that started me on the path of vintage Italian pens and vintage pens in general. I had fallen in love with the beauty of celluloid and had already acquired a number of modern Italian pens. One day I was browsing eBay and saw a pen for sale with a BIN. It was a vintage NOS Columbus 92 in a beautiful blue arco celluloid. I had not heard of Columbus and did some research. Columbus was one of the big 4-5 Italian companies and started around 1919. The company was known for high quality and beautiful celluloid. They were a big force until the early 1950's when they made the decision to go low end to survive. The company is still around but focuses on lower end pens.
The pen itself was flawless. The celluloid was incredible and blew away any of the modern celluloid pens. The pen came with a true vintage flexible nib. I never turned back. I slowly phased out my interest in modern pens (except Nakaya) and switched to vintage pens.
So here is the Columbus 92. The pen is from the late 1940's/early 1950's (before 1952) and is a piston filler. The pen itself is a vintage medium sized pen thus somewhat slim by modern standards.
Highlighting the arco pattern. This pen is a pain to photograph. The celluloid is a deep rich blue with the veins of iridescent light blue.
more of the pattern
The true color is closer to this
Here is the nib
#2
Posted 27 April 2013 - 07:08 AM
Same happened to me and I'm glad it happened early - switched to vintage. Much more interesting, lots of History, beautiful materials, a variety of filling systems and lower prices compared with equivalent quality modern FP.
I also own some vintage Italian FP and am looking forward for more of your posts on the subject.Thanks,Silviu
#4
Posted 28 April 2013 - 03:10 AM
fully hooded and stiff position
Flex position
Here's how it works
#7
Posted 28 April 2013 - 05:29 PM
#8
Posted 28 April 2013 - 05:40 PM
Ricky, I hope you don't mind me poking this in the middle of your thread - I have a question: what does the Arco designation refer to? I ask because I'm familiar with the word from classical string playing: arco - to bow the string (as opposed to pizzacato - to pluck the string). Just curious.
That's a good question for which I don't have a good answer.
On the practical level, it refers to a class of celluloid materials that have iridescent layers such that when the pen is machined it produces the effect above. The bronze/brown arco is sometimes called tiger eye. The material can be machined in the normal direction producing a different effect. I've never seen this version in a vintage pen but Omas made some modern pens and called the pattern Spina de Pesce.
As for the name, it does have a Italian/Latin sounding root. Of course, this is a bit odd since I think Bayer was the first to make this material.
I'll have to do some digging.
#11
Posted 29 April 2013 - 03:08 AM
The two pens are Tibaldi Trasparente in medium size. One cannot overlook the influence of Parker on the Italian pen industry. The Parker Vacumatic created a craze for pens with transparent bodies and non-sac filling systems. Almost all major Italian companies made pens that had transparent barrels. The Omas Lucens and Extra Lucens and the Aurora Optima come to mind. These pens came out in the mid-late 30's and are some of my favorite vintage Italian pens albeit they also come with a high price tag.
#12
Posted 29 April 2013 - 11:38 AM
For today, I have a pair of pens made by Tibaldi. This would be the first Tibaldi. The original Tibaldi went out of business in 60's. They were revived in the nineties and sold pens that honored the original Tibaldi pens. That went under and was revived by the group that owns Montegrappa.
The two pens are Tibaldi Trasparente in medium size. One cannot overlook the influence of Parker on the Italian pen industry. The Parker Vacumatic created a craze for pens with transparent bodies and non-sac filling systems. Almost all major Italian companies made pens that had transparent barrels. The Omas Lucens and Extra Lucens and the Aurora Optima come to mind. These pens came out in the mid-late 30's and are some of my favorite vintage Italian pens albeit they also come with a high price tag.
Terrific thread. I have long history of enjoying "eye candy" chats, and these pens don't pop up too often in any setting.
regards
david
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net
#13
Posted 29 April 2013 - 09:17 PM
Some of the celluloids remind me of Vacumatics. Any idea who come up first with these paterns?
Check out "Pena Lusa by Piscov". Pens added on a regular basis!
Link for Vintage Montblanc pens here
Link for Vintage Pelikan pens here
#14
Posted 30 April 2013 - 05:02 AM
The Ancora buttonfillers and lever fillers were the medium budget pens in the Ancora range in the 1930's. They were below the faceted Damas and the round Maximas. The #4 was the large senior sized pen in the line. The shape of this pen is classic Italian; a shape duplicated by many of the great Italian pen makers. This is the shape I have in mind when I think of an Italian pen. Perfect balance and grace. This is one of the few vintage Italians in my collection that I ink up and use.
The celluloid is called oriental azure or something like that. It has deep rich blue color set off by veins of gold. Quite elegant and one of my favorites.
#15
Posted 30 April 2013 - 11:33 AM
regards
david
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net
#16
Posted 01 May 2013 - 04:19 AM
On a side note. Montegrappa was one of the big five Italian pen companies and exist to this day. Montegrappa was well known for mass production and making pens for other companies. They don't seem to have the same cachet as the other companies I've presented so far. I don't know any Italian pen collectors (at least in the US) that are too keen on Montegrappa. They certainly are not something I focus on. Nonetheless, the pens are still gorgeous.
This pen attracts dust like no other.
Green Celluloid
Twist Fill knob
Nib
#17
Posted 02 May 2013 - 04:27 AM
#18
Posted 04 May 2013 - 03:21 AM
The first is a Radius Superior. Radius is one of the brands under the company S.A.F.I.S. based in Turin. Radius was their higher end line while Astura was their mid-range line. Radius started in the mid-30's and the Superior was one of heir first products. The Superior was made into the 50's albeit with several styling changes over the years. The early Superiors sported a very ornate triangle and lines cap band and the pens were made in both round and faceted versions. Of course, these pens were made in gorgeous celluloid. S.A.F.I.S. also made pens for third parties and heir pens can be seen in a lot of places under different names. Radius is not a bad place to start for people wanting to start collecting vintage Italian pens but are scared off by the price commanded by the more famous makes (i.e. like the pens I've shown so far) but with similar quality.
Radius Superior in a dark brown arco celluloid.
Unique capband
The next pen is a Tabo Mentis. Tabo was a company based in Bologna, same as Omas. There is not that much information on Tabo. Pens with the Tabo name started appearing in 1939. The pen I am showing is a Tabo Mentis. This is a large button filler with a very nice celluloid pattern. Tabo also made a series of transparent barrel pens with a Parke Vac-like filling system and the ubiquitous lever filler. Other than that I don't really know much more about this pen.
Tabo Mentis
Wild celluloid pattern
Mentis logo on a slightly darkened barrel.
Tabo Nib
#20
Posted 04 May 2013 - 08:53 AM
The next pen is a Tabo Mentis. Tabo was a company based in Bologna, same as Omas. There is not that much information on Tabo. Pens with the Tabo name started appearing in 1939. The pen I am showing is a Tabo Mentis. This is a large button filler with a very nice celluloid pattern. Tabo also made a series of transparent barrel pens with a Parke Vac-like filling system and the ubiquitous lever filler. Other than that I don't really know much more about this pen.
Mentis logo on a slightly darkened barrel.
A bit of info. about Tabo:
In 1919 Giuseppe Tantini and Giorgio Stiassi established in Bologna the ASCA company which produced stationary (the company changed it's name several times).
In 1920 they began production of "The Scotland" fountain pen. The nibs were probably produced by Omas or MonteGrappa. The production of "the Scotland" pen ceased in 1930.
In 1939 they began the production of the TABO pens. The name "TABO" stands for TAntini-BOlogna. They produced button fillers named "Mentis", vaccum fillers named "Transparent" and faceted lever fillers marked "1931".
Production of TABO ceased around 1948 - 1950 when Stiassi and Tantini closed their pen and stationary business.
Edited by Silviu, 04 May 2013 - 08:56 AM.
0 user(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users