Serik 53 (Montegrappa)
1940s
About This Model
There were many small fountain pen manufacturers in Italy during the vintage era, particularly in Torino and Bologne, and included Artus, Atlantica, Aurea, Imperiale, Kosca and others. The trouble is that there is almost no published information about them, except for the wonderful scholarship of Letizia Jacobini, who has managed to tease out most of the sub-brands and models from brands, a tremendously complex job. Most of the brands here were one purchase I made some years back to experience mid-level Italian vintage pens. They were almost all button-fillers, in celluloid patterns that I had never seen before or since. The nibs were almost all steel, responsive and often at least minimally flexible. Filcao started in the 1960s in Settimo Torinese, Italy, as a machine shop for metal parts. Crediting Richard Binder for the history, it's noted that by the end of the decade Filcao was producing cartridge/converter fountain pens, which then became its primary business. In 2004, Binder designed a pen for Filcao called “Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean,” an all-new button filler. It was followed by the Atlantica, the Nobile, and the Silvia. Filcao closed in 2012.
About This Pen
Another of the group of Italian vintage pens, this pen is branded as a Serik, but it is really a Montegrappa, factory-branded by a postwar entrepreneur with his own name. Even the nib is imprinted with his name! It’s a very handsome pen, in sparkly, almost iridescent striated shades of green and gold. It is a typical length at 12.1cm, and is a slender but not petite girth, completely comfortable in all but the largest hand. It is a button-filler, and fills well. Trim is in gold, with three gold cap rings, a sign of a fancier Italian pen. It has been described to me as mint, and indeed shows no signs of having been filled, although I did test its nib. It was professionally restored in Italy before coming to me. The nib is wonderfully soft and smooth, and is Italian flexible fine with a little tactile feedback. It comes with its original box and certificate of original issue, in Italian, of course.
Price: $250 Sold