India, 2010. Unpolished black ebonite, from India. Eyedropper; has Edison B nib. A very large cigar of a pen that holds a full vial of ink but leaks that much back out after a paragraph of use, because the ebonite transfers body heat quickly. Ask me how I learned that…
France, 1990s-early 2000s. A simple, excellent modern pen. Pebbled grey lacquer over brass. A wonderful, wet, medium writer. In rotation as “everyday carry”.
France, 1949. In 1947, the Paris fashion industry returned to life, and the rage that produced was Dior’s all new “New Look” lineup, so named by Harper’s Bazaar. The name inspired a wave of fashion, and JIF/Waterman, casting about in early 1949 for an identity for its new pen, named it the New Look! This is a celluloid pen, 13.5cm long and thicker than French pens had been for some years, with the first of what would become many French pens’ clips gracefully arching over the pen’s crown. It is a beautiful pen, in dark red, fitting nicely in the hand. JIF continued using this style on numerous models through the 1960s, even with the change to plastic barrels.
England, postwar-1954. Red/brown marbled celluloid, original Wyvern nib. Lever filler. Wonderful soft and wet writer.