You may remember our recent discussions about the Pitman’s pens. We concluded that most – indeed all the earlier ones – were made by Waterman. These photos of a rather handsome Pitman are evidentiary, I would say. There is a possible quibble and it is this: Waterman sacs may have been provided for repairers who […]

We’ve had much discussion about the otherwise rather ordinary Pitman pens, on the subject of their origin.  Consensus was that several manufacturers were involved over the years.  Peter Greenwood has kindly drawn my attention to this Pitman which sold on eBay recently. The photographs* show a fairly worn barrel imprint but the number 760 is […]

  Paul L kindly sent me photos of his Pitman pens. There is a black hard rubber “Fono” in very good condition, a long slender, straight-sided pen. It has a rather long lever. The domed cap has a riveted clip with the ball end. The barrel imprint is “Pitman’s Fono Lever Self-Filler.” His other Pitman, […]

If you put “Pitman’s” into the search box at the upper right of this page you’ll see what I had to say previously about the general history of these pens. In general terms there is not much more to say except that for most of their long production these were decent pens. Their manufacturer remains […]

A friend has a Pitman’s Fono pen with a very short lever. That may be a clue to who made it. Can anyone think of a British pen manufacturer who turned out models of their own with a very short lever? It’s niggling at the back of my mind but I can’t get it. Photo […]

I’ve written about the Spot pen before and outlined its history. Mentmore tend to be rather dull, worthy pens with unyielding nibs but the Spot brand seemed to allow the company the freedom to make an altogether more interesting pen. There were true ripple pattern pens, something no one apart from Waterman made. The one […]