Some more on the subject of the mystery pen I wrote about at the weekend. Annoyingly there is not a vestige of barrel imprint though it seems unlikely that there never was one. Though it is in good condition there are other indications that the pen is well used. The metal top of the cap was once chrome plated like the clip but it has worn through to the base metal. The steel Genius nib is certainly a replacement for one – probably gold – that wore out or was damaged. I plan to replace it with a gold nib.

The pen measures 10.8 cm, a little shorter than the Duofold Streamline Junior which it resembles in some respects. The mix of chrome plating on the clip and gold plating on the cap band is unusual but there can be no question that it is original. The filler-button housing is brass. The cap threading is unusually long, taking 3 1/2 turns to close the pen.

Everything about the pen indicates quality. Usually, it’s the cheap pens that never developed a market that cannot be identified. This one is the opposite, a pen of the quality of the Duofold. I would guess that it is a 1930s pen.

Moving on, another thing that caught my eye today is the UNO Deluxe No 1 tubular pen. This version appeared in 1965. There are a few of them around, mostly because they were the standard technical drawing pen of the National Coal Board. They had a lot of drawing offices and a lot of pens.

Though I haven’t attempted to use it, the UNO looks perfectly capable of working today. These pens had to be stripped and cleaned at the end of every working day. It’s the most basic of writing instruments with no trim or decoration. Just a tool to get the job done. It’s another example of the means used to apply ink to paper