This Reynolds pen, with its Arctic wolf image and pawprints is not my usual thing but it raises a couple of points. First it is a well-made pen, all its parts fitting together well and it’s plated steel nib delivering ink smoothly. It’s aimed at the youth market, showing that there are still good school pens around – or were; this pen is a few years old.

The other point of interest relates to the long-lived Reynolds business.  It was best known as the first company to produce an at least somewhat reliable ballpoint pen in the USA, from which it made a fortune before ballpoint pen prices fell. Reynolds then invested in fountain pen factories in India and France. These were successful, especially in India, until in 2016 the factory producing these pens dropped the Reynolds name and began making pens under the name Rorito. The French factory too continued producing well-made, low-cost pens until 2007.

Unlike many pen manufacturers Reynolds dealt with the decline in the fountain pen market by exporting production – and largely sales – to other countries. This business model enabled them to continue producing basic fountain pens in markets where they were still demanded.