This is my husband’s Ford Patent Pen. I bought it for him as an engagement present fifteen years ago. It’s the standard size and it isn’t kept under glass. It’s in the rotation and we both use it. It holds a bucketful of ink. Unfortunately the rotation has become quite big in recent years and though I fill the Ford with water before I put it away, I’ve been horrified to find that it has dried out when I take it out to use it again.

I’ve twice been lucky and the introduction of a little water into the inner barrel got it going again. Last week, though, the Ford had had enough of my neglect and bad behaviour and it refused to draw ink. I’m a good enough repairer with the run-of-the-mill pens but there are some pens and some repairs that are beyond my skills and courage. The Ford was expensive when I bought it and it has been a good investment. It’s worth an alarming amount of money now and I’m not going to go fiddling with it so I sent it to Eric Wilson. It came back in a couple of days in perfect condition once again. Many thanks, Eric.

Whenever I’ve had a pen I couldn’t fix myself I’ve always sent it to Eric and I haven’t come across a type of pen that he can’t fix if it’s fixable. He’s the master of Onotos and probably the only person in Britain that fixes Wahl Doric plunger fillers correctly. Swan Visofils too. He even does arcane things like cracked nib repair and gold plating. I’m often asked to do repairs for others – something I don’t do – and I’m confident in sending those people to Eric as I know the work will be first class, they’ll get a good turnaround and it won’t be expensive. You can contact Eric at ericthepen@gmail.com

We’re very fortunate in having such experts available to us today.