In the early 1990s the passion for fountain pens experienced a powerful revival in Europe and in Italy in particular.
Pen collecting became a very fashionable hobby and many Italian manufacturers started producing their first limited editions, which flanked their standard production.
Pen makers such as Delta, Stipula, Visconti, Marlen, Montegrappa, Tibaldi, Omas and a few others, manufactured some of their best products ever.
Publicity creators of the past often found a powerful source of inspiration in the world of animals, exploiting this realm of images and logical association to create refined and sophisticated advertising messages.
Fountain pen collectors and users prefer smearing their fingers and struggling with ink bottles instead of adopting pens with a cartridge filling mechanism.
A visual comparison to check wether you are buying a fake Montblanc Boheme ball pen.
Year of production: 2005
Number of pieces: 905
Universal pens were produced in Milan by the Cavaliere Company.
The company’s logo was the outline of a horseshoe (Cavaliere in Italian means Knight). The logo can be found either with the horseshoe only or with a nib which goes through it.
I have had this Uhlmman Eterno’s catalogue for years and have often wondered if the facetted pens it shows were Uhmann pens or not. They looked like Ancora pens to me.
EXTRA derives from Latin and its meaning is “ beyond the scope of, in addition to what is usual o expected”
Extra is actually the comparative of “Ex” which means “external”, “out of”.
One of the most common uses of the suffix extra is in the adjective “extra-ordinarious”, meaning extraordinary, unusual.
A very evocative limited edition
Year of Production: 1993
Number of pieces: 4692
1948 was a year of deep transformation in Italy: on Jan. 1st the Italian Constitution became effective and in April the first elections since the fall of the Fascist regime took place.
92% of the people with a right to vote expressed their preference choosing the party which would lead the young Italian Republic into the future. In the picture is shown one of the many queues of people waiting to vote.
