Why would someone wish to buy an old fountain pen? Simply because they are beautiful writing instruments made of such high quality that would be uneconomical to produce nowadays. A restored fountain pen quickly becomes one of our most prized possession.

The first fountain pens were first created in the 1890's after L E Waterman had devised a method for allowing ink to drip down to the writing nib as and when it was needed.

Arguably some of the best vintage fountain pens were produced in the period 1900 up to the Second World War. The earliest pens were made from black hard rubber and then red hard rubber and then 'red rippled' which was a mix of both black and red.

By the mid 1920's a new product called celluloid used for making pens first saw it's appearance. The celluloid meant that fountain pens could then be manufactured in many colors. The Parker fountain pens ( just to name one fountain pen maker ) of the early 1930's are stunning.

Of course the detrimental effects of the 'Depression' years and the Second World War were nothing to the major impact of the ball-point pen in the late 1950's. Those fountain pen companies who took this new innovation into their business plans managed to survive but the fountain pen manufacturers who saw the ball-point pen as a fad quickly declined and ceased production.