The King
The Società Anonima Pennini King", owner of the The King trademark was founded in Turin in 1926, and even in his later incarnation as Società Anonima Fabbrica Italiana Stilografiche" (SAFIS), is considered to be one of the leading Italian fountain pens manufacturers. Although there are links with the OMAS, at least in the early years, the company is today considered as an independent producer.
The pens branded The King are of the highest quality, which is why for a long time have been attributed to the most reputed manufacturers (usually the OMAS with which the company had links). They have nothing to envy to the production of the first band nazioanale and internationally and are of great interest to collectors.Template:Info Brand
== History ==
The The King was founded in Turin as The King Società Anonima Torino in 1926, while the trademark The King Superior (Reg. Gen. N. 38982) was recorded in 1928. Although for long time the hypothesis of a trade mark used only for production on commission has been credited, the discovery of the re-registration of the same trademark in the 1946 on behalf of SAFIS leads to the conclusion that it is a single company, apparently forced to change its name because of the the fascist regime policies of forced Italianisation of names.
Further confirmation of the existence of The King as an independent company is also evident from the recently found invoice reported by side, that also allows you to determine with certainty that at least until 1932 the company remained active as a The King Società Anonima Torino. For a long time one of the assumptions made about the origins of the brand The King had been to regard it as a production commissioned by the OMAS because of the similarity of some production, and the fact that the brand is mentioned as part of the products made by the commission OMAS in a text published by the "Club Internazionale della Stilogragrafica A. Simoni".
The initial production marked The King consisted of excellent quality hard rubber safeties marked The King Superior, they were pens made in the Waterman 42 style but with beautiful engraved clips. From the same period is also the production of overlay pens engraved with the mark on the edge of the cap, like the one shown in the image on the left. This initial production features original characters and cannot be attributed in any way to the OMAS production. It's also known a production of lever filler models.
A link with OMAS is certainly evidenced by the "penna del dottore" marked The King shown in the side picture. It's possible, therefore, that some models, like the one shown, were produced to order and then rebranded. If therefore there are traces (as we shall see below) that link The King to OMAS is still quite unreliable the opposite hypothesis that would have been the The King/SAFIS to produce OMAS pens, since the company's foundation is later.
The later production were flat top models that as much of the Italian production of the time turn out to be clear imitations of the Parker Duofold. These models are still branded as The King Superior and produced in two sizes and five colors. Unlike Duofold there pens were equipped with an original twist filling system (patent nº IT-268827) which can be accessed by unscrewing the cap anyway. During this period the top model is the The King Diamond, featuring a cap with countersunk head decorated with a greek band.
Questo brevetto costituisce un secondo punto che testimonia la presenza, almeno in questi anni, di legame forte con la Omas. La immagine del meccanismo di caricamento brevettato usato da queste penne, che si trova sul catalogo The King ritrovato negli archivi Omas, è infatti identica a quella di un brevetto di Armando Simoni (nº US-1784078) che nella versione francese risulta essere stato ottenuto in Italia nel 1929. Una ulteriore indicazione che in qualche modo sia stata la Omas a fornire tecnologia alla The King nei primi anni di vita di questa azienda.
Intorno al 1934 la The King Società Anonima Torino cambiò nome in Società Anonima Fabbrica Italiana Stilografiche e la produzione adottò il marchio Radius, anche se restano esempi presumibilmente contemporanei dell'uso del marchio The King. La data del cambiamento di nome a SAFIS non è nota con precisione,[1] ma il marchio Radius venne registrato nel 1934 con il nuovo nome, ed assumeremo questa come data del passaggio.
Nel dopoguerra, finite le restrizioni imposte dal regime fasciste, il marchio The King venne comunque ripreso dalla SAFIS, ed immesso nuovamente sul mercato, con le produzione di stilografiche di qualità, sostanzialmente equivalenti alla contemporanea produzione a marchio Radius, senza però raggiungere più i livelli di eccellenza ottenuti negli anni inziali.
Cronologia
| Anno | Avvenimento |
|---|---|
| 1926 | la Società Anonima Pennini King (The King), futura SAFIS, viene fondata a Torino |
| 1934 | in Italia (R.D. 305 del 1934-02-05) tutti i pennini d'oro devono essere marcati a norma di legge con il numero di millesimi in una losanga |
| 1934 | la Società Anonima Pennini King (The King) diventa Società Anonima Fabbrica Italiana Stilografiche (SAFIS) (data indicativa[2]) |
Riferimenti esterni
- nessuno per ora
Note
- ↑ Letizia Jacopini nel suo libro La storia della stilografica in Italia, illustra come Bruno Milocani ed Emilio Pionzo testimonino il passaggio della produzione dai modelli The King ai Radius nel 1935 circa.
- ↑ si fa riferimento all'uso del nome Società Anonima Fabbrica Italiana Stilografiche nel deposito del marchio Radius (Reg. Gen. N. 50489).
