Stylomine
Stylomine is one of the oldest French producers, which is highlighted in the fountain pen history for the unique filling system (which, by the shape of the sac, is called accordion filler) which distinguished his pens, that after the expiry of the relevant patent was adopted by many other French producers.
Although the produced models were few, the production company was still of high quality, and very interesting in the French market, in which the company was one of the most significant actors. The company has distinguished itself by technological innovation, having patent an hooded nib before the Parker 51 one, but like all historic French manufacturers could not withstand the impact of the advent of the ballpoint pen and disappeared from the market in the early 60s.
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History
An exact date for the founding of the company with the same name created by Yves E. Zuber it is not known[1] whose activities originate at the end of the first World War, with offices and factory in Paris on Rue Neuve des Boulet, 34-36 and in the Rue de Nice, 2 and later on Avenue Martin Moreau, 45 that was active on the market in the molding and assembly of metal parts, as bag hooks or clips and nibs for fountain pens.
The Stylomine brand was officially registered in 1921 with n. 199226, and was used by Yves E. Zuber for his pencils. The fountain pen production began only in 1925 with some safety models in black or red marbled black hard rubber. It was relevant also for the production of overlays in both rolled gold or precious metals. But in this period the product most characterizing the company's production is the mechanical pencil Autostyl, in which the mine is automatically replaced after exhaustion. The production of mechanical pencils will continue for all following years, with different names such as Stylomine Automatic and Stylomine 202.
But the fountain pen which made famous Stylomine is the 303 model, introduced in 1930 and equipped with a series of very peculiar technical solutions, as a large-capacity and very functional bulb filler system, very functional and high-capacity thanks to a breather tube ingeniously connected to the feeder (patent nº FR-712327), which allowed the full loading of the pen with only four or five strokes.
In 1933 was created a very special re-entrant nib mounted on a spring that was made by screwing the cap back by the pressure of an inner tip (see nº FR-737930). This system, along with the re-entrant nib, was used in the new model 303B, produced in three versions corresponding to three different sizes. The loading was a refinement of the previous system of 303 and was also used for the model 303C, without re-entrant nib, which in addition to the three previous versions was made in celluloid and with a fourth size, large enough to call it Mastodonte.
But the most significant invention of the company, which is a bit its distinguishing feature, is the revolutionary accordion filler a peculiar variant of breather tube filler which allowed a large ink capacity, in which the pumping was carried out thanks to an ink sac with accordion walls, and in which the bulb was replaced by a button under the bottom, consisting of a glass ampule inserted to slide in the rear end of the body, that you could press to make the pumping, use and also to see the remaining ink.
Particular interest come also from the development of the 303D, an hooded nib model, perhaps the first ever produced. Its patent (nº FR-850525) is in fact from 1938 and anticipates by several months the corresponding (nº US-2223541) Parker patent for the 51, but the company still had patented an hooded nib since 1932 (nº FR-750689). So the company seems to have beaten Parker in terms of innovation. In this case, however, we don't known the exact dates for the market appearance of the model, which in some cases is reported as much later.[2]
Nel 1937 circa[3] venne lanciato il modello 303V (la data comunque è alquanto incerta), che adottava il caricamento a fisarmonica ed un nuovo stile svasato e l'uso di un corpo in materiale plastico (cosa che fa sospettare una apparizione più tarda).
Nel dopoguerra la produzione vide la diffusione della 303D a pennino coperto, affiancata da altri modelli come la Super 303 con pennino a punta rotonda. Venne mantenuto il caricamento a fisarmonica sostituendo il pulsante in vetro con uno in materiale plastico. Nel 1947 vennero introdotte le matite meccaniche Stylomine 404 e nel 1948 venne introdotta la penna a sfera Stylomine 707.
The company tried to respond to the crisis introduced by the advent of disposable spheres: the lever filler 505 model was introduced (now very rare), the company also joined to Météore, Paillard and Unic to produce the Pulsa Pen and formed a consortium with Bayard and Unic to create the BUC cartridge. It also introduced a cartridge model recovering the historical 303 name. But as with most other historic French manufacturers, the efforts were useless and the company ceased operations in the 60s.
Chronology
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