Nettuno

Logo Nettuno

Although this is a small brand, mainly due to the commercial activities of the Vecchietti family and their historic shop in Bologna, Nettuno is certainly one of the historic names in Italian production, and its activities, of which there are traces dating back to 1911, are making it one of the oldest, if not the oldest.

The Nettuno production does not particularly stands out from the rest of the Italian production, and remains substantially related to the activities of their Bologna store, but both fot the presumed collaboration with Omas, and the production quality, this brand fountain pens are of great interest to collectors.

Nettuno
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== History ==

A series of pens of different periods

First traces of the Nettuno origin date back to 1911, date of asketch for a flyer advertising showing the brand with the Neptune fountain in Piazza Maggiore in Bologna, chosen as its symbol by Umberto Vecchietti, founder of the company. The official founding of the company, however, is later: from the archives of the Chamber of Commerce of Bologna the date is in fact 1916, and this fact makes an excessive claim the use the title "by 1911", reported in the contemporary reissues of some of this brand models.

All this would make Nettuno, after the Uhlmann's Eterno, the oldest Italian manufacturer of fountain pens, like Tibaldi, at least for what concern the foundation year. It is unclear however when the fountain pens production has actually begun. The first letterhead fact speaks for spare parts and repairs. Furthermore, at least for the first time, production was done assembling the pieces produced by others in the Umberto Vecchietti own house by his own family; therefore, this is more of a family business than a real fountain pens factory.

A first clear trace of fountain pens production originates to 1921, the registration date of the Penna Nettuno Sicurezza trademark (Reg. Gen. N. 21390), used for the production of pens made ​​with either eyedropper filler or safety. The initial production is in fact fairly conventional, with smooth black hard rubber pens of different sizes (502, 504, 506, 508). In addition there were overlay pens in gold-plated metal.

In 1922 Umberto Vecchietti died, leaving the company in the hands of his wife, Ada Corazza Vecchietti, who brought forward the opening, in 1928, of the historic shop in Via Marconi 6, still run by the family. In 1930, Umberto's son, Alfonso, succeeded his mother in running the company, carried on until the 50s closing.

Around the mid '20s Nettuno, like all other Italian brands, began a production of Duofold imitations, which at the time was the stylistic reference for all Italian manufacturers. In this case the button filler was also adopted, and these models, apart from the incision of the Nettuno name on the clip, are substantially identical to the Parker original model, both for the ball clip, than for the shape of the body, cap and bottom. In the 30s, continuing to follow Duofold evolution, were produced new models in streamlined version, and was also introduced a new clip with a spatula shaped termination.

File:Nettuno-Superba-Open.jpg

A Nettuno Superba

Approximately in 1936 was introduced the new Nettuno Superba line, with more tapered lines and multiple decorative rings, both on the hood and on the body of the pen. The first version, also characterized by a wide metal band on the cap decorated with a checkerboard pattern, was a button filler, but the pen remained in production, albeit having a series of modifications and revisions, until the 50s.

All'inizio degli anni '40 venne poi introdotta la Nettuno Docet, un modello con caricamento a stantuffo e corpo trasparente, in una unica misura. A questa si affiancò la Export, una penna di fascia bassa sempre con caricamento a stantuffo ma prodotta in tre misure. e diverse decorazioni. La produzione finale degli anni '50 vede diversi modelli con pennini in acciaio sia coperti che ordinari, ma sempre di fascia economica.

Nella seconda metà degli anni '50, con il progressivo avvento della penna a sfera, vedendosi sempre più ridurre gli spazi di mercato, Alfonso Vecchietti decise di interrompere la produzione per dedicarsi solo alle attività del negozio. Il marchio, come molti altri, è stato recentemente riportato in vita per la produzione di stilografiche moderne.

Cronologia

Anno	Avvenimento
1911	prime tracce delle attività della Nettuno in una bozza di volantino pubblicitario
1916	l'azienda viene fondata da Umberto Vecchietti a Bologna
1921	l'azienda registra il marchio Penna Nettuno Sicurezza
1927	l'azienda introduce i modelli flat top (data indicativa, si fa riferimento alla seconda metà degli anni '20)
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
1936	l'azienda introduce le Nettuno Superba
1941	l'azienda introduce le Nettuno Docet (data indicativa, si fa riferimento all'inizio degli anni '40)

Riferimenti esterni

• http://www.vecchietti.it/ilnegozio.htm Sito del negozio della famiglia Vecchietti, con alcune informazioni storiche.