Fountain pens

Good to see a move back to real writing with real instrument of writing. There really is nothing better than putting pen to paper, and a real ink pen at that.

Why are fountain pen sales rising?

22 May 2012 Last updated at 17:08 GMT

By Steven Brocklehurst

You might expect that email and the ballpoint pen had killed the fountain pen. But sales are rising, so is the fountain pen a curious example of an old-fashioned object surviving the winds of change?

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But for others, a fat Montblanc or a silver-plated Parker is a treasured item. Prominently displayed, they are associated with long, sinuous lines of cursive script.

Sales figures are on the up. Parker, which has manufactured fountain pens since 1888, claims a worldwide "resurgence" in the past five years, and rival Lamy says turnover increased by more than 5% in 2011.

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Used a fountain pen exclusively in my engineering notebook for years - nothing better focuses the mind as the permanence of ink in such a volume.