1960s Celluloid Deep Pearl Blue-Grey CENTROPEN No. 10016 632 Czechoslovakia Piston F Nib Fountain Pen Item ID: VAR-118

CENTROPEN

Manufacturer/Model: Centropen/Czechoslovakia/10016 (632)
Year of production: Early 1960s
Filling system: Piston filling
Nib: Steel, F Fine size 
Material: Celluloid, unique deep grey-blue pearl highly glossy; Chromed metal parts
Length (pen closed): 132mm closed; 143mm posted 

Condition and information:
Another amazing looking celluloid pen from one of the most underrated European pen companies, Centropen. As most of their pens this one too is simply stunning beauty, with deep mirror like grey-blue-black molten pearl pattern. There's a lot of history of the Centropen company, and several brands were in different times associated with this company, starting with Steno, Omega, BARCLAY and later Kooh-I-Noor and Centropen itself. Centropen was one of the best Eastern bloc pen companies, with several plants. They still manufacture pens today, but their legacy is enormous. Today, vintage Centropen pens are considered some of the best in the world. The pen here is model 10016, serial number 632 which we believe the 632 represents the year/month/day or week when this pen was made, but how their date-coding worked is still not well understood. Many pen makers had codes like this. The craftsmanship and the materials used are simply amazing, and very often surpass the quality of then more renowned brands. It is worth noting that no two pens are identical in their patterns as they were made from different casts of celluloid, and even if they were made from the same cast, the molting of the same cast has different shapes and patterns on different places in the same mould/cast, so no two pens will be ever identical.

The fountain pen has a converter like piston which was standard on more entrance like pens, such as this one. It has a silicone seals which will never leaks and since the pen is in mint condition it still has its original silicone grease inside it. The most amazing part is the deep pearl grey-blue celluloid body. It is difficult to capture in photos, but the pen looks and feels as it was made from glass rather then celluloid. The nib is a standard entrance model stainless steel nib, marked "42", F fine size and even though steel it does not feel stiff nor scratchy. It is a good and smooth writer. The nib is suspended over an ebonite feed with a great and consistent ink flow. The trimmings are chromed which somehow nicely match the color theme of the pen. The pen is highly ergonomic, perfect length and thickness, very good grip and feel in the hand. Extremely well build, simply very beautiful and unique pen with great writing experience. Truly amazing pen and true piece of history form the Eastern bloc fountain pen era.