Stunning Rare 1940s-50s Italy's ANCORA Lusso - Blue Sapphire Marbled Celluloid w/ 14K Super Flex EF Nib Piston Fountain Pen Item ID: VAR-173

ANCORA Lusso - Blue Marble

Manufacturer/Model: Ancora Italy / Lusso Blue Marble
Year of production:  Exact year unknown, estimated: late 1940s, early to mid 1950s
Filling system: Piston filler (Original cork replaced with x2 rubber O-rings)
Nib: 14K 585 - EF Extra Extra Fine - Super Flex extra large nib - melts on paper, writes up to BB/3B, super wet and consistent; Original Ebonite feed
Material: Entire pen is made out of celluloid. Trimmings, i.e. rings and clip gold filled
Length (pen closed): 136mm, Posted: 156mm
Condition and information:

The pen offered here was made by the famed Ancora company in Italy somewhere between the 1940s to mid 1950s. This was their third high-end model, the line bearing the name "Lusso" meaning Luxury.

Ancora was founded in 1919, and went out of business in the late to mid 1970s. Nonetheless, for the knowledgeable in the Italian pen industry, Ancora is ranked in the top 3-5 pen Italian manufacturers in any respect, both in quality of craftsmanship, design, innovation, and strict adherence to maintain quality regardless of the line of pens they made.

The pen is a unique piston filler, with unusual design, similar to Aurora's, where the piston rod is inserted from the front, and in Ancora's design, it is guided by two slots/flaps, on either side of the rod. The spiral is also of unusual design, it is very wide with more loops, meaning several more rotations are needed to fill the pen as opposed to the more common spiral. This on the other hand, makes the spiral much thicker and less susceptible to braking.

The color and patterns of the pen are difficult to capture on camera, but it is a deep colorful blue marble, sapphire like celluloid pattern and it is nearly transparent on some sections of the cap. The beautiful large ink window is fully transparent green celluloid. The technique and craftsmanship are amazing, one of the best we have ever seen, on par or even surpassing some of its German rivals.

The clip is also of a unique design, it is also doubling as a crown which goes over the top of the cap and ends on the other side. This is meant to represent an Anchor, the logo of the company, but it also matches the style of the turning knob, so the entire pen when closed has a balance in the design. This clip design also ensures against some damage, which can typically happen on the top of the cap, as this is the most likely where the pen will hit the ground if dropped.

The star of the show is the masterpiece nib, since any words won't do it justice, and as we all know know, it's more about the "feel", let's just say, this is not a nib, rather it is a gentle, smooth, paint brush. The nib just splits apart as soon as it touches the paper, and with the smallest pressure it will split about 2-3mm apart. One should put an effort not to flex the nib when writing, as it simply flexes by default. The nib is huge, almost as Montblanc 149 nib.

It is suspended over a very nice, ski-sloped ebonite feed, with a large ink canal to feed this very ink-thirsty nib.

The pen's piston cork is replaced and fitted with 2 new O-rings, and it functions and fills flawlessly.
Amazing and beautiful pen made by one of the best in Italy, serviced and ready to be used.

More information about Ancora and its pens, can be found at: Tenpen.it and the Book: History of the Italian Fountain Pen - Vol. 1 A/N
Credit goes to them for some of the information in this listing, as well as the last 3 photos which are from the publicly available book. They have done an amazing work on the history of these amazing Italian pen makers.