Search the Community

Man, I have not posted here for such a long time, that I could not even find which Forum to post these thoughts. I was thing aloud about one of my favorite topics - The "Clones". They are part of Pen History so here it goes. I have always been facinated with the "Clones", fountain pens that were trying to claim the spotlight while they share some to many common aspects (design, name) of another, well known pen. From the early days of my collecting life I was initially fascinated by the fake Parker Sonnet from China and I wrote a number of postings with the main one on penhero.com (see https://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Parker/ParkerSonnetClones.htm) but also here on FPN. Of course, this is a trend that started neither with the fake Montblanks of the 90s, nor the Parker Sonnets of the 2000s. It is rooted way back in the Fountain Pen History. Many people tried to benefit from the success of important models by producing mostly illegally what we call today "clones". Misterlook and a bunch of Esterbrook "clones" pop up often in my mind, because the copied pen did not have to be an expensive one, simply a very widely known brand. Anyway I digress. The "clones" have come along way. For good or bad, they are now easily traded even on Amazon. But what exactly consitutes a clone? Or is this the exact term that we should use? People use more gentle terms like inspired, or tribute, or even the even more refined "hommage". I always thought that the last one is just a silly trick to use an uncommon word to avoid calling it a clone. The "clones" are here to stay (whether we like it or now - and please don't turn this thread into a fight for the ethics of cloning ). Many of them are actually decent users!... So I thought to propose a standardized terminology... When a pen has some visual similarities but there is no doubt that the "original", genuine pen is different enough, we should say that this "clone", which is really not a clone, is pen INSPIRED by the original one. Example: Jinhao 15 Guangzhou Tower (or Wasteline) model (still been sold in Amazon!) Waterman Serenitè (ORIGINAL) Of course the Serenite has the well known bend shape while the Jinhao, often call by the name "Gullor" is straight. When it is hard to distinguish a pen from a quick look from the original genuine pen, then we will call the pen a WANNA BE. I would reserve the term TRIBUTE or HOMMAGE if the original pen dates decades before the date of issue of the "Wanna Be". An important condition for this category is that the "Wanna Be" pen should not carry the name of the original pen company or model. Seagull (Japan) from https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/321688-mystery-parker-vacumatic-copy Parker Vacumatic Finally, in a class of their own, we have the "TRUE FAKES" or "GENUINE CLONES" - pun absolutely intended - which carry the name of the original pen make, even if there are minor differences between them and the original pen. Typical Chinese Sonnet Clone sold in Ebay (2023 Fall) Original Parker Sonnet Ciselé What do you think? Of course we can always add internediate grades as TRUE FAKE- or WANNA BE+ to cover gradations and introduce the obligatory ambiguity Example the Jinhao Centennials which I am not sure if they are an Homage+ or a True Fake- Let me know what you think. PS> The original article is in https://azfp.blogspot.com/2023/11/fountain-pen-clones-terminology-first.html to avoid the issue of lost images