Slovenia And Private Reserve

[scribbler77]

Reading the recent exchange on Sheaffer ink and Slovenia reminds me that some Private Reserve cartridges I purchased recently were labeled "Made in Slovenia."

 

I had understood that PR inks were made in the U.S., but, unlike Noodler's, the bottles are not labeled "Made in USA." Does anyone know whether the cartridge inks are made separately from the bottle inks, or whether the ink made in the U.S. is packaged in cartridges in Slovenia?

[ZeissIkon]

The Private Reserve web site does say the inks are made in USA, but doesn't say anything about the cartridges. Seems like a reasonable presumption that the cartridges might be made and/or filled for them in Slovenia (maybe even by the Sheaffer plant, under contract, given it can't be a full time job for even a single cartridge machine to fill the carts sold by a single small company).

[bwnewton]

While we're on the topic of where cartridges are filled, what about Cross cartridges. I understand that the bottled Cross ink is by Pelikan. However, I have some Cross Blue-Black carts in a package that says, "Made in China." If so, is it the same formula?

[RLTodd]

.....them in Slovenia (maybe even by the Sheaffer plant, under contract, given it can't be a full time job for even a single cartridge machine to fill the carts sold by a single small company).

 

I don't believe there ever was a Sheaffer owned facility in Slovenia. The present enterprise may be owned by BIC, which I understand sold off all of the old Sheaffer assets shortly after the purchase was finalized, but more likely it is an independent contractor.

[BobR]

This is a good spot for a few of my random thoughts--namely that perhaps Sheaffer ink really isn't made in Slovenia after all, but merely bottled there. I don't think there's much doubt that an independent contractor produces the ink. On the Pendemonium website, in the Sheaffer ink section, there is a link to FAQ's and there a Sheaffer representative, in discussing the new inks, refers to our "partner" and "supplier". So given that Private Reserve ink cartridges are packaged in Slovenia, I think it's reasonable to assume the same for Sheaffer. My speculation for the anonymous "supplier"--Diamine. Phil of Diamine has said that the company exports a great deal of ink to the Continent. Can it all wind up as no-name cartridges? I see similarities between the two brands, of course that's not conclusive, but is consistent.

 

What do you think?

[ZeissIkon]

.....them in Slovenia (maybe even by the Sheaffer plant, under contract, given it can't be a full time job for even a single cartridge machine to fill the carts sold by a single small company).

 

I don't believe there ever was a Sheaffer owned facility in Slovenia. The present enterprise may be owned by BIC, which I understand sold off all of the old Sheaffer assets shortly after the purchase was finalized, but more likely it is an independent contractor.

 

Then please amend "Sheaffer plant" to read "plant that bottles the new Skrip and fills cartridges with it." I still think of Sheaffer as a pen and ink company, rather than a brand name applied to a product line under the BIC umbrella -- same mistake I make with Parker, come to that. I guess I'm getting old...

[RLTodd]

Cleaning up a few things.

 

Ink is water, water is heavy, heavy means it is expensive to ship.

 

I do not believe anyone would ship ink from England -Diamine- to Slovenia to have it packaged.

 

The cost structure is suicidal.

 

Could the same Slovenian contractor be mixing PR ink to spec for filling cartridges and handling BIC's Skrip Contract? Sure, makes sense.

 

The cost structure on filling cartridges and bottles in Slovenia and shipping them world wide is probably pretty impressive.

 

I have no idea at all why BIC does not sell Skrip fountain pen ink in Slovenia. They have a lot of free cash flow and they are French, reading history that hasn't meant much................

[ildbig]

.....them in Slovenia (maybe even by the Sheaffer plant, under contract, given it can't be a full time job for even a single cartridge machine to fill the carts sold by a single small company).

 

I don't believe there ever was a Sheaffer owned facility in Slovenia. The present enterprise may be owned by BIC, which I understand sold off all of the old Sheaffer assets shortly after the purchase was finalized, but more likely it is an independent contractor.

 

Then please amend "Sheaffer plant" to read "plant that bottles the new Skrip and fills cartridges with it." I still think of Sheaffer as a pen and ink company, rather than a brand name applied to a product line under the BIC umbrella -- same mistake I make with Parker, come to that. I guess I'm getting old...

 

I agree. "Sheaffer" no longer exists, only a brand name by that name exists.

[raging.dragon]

Cleaning up a few things.

 

Ink is water, water is heavy, heavy means it is expensive to ship.

 

I do not believe anyone would ship ink from England -Diamine- to Slovenia to have it packaged.

 

The cost structure is suicidal.

 

Could the same Slovenian contractor be mixing PR ink to spec for filling cartridges and handling BIC's Skrip Contract? Sure, makes sense.

 

The cost structure on filling cartridges and bottles in Slovenia and shipping them world wide is probably pretty impressive.

 

I have no idea at all why BIC does not sell Skrip fountain pen ink in Slovenia. They have a lot of free cash flow and they are French, reading history that hasn't meant much................

 

The topic of Sheaffer ink manufacturing has come up, in past posts. The concensus (accurate or not) seemed to be that this Slovenian company:

 

1. Manufacture and sell ink under their own brand in Slovenia and perhaps else where in Eastern Europe.
   
2. Produce all current Sheaffer inks.
   
3. Produce cartridges for many other brands.
   

Water can be added to or removed from inks. To reduce shipping costs an ink manufacturere could be ship ink to Slovenia as either a highly concentrated liquid or solid pellets. The Slovenian company would then add distilled water to bring the ink to it's correct concentration and fill cartridges for it. Shipping cartridges around the world may be cheaper than setting up multiple factories.

Edited August 31, 2012 by raging.dragon

[davidv7]

I live in Slovenia, and we don`t have our own ink, and besides Pelikan it is very difficult to come by any FP ink at all.

So I don`t know which company would do this, does anybody have some info about the company, so we can trace it and ask?

[Paddler]

"Cost structure"? What is cost structure? Is that something like "leveraging our synergies to maximize the margin on our deliverables"?

[raging.dragon]

I live in Slovenia, and we don`t have our own ink, and besides Pelikan it is very difficult to come by any FP ink at all.

So I don`t know which company would do this, does anybody have some info about the company, so we can trace it and ask?

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/202505-an-interesting-thing-to-find

http://www.vivapen.com/catalog/index.html?p=1&c=1