Old Centropens

[tritrek]

So I too started collecting vintage pens, I guess it's part of the game When thinking about what brand to start with I thought I shall start "at home" and get some old CSSR fountain pens, that's how I got to buy this Centropen 3068 and a Derby. Back when I was at elementary school I "stole" a pen very much like this from my mother (she was a teacher) and I remember I thought how cool this pen was so I was happy when I've found out these are still available from online sources and I got one in fair shape. The same seller had this Derby too, I like the green marble body so I took that one too.

A few hours and a bunch of micromesh made the thing and after buffing it up they look quite well.

The 3068 writes well, although has a very thin line (I am a "medium nib guy") but one needs to write small letters every now and then

 

What puzzles me is that despite there are collectors of Centropens, Hardtmuths, Koh-I-Noors and their subbrands, I have not found any information on these pens, some history, years of production per type, etc... nada, nix, nothing... so I would appreciate if you know of such a wiki, blog ar person.

 

Now, the ladies (sorry for the quality, I have never thoughts it's such a pain to shoot glossy black objects...):

http://i65.tinypic.com/j9m42r.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/2dj4gol.jpg

http://i64.tinypic.com/xkw0sy.jpg

[ehemem]

Well, I really like Czech/Bohemian pens from the 1920s through the 1950s and have a few Barclays, Centropens, Smaragds, etc. They are more popular and well known in Europe than they are here, but there are a few posts here on FPN. Try the search function for the brand names and see what you come up with.

 

And off the top of my head, FPN member Khufu would be the go-to person for historical information. I think he has been doing some research on the Bohemian pen manufacturers and has posted some of that in the past, with some nice pictures of some of his pens. He lives in the Czech Republic, IIRC.

 

And then there is a seller in Praha who puts things up for bid, but the bidding gets pretty pricey...

[Ana_]

Hi Tritrek, thank you for your post. I am eyeing a pen that is a Derby, but I know nothing about it and cannot find any information about it? Do you know where it is from? About the maker? Any information you can provide is helpful. 😊 Thank you

[WaskiSquirrel]

A while back, I did a YouTube review of a Centropen 100820 pen and pencil set. Like the OP, I couldn't find much about the company or models.

 

I did manage to find a history of the company. I feel like a lot of details are left out, but at least it's something.

 

http://centropen.cz/#!/en/about-the-company/history