British layout brand Minimalux has updated the traditional ballpoint pen with a set of four valuable-metal editions.
Ballpoint pen in black rhodium
The brand launched its initial brass ballpoint pen in 2011, and its 2015 line introduces a option of gold, rhodium (a type of platinum), black rhodium and rose gold finishes, as properly as a subtle redesign of the pen’s type.
“The pen has been refined in terms of excess weight and balance to offer you an overall much better creating knowledge,” Minimalux founder and head of design Mark Holmes informed Dezeen.
Ballpoint pen in brass
“We have also specified a much superior refill which is replaceable through a stainless steel grub screw at the base whilst this is a useful and great looking detail it also provides clear reference to the engineering factor of the pen’s manufacture.”
Featuring a smooth barrel machined from a single bar of brass, the Minimalux design and style is a pared-back interpretation of the original ballpoint invented by Hungarian journalist and artist László Bíró in the 1930s.
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Noticing that newspaper ink dried more quickly than the liquid from a standard fountain pen, Biró experimented with equivalent formulas that could be utilised in his new ballpoint layout. He also replaced the common nib with a metal ball that would give the pen its title.
Ballpoint pen in gold
Bíró patented his design and style in 1938, and started manufacturing in 1944. The ballpoint was notably suited to creating at substantial altitude, and as a outcome Bíró’s 1st key buy came from the RAF, which bought above thirty,000 pens for its navigators.
Minimalux’s new line offers a more luxury consider on the writing put into action, with an asking price of £185 for the treasured metal finishes, and £85 for the authentic brass.
Ballpoint pen in rhodium
“The addition of precious metal plating even more extends the market place reach of the venture, giving tarnish-free of charge alternatives to the brass, all with their personal personal character and appeal,” explained Holmes – a former layout-director and co-founder of design and style brand Established & Sons, who launched Minimalux in 2009.
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Rare metals also feature in Marc Newson’s just lately launched set of pens for German brand Montblanc, which have rhodium and ruthenium-plated nibs. Newson has previously collaborated with Hermès to layout the French fashion label’s initial pen – boasting a retractable nib.
Ballpoint pen in rose gold
The Minimalux selection also consists of anodised aluminium desktop objects, lamps shaped like incandescent bulbs, and a silver and cork pill container.
Photography is by Peer Lindgreen and Minimalux.
