The history, technology, and iconic brands of aluminum writing instruments from a collector's perspective.
„The Hungarian silver”
This is how we used to call aluminum, which was mined in the Bakony with Soviet „help,” draining a lot of fresh karst water, wasted in the process, so that many years later its toxic red sludge would flood villages and impoverish people.
Aluminum is the element with atomic number 13 in the periodic table, a silvery metal that oxidizes quickly in air, its oxide forms a protective layer and prevents further oxidation. Its density is low, only 2.7g/cm.3 It conducts heat and electricity excellently, is easily moldable, but its strength can be increased by alloying, making it usable as a structural material.
In the territory of present-day Hungary, the naturally occurring raw material for aluminum, bauxite, began to be mined in large quantities after World War II. The German ownership in the industry passed to the Soviet Union, and we also partially fulfilled the war reparations imposed on our country in bauxite, so a large portion of the mined metal left our homeland, but a significant amount still remained here, which changed our lives.
Spoon, fork, small change
The raw aluminum – which we mostly encountered – was a soft, flexible material, often contaminated with inclusions. In canteens, the spoon and fork were made of aluminum, and they bent like a reed in a storm. Due to its good electrical conductivity, it was also used in wires built into walls. Solid aluminum wire is brittle, but it was cheaper and more practical to use this for mass construction than twisted copper wires.
The significant role of aluminum in our industry was also indicated by the fact that coins were made from it: the one-forint, the fifty-fillér, the ten-fillér, and the old perforated two-fillér coins that have survived to this day.
Many years had to pass before we saw the more usable form of aluminum at home, duralumin: first in the form of aluminum windows and doors, which seemed very modern on buildings at the time, although their thermal insulation was equal to zero. By alloying soft aluminum with small amounts of copper, magnesium, manganese, and silicon, an excellent strength, well-machinable material is created.
The classic of aluminum writing instruments: the Rotring Tikky
The first representative of „Hungarian silver” in domestic stationery stores was the cool-touch, anodized aluminum version of the Rotring Tikky drafting pencil. The alloyed aluminum showed no signs of the softness and inclusions of cafeteria forks, the aluminum Tikky was beautiful compared to all our previous writing instruments. We had been using Tikky drafting pencils for a while when the aluminum versions appeared, further enhancing the basic capabilities of the Tikky.
One model could retract the graphite lead tube completely, making it perfect not only for drafting but also for freehand writing, and the sensitive tube could not be damaged during transport. These pencils had a special, silky feel, which later appeared in a side push-button version, releasing the entire pencil structure and retracting it into the outer tube, allowing us to continue using the graphite lead where we last left off. The ballpoint pen version also appeared, and for a long time, these were my finest writing instruments.
The silky feel was given to the aluminum Tikky writing instruments by a special oxide layer: an electrolytic oxide layer that is, on one hand, harder and more scratch-resistant than the base material itself. On the other hand, the porous structure of the anodized coating allowed for the addition of paint to the electrolyte – the paint pigments had to be smaller than the pores – enabling the formation of a colored coating, thus colored aluminum writing instruments emerged. They did not bend like cafeteria forks; clearly, we were not dealing with pure aluminum but with an optimized alloy.
The aluminum, which we once called Hungarian silver, had already appeared as a structural material in former airships, and today it is present everywhere from building materials to space travel. As the processing and surface treatment of aluminum evolved, it increasingly appeared as a material for writing instruments as well. I will present a few pieces from my own collection that have aluminum as their characteristic material.
The silver-colored aluminum set of the Rotring Tikky includes a 0.5mm mechanical pencil and a ballpoint pen operating with a G2 refill. The graphite lead tube of the pencil freely retracts into the conical part, allowing it to continuously track the consumption of graphite while writing, and the thin tube cannot be damaged during transport if we push it back into the body. With this pencil, much more could be noted without pressing a button than with the original brown plastic Tikky. Here, the Tikky truly transformed from a drafting pencil into a handwriting tool, but it lost the important property that the ruler guides the graphite lead tube in a straight line under all circumstances. The next innovation from Rotring was a pencil on which the entire mechanism could be retracted into the aluminum body with a small side push-button. The advantage of this version is that the position of the graphite lead tube is constant relative to the structure, while retracting the entire mechanism avoids transport damage.
BRB 707
The BRB 707 type short ballpoint pen and the BRB 706 pencil are part of the BRB 700 series from the A. G. Spalding & Bros. sports equipment company in New York. These are shorter, smaller tools than normal writing instruments, associated with the sporty image that Kaweco also represented with its small writing instruments that could be carried in the pocket of sportswear.
The toll Pilot operates with a refill and was made in Japan; these devices were manufactured by the Japanese company Raymay.
Diplomat Grip
Less commonly seen writing instruments are the Diplomat Grip pens made entirely of aluminum, of which we can see two here: the black one with Diplomat branding, and the silver one as a promotional pen with the Verbatim inscription.
This mini pen was envisioned by Diplomat to be attached to a neck or pocket with a chain. By twisting the end of the pen, the entire structure slides back into the aluminum tube, resulting in a true, portable, durable pen, which we can further secure with a chain, cord, or ribbon.
Kaweco Sketch Up
The next item is the Kaweco Sketch Up 5.6mm graphite holder. The German company Kaweco traces its origins back to 1883, and although there were breaks and renamings, the brand is still very popular today. We owe this to Michael Gutberlet, who acquired the rights to the bankrupt company in the early 1990s and rebuilt the brand from its foundations, respecting the former traditions and quality.
Kaweco's successful product in the 30s and 40s was the Kaweco Sport series, which could be taken skiing and on other sports trips due to its small size and reliability. This Sketch Up is a rare early example from the Gutberlet era; today's Sketch Up is made of brass and has a hexagonal profile.
Caran d’Ache 849
When it comes to writing instruments and aluminum, we cannot leave unmentioned the legendary Swiss Caran d’Ache brand's 849 pen, which is classified among office/school products and has a body also made of aluminum.
The 849 is a true legend and nearly indestructible, featuring one of the world's best refills, the Caran d’Ache Goliath, the same one used in the much more valuable Ecridor series made of noble metals with rich embellishments.
