Aside from the Sterling Silver Kerry (of which supposedly only 10 exist), I am missing the original Gold Kerry (P3035) from the '90’s and about 7 other older limited editions.
Soooo many beautiful pieces. I think I’ll always like the skeletons the most, just so intriguing. Doubt I’ll ever get my hands on one though, considering the cost.
The mannenCIL is another name the Kerries are sometimes referred to in Japan - this comes from the fact that fountain pens are called 万年筆 (Man-nen-hitsu) in Japan, where 万年 means 10,000 years, and 筆 means brush/pen. As the original capped design of the Kerry came from copying capped fountain pen designs, the original Kerry was also called 万年CIL (Man-nen-CIL), with the CIL coming from the last 3 letters of the English word “pencil” - 10,000 year pencil!
It’s just the proper noun for the word “fountain pen” in Japanese. Probably the etymology comes from the fact that fountain pens can both write and last a lot longer than dip nib pens and brushes of yore, as they hold their own ink reservoirs inside and have metal nibs.
Love that me accidentally awakening an old thread actually created some value.
I have a 1978 Kerry with full metal internals, slightly deeper and rounder etching and a cleaning rod drilled into the cap. When did that rod disappear?
