The art of PILOT etched steel

PILOT became rather prolific with vertical lines etched steel writing instruments, particularly with black acid etching. The CUSTOM series featured them in fountain pen, ballpoint, mechanical pencil, and felt tip. And the LAUREAT series featured them as well. Less common was the silver (or “white”) stripe variant. It was just the absence of apply the black acid etching. While it was notably silver, in the pen community it became known as the “white stripe” as a kind of opposite to the black stripe. The stripes even made it to their venerable Capless fountain pens.

In time, PILOT began to experiment with other etched patterns. A kind of “fabric” pattern was created with a kind burlap mimicry. I think some other pen companies like Platinum utilized it as well. But much less common is the “swirling triangles” model. It was made based on the steel CUSTOM model platform. I have the fountain pen as featured above. But a ballpoint and mechanical pencil were made as well, much less common. I tried to bid on a pencil once and was blown away by how far up it went. I think it was ultimately near $300 USD.

Anyway, if you’ve seen another brand who has used patterns like this or similar, please share!

Btw, of course one of the most notable of patterns is the Egyptian one produced by Sailor. It’s gorgeous. It was made in stainless steel and sterling silver. It has never been cheap, but in more recent years they’ve skyrocketed much higher due to crossover collectors. At a pen show about 12 years ago I saw a Greek pattern motif produced also by Sailor, but I’ve never seen it in the wild. The seller wanted over $1,000 for it… naturally.

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