You Only Live Twice: Toyota 2000GT and the revival of Ballograf

OK, some time between the two iconic spy-mobiles of the Aston Martin DB5 and inimitable Lotus Esprit, our intrepid English spy visited the land of the rising sun in 1967 and was provided with a gorgeous Toyota 2000GT in You Only Live Twice. I’d never thought much about it but Sean Connery was probably thankful for the open-top modification because of his height! Check out how small the 2000GT is in the link!

And from the same swinging era I chose the Ballograf Epoca, in white, natch! Designed by Wolfgang Schweizer in 1960, the Epoca adds a Nordic sensibility to the emerging popularity of ballpoint pens, perhaps best epitomized by the Parker Jotter from 1954. When I first learned about the Epoca around 2010, I was taken in by its charming blend of sculpted lines and elegant curves, but what I hadn’t realized back then, was that it embodied a reincarnation of sorts for Ballograf… Yes, it lived twice!

Founded in 1945, Ballograf was acquired by the almighty BIC Group in 1959 before being sold in a management buyout in 2004. I will always be thankful that BIC divested Ballograf before they put it through the souless corporatization that befell Criterium. Today, you can still see vestiges of the BIC influence in the ‘i’ engraved on the Epoca’s clip, similar to the stylized ‘i’ in BIC’s logo. If you haven’t got an Epoca in your collection, you haven’t truly lived! :smiley:

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Always love to see a Ballograf!
Is this a 0.7 clicker?
Nope, zoomed in on the cap…
I think mine have tiny lines around the cone.

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My white Epoca 0.5 is a modern edition purchased from a Japanese e-store on Rakuten… I think the plastic editions are more authentic compared to the metallized plastic bodies on the Epoca Chrome. The two vintage Epoca pencils that I have are 0.9mm continuous twist models…

Do you happen to know more about these Ballograf models?

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Hi Sander :smiley:
No idea really but these have the same ‘BIC’ era ‘i’ logo. Like some of the Bruynzeel pencils in your collection, these could be re-badged from a Japanese OEM. The body reminds me of the Sakura XS-125 series but the ‘pinch’ just above the cone doesn’t fit…

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I can provide pictures tomorrow. They are similar to the Pilot that is similar to the P200


The tip and internals except for the cap are interchangeable with the Pilot H22n, and also with the Epoca.