Like any other specialized item, the fountain pen has amassed a lexicon of terms that are unique. And like other jargon languages, fountain pen jargon can be cryptic or confusing. This glossary presents brief definitions for many of the most common pen terms. It is not complete (an impossible goal); but it is a work in progress, and I welcome suggestions for terms to add.
(Revised May 12, 2008)
The glossary is organized alphabetically. For numbers, look under the spelled-out form; e.g., for 14K, look under fourteen.
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E
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ebonite
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(also Ebonite) Hard rubber. When capitalized, a trademark currently held by Ebonite International, Inc. See also hard rubber.
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Ebonized Pearl
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 A celluloid color offered on Sheaffer’s Balance pens 1934–1939, made by embedding flakes of abalone shell in black celluloid as shown here. See also abalone.
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ED
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(short for eyedropper filler) A type of filling system. View a description and filling instructions here.
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18K
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(also 18C) A designation indicating an alloy that contains 18 parts of gold, by weight, per 24 parts of the total metal content. The same as 750. As a general rule, 18K nibs are actually inferior to 14K nibs in terms of their writing qualities. The higher gold content is marketed as a status and quality feature, but the real reason for it is that many countries have followed France’s lead in establishing laws requiring the alloy to be least 18K in order to be sold as “gold.” (This requirement’s original purpose was to prevent fraud in the jewelry trade.) See also karat.
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875
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See Sheaffer numbers.
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emblem
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1 When capitalized (Emblem Pen), the name of a top-of-the-line pen model introduced by Waterman in 1946 or ’47 to replace the Hundred Year Pen after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission prohibited the offering of a warranty if a fee was charged unless the fee was decribed in type the same same size as, and in close proximity to, the warranty statement itself.[1] The Emblem Pen is unchanged from the last version of the Hundred Year Pen except that it lacks the latter’s 100-year warranty. Shown here (upper) is an Emblem Pen in Brown. See also Hundred Year Pen. 2 When not capitalized, a sign or symbol attached to a pen, usually on the cap. Such sigilia are usually the crests or insignia of fraternal organizations such as the Eagles, Elks, Lions, Masons, etc., and pens bearing them are generally considered to be worth more than similar pens without them. During World War II, Morrison made a pen model called the Patriot; available in versions for the various U.S. armed services, the pen bore the emblem of the particular service it was named for. Shown here (lower) is a Navy Patriot, with the U.S. Navy crest on its sloped cap crown.
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embossing
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See repoussé.
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Empire
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A strikingly attractive Art Deco cap design used during the 1940s on the Vacumatic-filling version of the Parker “51”; made by layering yellow and rose gold. Also known as Empire State, for the design’s resemblance to the profile of the Empire State Building. Empire caps are rare and highly sought after. See also gold, Rainbow, rose gold, Watermelon.
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enamel
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(also vitreous enamel) A thin layer of glass that is fused to the surface of metal for decoration or protection. Enamel can be transparent (with or without a colored tint), translucent (cloudy, with or without tint), or completely opaque. The Bossert & Erhard pen illustrated here has been finished with enamel in a color called “Arctic Ice” over sterling silver guilloché. See also cloisonné, guilloché, lacquer.
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Endura
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Conklin’s name for a flat-top pen model introduced in 1924 to replace the short-lived Duragraph. The Endura appeared in variants from a full-sized clip-style model (shown below in Pearl and Black celluloid) to a small ringtop ladies’ model. In about 1930, the Endura became the Endura Symetrik, a streamlined transitional pen whose styling led the way to the Nozac. See also Nozac.
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engine turning
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See guilloché.
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engraved
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Decorated by the removal of material in an attractive design, generally by the use of a sharp scriber or similar tool. In reference to writing instruments, usually used to indicate the application of a person’s name or initials, or a personalized dedication. The indicia of the Sheaffer’s Masterpiece Tuckaway shown here is engraved with the owner’s name, Zenobia. See also autograph, chased, crosshatched, etched, guilloché, hand engraved, indicia, roll engraving.
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Equi-Poised
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(also seen in later references as Equipoise or Equipoised) A pen model introduced in 1929-30 by Wahl-Eversharp; the company’s first design to break away from the straight cylindrical “flat-top” mold of the previous decades. The Equi-Poised line featured some of the same celluloids and, at the higher end, the Personal Point nib and Gold Seal trademark that had appeared a couple of years earlier. Shown here is a Gold Seal Personal Point Equi-Poised in Kashmir green. See also Gold Seal, Personal Point.
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Esterbrook
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A pen manufacturing company located in Camden, New Jersey. Founded as the United States Steel Pen Manufacturing Company in 1856 by Richard Esterbrook, the company pioneered the manufacture of high-quality steel pens in the U.S.A. and competed with England’s Perry & Co. (Osmiroid) in worldwide sales. Esterbrook developed its first fountain pen in about 1920, but its most famous creation is the Model J family, which appeared in 1944. Using the user-interchangeable Renew-Point nibs that Esterbrook introduced in 1935, the J (illustrated below) became almost a household name and is today among the most popular low-priced collectible fountain pens. Relatively unsuccessful in attempts to diversify into ballpoints and felt-tip pens, Esterbrook was acquired by Venus in 1967 amid the general decline in fountain pen usage, and manufacture ceased in 1972. See also J, Osmiroid, Renew-Point, steel pen.
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etched
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1 Engraved by the removal of material with acid; the object to be treated is first covered with a layer of a protective substance called a resist (through which is cut the design to be applied) and is then exposed to the acid. 2 Term used by L. E. Waterman to describe pens having a metal overlay decorated with a pattern that is usually either chemically etched or mechanically engraved, as shown by the Gothic pattern on the Nº 0552½V below. See also engraved.
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Eversharp
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See Wahl-Eversharp.
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eyedropper
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1 A tube, usually of glass, that tapers to a small opening at one end and has a rubber bulb attached to the other end; used for dispensing small amounts of liquids in a controlled fashion, i.e., drop by drop. Early manufacturers often used the term filler to refer to the eyedropper supplied with an eyedropper-filling pen. 2 (abbreviated ED) Colloquial term for an eyedropper-filling pen. See also eyedropper filler.
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eyedropper filler
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(colloquially shortened to eyedropper, abbreviated ED) Retronym indicating a fountain pen that has no self-filling mechanism; most such pens are filled by unscrewing the section from the barrel to allow filling with an eyedropper. Until the advent of self-filling pens, the term was unnecessary. When self fillers appeared, many manufacturers referred to eyedropper-filling pens as regular models to differentiate them from self-filling models. View a description and filling instructions here. See also eyedropper, Jointless.
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The information in this glossary is as accurate as possible, but you should not take it as absolutely authoritative.
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