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 December 24, 2007)
The glossary is organized alphabetically. For numbers, look under the spelled-out form; e.g., for 14K, look under fourteen.
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J
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J
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The best known and most popular family of pens produced by Esterbrook, made in four sizes ranging from the diminutive C and CH “purse pens” throug the SJ (Short J), LJ (sLender J) to the J itself (illustrated here). Read a profile of the J family here. See also Esterbrook.
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Jack-Knife Safety
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Parker’s name for its screw-cap pens; introduced in 1910 as an eyedropper filler (upper illustration below), fitted with a button filler in about 1915 and a washer clip in about 1916 (lower illustration below), and phased out beginning with the introduction of the Duofold in 1921. Read a profile of the Duofold, in which there is some information on the Jack-Knife Safety, here. See also Duofold, Turban Top.
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Jade
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   A celluloid color offered on Sheaffer’s pens 1924–1932 and on Parker’s and other makers’ pens during the same general period; a marbled or mottled semitranslucent green as shown here. Sheaffer’s Jade underwent changes during the period; the earliest version was noticeably less vibrant (illustrated near right) than the final version (far right), and there is thought to have been a third version that fell between the extremes.
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J-bar
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See pressure bar.
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Jet Flighter
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See the historical note at Flighter.
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jewel
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 A decorative bit of metal, plastic (as shown here, a celluloid Vacumatic jewel), or (rarely) semiprecious stone applied to one or both ends of a pen; frequently surrounded by a tassie. See also bullseye, cabochon, tassie.
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Jeweler’s band
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A cap band with several closely spaced parallel grooves around its circumference, with a blank rectangular area on one side for use as an indicia. The band illustrated here is on a Parker striped Duofold; the grooves on this band are so close together that they appear in this image as a darkened area adjacent to the indicia. See also indicia, Stacked Coin band.
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JiF
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Jif Waterman, a French company founded in 1926 (and named for its founder Jules Fagard) for the purpose of manufacturing L. E. Waterman pens locally in Europe. JiF became the sole holder of the Waterman name when Waterman’s English plant shut down in about 1970.
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Jointless
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Parker’s name for the patented eyedropper-filling pen it introduced in 1898. To fill a Jointless, the user removed its friction-fitted nib unit (an assembly comprising nib, feed, and a hard rubber collar holding the two together). The pen’s purported advantage over eyedroppers with sections that unscrewed for filling was that there was no joint that could leak onto the user’s hand or clothing. See also eyedropper filler, middle joint.
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The information in this glossary is as accurate as possible, but you should not take it as absolutely authoritative.
