Why This Perfectly Designed Pen Has Stuck Around Since the 60s
Vložit
- čas přidán 8. 09. 2024
- The Ballograf Epoca P is the Eames Lounge of pens. It's a design icon that has stood the test of time. There are a number of variants on the Epoca P - the Epoca Luxe (aka Epoca Chrome), the Epoca Grip, the Epoca P Gold Trim -- but the standard Epoca Plastic is pretty much impossible to beat.
Learn more: unsharpen.com/...
In Sweden you can find that pen *_everywhere._* Basically every factory i've ever worked in has had a couple of these that are basically a decade old because they just keep working, VERY reliable pen!
I’ve been using Parker Jotters for over 50 years and just switched the refill to a Schmidt Easy Flow 9000m and it writes better than ever! Of all the pens I’ve tried, I keep going back to the Jotter(plastic barrel, not the slippery metal barrel) for the much better weight, grip & feel, and of course it’s great looks.
The Ballograf is such a common classic here in Sweden, I'm surprised it's kinda rare in the US.
Yeah true. I thought I'd have little hope of getting 1 here in Australia but yep I've ordered mine.
Asså, hur många sådana pennor stöter man inte på om dagen? Den blåa är typ den mest vanliga
Just ordered one on Amazon. Can’t wait to get it.
That was the first pen I ever had. My Dad got it for me in 1968.
It's actually very easy to put it together, provided you know the order and oriention of the components: It's just a matter of dropping in the components one by one.
There is a variant I think is slightly improved and that's the matte surface "Royal", but it's only available in black and very dark blue.
Thanks for an outside perspective on what is actually a true design classic.
For Swedes, this is what comes to mind when we think "a pen", and if we go to the office supply cabinet at any larger company, there will likely be boxes of these.
There is even a special "desk set" with a stand and a chain, that used to be present at all bank and post offices for when you needed to fill in forms.
Come think of it, an Epoca set of rollerball [edit: ballpoint!] and mechanical pencil that I got from my big brother at christmas in third grade or something like that was my first "real" pens. The gateway drug.
Never seen the rollerball. I’m going to hunt one down now!
Unsharpen sorry - I meant ballpoint! I tend to mix up the English terms. 😬
Ok I admit it. I'm a pen geek and proud. I bought a rotring 600 q month or so ago after stumbling across your channel....sold it for a rapid pro because of the thicker body. Now last night I just bought one of these. That blue one looks so cool. And yes I've ordered the schmidt easy flow to go in it. If I like this pen I'm going to no doubt get other colors as well.
Good luck on your pen journey!
I completely agree with you on this one. These pen are very nice and the quality is superb. The Parker jotter is good but this pen is on the same level or even higher.
I just got two Bellograf Epoca pens two weeks ago. The chrome is for my collection. The P Lux is now my everyday carry. The refill is super smooth and I feel it’s better than my old favorite, the Caran d’Ache Goliath refill.
Beautiful video!!
I'm from Poland, my dad had the same Ballograf Epoca since 1970s, but he lost it in 2021. Luckly there is one person in the internet who sales them.
I was searching for mine 70s Epoca, so I found out that original Epoca 1960-1964 didn't have a ligo on the clip. You can see it if you look at vintage commercials. The model I purchased for my father is Palisander, 70s wooden grip edition. Probably the most unusual of all Epoca.
Good review, I was curious about some of these variants.
I'm fond of the basic epoca. I think the jotter looks _slightly_ classier, but the wider body of this is easier for me to cling onto for extended writing, and everything else is about level. I've just found out Ballograf make mechanical pencils too, which might be an alternative to skinny pencils and rubber grips from other brands, but it seems they're as scarce in the UK as they are in the US.
Love that clip design, so classy.
Love these pens. I have one in Mint!
Their colors are quite classy!
Best pens ever; the clip is amazin as it is super flexible which is imortant when placing in shirt pocket, scrub pocket, thin book cover etc
You can buy them from USA (nord-mark) , and jetpens (I suggested them to jetpens months ago and now they have them but only plastic version, no pencils and no chrome metal versions though)
Thanks for the overview. Been eyeing one Ballograf from quite sometime now.
great pen!
You might like the rOtring Tikky. Fits Easyflow's flush and very comfortable grip IMO. Different aesthetics though, but not bad.
Just mind you, I got my first Tikky from Jetpens and it was great. So I got another one from amazon and it had a lot of tip tapping sound. I wanted the white one, so I contacted jetpens and asked them to give me one that didn't have the tip tap and I got another great 3 from them. Plus you can put a different sprint in it to make it work as I'm sure you know.
Anyways. Sorry for the plethora of comments. I don't mean to be a bother. Great videos though, very informative and helpful.
The Tikky is a GREAT G2 alternative. Rubber type grip. The non rounded part keeps it on tables. Can't go wrong with them.
If you need help putting the parts back together, there's a handy diagram at Ballograf's Swedish site (I couldn't find it on the international site). www.ballograf.se/support , then scroll down to "Om pennorna". (Guess twice why I know this... : P)
Why converting to a schmidt refill because with an original refill you write up to 8 kilometres and with a schmidt only 2 kilometres.I live in Holland thanks to you i discovered this pen.I had them in my pen collection but i never knew that they were so special .Thanks
Sal Because you like THE schmidt refills i tried one and they write good but they leak at THE point so no more schmidt refills for me.
Sal i live in Holland and here in Europe we have different pens .Do you want to try them .I will send them to you all Free of charge.
I have a bunch of salesman's samples of these pens. They all have the model numbers printed on the tips. Debating whether to do your suggested cartridge conversion or just leave them "as is" all original but dried up. The standard ones are # EPPBMZ (I have red, white, and blue pens), and the version with a metal upper is # EPCBMZ (I have maroon and black ones). So apparently "PB" for Plastic Ballograf and "CB" for Chrome. I also have a bunch of mechanical pencil versions, # EPGPMZ ("GP" for Gold Pencil), # EPPPMZ (""PP" for plastic pencil), # EPCPMZ ("CP" for Chrome Pencil - has the silver metal upper), and # EPDPMZ ("DP" for Deluxe Pencil - upper is in gold metal).
Good find. Why leave them as is if the cartridges don’t work?
@@unsharpen Because I prefer writing with gel pens.
I love the black n gold. Nice pens
My first ever pen 49 years ago, I remember the stationary store owner told me that they were designed for up to 1 million clicks.
I have original Finnish advert. They state 3 million clicks tested. And ball should be tungsten at least in old models.
wow, this is amazing information guys, i would never think they would make a pen to take that kind of use, do you (mf6532 & Pertsa) still have those pens?
I wish I did.....but I will order one just to have it again.
I have an old gold plated one like this and its button is broken is there a way to replace it? (The pen works but the button is broken in two)
The space pen refills fit well.
They didn't for me. I had to cut a piece off a point protector they put on my G2 refills when I purchased some from Pelikan. Placing the Fisher point in line with the epoca Refill right next to each other, gave me the measurement of the spacer I needed to cut off the point protector, and with an x-acto saw, sliced it off. Putting it together, I got lucky. That piece of spacer plastic is the most valuable hunk of plastic in the known universe to me now. Yanking the back end out of epocas is HELL. Cutting the G2 is as well. Once I ended up pushing the back end of a cut 9000 G2 inside itself and then put in a Ballograf plug in, and that's how one of my Ballografs is working with a "converted" G2, Schmidt 9000.
Neat, never seen these before....i like the ivory and orange
I am 50 -50 about the silver body one.It seems like chromed plastic but the wear on the threads on the nose part makes me think.
Just picked up one of the classy “metal” ones from eBay. It’s being shipped from Serbia. Around $20 all together. I hope it actually gets here without being lost in translation lol
Just buy them from US nord-mark.com
I'm not sure the metal is actually metal and not chromed plastic. Still looks great.
The most classic of all Ballografs (at least the one I saw most often growing up) was the blue ones marked "tillhör statsverket" (approx "government property"), followed by the white ones.
Sal I had to check what Ballograf writes about the Epics Chrome on their Swedish site, and from that my interpretation is that the upper, chrome colored part, is plastic that have received a chrome layer. According to the description it adds stability.
A fan of the Ivory...
There are two ballpoint pen of this brand in orange colour, one is darker than the other one, I suppose the one you show here in this video is the light one, called "salmon pink", is that right ? Another question, is it easy to adapt the "easy flow 9000 M or B" refill to this ballpoint pen ?
Thanks ! Yes, I've checked out that video yours, explaining very well how to adapt the "Schmidtz easy flow" refill in this nice ballpoint pen ( Ballograf Epoca ).
If you decide to replace the "easy flow" plastic piece with the ballograf one it will be necesary to use a special glue to adjust it perfectly, won't it ?
I received today my salmon Ballograf Epoca ( I asked one because I liked it when I saw yours in this video ), and removed the plastic piece easily from that ballpoint pen cartridge with some pliers, and put it in an Easy flow refill without any problem. It works wonderfully in a very nice ballpoint pen, that is unknown, or very little known, in Spain.
SIDE NOTE: IF you try the Space Pen refill in the epoca. It may not "work". I had to look at the two refills side by side, with the ball points parallel to one another, and, judging the back end gap, eye-ball measured, cut, a NOSE CONE PROTECTOR, from a G2 Parker type refill. Once that was done, I put it into the Back portion of the epoca, and inserted the Space Pen refill. Closing everything up carefully, I now have a working Fisher Space Pen refill, inside an old Ballograf epoca, I recently acquired from a Pen Show.
the original Ballograf cartridge is esteemed - the ink is actually certified to high Swedish Archive Standard, with maximum readability and stability over time.
Sure, it has a lot of great specifications and accolades but I don’t find it enjoyable to use. It is certainly long lasting and dependable
@@unsharpen You are so right!
I wish all writing instruments where as comfortable as gel cartridges, not always possible though.🙂
and 8000 meters~ 5miles of writing
Looks exactly like Zenith 7 from AstraPolska.pl, I have both but Zenith seems to be ten times cheaper.
The Good Alternative of this expensive ballpoints are pens from Polish company "Zenith". Ballpoint is a perfect replica, refills from this company writes okey.
Hm I’ll investigate. Thanks!
"Glossy or Matt" Standard or Circumcision. Against Male Mutilation.
these pen are not found in asian country ,there is demand, i want to purchase few of them
"ipakka"?
Zenith 7
It seems the Zenith 7 was introduced around a decade after the Ballograf Epoca first appeared.
Are you sure this is metal?This seems like chromed plastic, on camera at least.
Yes its metal chrome very light cabe be engraved at a cost
It is a plated plastic, do not metal.