HISTORY OF OSMIA AND FABER CASTELL

THE HISTORY OF OSMIA AND FABER CASTELL - WITH ITS FOUNTAIN PEN

오스미아와 파버카스텔의 역사 - 만년필

Osmia was founded in 1919 by Hermann Böhler and was named after an alloy osmiumalloy, which was used for the tips of the nibs.

It was located in the Dossenheim near Heidelberg in Germany, so some pens have an imprinting "DOSSENHEIM HEIDELBERG".

Its trade mark is a diamond inscribed in a circle.

Well, these are well-known facts, so as its relationship to Faber Castell.

Osmia was once acquired by Parker in 1928, but soon withdrawn in 1930.

It was 1935 when the relationship of Osmia and Faber Castell began.

Until Faber Castell finished the acquisition in 1951, Osmia had made pens under the name of Faber Castell.

Even after the acquisition, Faber Castell kept the trade mark of Osmia on the pen to 1960s since the company had a high reputation with its quality.

During the era Osmia being incorporated into Faber company, diverse kinds of pens were made.

I've also traced some of them, and kept posting them here.

It's not that every one of them has Osmia's name - some of them were made at the same era, but doesn't have Osmia's symbol at all.

Even though I've collected quite a lot, I still don't have much knowledge on the numbering system of Osmia, and the exact history of how Faber Castell's notation had changed.

This post was intended to deal with the way Faber Castell put its name on the pen.

I'd like to talk about this.

This photo doesn't include all the cases, but I collected many cases with different notations.

The first photo, No.679 model, is expected to be made in earlier than 1935.

Osmia also made rotary fountain pen with similar design, but this one has no Osmia's sign.

Simply written A.W.FABER, with its balance symbol.

The nib is also A.W.FABER's nib.

The second photo, No.883 model, has a very similar notation.

The balance symbol and A.W.FABER's name.

It also has A.W.FABER's clip, and the nib is Osmia's nib.

Since the nib and the clip are changeable, I'd rather focus on the barrel.

Since the barrel has both the notation and the model number, it never lies.

The third one, No.664 model, has the notation "A.W.FABER".

It doesn't have Osmia's name on the barrel, though the trade marks still exist on the cap and the nib.

Contrary to the previous cases, the No.113 model in the fourth photo wrote both "A.W.FABER" and "OSMIA".

Note the sequence - A.W.FABER is above, and OSMIA is below.

This point is quite interesting, and I believe A.W.FABER's name was put above Osmia's name intentionally.

What wants to be emphasized comes first for sure!

The fifth case, model No.62, has quite a well-known notation.

"A.W.FABER-CASTELL GMBH DOSSENHEIM-HEIDELBERG".

GmbH is a German abbreviation for "Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung," meaning "company with limited liability."

Some of my pens belong to this case, and this notation is easy to find.

Unlike other cases, this notation is located at the backside of the barrel.

The front side of the barrel has Osmia's name with its trade mark.

The sixth case, model No.33, is nearly the same as the next case.

Osmia's name and its logo appear first, and then A.W.FABER-CASTELL.

However, there is a third line - "MADE IN GERMANY."

It has another variation, "Osmia" and "MADE BY A.W.FABER-CASTELL."

The seventh case, model No.74, is one of the most common cases.

First line is Osmia and the second line is A.W.FABER-CASTELL.

Many of my pens are like this.

The last case, No.884 model, was made after Faber Castell finished acquisition.

It no longer has Osmia's name, and simply FABER-CASTELL.

It needs to be noted it is no longer A.W.FABER-CASTELL, too.

This also has some variations - there are cases where both Osmia and FABER-CASTELL are written.

One of the difficulty of tracing the exact date arises from the way Faber Castell has changed.

The name of the company was A.W. FABER originally, and Castell was a model name.

At some stage, however, Castell became part of the company name.

I don't know the exact date, but A.W.FABER became A.W.FABER-CASTELL.

Later, the name one more changed into the FABER-CASTELL we see today.

As you have seen, some fountain pens used the name A.W. FABER, while others used A.W.FABER-CASTELL.

Nevertheless, one must not conclude A.W. FABER pens are always older than A.W.FABER-CASTELL pens.

For instance, this No.993 model is quite confusing.

This has a notation that I called the second case, and has a A.W.FABER clip and nib.

Due to its unique nib, I guessed this was made before Faber Castell started to acquire Osmia, but I later found there was a Osmia pen with the very similar design.

Therefore, I supposed this model was made after 1951.

However, everything is just a guess, and I don't know the fact.

Hence, I wouldn't make any conclusions in this post.

I just provide several clues and the facts.

Different people would think differently based on the information I presented.

Whatever the truth is, what never changes is their beauty and how attractive they are.