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Thread: Big Ben 15

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    Default Big Ben 15

    Hello all. I discovered this Dutch pen manufacturer. The company started in 1922 as the Benzon Trading Company. Mr. Benzon was the importer of Wahl Eversharp pens for Holland.
    This is a small pen, for me, but interesting as its history is unknown, to me and many other I guess. So if you have info about it please share :-)
    It is a button filler. There are also models with piston fillers.
    This has a gold plated nib
    Lenght: 12.9 cm
    Lenght uncapped: 11.6 cm
    Lenght posted: 15 cm

    Big Ben smontataS.JPG
    Big Ben 15s.JPG

    Sorry for the quality of the photos, still trying to get my Canon Eos to do what I want and not what she wants hahaha
    Cute little pen although the nib iis more on the fine side.
    Regards
    Marco

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    Senior Member eachan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Big Ben 15

    Actually Danish, Marco. Niels Benzon started production of Big Ben pens in 1933. The first models were button fillers. Later piston filers are difficult to repair.

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    Default Re: Big Ben 15

    @eachan, thank you for the corrections. I always get the two countries mixed up. And yes, in 1922 he set up the company for importing Wahls and in 30-33 he started to make his own brand. Thank you

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    Default Re: Big Ben 15

    Interesting.
    My Big Ben pen has British Patent imprint on it.PXL_20220116_212950700.jpgPXL_20220116_213339090.jpg

  5. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Richardtractorguy For This Useful Post:

    fountainpenkid (January 16th, 2022), welch (January 16th, 2022), Yazeh (January 16th, 2022)

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    Senior Member eachan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Big Ben 15

    That's because there's more than one Big Ben. Your pen was made by Wyvern and there is no connection with the Danish pen. There's also a modern Big Ben kit pen.

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    fountainpenkid (January 16th, 2022), welch (January 16th, 2022)

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    Default Re: Big Ben 15

    Quote Originally Posted by eachan View Post
    That's because there's more than one Big Ben. Your pen was made by Wyvern and there is no connection with the Danish pen. There's also a modern Big Ben kit pen.
    The "Big Ben" clip imprint does appear much the same on the two pens, as does the clip generally--is there really no connection? Or is Richartractorguy's example a frankenpen with a Danish clip?
    Will
    If my p.m box is full, feel free to email me at dabantur@gmail.com.

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    Default Re: Big Ben 15

    Without handling the pens I can't tell. The Wyvern Big Ben dates to around 1950, measures 13.5 cm capped and has a filling system similar to Parker's Aerometric, if that's any help. There's no record of the Danish Big Ben being manufactured in Britain but with all the complexities of historic fountain pen manufacture, who knows?

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    Default Re: Big Ben 15

    I found a 2014 post on FPN where Peterg stated:
    I spoke to a Danish pen dealer at the London Pen Show and he said a lot of the Big Ben pens were manufactured in Germany but had British patent numbers on them as there was considerable resistance to buying German products at the time.
    who knows

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    eachan (January 18th, 2022), fountainpenkid (January 17th, 2022)

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