You do not have to be in this hobby for any protracted amount of time before you notice that people can be rather particular about their nibs. Once you get the itch, it isn’t long before you start to develop your own preferences. Much marketing snobbery and ballyhoo has been employed convincing folks that gold is the superior medium for a nib, the more karats the better. A nib’s base metal, aided by its size and shape, does dictate many of the nib’s characteristics (e.g., spring/flex) but that is only one variable in the equation. The two most common classes of nib materials include stainless steel and gold. Both metals are alloys, a mixture of at least two metals made with the intent to impart certain desirable characteristics such as increased strength or hardness when compared with the metals in their pure forms. I invite you to read the piece that I previously wrote about the different karat weights of gold and how Pelikan has employed them over the past 94 years. My conclusion from that work was that 14C-585 gold seemed to be the optimum material from which to derive a pleasing and durable nib. Today, I would like to focus on a different alloy, in this case the tipping that accompanies each and every one of Pelikan’s nibs. If you follow Pelikan on social media, you may have seen a post from this past April indicating that their fountain pens are tipped with a “Wolfram-Iridium alloy.” This less often discussed topic has an interesting history in the fountain pen world and some neat research has previously been done regarding the tipping of a wide variety of nibs, but little has ever been written about Pelikan’s tipping. Most fountain pen users are familiar with the terms “Iridium” or “Iridium Tipped” as they relate to nibs, a label which was once a surrogate hallmark for quality. Frequently a misnomer, “Iridium Point Germany” is another common stamp that is usually found on lower quality nibs made in the Far East and India. Iridium is an epithet that has become nearly synonymous with all fountain pen tipping, a form of genericization that has persisted much longer than the actual practice of tipping pens with iridium. Read on to learn all about this element, how it came to be associated with nibs, and how Pelikan may or may not be using it in their manufacturing process.

Pelikan’s social media post from April 2023, touting an iridium tipping derived from a Wolfram-Iridium alloy

Nibs made from gold or stainless steel would not have the durability that they do without their protective tipping. A lot of friction is generated when writing with a fountain pen and, while stainless steel is a more durable metal, gold is not. Neither material has the durability necessary to fulfill a pen’s purpose for any reasonable length of time on its own, hence the need for tipping. This is the hardened material that actually makes contact with the paper and determines the character of the line. Today, you observe it as a blob of metal, different than that of the nib, located at the most distal portion of the tines. In the early days of dip pens, before the refined alloys in use today, hard materials such as ruby, diamond, and rhodium were auditioned for the purpose but were generally found to be inadequate for one reason or another. The size and shape of the tipping varies between brands, countries, and even between modern and vintage pens but it is the tipping that is ultimately responsible for the nib’s width. A pen’s tipping must uphold a high standard or risk premature failure. In general, it must be wear-resistant and tough, free from porosity, with intrinsic acid resistance, be polishable, and capable of being welded onto both gold and steel, a process usually accomplished via spot, arc, or gas welding.

Left: Balls of modern nib tipping. Right: A ball of nib tipping being welded onto a nib

Many manufacturers from lesser known, bespoke brands all the way up to those with monikers of great renown, have advertised the use of iridium in their nib tipping. We have to go back to the early days of pens to observe the first use of this element. Dip pens were the pioneers of nib tipping some fifty years before Lewis Waterman’s contributions to the fountain pen industry. What makes iridium so special? It is a hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group and one of the rarest elements in the earth’s crust, largely because of its high density and tendency to bind with iron which caused much of it to descend to the molten core of the planet a billion or so years ago. In fact, a leading theory contends that the iridium found in the earth’s crust today is likely there by virtue of a past iridium-rich asteroid strike, the same asteroid that is credited with wiping out the dinosaurs and 70% of the plant and animal species of our planet. It was discovered through the efforts of Dr. William Hyde Wollaston (1766 -1828) a very successful chemist, who was the first to derive a process that successfully converted platinum ore into a malleable form of high purity. In that endeavor, he also discovered the metals palladium and rhodium. Dr. Wollaston’s partner, Smithson Tennant (1761 – 1815) would go on to discover iridium and osmium. He ultimately found those elements in the residues from a solution of platinum ores circa 1803. Mr. Tennant named the metal iridium after Iris, who was the personification of the rainbow in Greek mythology, because iridium salts are vibrant and multicolored. Despite advances in technology, its rarity persists, meaning that it currently trades for $4,500 per troy ounce. Even in the late 19th century when iridium was first being used for tipping purposes, it traded for $100 to $400 an ounce, the equivalent of $2,779 to $11,116 today.

A variety of lower tier nibs touting their “iridium” tipping. The most common engravings found are Iridium Point, Iridium Tipped, and Iridium Point Germany

The father of the iridium tipped nib is one John Issac Hawkins (1772 – 1855), an inventor, born in England, who immigrated to the United States circa 1790 where he would attend school in New Jersey. One of Mr. Hawkins’ many interests were pens and pen making. He would embark on 30 years of experimentation, searching for a material of suitable durability that could be soldered onto gold in a minute quantity which would facilitate a smooth writing experience while still being able to be easily wiped clean. Upon the occasion of his death, his obituary proclaimed (reproduced as printed); “The ever-pointed pencil, and the everlasting gold pen, are among his useful, though minute inventions; for the latter he took the residuum found after disolving platina [platinum], and, with the iridium, he skilfully pointed the gold pens.” Many experiments were attempted at the expense of much time and money, but it wasn’t until 1833 that a new material would come to his attention.

Important metals in the history of nib tipping. Left to right: Tungsten, Iridium, and Ruthenium

The story goes that, at some point in the early 1820s, Dr. Wollaston sent samples of rhodium and osmiridium, an alloy of osmium and iridium, to a pen maker in New York, requesting that they each be applied to the tip of a nib. In return, he received a rhodium tipped pen but the sample of osmiridium was returned with a note indicating that the substance was too hard to work with and I mean hard in the literal sense. Once learned, this anecdote gave Mr. Hawkins fresh inspiration and a new lead for his research. Using a diamond dust mandrel on a lathe, Mr. Hawkins was able to determine that iridium could be shaped and was suitably durable for its intended purpose, much more so than many other materials available at the time. To save labor cost, only tiny specs of iridium were utilized, soldered onto gold nibs. His third prototype would come to be sold in 1834 with several pens to follow. With the material chosen and the process established, procuring sufficient quantities of iridium became the next challenge given its limited availability. Still, the process would take off and Mr. Hawkins would ultimately sell his method in 1836 to Aaron Porter Cleveland who would carry on the manufacture of iridium tipped pens and the rest is history.

Left: Dr. William Hyde Wollaston (1766-1828) credited with the discovery of rhodium and palladium. Right: Smithson Tennant (1761-1815) credited with the discovery of osmium and iridium

Pens from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century whose nibs were advertised as being “iridium tipped” did indeed employ iridium alloyed with a variety of other metals though the ratios varied widely, likely a consequence of unrefined manufacturing techniques. Manufacturers stood upon that iridium tipping as a symbol of durability and quality that accompanied only the finest pens, built to last. To this end, they employed hyperbolic language to convey a sense of indestructability, leading some to label their iridium tipped nibs “Diamond Points.” In the lead up to World War II, the process of refining the alloys utilized for tipping had sufficiently advanced, such that a number of the major manufacturers abandoned the use of iridium completely in favor of other alloys that could be made much more cheaply while still retaining the desired characteristics. This was perhaps best brought to light by the research of John Mottishaw and Kurt Montgomery carried out in the late 1990s. They utilized energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) in an effort to analyze the component elements that formed the tipping on pens from several prominent manufacturers. First utilized in 1834, fewer and fewer pens would include iridium as early as the 1920s. Waterman, Montblanc, Sheaffer, Conklin, Parker, regardless of the brand, the story was the same from manufacturer to manufacturer. In fact, the last pen they found tipped with any iridium at all, coming in at just 2.6%, was a Parker 51 from 1952. Their findings are reminiscent of the 1980s catchphrase for the fast-food chain Wendy’s; “Where’s the beef,” a phrase now utilized to question the substance of a product. With iridium making a quiet exit, something was needed to fill the void left behind and the analysis of Mr. Mottishaw and Mr. Montgomery did in fact reveal a variety of different metals being introduced in its place.

Some manufacturers touted their iridium tipped pens as being “Diamond Pointed.” This worn and faded drawing illustrates the nibs of the Diamond Pointed Gold Pen, dip pens made by John Foley in the 1870s

Enter Wolfram, a hard and dense metal so named in Germany and other European countries. In Britain and the Americas, we know it as Tungsten. It is the German name from which Tungsten gleans its symbol on the periodic table (W), being derived from wolframite, one of the ores in which tungsten was often found. The name tungsten is actually Swedish and translates into English as “heavy stone.” Tungsten is a hard metal with the highest melting point of all the elements, making it somewhat hard to work with. When alloyed with other metals, it has found a wide variety of everyday and specialized applications. It is also significantly less expensive than iridium. We have finally come full circle and can turn our focus specifically to Pelikan and their nib tipping now that we have the appropriate historical context in mind.

Pelikan’s exceedingly rare music nib starts with a base nib of an exceptionally broad width. The tipping material is readily evident, seen here as the silver-colored material at the very tip of the nib

Pelikan has publicly claimed that their fountain pens are tipped with a Wolfram-Iridium alloy. Regarding their tipping process, Pelikan’s former, now defunct, website once had this to say; “The tip of the nib is made of iridium, a refined metal of the platinum group. It is welded to the front part of the gold nib and subsequently form-grinded, slotted and polished.” Based on what I’ve already shared with you, I suspected that these statements were only partially true. Pelikan isn’t the only one either. You will find many manufacturers still to this day claiming the use of iridium in their nib tipping. While I had no doubt that Pelikan’s nibs were tipped with an alloy, one whose predominant composition was indeed likely to be tungsten, it was highly unlikely that iridium was present to any appreciable extent. It was much more likely that tungsten would be married to elements such as ruthenium, rhenium, or osmium in today’s day and age, a recipe that would impart hardness and corrosion resistance while still maintaining affordability.

The obverse and reverse of a nib with the tipping material easily distinguished from the base metal

In an effort to seek clarity on this issue, I reached out to Pelikan directly, contacting Jens Meyer, Pelikan’s Global Marketing Manager for their fine writing instruments. After consulting with the relevant parties, Jens was gracious enough to confirm that Pelikan’s nibs are in fact tipped with an alloy of TUNGSTEN and RUTHENIUM, something of an industry standard these days. I certainly appreciate his candor and clarification of an issue that has been long shrouded in misdirection and secrecy. Like iridium, ruthenium is a rare, hard, lustrous, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group. Named in honor of Russia, ruthenium only cost a fraction of what iridium does, trading for around $465 a troy ounce, but is able to confer similar properties. The mixture of tungsten and ruthenium results in an alloy with a high melting point, excellent hardness, and good acid resistance, desirable characteristics for a nib at a much more reasonable price point. It is also highly likely that even Pelikan’s vintage nibs are, by and large, devoid of iridium since they did not begin manufacturing pens until 1929, a time when other manufacturers were already moving onto more affordable alloys (also notwithstanding the fact that their nibs were initially made by a third-party manufacturer for the first several years).

Nib tipping in side profile. Note that some tipping is relatively flat whereas other nibs have a more bulbous tip

You must forgive Pelikan for the marketing confusion but the terminology that they were employing is the de facto industry standard, the consequence of an industry’s refusal to adopt new language. Whether it’s a lack of will or simply a matter deemed too unimportant is anyone’s guess, but I do not suspect any malice or conspiracy behind it. Iridium became the buzz word for high quality nib tipping, and I presume nobody has wanted to be the first to abandon that association even after iridium was no longer routinely being utilized. As Mr. Mottishaw once pointed out, “It is always easy to have a simple name for a part of something.” The term “iridium” fit that bill nicely since it was imaginative, catchy, and easily marketed. In fact, that marketing was once so effective that the term has become a stand in for any and all tipping applied to a nib. Neophytes to our hobby are quick to learn the lingo, immortalizing a convention that has thrived due to industry wide acceptance. In short, the word iridium has become genericized in the fountain pen world, a process whereby a term becomes a generic word for a certain type of product. This is a technical faux pas of course, since iridium is also an element with very specific properties and meaning, a distinction which becomes diluted when the term is applied so broadly. Genericization is usually discussed in the context of trademarks who fall victim to their own success. Products such as Velcro, jacuzzi, yo-yo, Zamboni, and popsicle are just a few that have fallen into this trap. It’s easy enough to identify the issue but much harder to remedy, likely because no single word has emerged with the same panache as iridium. In closing, I suspect the term iridium is here to stay, an echo from the past that we simply cannot escape and while we’ve long known of its inaccurate application, we go on begrudgingly perpetuating it for lack of a more refined vocabulary and no small sense of nostalgia.

References

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