BIC Orange fine ballpoint pen

A BIC fine biro or ball point pen with red ink and an orange barrel. The ball-point concept was developed by the Brothers Biro (hence the term), Ladislas, a newspaper editor, and Georg, a chemist, in 1938 in order to write better on newspaper. It built on a pen patented by John Loud in 1888 invented to write better on leather. The BIC Crystal was designed by the Decolletage Plastique Design Team and manufactured by the Societe Bic, France from 1950. The BIC Orange fine was first produced in 1961. This example dates from about 2004. The hexagonal barrel shape was taken from the wooden pencil and provides an economical use of plastic along with strength and three grip points giving writing stability. A tiny hole drilled in the barrel's body keeps the same air pressure both inside and outside the pen. The ink is pulled down by gravity from a tube inside the barrel to feed a ball bearing of tungsten carbide which spins freely within a brass tip. The barrels are made of polystyrene which can be transparent or opaque. It is always rigid, and is easy to mould and colour. It is also cheap and thus an appropriate material for products being made in very large numbers: the BIC Crystal is the most widely sold pen in the world.

printed: "Bic" (barrel)

AIBDC : 004913.1