Grifos Fountain Pens

The Grifos Pen company specializes in custom-designed pens, including fountain pens, ballpoint pens, rollerball pens, and mechanical pencils. Grifos uses silver and gold in its pen designs and makes all components of its pens in house except for the nibs. Other materials used include hard resin, natural horn, wood, leather, and skin. Specialty engraving techniques are used by the Grifos silversmiths including guilloché etching.

Grifos was founded in 2002 by Maurizio Stura, who is the company's CEO and head silversmith. Stura started working in the pen industry at the age of 12 and learned the techniques used in making high-end silver pens as he worked his way through school. In 1995, with permission from his employer, he began selling pens online. Wanting to pursue his own ideas about pen design and customer service, he left his employer and founded Grifos Pens.

Grifos fountain pens are known for their guilloché engraving, an 18th century technique that uses manually- operated machines to engrave precious metals with diamond cut designs. Grifos does all of its Guilloché engraving onsite, mostly in solid silver. The only part of the fountain pen that Grifos does not manufacture is the nib, which is supplied by the Bock company of Germany.

Quick Facts

• Grifos produces custom pens in small batches. They work with customers to design pens according to the customer's specifications and will fill small orders, including orders for a single pen
• Grifos Pens guarantees the quality of the precious metals used in its pens by complying with Italian and European laws. Each pen is marked with a rhombus shaped stamp that reads AO 23, the Grifos silversmiths' guild symbol
• Grifos currently offers a limited edition fountain pen, the Pietra Ollare, made of ollar stone. The pen has solid 925 silver fittings and an 18 karat gold nib. It sells for €589