As one of our select official luxury partners of the Masters of Motoring, we take a look into the world of luxury pens from the British manufacturer.
Alastair Adams, Managing Director of Conway Stewart, describes his famous British Pen company, “It is a good news story; a British success. Conway Stewart started in 1905 and many famous people since have used and cherished their Conway Stewart pens including Winston Churchill. All our pens are made in Great Britain at our workshop in Hampshire. We are still using the original technical drawings and many of the same iconic colours. And every hand-built pen goes through a rigorous quality control process. We must be doing something right as we have received over a thousand customers reviews giving us a 4.9/5.0 stars rating. And we export over 60% of what we make.”
The range of Conway Stewart pens on sale on the website grows each month as new pens are launched The range includes some iconic names the Churchill, Winston, Series 100, Series 58, Wordsworth, Wellington, Marlborough, Belliver, Duro, Henry Simpole’s Marilyn Monroe pen, Raleigh, and the Peaky Blinder series.
All the fountain pens are fitted with 18ct gold or 14ct gold nibs. These Conway Stewart nibs are universally praised for being smooth and beautiful writers straight from the box, and many regard them as being the BEST nibs.
Pens for the Film Industry
Conway Stewart have supplied pens for various famous films including the Kingsman films The Secret Service, and The Golden Circle. In the first Kingsman film, one of the pens, a Marlborough Vintage Ebonite Lever Fill, had a major role to play as it was used to kill Michael Caine’s character, Arthur.
A Churchill Classic Black Fountain Pen was used in another famous film launched in 2017 called The Darkest Hour starring Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill.
Just before this film was launched, the company renewed its links with the Churchill family and launched the Churchill Heritage range of pens. This was to support Churchill Heritage Ltd through which the Churchill family distributes money to charities and good causes that keep alive the legacy of Sir Winston Churchill and the spirit of the words of wisdom he penned.
Each Churchill Heritage pen has Winston Churchill’s signature engraved on the barrel with one of his famous sayings:
– All Will Be Well
– Never Give In
– Action This Day
– KBO
– Victory At All Costs
– I am an Optimist
The Series 58 Indiana Jones Replica pen is a celebration of both quality craftsmanship and classic cinema. For this release, Conway Stewart designed a replica of the pen used by Sir Sean Connery in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
In the iconic scene inside a Panzer tank, Connery’s character Henry Jones Sr., uses the lever-fill mechanism to squirt ink in the eye of a Nazi tank operator, to save his friend Marcus Brody’s life, and that of his son’s, Indiana Jones played by Harrison Ford.
The scene finishes with Marcus Brody’s humorous comment “Henry, The Pen. Don’t you see? The pen is mightier than the sword!” These were a limited edition of only 100 pens produced worldwide, and sold out very quickly. (Fig e; Indiana Jons Replica pen)
A new unlimited Conway Stewart pen based on the Indiana Jones pen was launched in November 2023 with this famous saying “The Pen is mightier than the sword” engraved on the barrel.
Bespoke Pens
The company also continued to supply pens to some of the world’s most prestigious companies such as Rolls Royce who ordered 35 bespoke Sterling Silver pens for their 2018 Silver Ghost Limited Edition model.
In 2020, they worked with Vanwall Cars to launch the Vanwall pen.
All pens are made in the UK to the original technical drawings and using original Conway Stewart materials like Cherry Red, Classic Green and Classic Brown – the beautiful marbled acrylic resins that are iconic to Conway Stewart. All trims are made from precious metals including Sterling Silver and 9ct gold and hall-marked where width permits.
Conway Stewart have recently launched a range of British made leather accessories including notebooks, pocket note pads, full demy traditional desk blotters, and pen cases. All of these are available in stunning premium Montana leather in green, burgundy, or black
Highlights for 2023
Highlights for 2023 have been the launch of several new pens including the King Charles III coronation pen, the Churchill Heritage Second Series, the Shakespeare pen to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the First Folio, as well as lots of new colours in many of the pen ranges.
Special mention must go to their new Lever-fill Churchills which have become their fastest selling pens. These lever fill pens use a silicone ink sac for durability and long life.
Moving forward
When asked about the operation of making things in the UK, Alastair said “It is one of my greatest joys to make things in this country and sell them around the world. The future looks bright, and we look forward to continuing to fly the flag for Britain around the world.”
