Ballpoint Pens

Hungarian journalist Laszlo Biro noted that printing press ink dried quickly on paper and resisted smudging. This was an improvement over the fountain pen ink in use at that time, however the printing ink was much thicker and wouldn’t flow well in conventional fountain pens, so he had to devise a new ink delivery system. His idea was to attach a small ball at the tip of the pen. As the pen moved across the paper the ball would rotate, picking up ink from the ink reservoir and depositing it on the page. Thus, in 1938 the ballpoint pen was born.

All of our ballpoint pens feature a retractable tip in medium point that is operated by means of either a single twist, double twist, or button click mechanism, depending on the particular model chosen. Ink color choices also vary by model chosen, but in general there are two groups: Cross® style and Parker® style. For Cross style, we offer standard black and blue ink only. For Parker style, ink is available in black, blue, red, and green. Parker style ballpoints may also use gel ink, which is comparable to the smooth writing of a rollerball but will dry out if left open. Available gel colors are black, blue, red, orange and yellow highlighter.

The Sierra Button Click pen accepts both Parker style refills and UNI-Ball® #65873 refills, but unfortunately cannot be converted into a pencil. This version is about a 1/2" longer than the original Sierra.

We offer a wide variety of fine writing instruments handcrafted from rare and exotic wood from around the world, plus eye-catching domestic woods too. Mother Nature virtually guarantees the wood each ballpoint pen is made from to be unique; thus creating a natural, one-of-a-kind treasure for you to own. We hope you’ll enjoy browsing our fine selections listed below and when you’re ready to make your purchase, we offer secure checkout through our partner Google Checkout.