Safety Pens Guide

Safety Pens

Simple design, perfect execution.

* Many excerpts of this guide have been adapted from David Nishimura's original articles found here.

Will be working to list safety pens in the coming days to ship after Jan 26th, 2026.

Terminology

A safety pen is a fountain pen whose nib and feed retract into an ink-filled barrel reservoir. When retracted and capped, the cap’s inner surface and the pen’s internal packing act like a stopper, sealing the ink reservoir in a way that resembles “corking” a bottle.

Misnomers

This definition matters because the word safety was also used historically as marketing language for other leak-resistant designs—especially early screw-cap pens with inner caps that sealed around a fixed nib (Parker Safety Jack-Knifes).

For clarity in a guide, it helps to reserve “safety pen” for retractable-nib pens with an exposed ink reservoir, and use “safety cap” (or “inner-cap screw-cap”) for the fixed-nib designs. Modern “retractable pens” such as a Pilot Vanishing Point, or vintage retractable pens such as the Meteore Pullman and Aurora Asterope are not considered “safety” pens.

History

In the United States, the safety pen is most closely associated with the L.E. Waterman Company, which dominated the market with its standard-setting models (such as the 42 and 42½). However, Waterman was not the originator. The Moore Pen Company (originally the American Fountain Pen Company) pioneered the concept in the 1890s with their "Non-Leakable" model, arguably the first functional safety pen with a simple push-pull action.

Despite their ingenuity, safety pens enjoyed a relatively brief period of dominance in the United States and the United Kingdom, eventually displaced by lever-fillers and sac-based mechanisms which were viewed as more convenient.

Conversely, the safety pen enjoyed enduring popularity in Continental Europe. In Germany, Italy, and France, the mechanism remained a staple well into the 1940s. Iconic brands such as Kaweco, Montblanc (Rouge et Noir), and various Italian manufacturers produced sophisticated safety models long after they had fallen out of fashion in the Americas.

Mechanism

From a design-history perspective, the safety filler is often described as an evolution of the eyedropper, aiming to reduce leakage from temperature/pressure changes and to simplify filling without removing the entire nib unit.

This retraction mechanism allows the inner surface of the cap to screw down onto the barrel end, sealing the ink chamber. When the pen is capped, the nib rests submerged in the ink reservoir; when uncapped, the user operates a mechanism (usually a turning knob at the end of the barrel) to extend the nib for writing.

Retraction/extension: Turning a rear knob (common helical “endless screw” style) or operating a slide (Moore) moves a nib carrier so the nib can be fully withdrawn into the barrel. MUST RETRACT NIB BEFORE CAPPING!

Warning: One must always hold the pen upright (nib end up) when uncapping it. Because the nib is retracted and the barrel is essentially an open tube of ink until the nib is extended to seal it, uncapping the pen while holding it horizontally will result in ink pouring out onto the user's hands.

Restoration and Seals

The integrity of a safety pen relies entirely on the rear seal (gasket) that prevents ink from leaking out of the turning knob mechanism. The most common failure point is the original seal (historically hand-cut cork), which can shrink, harden, or crumble after decades.

The Reality of Vintage Cork: An original cork seal, even if it appears functional during a brief "dip test," is desiccated by age. It will almost always fail with regular exposure to ink, leading to chaotic spills.

Buy from an expert: It is imperative to purchase safety pens that have been restored by someone experienced and has been tested rigorously (me 🙂). Modern restoration usually involves replacing the cork with durable O-rings or fresh, high-density cork soaked in paraffin.

Advantages as a Daily Pen

Collectors often focus on aesthetics and nib feel, but safeties were originally bought for function. Three advantages are consistently emphasized in period discussions:

Exceptional Hermetic (Air-Tight) Sealing and negligible evaporation. A properly restored safety pen holds ink more securely than perhaps any other design. Standard fountain pens rely on a feed to regulate air and ink flow; if left unused for weeks, the water content in the ink evaporates, causing the pen to dry out. Because the safety pen seals the ink chamber physically (cap-to-barrel) rather than relying on a feed capability, evaporation is negligible. A safety pen can be left filled and unused for years and will write immediately upon extension.
Nib stays immersed → immediate start, tolerant of “drier” conditions
Because the nib and feed sit inside the ink reservoir when retracted, a safety typically starts immediately after extension and is less prone to hard starts caused by feed evaporation. This allows the pen to utilize high-viscosity fluids, such as India ink or heavy drawing inks, which would irreparably clog the feeds of standard fountain pens. Recognizing this utility, Waterman released specialized models around 1940 targeted specifically at musicians and artists who required distinct, heavy inks for scoring and sketching. However, this is only the case if the pen is fully filled with thicker inks, if it is empty and allowed air to dry the ink inside the barrel, thicker shellac based inks will still clog the mechanism. That being said, the mechanism will be freed once you add more ink or water into the barrel reservoir.
Atmospheric Stability: Less sensitive to pressure changes. Safeties tend to cope well with atmospheric pressure changes because the seal is broken and pressures equalize at uncapping, then the system is re-sealed when the nib is retracted/capped. Standard fountain pens function via a delicate balance of air and fluid pressure. Rapid changes in altitude or temperature can cause the air inside a standard ink sac, cartridge, plunger vacuum, and/or piston mechanism to expand, forcing ink out of the nib (leaking). This principle motivated specialized marketing as well; Waterman’s “Aero Pen” is described as designed to address altitude-related leakage and tested to 15,000 feet.

Filling a Safety

How to fill:

Hold the pen upright.
Retract the nib fully into the barrel.
Unscrew the back cap and fill the barrel using an eyedropper. Fill until you see the ink touch the breather hole of the nib.
(Optional) Rub your hands together for 10s and then hold the barrel of the pen to warm up the ink, this will help with ink burps due to pressure changes caused by hand warmth when writing.
Extend the nib fully back out, and make sure that you don’t overtighten but also don’t under tighten as the nib/feed holder unit’s friction fit with the barrel is what keeps the ink in the barrel and not spilling out.
(Optional) Occasionally, in the upright position, recess the nib back into the barrel and back out to relieve any pressure build up in the pen.

Why it matters: When uncapped, ink can leak unless the pen is kept upright.

Avoid spills: Never cap or uncap while horizontal.

Tip: Keep your pen filled to ~80% full to prevent ink burping as the less air there is in the barrel, the less pressure that will build up.

Key Manufacturers and Innovations

Work in progress. Highlighting the differences on Safety pen design across the different markets.

Linear cam shaft

Early Waterman

Rotation of the rear knob is converted into linear movement of the nib carrier (cam/follower carriage) through a linear cam shaft.

The barrel has helical grooves that the cam key engages with. As a result, the nib carrier will rotate in/out: nib orientation is not fixed and rotates until the end of the cam shaft is reached.

The turning knob is extremely fragile and thin, and is threaded for the user to screw the cap on to assist in extending/retracting the nib carrier.

Risk of permanent damage if rotated past travel stop set by the linear cam carriage.

Restorations should only be done by experienced restorers. Threaded knobs, once cracked, are irreparable due to how thin they are.

Helical cam shaft

Later Waterman

Rotation of the rear knob is converted into linear movement of the nib carrier (cam/follower carriage) through a helical cam shaft.

The barrel has linear grooves that the cam key engages with. As a result, the nib carrier will not rotate as the cam carriage extends/retracts: nib orientation is fixed.

Risk of permanent damage if rotated past travel stop set by the linear cam carriage.

Other developments

American Safeties

WIP

Notable makers: Wahl-Eversharp

Integrated Helical Barrel Cam

Caw's 1894

Similar to the Later Waterman's, rotation of the rear knob is converted into linear movement of the cam carriage. When extending the nib, the nib orientation is fixed.

Risk of permanent damage if rotated past travel stop set by the linear shaft.

An especially early safety with incredible engineering for both it's helical cam drive and it's nib feed assembly. German manufacturers from Montblanc, Kaweco, to Osmia, all copied this design shortly after it was released.

Restorations should only be done by experienced restorers. The internal helical shaft is extremely fragile and is pinned to the turning knob with ~0.5-1mm of hard rubber keeping the pin secure.

Adoption and Innovating

German Adoption

In 1908, Kaweco filed their first patent for their version of a safety filler. (Super interesting thread on FPN). The first pen on the left is a Kaweco No. 601 which should be an early model as it uses a threaded turning knob very much like an early Waterman's safety. Note the use of a reverse pinned cam shaft a design that was uniquely Kaweco and later many French/Italian makers.

In the same year, Simplo Filler Pen Co. patented and launched their first safety filler the Rouge et Noir with it's dramatic red cap top that later in 1913 iterated into a red star (snowcap mountain top). Montblanc-Simplo's design is the classically German safety mechanism we find most often today, with the central cam shaft pinned to the rear turning knob. While some early versions used ebonite pins, much of what we find today are pinned with steel rods (⌀ 0.5-1.0mm). A very interesting choice was the adoption of Waterman's friction pin mechanism for Montblanc-Simplo's subbrand/whitelabel pens, a style commonly found in their Diplomat product lines.

Warning: There is a high likelihood you will shear off the ebonite cam shaft if the steel pin has rusted, oxidized and seized into the turning knob. For high value pens please seek advice from a professional.

Other top makers of the time include: Osmia, Geha, Soennecken, Eberhard, Varia, Haro, Luxor, Merkurit, RIC LEI, Matador, Staedtler, and Montblanc: (Diplomat, Astoria, Rouge et Noir, Excelsior, Aristokrat, Reflex, Victoria, Quail, Tatra, M. Störtz, Aladin, Clou, Cyclop, Gidania, Golding, Helm, Hergo, Jemen, Kimmelstiel, Liberty, Monte Rosa, Omnibus, Pilot, Royal (KADEWE), Schwarzer Bär, Simplo Gold, THU-WU, Ursus, Westminster)

Perfect Flow weak grip

German Integrated Feeds

A common theme we see across the majority of German made safety fillers is the use of integrated feeds. These feeds are actually part of the central cam carriage itself and had ink channel cut out and shaped.

While this design is extremely efficient in keeping manufacturing parts to a minimum, it relies on high precision tooling and results in more fragile parts. The nib is held in place from its base and has a tendency to lift off the feed especially when writing with styles emphasizing flexible nibs. As these pens age, the ebonite nib collar often will dry out and crack due to its thinness.

While these nib collars are relatively easy to manufacture, it does complicate restoration work and not recommended for inexperienced restorers. The worry here is not so much the nib collar, but the irreplaceable gold nib that are easily cracked due to the nib collar's retention pressure.

All said, these integrated feeds are absolutely fantastic writers if you are flourishing with restraint as they are incredibly controlled in ink flow and snapback response.

pursuit of elegence

French Reverse Pins

Unlike the German makers, the French opted for a much more streamlined aesthetic and prefered to hide the pins of their safety mechanisms. By moving the pin to the bottom of the helical cam shaft itself, the rear turning knob could be completely free of unsightly pins.

This example is a La Plume d'Or safety (later would become the famous Météore brand). Interestingly it has an additional pin to attach the nib assembly to the cam carriage.

Notable makers include: Gold Starry, Bayard, Grand Aigle Mercier, D&D (Demilly & Degen), UNIC, and J.M. Paillard Semper.

Caption

English Safeties

future WIP

Notable makers: Conway Stewart, Mabie Todd Swan

Simple Engine Turned

American and French Overlays

The Americans and French markets predominately focused on simple overlay patterns with the commonly seen guilloche designs.

Ornate WOrks of art

Italian Overlays

Italian manufacturers did not create any new safety mechanisms but instead focused extensively on perfecting the art of overlays with incredible enamel and engraved designs.

For many Italian makers, their mechanisms followed more or less whichever styles were commissioned: lateral pin across the turning knob (Caw's), rear friction pin (Waterman's), or cam shaft reversed pin (French/Kaweco).

Notable makers here include Aurora (OLO), Columbus, Fendograph, Tibaldi, Elmo, Omas, and Nettuno.

Just call them Italian please

"Continental" Overlays

Overlaid Waterman are often called "Continental" but as many people have pointed out, they only originated from Italy. We should not be crediting all of Europe here.