Onoto and TMB Art Metal – TMB Art Metal is a small London based company dedicated to producing provenance sculptures, cufflinks and other items, the unique key to all being that they incorporate in their making metal or material originating from the actual iconic subject the item represents; these subjects principally being in the automotive, aeronautic, locomotive and maritime arenas.
Design of a fountain pen celebrating the ship, Association.
The pen is designed around elements of the ship Association which was lost in 1707. The tip and band to be cast by metal from the Association shipwreck.
The pen cap top (tassie), cap band and barrel end are of bronze from a pulley sheave used with the recovery and stowage of Association’s anchors. The tassie design represents the sheave itself, with a loop of rope around it, together with four more loops for design good measure. The cap and cap band are also decorated with a stylised ‘tempestuous wave’ pattern, representing the rough seas Association contended with on 22nd October 1707.
Sterling silver smelted from a mixture of corroded British half-crown, shilling and sixpence coins recovered from Association has been used to forge the pen’s clip, which is based on the arm and fluke from one of the ship’s anchors, and engraved with an image of the hour hand from John Harrison’s ‘H4’ – the first highly accurate, truly sea-going and practicable marine chronometer.
The parallel lines along the barrel represent lines of longitude, converging at the domed end of the pen body. The latitude and longitude position at which Association foundered, 49°51’45”N 6°24’32”W, along with the pen’s limited-edition number, is engraved on the pen’s nib holder to be revealed as the cap is unscrewed.
