Conway Stewart & Company Ltd was founded in 1905 by Frank Jarvis and Thomas Garner in London. The name “Conway Stewart” was apparently derived from a popular music hall act of the time. The company gained prominence for its fountain pen designs, although more of a follower of fashion than a trend setter or innovator. The fountain pen market in Britain at that time was dominated by De La Rue and its substantial marketing campaign of their re-branded “Onoto” pens. As a result of this Jarvis and Garner identified a niche market they could fill for attractive, relatively inexpensive and reliable writing instruments. The 1920s saw rapid development of a substantial range of Conway Stewart pens. The business model proved successful for Conway Stewart and its market share increased at the expense of other established manufacturers. As a result, Conway Stewart outgrew its initial premises and relocated the company to a larger facility in 1927, which would serve as its home for the next two decades. During the depression years, the company was able to remain profitable, helped by the public’s perception of good value products. Like so many fountain pen manufacturers World War II proved difficult for Conway Stewart with shortages of materials and appropriation of factory space for the war effort. However, the company managed to survive by continuing to offer good reliable pens at reasonable prices. The post war years proved to be the zenith for many fountain pen manufacturers, but the invention and development of Lazlo Biro’s ballpoint pen, austerity and rationing extending into the 1950’s blighted their progress. The company once again relocated to new premises, however this did not enhance their profitability and long term survival, thus overseeing the demise of the short lived golden age for fountain pen manufacturers. Conway Stewart, along with most other fountain pen manufacturers of the time, failed to anticipate the effect that the ballpoint would have on fountain pen sales. In the 1960s, fountain pen sales declined rapidly with Conway Stewart feeling the deleterious effect of falling revenues. The company tried to compete by offering lower priced fountain pens and also introduced ballpoint pens to its range. The company relocated to Crumlin, Caerphilly in Wales in 1968, taking advantage of regional development grants, but its financial health continued to deteriorate. In 1975, the company was wound-up and production ceased. The company was revived in the 1990s with headquarters in Plymouth, England. Sales started in 1998, although some models had been produced for special occasions before that, including for the Heads of State attending the 1998 G8 Summit in Birmingham. On 28 August 2014, the company was placed in receivership. The remaining stock, as well as the machinery and tooling, were sold off and its offices closed.

On offer is the Conway Stewart Lumina 570 fountain pen and matching 54 pencil in translucent green made between 1964 and 72’. These sets were one of the last throws of the dice for Conway Stewart and the last to have a 14ct solid gold Conway nib. They were produced from casein material sourced abroad, thus the sets are inscribed ‘ Holder Foreign’. The fountain pen also have Conway Stewart 570 imprinted on them. The pencil has ‘Holder Foreign’ and ‘Conway Stewart 54’ imprinted on them. This set does not have Dinkie imprinted on them but they are widely accepted as being part of the Dinkie family. The 14ct gold nib is stamped Conway 14c Gold. The clips came in two different formats , the diamond CS version and the V- arrow version. The pen and pencil on offer have the CS diamond formate. These sets also have there gold bands at the base of the cap. These pens were also produced with lever fill systems or Pressac system. The pen on offer has a working lever fill systems and working ink sacs. There is some debate over the source of the basic pen and pencil components with some strands of the debate suggesting they were sourced from West Germany, some have suggested the raw materials originated in Italy. However, perhaps a more plausible strand originates from Masa Sunami the acknowledge Japanese vintage pen expert.  He suggests that the Lumina materials were very popular in Japan at that time and the components for these pens were stored at the Kato Seisakusho Company in Osaka, which could indicate they were the likely original source for the 570 pens and 54 pencils. These pens are in excellent age appropriate aesthetic condition and in working order, however like all used vintage pens there may be micro signs of use. 

Please refer to the photographs as they form an integral part of the description. The pen set is presented in an original Conway Stewart box. 

The pen will be despatched via Royal Mail 2nd class signed for post within 2 days of receiving full payment.

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