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BIC Cristal

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The original. The classic. The BIC Cristal.


BIC originally bought the patent for the ballpoint pen from the inverter, László Bíró, and perfected the design. They did it so well that the Cristal has barely changed since its launch in 1950. And they’ve sold over 100 billion of them, so it’s probably fair to say it’s a well tested design.


For all its simplicity, it does actually have a few features that have helped make it so successful:

  • The barrel is clear, so you can see how much ink remains. No running out unexpectedly because you had no idea your pen was running out.

  • It’s also hexagonal, making it less prone to rolling away on your desk.

  • The ball is precision-manufactured, originally using Swiss watch-making expertise. The original steel balls were upgraded to tungsten carbide back in the 60s, making the pens more reliable.

  • There’s a tiny breather hole in the barrel, to avoid the risk of a vacuum forming as you use up the ink.

  • The cap features a pocket clip, and now also has a hole in the end to avoid suffocating anyone silly enough to swallow one.


For all that, perhaps the most important feature, that’s made the BIC Cristal so popular, is its low price. Making pens so cheap that almost anyone could afford them, was, at the time, a huge innovation Especially when coupled with making them so reliable you knew you’d be able to write when you needed to. Being added to the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection was just a nice little bonus.

 
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