Blurs

A forgotten fountain pen sitting in a drawer might look like an ordinary piece of vintage stationery.  But hidden at the very tip of some historic nibs was a remarkable material: osmiridium, a naturally occurring alloy containing osmium and iridium. Osmium is one of the rarest naturally occurring elements on Earth — and one of the densest substances known. Today, refined osmium can command extraordinary prices in specialist markets. So could an old fountain pen actually contain osmium? Yes. But the reality is more complicated — and more interesting — than the headline suggests. Why did fountain pens need rare metals? Early fountain-pen nibs presented a fundamental engineering problem. Gold was ideal for the main body of a nib because it was corrosion-resistant and relatively easy to shape. But gold is also comparatively soft. A gold nib repeatedly dragged across paper would eventually wear away. The solution was to put a tiny, extremely hard piece of metal at the writing point. By ...