Pen Maker David Oscarson Debuts His Twenty-Fifth Collection

David Oscarson has been creating luxury fountain pens since 2000, when he launched his eponymous brand with the limited edition Henrik Wigstrom Trophy pen collection. Wigstrom is famous for his work for the House of Fabergé, and the pens created in his honor are reminiscent of the Russian Imperial Fabergé Eggs for which he is known. Since then, Oscarson has debuted numerous award-winning pens, each one a personal tribute to the art of writing, and his most recent La Sagrada Familia is the twenty-fifth in the series.

“The biggest challenge today is helping people remember what a signature means: that it is an extension of one’s self,” says Oscarson. “Much is electronic today, including communication, but I always prefer talking on the phone to texting, and visiting in person to the telephone–old fashioned, maybe, but much richer, and in my mind, much more rewarding.”

Oscarson takes this same mindful approach to the production of his pens. The use of hand-rendered guilloché and enamel, traditional art forms also seen in watchmaking, are emblematic of the brand, and he takes great care in keeping their quality pure. For example, he makes it eminently clear that the metal parts of his pens are guillochéd, as opposed to stamped, since the resulting pattern reflects light in just the right way. Similarly, Oscarson uses exclusive enameling techniques to enrobe his pens as opposed to more cost-effective methods whose results do not meet his standards.

“It is a painstaking multi-step process that requires hours of grinding, applying, firing, filing and polishing to achieve the layer of kiln-fired glass that covers the engraved body of the pen,” Oscarson explains in detail. “We use no epoxies, resins or other so-called ‘soft enamels’ in this process.”

La Sagrada Familia writing instruments are a tribute in name and in design to Antoni Gaudí’s contributions to the magnificent basilica in Barcelona. Gaudi was appointed Architect Director of the church in 1884 and he worked for 43 years on the project. On the topic of the extended construction period, Gaudí is famously said to have remarked: "My client is not in a hurry.”

Work continued after Gaudí's death in 1926, until it was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War in 1936, during which parts of the unfinished basilica and Gaudí's models and workshop were destroyed. Present design (yes, it's still under construction!) is partly based on reconstructed versions of the plans that were burned in a fire and also on modern interpretations of Gaudí's intent. Interestingly, Gaudí's funeral cortege culminated at the Sagrada Familia,where he was buried in the chapel of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the basilica's crypt.

As with all David Oscarson accessories, the Sagrada Familia collection of fountain and rollerball pens is created by combining guilloché engraving with hard enamel. The heptagon sunbursts on the cap and barrel are emblematic of the familiar canopy that hangs above the altar inside the basilica, while encircled crosses mirror the ornamentation of the spires above. Antoni Gaudí's signature in high relief wraps around the crown of the cap. The pens were initially produced in two color variations, white and black, each restricted in production to 73 pieces—one for every year of Gaudí's life. Further ultra-limited editions in black, red, yellow and blue are forthcoming, each a tribute to one of Oscarson's four children, the source of much of his creative inspiration.