The Onoto Book

Onoto

£50

This book is the fourth in a series by Steve Hull that will cover some of the most important English pen manufacturers and their products. It details the pen-making activities, during almost 80 years, of one of Great Britain’s once foremost companies, who had (and still have) significant interests in other areas, particularly the printing of banknotes, and who now, unfortunately, have consigned the important contributions of their fountain pen activities to a footnote in the history, development and growth of the company.

Onoto's own words, read from their page.

Buy from OnotoPrice seen 2026-09-04. Affiliate link.

Where this comes from

The part other shops don't tell you. Three separate questions, kept separate on purpose, each with its source.

UK company
Registered at Companies House as THE ONOTO PEN COMPANY LIMITED, number 03744683. Checked 2026-08-29.
Means the business is a British legal entity, not a British-sounding name owned elsewhere. It says nothing about where anything is made.
UK operations
Not yet checked.
Means people employed here, or premises they actually work from. We keep this separate from the company badge because a registered office can be an accountant's spare room, and a company can be registered in Britain while everything it does happens somewhere else. Where we have not looked, we say so rather than assuming.
British-owned
No majority shareholding traced outside the UK. Companies House.
Read from the register of people with significant control, following the chain of holding companies. It does not gate anything: a firm can be made here and owned elsewhere, and that is worth telling you rather than hiding.
Where it is made
The maker doesn't say, so neither do we.
This is about the individual product, not the company. A British firm can sell things made abroad, which is normal and not a criticism. We would rather tell you which is which than average them into a score.