Italix is the house brand of Mr. Pen, which is itself the pen wing of the English mail-order house P.J. Ford and Associates. As such, the brand is similar to Diamond Medal, in that the production is done by third parties in both the UK and abroad, although all final assembly and preparation done locally. The brand was introduced about 2004 as a response to the gradual withdrawal of italic and stub points by the major makers from their higher-end pens. The initial model, the Italix Original, was rigged to accept the works of Manuscript pens, with the result being what they describe themselves as a “posh Osmiroid.”
There are now several models in the Italix line, and if pressed to describe an overall look to them I would say “traditionally-inclined” (to the extent that casein appears as a material in at least one model), although in most models this inclination is certainly of a modern interpretation. While Mr. Pen is only part of a larger concern, there is a great deal of concern for it and its house brand on the part of the management– Ford and Associates is a good deal less monolithic than Sears. I happily view Italix, like TWSBI and Franklin-Christoph, as a manifestation of the current renaissance of fountain pens the world is enjoying.
Models I’ve examined:
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