What does the white dot mean?

Solve the mystery behind Sheaffer’s white dot

In 1912 in a small town called Fort Madison in Iowa, USA, a jewellery store owner called Walter Sheaffer decided to embark upon a project with his entire life savings. It was in the back room of this jewellery store, that Walter Sheaffer founded the Sheaffer Pen Company and on the 1st January 1913, the company was incorporated with an initial investment of $35,000. The space available for his new company was very modest, but due to the vision and the passion that Walter Sheaffer had for writing instruments, Sheaffer as we know it today has become a worldwide household name. It was in 1907 that Walter Sheaffer invented a new pen filling apparatus that used a lever system. Prior to this invention, fountain pens had to be filled with an eyedropper, which was a very messy business. Sheaffer’s new filling system involved using a deflatable rubber sac in the pen barrel, which used a lever and pressure bar to deflate the ink sac. Sheaffer patented this lever filling system in 1908.

The white dot remains the mark of quality

In 1924 Sheaffer adds a white dot trademark to all his pens. It is said that in the early days Walter Sheaffer used to check each pen himself and when he was satisfied with the quality, he would put a white dot on each pen to signify it had been quality approved. To this day, all Sheaffer pens have this white dot, which remains the mark of quality. Today the Sheaffer range is extensive and appeals to a wide audience. This spring Sheaffer have introduced the new Prelude colours in Electric Blue, Incandescent Green, Luminous Purple and Radiant Magenta, which can be viewed by clicking the link below.

Solve the mystery behind Sheaffer’s white dot