JoWo
| JoWo Berliner Schreibfeder GmbH | |
|---|---|
| Founded: | 1852 |
| Founder: | |
| Headquarters: | Berlin, Germany |
| Key People: | Joachim Hildebrand and Wolfgang Lemme |
| Products: | Fountain Pen Nibs |
| Website: | https://www.jowonib.com/ |
A nib manufacturer located in Berlin, Germany; founded in 1852 as Heintze & Blanckertz to produce linoleum cutters (for linoleum block printing) and steel pens (dip nibs). The company was the first German manufacturer of steel nibs, and beginning in about 1913 had its own rolling mill. Partially destroyed by the bombing of Berlin during World War II, the factory was rebuilt and the company nationalized as VEB Berliner Schreibfeder in 1949. In 1953, VEB began producing butterfly nibs for fountain pens, and in 1955, tipped nibs. In 1994 the company went bankrupt but was reconstituted by two long-time employees, Joachim Hildebrand and Wolfgang Lemme, using the first two letters of each man's name to form the company name.
In 1994, Germany's JoWo took over the guitar-part maker ABM and expanded into other products. At same time, VEB's machinery and stamping dies were exported to China, leading to the production of nibs labeled "Iridium Point Germany" using the original molds. Even today, nibs are produced under the JoWo brand in both German and Chinese factories.
Today JoWo produces both steel and gold nibs of high quality. As the German facilities increasingly shift their focus toward the production of guitar components, an ever-growing volume of JoWo nibs are, in fact, being manufactured in China. [1]
Their nibs are resold by and used in pens from other companies and manufacturers, including ONLINE Pens, Goulet Pens, Opus and TWSBI.