Dragged into the 21st Century by Otto Hutt.
Sterling Silver. It really is incomparable if you like a lustrous shiny writing instrument, and for an added bonus you often get lovely British hallmarks, those little symbols that reveal so much about who and when your object was made.
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| Otto Hutt Design 02 Mechanical Pencil |
Once whilst aimlessly wandering the internet I came across Otto Hutt, the German brand of luxury writing instruments and was intrigued by their sterling silver options. A German competitor to Yard-O-Led, albeit a modern one? I noted that as required by UK law, their products were fully British hallmarked when sold via UK retailers, and so I sent my GBP to the other side of the world and duly received back an Otto Hutt Design 02 Sterling Silver Mechanical pencil. It is serial number 02-4060, just for the record. Imagine my annoyance when I instantly noted the lack of any hallmarks!! Instead there was just the usual sort of manufacturers marking “925 GERMANY”. Very annoying.
Ripped off! Taken for a ride! Polite but stern messages to the retailer ensued. Soon my face was red with embarrassment. You see, I was unaware that two decades ago, unlike me, the UK assay offices joined the 21st century and introduced the new fangled option of laser engraved hallmarks.
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| Spot the hallmarks on the Otto Hutt, the lower of the two pencils |
The obviousness of physically hammer struck old style hallmarks versus the deliberate unobtrusiveness of modern laser engraved ones.
Near invisibility. It is all a matter of angle. The laser hallmarking is very unobtrusive and frequently only obvious to the untrained naked eye unless the light is striking it at certain angles.
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