Bic Cristal
The hexagonal, transparent ballpoint that made writing cheap.
The ballpoint pen had been invented by László Bíró, but Marcel Bich made it cheap. The Bic Cristal came in 1950 and cost a fraction of a fountain pen.
The pen has sold more than a hundred billion. It shows how design for mass production can become invisible – almost everyone has held one.
Materials: Polystyrene, brass tip with a ball
Manufacture: Injection-moulded in millions.
The hexagonal body, like a pencil, so that it does not roll.
The transparent plastic that shows how much ink is left.
The small hole in the barrel that equalises the pressure.
The hexagonal barrel sits steadily between the fingers and does not roll off the table. The transparent barrel shows how much ink is left, and the tip has a tungsten carbide ball.
The Cristal made the ballpoint pen an everyday object that one did not need to take care of. The shape has hardly changed since 1950.