This beautiful, award-winning pen is really rather extraordinary!
The original antimicrobial pen, the "Hatch" etched roller ball pen was designed by Karl Zahn to take advantage of the innate properties of brass and its remarkable ability to self sterilise. Within a few hours of contact with the brass ions, any bacteria or microorganism dies.
While this effect is not new and the concept is centuries old, the design world does not currently utilise this material's enormous potential. This antiseptic quality lends itself perfectly to situations where hygiene is a priority, and in the age of COVID what could be more important?
- "Hatch" was designed by Brooklyn based designer Karl Zahn.
- The pen comes packaged in a sleek black ACME tin with a black refill and ACME literature.
PLEASE NOTE: Although this pen is intended to take full advantage of the antimicrobial properties of raw brass, it comes with a thin coating of clear lacquer. This coating is applied to give the consumer a new and polished pen. However, this coating will slowly wear away over time, exposing the raw brass and its properties. The clear coating can also be removed quickly by using a cloth with a solvent like lacquer thinner, but DO NOT soak the pen in any solvent.
The Hatch antimicrobial pen does not have the many layers of lacquer that most of ACME's pens do, which makes the pen slightly thicker. Instead it is acid etched to achieve the design, which removes material and makes it slightly thinner, which causes the cap to not post. There is nothing wrong with the pen; this is inherent to this precision instrument as the intention of the designer was to produce a pen that kills and does not share bacteria.
• 2013 Good Design Award Winner •
About Karl Zahn:
KARL ZAHN is a freelance product and furniture designer in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. His work examines contemporary materials and historical technologies in an attempt to create modern hybrids that are more applicable, beautiful and sustainable. While the product design portion of his work is driven by problem solving and necessity, the furniture side expresses his pared down simplicity and stark aesthetic as a blend of modernist hard lines and surfaces with a Danish sensitivity to materials and joinery. Each piece is designed to withstand the passing of trends and foster complex relationships that grow more endearing over time. BFA ID Rhode Island School of Design, 2003.
