Have you heard of Cello Pens? If you aren’t based in India, there is a good chance that the company is entirely new to you, but it’s a big outfit and its worth having on your radar.
Cello Pens Basic Information
Cello Pens is an Indian pen manufacturer that is currently owned by Bic. Cello was founded in 1995 and quickly grew to be one of India’s top pen and office equipment manufacturers. The company paired Indian manufacturing with German ink for a success formula that lead to fast growth.
In December 2015 the French stationery giant Bic bought Cello for $82MM, having previously acquired 40% of the company in 2009 for $74MM and a lesser amount in July 2014. Cello Pens was part of the larger Cello Group, which was founded in 1982 and specializes in the manufacturing of plastic goods.
Bic Cello (India), as the current firm is called, produces fountain pens, rollerballs, markers, whiteboard markers and a few other types of stationery equipment as well as some school supplies. Bic Cello competes directly with Linc Pens, Luxor and other Indian pen manufacturers. It is a highly competitive market.
Cello Pens’ Top Pens
Cello is best known for its Butterflow, an affordable, needletip ballpoint pen. The pen is prices like the competition (10 rupees retail) but looks much better and has some nice perks, like metal components and a rubberized grip. Cello takes this sort of approach to many of its pens, gaining an edge over the competition.
Cello Ballpoint Pens
This is just a selection of ballpoint pens, as the company makes over 40…
- Butterflow – 0.7 mm ballpoint, capped, needletip
- Butterflow Simply – Same as the Butterflow, but with plastic components and a simpler design
- Butterflow Click – The retractable Butterflow but with a 0.8 mm tip
- Topball Click – A similar pen to the Butterflow, but in a retractable
- Finegrip – 0.7 mm ballpoint, capped, needletip, more basic design than the Butterflow
Cello Gel Pens
- Pointec – A simple capped gel pen with a 0.5 mm but it uses imported German ink
- Geltech – The standard capped gel pen with German ink and a 0.6 mm tip
- Geltech Quick Dry – Uses quick-drying German ink for claimed dry times of under 3 seconds
Cello Rollerball Pens
- Tristar – A 0.5 mm rollerball pen with a jumbo cartridge
- Tristar Gold – The Tristar with a gold-colored metallic cap
- Tristar Metallic – The Tristar but with a metal body
Cello Fountain Pens
- Exceed – A simple disposable fountain pen with a folded nib, similar to the Pilot Varsity
- Exceed Smartwrite – Actually a cartridge rollerball pen
- Ink Mate Extra Write – A nicer looking cartridge based fountain pen that users erasable ink
Most of the pens has very original designs, but some definitely have resemblance to other brands. A prime example is the Butterflow Click, which strongly resembles the Jetstream Rubber Body Series.
Cello Pens are rarely seen in the United States but they can be found on Amazon and Ebay if you search for them. Prices will be low, usually on par with budget, office pens made for the US, but with very long ship times.