There is a story behind every pen, and sometimes even stories behind the stories. That is true of Classic Pens LB5 King Profit Series.

Andreas “Andy” Lambrou, principal of Classic Pens, is well known for joining forces with other brands, which provide base pens that he customises to create unique, high quality limited editions.

His first such partnership was with Sheaffer and worked so well that other cooperative efforts followed, resulting in the CP series of limited editions-sterling silver pens with intricate gulloche done by Murelli SARL, a family business based near Paris that developed exclusive engraving patterns for the pens. The base for each of these pens was the flagship model of the respective brands.

With the CP series, Lambrou’s manner of cooperation became a pattern that has evolved but has not essentially changed over the years.

When it came to the LB5, Lambrou was extremely eager to customise Sailor oversize King Profit, aka the King of Pen, a model he had admired since its 2003 launch. But companies are not always quick to allow a flagship pen to be customised, preferring to reap the rewards of their hard work through its popularity. During the course of his book Fountain Pens of Japan, Lambrou discovered that his relationships with the Japanese pen companies had grown stronger.

When he proposed launching a customised King Profit in conjunction with the book, he explains, “the time was right, and Sailor was enthusiastic” Classic Pens realised the LB5 in diffusion-bonded acrylic. The colours are inspired by nature, more specifically by the five Japanese elements of earth, water, fire, wind and sky.

Lambrou says that we have Parker Pen to thank for diffusion-bonded material suitable for pen making.

The first such material was made in the early 2000s for Parker Mosiac special editions in blue and red, using high quality acrylic by DU Vergier, a British company that no longer makes these materials.

Carville, another U.K company (which incidentally made the pearl and black material for the Parker Doufold) produced diffusion-bonded materials for the Classic Pens LB5 King Profit series.

While acrylic pen body can be made for a low cost, the diffusion bonding process helps to explain why certain acrylic pens can be expensive indeed.

Originally developed for applications in the aerospace industry, the process joins layers of acrylic without the use of solvents or adhesives, The advantage is that the layers are joined on a molecular level, resulting in a high stable material.

Carville creates material to customers specifications, so the acrylic for the LB5 is exclusive to Classic Pens. Achieving the look and properties envisioned by the customer can be very much a trial and error process, both time consuming and expensive, with each trial costing thousands of Pounds and such was the case with the LB5 finishes.

Lambrou is pleased with the results, not only aesthetically but practically: he requested that Sailor lengthened the barrel by 5mm so that the pen would be comfortable for writing unposted, as is the preference of most of his Western customers. The nib comes in the standard KOP Nib with a few Nagahara Cross Nib at a premium price “the icing on the cake” says Lambrou.

“I believe the LB5 King of Profit Pens have all the qualities to enhance the writing pleasure of their owners for many years, and hopefully to become family heirloom”