Retro 51 Tornado pens
Retro 51 Alice in Wonderland Tornado Pencil€112.95 €93.35- Retro 51 Classic Vintage Albert Einstein Tornado…€67.00 €55.37
Retro 51 has been building pens in Texas since 1990, working from one line: "Life is too short to carry an Ugly Pen!" The Tornado arrived in 1997 in red, blue and green, and never really left. Every one measures 12.7 cm, wraps a stainless steel barrel, and ships in a round tin tube.
Penworld carries the Tornado as a rollerball, a ballpoint and a mechanical pencil. Classic Lacquer stays the steady seller, lacquer colour laid over steel. Around it sit the wider Big Shot, the Vintage Metalsmith with its engraved patterns, and the Popper limited editions, made once and then gone. The Literary Collection and the Smithsonian range carry illustrations and technical drawings around the barrel.
When a pen runs dry, the Retro 51 refills come three to a pack. Rollerball refills in black, blue, red and green, ballpoint refills in black and blue. Prefer a ballpoint? An Easy Flow 9000 drops into the same pen with nothing else to change. The pencil takes 1.15 mm leads.
Frequently asked questions about Retro 51
Which refill fits a Retro 51 Tornado?
The Tornado comes with a capless rollerball refill. You can also run the same pen as a ballpoint by fitting an Easy Flow 9000, which follows the Parker format. We stock both.
How do you open a Retro 51 pen?
Turn the knurled top a quarter turn clockwise and the tip comes out. Turn it back and it retracts. No cap, no click button.
What does the 51 in the name mean?
It points back to 1950s America, where the styling comes from, which is why you sometimes see these listed as Retro 1951. The company itself started in 1990.