Laban

Thong Yeong Corp. / Laban Pen Co. Ltd.
3Fl., No. 110, Jen-ai Rd., Sec. 4,
Taipei 106, Taiwan
Tel: +886-2-2704-5359
Fax: +886-2-2704-9396
Email: sales@laban.com

US Distributor:
Laban Pen Corp,
1310 E.whitethorpe Ave.,
Fullerton, CA 92831, USA
Phone: 1-714-992-2468
Fax: 1-714-992-2460
Email: sales@labanusa.com

Laban Web Site

Laban Pen, The Thong Yeong Corporation, operates from Taipei where it was founded by John &

charles Hu in 1981. John Hu started the company to export stationery, gifts and writing instruments. With a keen interest in pens, John and his brother decided to build a manufacturing plant to make their own pens. It is located near Taipei.

Laban's first pens were high-end silver and platinum-plated, and with the Filigree line in 1983, overlay pens.

Situated in Taipei, Laban established export business with Europe and in 1995 opened a U.S. Office in Huntington Beach, California.

In addition to their own line of pens, Laban produces pens for private labels. The company, for example, was selected to be the exclusive manufacturer of the Vatican Museum line of pens (1997 to 1999). In 2004, Laban received the Lewis & Clark Award for Best Writing Instrument from the Royal Academy of Arts in the United Kingdom for its Dragon fountain pen.

I acquired a Laban Mento fountain pen and the attention to the pen and the ownership experience comes through. The fountain pen comes in an beautiful box.

The fountain pens come in a variety of materials, the nibs are manufactured by Bock in Germany. The steel nibs are iridium-tipped steel nibs in fine, medium and broad sizes. Depending on the line, upgrades are available to a 14 or 18 karat gold nib, but only in medium width, for an additional fee.

Fountain pens typically have the cartridge or converter filling mechanism. Many of the lines also have ballpoint, roller ball or gel in models.

The Laban Mento fountain pen comes with a dual tone standard stainless steel nib with iridium tip and uses cartridge/ converter filling system, whereas the roller ball pen uses international standard refill.

The Laban Mento has made it into one of Pens of Note categories.