OUR HISTORY
VERBA VOLANT, SCRIPTA MANENT
this is how the Romans used to say, raising with this saying a monument to writing
Back in 1893, Emanuele Fetti, holding licence number 22, opened one of the oldest shops in this thousand-year-old city. It could only be located in Rome, just a stone's throw from the Pantheon, in the oldest heart of the eternal city.
The goods at the time were quite different from those of today, only a few years earlier - in 1883 to be exact - Lewis Edson Waterman produced the first fountain pens with the retractable nib (Safety). Fascinated by this scent of innovation, Emanuele had a greater incentive to continue his young business on writing instruments, placing new discoveries alongside nibs, torches, postcards and the few reams of paper.
The years passed and so the founder passed on to the second generation: Francesco Fetti, Emanuele's son.
In the centenary history of the company, one cannot forget a production interlude with the F.I.P.S. (Fabbrica Italiana Penne Stilografiche) brand, created by Francesco Fetti himself.
Subsequently, with Francesco's heir and daughter Lucia Fetti, the third generation joined the company. From then on, in addition to the existing writing brands, others were added: Montblanc, Parker, Sheaffer, Pelikan, Cross, Caran d'Ache and in more modern times Lamy, Cartier, Delta, Faber-Castell, Columbus and Visconti. In those years, handcrafted leather writing sets were also included in the sale, which in time furnished the most important tables in Italian politics and the offices of the country's most prestigious companies. Then, to keep up with the times, leather work bags for professionals were introduced.
In 1985, with Marco Carnevali, Mrs Lucia's son, the fourth generation entered the firm, bringing numerous innovations but always welcoming the most loyal and demanding customers with attention and kindness.
Time goes by, it never stops, and so we’ve arrived at more recent years and 2013 - the 120th anniversary year - when the fifth generation joins the company: despite being very young Miss Letizia Carnevali, Marco's daughter, takes part in the project.
In these 120 years of history, numerous awards have been bestowed on the company and numerous personalities have honored us with their presence: Presidents of the Republic, political personalities, numerous Italian and foreign actors, sportsmen and even high dignitaries from the Vatican, so much so that at the beginning of 2012, Ms Lucia donated a numbered pen in only 80 copies to His Holiness Benedict XVI, dedicated to the Domus Aurea.
In 2018, Stilo Fetti celebrated 125 years of history.
To commemorate this milestone, 125 numbered fountain pens were created in collaboration with the Aurora company. For the first time, a totally transparent fountain pen (Demostetor) was created. It was inspired by a pen model in use in the early 1900s: a fountain pen with a retractable nib and dropper filling system.
- 120 numbers were made in a chrome-plated cap and in precious transparent resin body, which allows the mechanism in stainless steel and ebonite to be seen. Chrome-plated finish, recessed nib in solid rhodium-plated 18kt gold.
- Only 5 numbers (one for each 25 years of history) in solid gold and diamond set in the clip and body in precious transparent resin.
In 2023, the company is preparing to celebrate 130 years of history.
