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Thursday, January 9, 2014

Arpege/Chanel No. 5 Perfumed Writing Pens

A common product found on ebay and other sales venues is the Arpege/Chanel No. 5 Perfumed Writing Pens.

The pens are ballpoint style and the ink is supposedly scented with the famous perfumes. These pen sets were manufactured in the 1970s.

A 1971 ad reads "Perfumed Writing Pens. Packaging as pictured, beautiful leather covered jewelry boxes. Perfumed refills are specially prepared with Arpege and Chanel No 5 perfume. One writes In Arpege the other In Chanel No. 5. Pens are guaranteed for five full years and beautifully boxed and yours absolutely Free when you open a new No Service Charge Checking Account."

The cases and pens are marked "Arpege and Chanel No 5. 14 kt Gold Exclusive Design."

Please understand that the pens are only plated with 14kt gold "paint" and not made up of solid gold.

Neither Chanel nor Lanvin manufactured these pens and the perfume used to scent the ink inside is questionable at best. The two perfume companies never approved of the usage of their perfume names in the selling of these pens and the usage is outright trademark violations.

A 1972 the A.T. Cross Company sued Jonathan Bradley Pens, Inc. for trademark infringement and unfair competition over the use of the name Lacrosse pens .It was also "brought out at the hearing that defendants distribute and sell pens with "Chanel #5" and "Arpege" printed on them, that they have not secured permission from the owners to use these marks, and have not advised the owners of defendants' use."

So, the perfumed pens were probably only manufactured between 1971-1972 or so, but they appear to have been sold and given away in the thousands as you can regularly find these on ebay any given week. However, there is no value to these pens other than a novelty. The gold paint is worthless and the perfume may not even be genuine.

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