Pininfarina inkless metal pen will write forever

(Credit: Pininfarina)

What if you could have a writing implement that draws a line like a graphite pencil, but in permanent, non-smudging ink like a pen?

Car design company Pininfarina — which has worked with the likes of Ferrari, Maserati, Fiat, Peugeot, and Alfa Romeo — unveiled just such a thing at the global stationery trade fair Paperworld in Frankfurt, Germany.

The 4.EVER Pininfarina Cambiano (PDF) is a luxurious-looking, tapered affair with a machined aluminum barrel inset with wood sporting the company’s logo. But the barrel itself is solid, not hollow: instead of ink, it has a tip made out of a metal alloy called “ethergraph” that writes, the company claims, forever.