Born in Marshfield, Missouri, Edwin Hubble (1889–1953) is best known for his discovery that the universe is expanding. Before his work at the Mount Wilson Observatory, the prevailing belief was that the universe was static and confined to the Milky Way. Hubble showed that other galaxies exist beyond our own and that they are moving away from us, the basis of what is now called Hubble's Law.
A Missouri astronomer
For a house based in St. Louis, Hubble is a natural subject: a Missouri-born scientist whose work changed how everyone understands the sky. The collection is the fortieth in the David Oscarson series of limited edition writing instruments, and it translates his discoveries into engraving, enamel and stone.
Reading the pen
Elliptical orbits are engraved across the body. Planet Earth is displayed in hot enamel on the top of the crown, and its companion, the Moon, is represented by a cabochon moonstone set in the top of the telescope-shaped clip. At the opposite end, the Hubble Crater, a lunar crater on the far side of the Moon named in his honour, is engraved and enamelled.
The Milky Way is depicted as a swirling spiral over a sunburst background, alongside nebulae, the birthplaces of stars. The Hubble sequence, known as the Hubble tuning fork, is engraved in low relief around the Milky Way on the barrel. Hubble published this classification of galaxies in 1926; it sorts them into elliptical and spiral forms, branching like the prongs of a tuning fork, and it is still taught today.
Each of the five colour variations is limited to 63 pieces, for the 63 years of Hubble's life.
Guilloché as the cosmos
The design shows why guilloché and translucent enamel suit an astronomical subject. The sunburst engraving behind the spiral galaxy glows up through the enamel, so the sky on the barrel seems to hold light of its own. The bare silver of the orbits catches the light in thin, bright lines, and the moonstone in the clip adds a soft sheen that no enamel could reproduce.
Turn the pen slowly from crown to base and the story unfolds in order: Earth, the Moon, the orbits, our own galaxy, the galaxies beyond it, and finally the crater that carries Hubble's name.
The colour chosen changes the mood of the design. Each variation lights the sunburst engraving and the bright silver of the orbits differently, so it is worth comparing them side by side before you choose.
Recognition
The collection received the 2025 Pen World Readers' Choice award for Best Cultural/Historical Theme Pen of the Year. For collectors, that recognition sits alongside an edition that is small by any measure: 63 pieces per colour, fountain pens and roller balls counted together.
Choosing your Hubble
The collection is produced in five colour variations. Each is available as a fountain pen, with an 18-karat gold nib made in Heidelberg in Fine, Medium or Broad, or as a roller ball. Because every colour is limited separately, availability can differ from one to the next. El Laguito Cigars is an authorized David Oscarson retailer in Canada; contact us to confirm the colour and style you want, and we will ship it insured from Mississauga.