What high quality gravity/capillary-fed implement was traditionally ruby-tipped gold, and is nowadays usually iridium-tipped stainless-steel?
Nib (pen) his 3000+ page history of the Civil War with an Esterbrook #313 Probate Pen, a rather broad stub dip pen. According to Mathur et al., "the modern fountain pen nib may be traced back to the original gold nib which had a tiny fragment of ruby attached to form the wear-point." Following the discovery of the platinum group of metals which include ruthenium, osmium and iridium, "a small quantity of iridium was isolated and used on the iridium-tipped gold dip pen nibs of the 1830s". Today, nibs are usually made of stainless steel or gold alloys, with the most popular
Fountain pen had a tiny fragment of ruby attached to form the wear-point." Following the discovery of the platinum group of metals which include ruthenium, osmium and iridium, "a small quantity of iridium was isolated and used on the iridium-tipped gold dip pen nibs of the 1830s." Today, nibs are usually made of stainless steel or gold alloys, with the most popular gold content being 14 carat (58⅓%) and 18 carat (75%). Titanium is a less common metal used for making nibs. Gold is considered the optimum metal for its flexibility and its resistance to corrosion, although gold's corrosion resistance is less