THE COMPANY INK – Launching YARD-O-LED x IAN FLEMING

Launching YARD-O-LED x Ian Fleming – a custom-tailored beat of historical craftsmanship, British design and literary prowess. To mark the very first Bond novel Casino Royale (1953) and the work, style and poise of the spymaster Ian Fleming himself, master pen makers YARD-O-LED have crafted a striking, limited edition array of writing instruments.

Formally established in 1934 – after ninety years of maximising the 1822 patent for a new ‘propelling pencil’ – YARD-O-LED are easily one of the world’s preeminent makers of fine pens and pencils. As founders once too of the Bremont watch company, YARD-O-LED has been able to draw on their horological experience and Swiss clock-making knowledge – including a famous 1920s pencil pen that boasted a built-in miniature clock.

At the hub of the new Fleming collection is an intricate sterling silver writing instrument, complete with a built-in timepiece consisting of a fine quartz movement small enough to fit into the cap of a pen, and a 72 striped pin-striped finish. The silver sterling grip is painstakingly engraved with a set of clubs, hearts and jacks – and boasts a base featuring an inlaid gold Jamaican doctor bird (Ian Fleming’s emblem). An 18 carat white gold nib completes the piece.

Continuing the casino branding, a bespoke red and black presentation box showcases the writing instrument. An exclusive edition of Casino Royale has been designed and produced by Ian Fleming Publications (with one of the simplest, most effective design tics this bullet catcher and part-time cover-queen has seen for a while). The set also includes a bespoke black leather pen case, a pack of specially designed playing cards and a beautiful bottle of blood red aromatic gun smoke ink.

This exclusive YARD-O-LED celebration of Bond is limited to 253 fountain pens and 253 rollerball pens – all willfully reflecting the April 13th 1953 publication date of Casino Royale.

On October 1st, 2026, YARD-O-LED removed the lid of their newest range at a launch party in London’s Piccadilly Arcade (where the company now has a new store). With YARD-O-LED’s owners Nick and Giles English on proud duty, the brothers proudly introduced their new pen-pal correspondence course of sorts with James Bond and the Fleming aesthetic.

Various company pals, family members, Bond authors, London cats, stylophiles, literary figures, colleagues, Ian Fleming Publications team and family members, Bond advocates, and this bullet catching author encountered the new collaboration up close – all the while thinking that Ian Lancaster Fleming himself could well have approved of the handmade effort and intricate attention to detail. And cool.

Special thanks to YARD-O-LED, Giles and Nick English, Ian Fleming Publications, the Piccadilly Arcade, and the PR teams.

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