from Hacker News

How the BIC Cristal ballpoint pen became ubiquitous

by janandonly on 6/16/25, 10:06 AM with 131 comments

by TeMPOraL on 6/16/25, 1:45 PM
What's the proper name for that other, arguably even more well-recognized, BIC pen, that looks like Cristal except its main body is opaque orange, and is generally cheap garbage that breaks in your hand if you squeeze it it too hard, and doesn't even write half the time?
(And yeah, I remember the taste of it, too. I've "eaten" through my share of these pens as a kid. It's the one pen you can't bite on, unless you like having shards of orange plastic everywhere.)
It's also magical in a big way - it's almost as if it were enchanted with a "handwriting: -10" debuff, because that's what happens when you try writing with it, relative to anything else (including pencils and crayons). To this day, I occasionally wonder, how did they manage to achieve that distinct effect.
In my circles, BIC as a brand is basically the stuff you don't buy unless as a last resort, whether that's ballpoints or razors or anything else.
by WillAdams on 6/16/25, 11:01 AM
Two articles on it (which probably were part of the source for this one):
- https://www.penaddict.com/blog/2016/1/17/bic-cristal-ballpoi...
- https://www.jetpens.com/blog/How-the-Ballpoint-Pen-Changed-t...
a book which has a bit on the usage of this and similar Bic models is:
https://www.paulshawletterdesign.com/2012/12/blue-pencil-no-...
(ob. discl., I received a copy (which I gave to my daughter) to write the review: http://ftp.tug.org/TUGboat/tb34-2/tb107reviews-zapfhallmark....) which has the line:
> Some such details are very humbling, such as the exquisitely beautiful design study for Zapfino-like capitals intended for use with Firenze shown with the 49 cent Deluxe Fine Point Bic ballpoint pen used to render the letters (pg. 43).
by ashton314 on 6/16/25, 4:05 PM
There's an old article from The Atlantic [1] that makes the case that the ballpoint pen killed cursive: they require much more pressure to write with compared to rollerball or fountain pens. Like the author, I started using a fountain pen and it makes so much more sense why you would write in cursive with that thing.
If you like taking analog notes, I highly recommend getting yourself a starter fountain pen and some good paper (emphatically not Moleskin—those work best with pencils; too much bleed with fountain pen ink) and enjoy hand writing as it was meant to be. ;)
[1]: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/08/ballp...
by Anarch157a on 6/16/25, 11:08 AM
It's such a versatile product. I bet everyone here who's older than 45/50 have at least once used a Bic pen to rewind a cassete tape.
I also used the plastic clip as a stapler remover.
There were many other uses for it, for sure.
by pmg101 on 6/16/25, 10:58 AM
It's the perfect product. I pick it up, I use it, it functions perfectly without thought.
It's a lifelong mission to find any such tech product.
by christophilus on 6/16/25, 11:56 AM
There are some amazing drawings done with blue Bics.
https://mymodernmet.com/paulus-architect-ballpoint-pen-drawi...
by lionkor on 6/16/25, 11:05 AM
I bought a pack of 100 of them for super cheap a few years ago, and a pack of 200 or so pencils with erasers from amazon basics. They carried me through all my exams in university, I have some in every backpack, purse, everywhere. Never had to worry about not having a pen ready, or a replacement if I lost one the morning before the exam. That is truly a buy-it-for-life level investment.
by jhoechtl on 6/16/25, 4:01 PM
My favourite is actually the BIC M10. Fell totally.out of fashion but I dislike the idea of detachable cap which gets lost all to easy.
https://fr.bic.com/fr/bic-m10-original-stylos-bille-retracta...
by pansa2 on 6/16/25, 3:16 PM
> Cristal became ubiquitous around the world
Not quite; in New Zealand they're surprisingly rare. I've never seen them for sale there, even though they're common in Australia.
by keane on 6/16/25, 7:59 PM
The BIC Cristal pen was listed by Jerry Seinfeld as one of his 10 essential items that he can't live without in an interview with GQ. He says he always finishes the pens, never loses them, and that he called BIC to (successfully) find out why the cap has a hole in it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL2sr99Sv18&t=157s
He claims the BIC has quintessence, a quality he says he has been devotedly tracking since reading the 1983 book Quintessence : The Quality of Having It by Betty Cornfeld and Owen Edwards: https://archive.org/details/quintessence00bett
by xyzzy123 on 6/16/25, 11:06 AM
The bic clic (not cristal) is the iconic pen of my childhood.
It's hard to explain how popular they were in NZ, if you asked kids to draw a pen that's what they'd draw.
by rsynnott on 6/16/25, 2:45 PM
My favourite thing about Bic's origins:
> Marcel Bich bought the patent for the ballpoint pen from Hungarian – Argentine inventor László Bíró
Presumably beating his rivals John Pencil and Wolfgang von Fountain-Pen to it...
by codedokode on 6/16/25, 10:48 AM
I use gel pens, because they leave thinner and more black trace. I think ballpoint pen belongs to history.
by jjice on 6/16/25, 4:21 PM
I used these a lot as a kid and always disliked them. Pens and pencils are strange because there's su ch a wide range of preferences for such a simple thing. Something about them always irked me and I honestly don't know what it is.
The BIC Round Stic, however, I love. I bought a box of sixth like a decade ago and still have like thirty left. Super simple, super cheap, and just great for me.
by ubermonkey on 6/16/25, 1:53 PM
The Cristal is the front-runner in my brain for "most iconic consumer product of the 20th century."
That said, it's weird how they've completely vanished from my personal landscape. The opaque white Biros are more common now. But I think I'll go seek out a Cristal later today, just for nostalgia's sake.
by ndsipa_pomu on 6/16/25, 10:36 AM
Also useful for picking some tubular locks
https://postureinfohub.com/how-to-pick-a-tubular-lock-with-a...
by jerlam on 6/16/25, 4:20 PM
They last for so long that it's almost an accomplishment to have one run out of ink before they get lost, stolen, or broken.
They could have half the ink capacity and most people would barely notice.
by dustbunny on 6/16/25, 6:17 PM
Just signed a contract with a lawyers pen which was too heavy on ink so I got ink all over my hands. Was a pain to put my hat on after without getting ink on it. Seriously considered bringing my own pen before hand. Guess I will next time.
Not only is this pen ubiquitous, but it's ink flow is usually pretty light, which makes it not smear on your hands or the page.
by FridayoLeary on 6/16/25, 2:40 PM
It really is great at being a pen. It writes well and doesn't break. Shout out to the bic which has 4 colours (rgb&b) for being so useful and high quality.
But if you want to know what the best cheap writing pen, it's the clear pilot pen. Everyone around me uses it. There is also the opaque pilot v5 which was the gold standard when i was in school.
by somewhereoutth on 6/16/25, 3:12 PM
My thinking tool, along with a ream of 80gsm blank white printer paper.
As well as being ubiquitous, reliable and cheap, you can also vary the line weight it produces with pressure. This makes it great for sketches and diagrams, as well as straight writing.
by cafard on 6/17/25, 4:15 PM
There should be a mention of pocket protectors in here somewhere. Am I the only one who discarded the end cap and stained his shirt?
by garbagewoman on 6/16/25, 12:12 PM
Such a crappy pen design, guess it proves mediocre designs sometimes prevail. The logical backflips that people use to justify its success are a little annoying though
by euroderf on 6/16/25, 6:27 PM
I'll tell ya why they took over.
IIRC in the late 70s they sold for nineteen cents each (NE USA).
Ya couldn't beat that with a stick.
by Bluestein on 6/16/25, 10:17 AM
Love BIC!
From pens to ChatGPT. What a ride.-
by Traubenfuchs on 6/16/25, 10:25 AM
It's not very comfortable, its hard edges are unpleasant for the fingers and it feels too thin.
The flimsy cap gets lost easy and there is an endless amount of ballpoint pens you can click, that don't even need a cap in the first place.
Average clicking ballpoint pens have a plastic that's more comfortable to suck, lick and bite.
I always hated them.