It has become the archetypal ballpoint pen and is considered ubiquitous,[2] to the extent that the Museum of Modern Art has made it a permanent part of its collection.

Its hexagonal form and design mimics a standard pencil and it is sold in six types of point and 18 colors around the world.

Eventually, they developed a working prototype that used a viscous ink held in a narrow reservoir, with a tip containing a tiny ball that rotated freely.

[4][5] Bich invested in Swiss technology capable of shaping metal down to 0.01 millimetres (0.00039 in), which could produce a stainless steel one-millimetre (0.039 in) sphere which allowed ink to flow freely.

[6] Bich developed an improved ink with a viscosity that neither leaked nor clogged and, under a ballpoint pen patent licensed from Bíró, launched the Cristal in December 1950.

[5][11] Its hexagonal shape resembles the typical wooden pencil and grants strength and three grip points giving high writing stability.

The thick ink flows down due to capillary action from the tube inside the barrel, to feed the ball, which can rotate within a brass bearing.

It is first vitrified by heat, then ground down and milled to an accuracy of 0.1 μm (3.9×10−6 in) between spinning plates coated with industrial diamond abrasives.

1.3 M USD at 2009 exchange rate) to cheap copies from China, forcing them to negotiate more affordable licensing from Bic.

[15] The pen, similar to the original, was supposedly designed specifically for women, and was sold in pink and purple colors.

[19] In 2014 Bic released a new writing instrument based on the Cristal, a modified pen with a rubber tip opposite the ballpoint.