Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 574

Thank you to everyone who came to our September meeting (esp. Jerred, who did an excellent talk on basic nib tuning) on Saturday; I'll post some photos I took later this week.

In the meantime, here's another pen review...and don't be too shocked---it's another review of a *modern* fountain pen by vintage fountain pen aficionado, Christopher! 😀

Christopher writes:
 "Personally, I have always favoured transparent pens, in part or in whole. Subsequently, in 1998 when Sheaffer brought out the Levenger Seas transparent models in limited numbers for a Florida-based company as part of their Connaisseur line, I was totally smitten, especially with the green one. And also, what I thought was really special about this line of Sheaffer transparent pens was that each different transparent coloured plastic represented a different sea around the world. In the case of the green Connaisseur Levenger, the ocean selected for this pen was the Aegean sea. But let me describe this well deserving Sheaffer fountain pen as follows..."

(photo courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on image to enlarge)

"Right off the bat, one can see that this is a substantial pen of extremely good quality. The material used is a high-quality resin complemented with 14K Gold plated fittings. The cap is single banded near the top and double banded --both wide and narrow-- near the open end. The clip takes me right back to the early Sheaffer days of long and tapered to a ball end. This is a Sheaffer White Dot model which is located just above the clip. The barrel is substantial, with an attractive single banding at the bottom. Like the cap, the end of this barrel is rounded off which really adds to the overall design of this fine pen. 

At the business end, held securely in a well triple banded jet-black grip section (two at the bottom and one very thin one at the top), is a superb 14K Gold Sheaffer/Levenger marked nib. As for posting, the overall length comes in just under 6 ¾ inches, but caps back accordingly to a pocketable 5 ½ inches. This fountain pen came with a responsible converter filler which works very well. The Sheaffer model designation for this pen is '831 Green GT Levenger/Connaisseur Aegean Sea. All in all, a wonderful fountain pen and well worth added to my pen collection."

Our thanks to Christopher for another nice review! If you want to read a bit more about this Sheaffer-Levenger collaboration, check out this page on the amazing SheafferTarga.com website.

Reminder re: this Saturday’s meeting at Fraserview VPL! (11:30am-2:00pm)

📣 SPECIAL PRESENTATION: BASIC NIB-TUNING TALK BY JERRED! ✒️

Location: The Branch Meeting Room of the Vancouver Public Library's FRASERVIEW branch at 1950 Argyle Street (just west of the intersection of 54th Avenue & Victoria Drive), in Vancouver, BC.
Link to branch's web page: https://www.vpl.ca/branches/fraserview

Date: SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19, 2026

Time: 11:30am to 2:00pm

Note: Jerred's presentation will start at 12:00pm and will last about 30 minutes. Jerred said he'll also talk about the tools and materials he uses. We won't be having any "show & tell", so you can use the rest of the meeting time to socialize and sell/trade/buy pens, inks, etc. 

Parking & Transit info in this post: https://www.vancouverpenclub.com/2026/09/september-meeting-info-new-date-time.html

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 573

Ok, so perhaps vintage fountain pens aren't your thing...but if you're looking for a modern fountain pen that you can whip out quickly and use in school (or the office) without needing to uncap it, how about the amazing Pilot 'Vanishing Point' (aka 'Capless')? Christopher sent in this review about one recently, so I thought I'd share it here....

He writes:
"In the early days of my pen collecting, my wife Chris and I were in Portland to attend the big Portland Expo antique show. At the Pioneer Place mall in downtown Portland, we came across the Paradise Pen Company pen shop. A dandy spot if you are into and or collecting pens, run by a nice well-informed chap that had everything to say about the Pilot 'Capless' Vanishing Point. And to tell the truth, as soon as I laid eyes on the one he showed me, I was totally smitten. The mechanism was so incredibly neat - with one click of the button on the end, out popped a tiny fountain pen nib atop an equally small and intricate feed. Instantly, I became a child again, with an expression of great need for this amazing item and out of the goodness of her heart, dear Chris made sure that we didn't leave the store without one. So, there is my initial history with the Pilot Capless Vanishing point, but let us turn the clock forward to just the other day when another one of these treasures came my way..."

(photo courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on image to enlarge)

"So, what exactly do we have here? To start the ball rolling, this fine pen has a most attractive leaning toward dark blue barrel and cap complemented with 14K Gold plated fittings. This includes quite a long clicker button to perform both the presentation of the 14K Fine Gold nib and the retraction action of it accordingly. At the center, between the barrel and the cap is a tightly joined but unscrewable double banding. Moving on, the so-called business end of this pen is what looks for all the world like a cap, but this part serves a multi-purpose. First off, and most importantly, it houses the nib/feed unit with a hole for these pen parts to come out through. At the same time, it also provides a place to secure a very long but most fashionable clip. As for size, with the nib out for writing, it measures a full 5 ½ inches. Still, with the nib retracted and, strangely enough, the length is identical because the clicker mechanism button is further extended with the nib put to bed, but when the nib is bought out, this button becomes a tad shorter but with the nib out in daylight that brings the overall pens length to equal the other. Otherwise, there is a tiny branding just north of the double middle banding the reads Pilot Japan. It should be noted that the Pilot company brought this model out as early as 1963 and it has retained a place in the market and been, in turn, a great success ever since. Like my first Pilot Capless Vanishing Point, this pen will become a new well-deserved addition in my ever-growing pen collection."

Christopher, thank you for the review and photo! If you're interested in learning more about the history of this revolutionary fountain pen model, I highly recommend Carmen Rivera's excellent Pilot Namiki Capless/Vanishing Point History Page here: https://carmenriverapens.com/vanishing_point.htm 

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 572

Since it's "Back to School" day for most B.C. students, I thought I'd post Christopher's review of an economical vintage fountain pen that he remembers from his own school days--the Esterbrook CX-100 model !

Christopher writes:
"Most of us who were in prep school in the late 1950s and/or very early 1960s will remember our local drug or convenience store selling the likes of Esterbrook pens. Just such a familiar brand and products that were next to bullet proof. A pen in those days for a student was definitely a necessity. Face it, you needed a pen to take notes in class, write your exams and, possibly, if you were mischievous, flick ink out of your pen all over the back of the student that sat in front of you. And believe me, these student writing instruments were up for the task. Still, and on the more serious side of the equation, Esterbrook made good quality, versatile and, as mentioned, hardy products. In the earliest days, we were equipped with a bottle of ink to fill our pens but, as time moved forward, the ink cartridge more or less took over. Gone was the messy ink on fingers (more or less) and somehow the pens seemed to fare better. But let us take a look at what I have brought to the table..."

(photo courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on image to enlarge)

"This time, I am featuring an in-store rack pen card from the late 1950s, one you would commonly see at a local drug or convenience store on a countertop or floor product rack. In this case, the card sports an Esterbrook fountain pen complete with a separate group of 7 Esterbrook ink cartridges. The general make up of this rack card is quite attractive and catchy. Finished in a light blue with white text, and red also with white text for the selling point and to catch the buyer's eye. There is also a white area at the bottom that has both the blue and red for the text colour. It is, in fact, a very well laid out card. 

But what about the product it is housing? Well, at first glance, one would just have to say that this is a typical Esterbrook fountain pen. But, in fact, it isn't since the nib carries no Esterbrook number code and the pen's cap has a very wide banding and also has chased vertical lines, neither of which are to be found on the standard Esterbrook fountain pen from the late 1950s. While the barrel is an attractive blue, this pen sports a black grip section and steel Esterbrook nib backed up with a responsible feed and covered with a chrome plated cap. It should be noted that the nib and feed are securely held in a screw-in unit which allows for a vast assortment of interchangeable nibs. This pen has a lever filler mechanism which works extremely well and, being contained in clear plastic on the rack card, it is absolutely mint and never has been used. The condition of the card is also very fine overall and ready to hang on the wall, which I intend to do in my pen workshop to admire and enjoy. Truly a nice piece for any vintage pen collection." 

Our thanks to Christopher for sharing his review (and some school-days memories of using fountain pens 😊). For more information on the Esterbrook CX-100, you check out this page about it: https://www.esterbrook.net/cx100.shtml

September meeting info -- NEW DATE, TIME & VENUE and a SPECIAL PRESENTATION!

SEPTEMBER 2026 MEETING information!

📢 SPECIAL PRESENTATION: BASIC NIB-TUNING TALK BY JERRED!✒️

Location: The Branch Meeting Room of the Vancouver Public Library's FRASERVIEW branch at 1950 Argyle Street (just west of the intersection of 54th Avenue & Victoria Drive), in Vancouver, BC.
Link to branch's web page: https://www.vpl.ca/branches/fraserview

Date: SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19, 2026

Time: 11:30am to 2:00pm 

Note: Jerred's presentation will start at 12:00pm and will last about 30 minutes. Jerred said he'll also talk about the tools and materials he uses. We won't be having any "show & tell", so you can use the rest of the meeting time to socialize and sell/trade/buy pens, inks, etc. 

➡️Useful Fraserview VPL information⬅️:

Free Parking
• Street parking on Argyle Drive adjacent to library main entrance
• Parking lots to the east and west of the library

Transit:
Bus #20 (Downtown / Victoria) has stops on Victoria Drive.

The Fraserview branch has the VPL's largest Branch Meeting Room (it can seat 60 people) and we've never had a meeting there before, so I hope it turns out to be a good venue choice! 

No RSVP's required to attend - email us at vancouverpenclub@gmail.com with any questions about this event and/or joining our pen club! Hope you can make it! 😊

A few photos from our August meeting at the Vancouver Pen Shop

We had an incredible turnout for our August meeting at The Vancouver Pen Shop on Saturday August 22nd! Store manager Shannon remarked that there were well over 70 people present, but I'd guess there were a few more than that; after I got home, I looked at our club's membership list and realized that at least 58 of our members were there --several with their spouses/partners-- in addition to many folks I didn't recognize. Needless to say it was a busy evening!

The evening's theme was Fountain Pens, Leather Goods and Stationery made by Independent Makers and it was well-represented by such items sold by the Vancouver Pen Shop, artisans in our pen club who came to the meeting with samples of their work, the door prizes generously donated by the Pen Shop, and by examples of artisan-made fountain pens and pen/stationery accessories brought in by our members to show other attendees.

Huge thanks to Vancouver Pen Shop owner Margot, store manager Shannon, and staffers Sunshine and Dee for their hospitality and customer service during a very busy-but-well-organized & fun event! 😊 I didn't have much time to take photos during the event, but I did take a few pics, so here they are....

(all photos by Maja, except where noted; please click on images to enlarge)

(photo above courtesy of The Vancouver Pen Shop, via their Instagram account)

I'm glad that Shannon said it was fine for me to post the photo above here on our club's blog, because I didn't take any photos of people that night (lol). There were a lot of new faces at the meeting, but I do recognize Rumi, Esther and James in the photo above :) 

There were many door prizes given out that night by our hosts, including this gorgeous notebook cover donated by the Pen Shop. It was made by a former RCMP member whose goods were sold by the store and Rene was the lucky winner of this beautiful handcrafted item!

Our fellow VPC member Anson of Springfield Pens also donated a door prize! This adorable 'Hummingbird" handmade (by Anson) resin pocket fountain pen was won by VPCer Enkay. If you are interested in seeing some of Anson's handcrafted fountain pens in person, you can find some of them for sale at the Vancouver Pen Shop.

VPC member James brought an item he handcrafted to show us---the cool pen cup on the right, featuring the logo of the hugely-popular anime series 'One Piece'. Its design was inspired by the Esterbrook '2GO' pen cup on the left, belonging to Kyle (well done, James!)

I snapped a couple of photos of the items I acquired at the meeting after I got home. In the photo above are: a wonderful print I won in the door prize draws---an image of Vancouver Downtown Eastside's historic Patricia Hotel done by Urban Sketcher (local artist Wong Kang), a lovely leather coaster handmade by our pen club's own Nine Lives Atelier, and a Sheaffer Levenger "Mediterranean" fountain pen I bought from Grant in our pen club. 

In addition to the generous door prizes, the Pen Shop also provided us with a lot of tasty food, beverages and some great goody bags! My goody bag included some of the items above -- a charming solo pen sleeve made by Victoria's Genevieve Primeau of Lolabuttons.com, a sticker of the Vancouver Pen Shop based on a sketch by Urban Sketcher, and a lovely botanical note card by Bowen Island watercolour artist Beth Turner (Watercoloursbybeth.ca). The Retro 51 'Tornado' "Big Shot" rollerball in the bright red "Hawthorne" finish was a last-minute purchase from the Pen Shop before the store closed :)

 

Sorry I didn't have time to photograph more artisan-made items--e.g. embroidered patches by VPC member Enkay (Enkay Designs), adorable stickers from The Hungry Hummie Paper Co. made by VPCer Candice (which you can purchase at the Vancouver Pen Shop!) and samples of some nice leather goods handmade by pen club member Ramiz, who just started his new venture last month!

On behalf of our pen club members, our thanks to everyone at the Vancouver Pen Shop for being such great hosts! 🙏 Thank you to everyone in our club who came out to the meeting, as well. Information about our September meeting will be posted this week, so watch for that!

(~Blog post by Maja~)

Photos from the 5th Annual Metro Vancouver Deas Island Park Pen Meet- Up (held in June!)

Sponsored by our friends at the South Fraser Pen Club (SFPC) and PenDen.ca, the 5th Annual Metro Vancouver Deas Island Park Pen Meet-Up was held on Sunday June 14th at Deas Island Regional Park in Delta, BC. Last year's event was cancelled due to rain, but this year's was well-attended (I counted at least 23 fountain pen fanatics there :) by folks from the SFPC and our own pen club (and there's a lot of overlap in membership---nearly everyone I saw there was a member of our pen club 😁) I tacked on some information about the South Fraser Pen Club at the end of this blog post, in case you were thinking about joining their pen club 😊.

I attended the meet-up and had a great time---many thanks to Mark & Sharon of PenDen.ca for hosting the event and to Sherman (who is in both pen clubs lol) who took a ton of photos and said I could share them here. Sorry for the delay, but better late than never!

(all photos courtesy of Sherman ~ ⚡ please click on images to enlarge ⚡)

Our photographer Sherman (aka "The Selfie King" 😄) and (on the far right of the photo) our pen club's youngest member, Emilio!

Above: Sherman with my dear friend Brian (that's Rene hamming it up on the right lol). In the near background are Joe B (in the light blue shirt) and Derek (in the turquoise-coloured shirt) and in the far background, that's James Y. in the dark shirt...

Sherman with the lovely Sharon T, the event's co-host...

That's Sharon's hubby Mark (longtime member of our pen club & talented pen repairman) with her and Sherman. Mark & Sharon have a great website for pen repair *and* pen sales at PenDen.ca

Sherman with Sharon N, who always brings great fountain pens to sell at these meet-ups :)

I think those are Mark & Sharon T's fountain pens in the photo with Sherman above--very impressive!

Sherman with Jayne (head of the South Fraser Pen Club) and Vladan in the background

David C (seated), Judah and Sherman...

(left to right) Sherman, me (Maja), Shona and James

That's longtime fountain pen collector Dave M. in the baseball cap and Russell (to Dave's right)...

Sherman with Kyle (in the middle) and Jerred...

(can you tell Sherman was having fun at the meet up? 😂 )

That's Jerred's amazing collection of Delta fountain pens to the left of Sherman...

Egon (standing next to Sherman) has been coming to these Deas Island meet-ups for years, but he just joined our pen club recently lol--welcome to the club, Egon!

The meet-up starting to wrap up...

There were so many wonderful vintage fountain pens to see at the meet-up (in addition to the many modern ones); thank you to everyone who brought pens to show/sell/trade!

Mark & Sharon taking a well-deserved break as the event nears its end....

A view of the covered picnic area that Sharon and Mark reserved for the event. Thank you both for hosting and organizing a really fun afternoon! 🙌 (and thank you to everyone who brought food to share :)

Now, in case you haven't heard of the Lower Mainland's *newer* pen club before...

⭐The South Fraser Pen Club⭐ was founded in January 2024 and membership is open to anyone who lives in the Lower Mainland. It's a very friendly club and (like our own pen club) it's free to join! 😊 The club meets on the first Thursday of each month at the Cloverdale Legion (17567 57 Avenue, Surrey, BC) at 6:30pm. The club doesn't have a website, but they have a private Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/953894032538942/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT
If you have any questions about the South Fraser Pen Club, please feel free to contact the head of the club (Jayne) at southfraserpenclub@gmail.com

(~Blog post by Maja~)

Don't forget---meeting this *Saturday* night at the Vancouver Pen Shop!

Meeting info here: https://www.vancouverpenclub.com/2026/07/august-2026-meeting-meet-up-at.html

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 571

One more vintage review from Christopher! 😄

 He writes:

"Waterman pens, in general, have always impressed me and seem to have a serious focus on what writing instruments are all about. When the company reached the early 1930s, this focus was definitely prime and although their pens had moved away from colourful vulcanized ripple, the dazzling colours of the plastic finish on their pens and pencils turned many a head back in the day.”

(photo courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on image to enlarge)

“Case in point, this impressive 1933 vintage set, finished in a mottled grey and pearl with red flecks and brilliant silver fittings. The 94-model design, having stood the test of time, sits well in hand and at the same time, with the fountain pen posted, is perfectly balanced to write with effectively. Posting at a full 6 ½ inches, but capping back for the pocket at 5 inches exactly. Still, it is the girth of this model at 0.47 inches, which is most impressive and, in turn, sets it apart from other Waterman models, The cap has an attractive matching stacked quad disc top with a beautiful chased pattern banding. Above, well attached, is a tapered, rounded topped flat ball ended clip. The barrel supports a typical Waterman boxed lever filler, while the bottom is flat but carries the Waterman model numbering code of 94. No mistaking this pen for any vintage pen enthusiast! 

At the business end, a substantial jet-black grip section sports both a black feed and a super impressive Waterman Ideal 14k Gold nib, Waterman colour coded red for General writing medium flex, with the pen's point of origin, Canada, proudly noted below. I should mention that this pen is an outstanding writer. And I think it is right to say that the flexible nib lays down the ink in a most responsible and consistent fashion. The matching mechanical pencil is an equally good writer and matches the fountain pen for good balance in the hand and super design. The mechanism works well and I should add that the condition of both writing instruments is very fine to near mint overall. Needless to say, this outstanding example of what the Waterman company was famous for in the early 1930s will definitely become part of my vintage pen collection."

Our thanks to Christopher for the review! Don't forget that our next meeting will be held on Saturday August 22nd at the Vancouver Pen Shop from 6:30pm to ?? All info in this post!

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 570

Here's Christopher's write up about a very special recent find! 😀

(photos courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on images to enlarge)

"The 51 was actually the idea and concept of George Parker’s son, Kenneth, who became president of the company in 1933. A young corporate figure who not only had done his time at an advertising agency, but was both inventive and a pilot. Being extremely progressive, he understood that it was important to be one step ahead of the competition, thus a new and advanced line of pens was called for. What was developed and came out of his idea was the so called ‘Pen From Another Planet’. And better still, Kenneth having his wings, saw to it that to offset leaking from a difference in air pressure, that the new aerodynamic 51 had a responsible breather tube and a collector as part of its feed, to keep a wee bit of ink up front so that the pen would come to life and write at any given time. But most important to the marketing end of the equation was to equip the Parker sales force with 51 demonstration models which, in turn, they could take out to the general public to demonstrate the 51’s working strengths. As one can imagine, these demonstrator 51 models, as time went by, became extremely rare.

For years --in fact, as soon as I realized that there actually were Parker 51 Demonstrators-- it was something I just had to have. But for all of sixteen years, it was just wishful thinking. Then, totally out of the blue, one came my way. What I really liked about this item was twofold. First -- the condition, but secondly, it was never made for sale. And this latter fact was inscribed with the model branding right on the barrel. Produced 100% for the Parker sales department. So let me outline the makeup of this rare fountain pen...

Well, first of all, the barrel is black and, as mentioned, had the model, ‘Demonstrator’ along with ‘Not For Sale’ inscribed accordingly. The filling mechanism is Vacumatic with a plastic button covered with a rounded screw-on blind cap. At the business end of the barrel is a clear transparent grip section which allows viewing of the nib, feed and collector. In this case, the feed/collector is black. The 14K Gold nib is a medium writer and that whole front part of the pen is covered with a smart Parker 51 Gold filled ‘Custom’ cap. The clip is the short feathered arrow held in place with a gray plastic jewel. This specific Parker 51 demonstrator hails from the late 1940s and will definitely deserve a place of honor in the Parker ranks of my vintage pen collection."

Christopher--congratulations on this great vintage find, and thanks for the informative write up and accompanying photos!