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!

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 569

Christopher's back with another review--this time it's a vintage Waterman fountain pen and pencil set!

He writes:
"To properly visit this set's history, one must turn the clock back to the period just after World War II...While most pen companies were in a state of recovery, Waterman and its pen works were moving forward with amazing grace. There was no faltering in product quality or reliable consistency of materials used. The long era for vulcanized rubber had been suitably replaced with vividly coloured plastics. But, as had always been the company's interest from day one, the business end of each and every Waterman pen had a finely ground and jewelry crafted 14K gold (often flexible) nib. Still, it cannot be ignored that over and above all these strengths, the Waterman company was operating at a financial loss which, in time, halted their North American production, with Waterman products being then moved on to the Jif Waterman works in France.

But, for the time, being let us take a careful look at this lovely late 1940s Waterman pen and pencil set...

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

 The matching finish on both writing instruments is a brilliant scarlet intertwined with jet black and complemented with silver fittings. The effect, to my mind, is both tasteful and at the same time quite elegant. While the pencil has a good working mechanism to extend the lead for writing, the fountain pen sports a fine number 2 Ideal Waterman 14K gold nib that comes with more than adequate flex. This nib is secured a black grip section well-housed in a short barrel that features the typical Waterman boxed lever filler. When I say short, this lady's pen posts at a full 5 ¼ inches, but caps back for her purse at a responsible 4 ¼ inches. Admittedly, I was very much taken with this set the minute I laid eyes on it; subsequently, it will become a go-to part of my vintage pen collection."

Our thanks to Christopher for sending in this review of a lovely vintage set! 

August 2026 meeting at the Vancouver Pen Shop! (*please note date & time*)

When: Saturday August 22, 2026 from 6:30pm to ??

Where: The Vancouver Pen Shop - 555 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC.

Theme: Fountain Pens, Leather Goods and Stationery made by Independent Makers (ie. no major name brands :)

Note: this is just a social event (*not* a regular meeting) hosted by the Vancouver Pen Shop. If you have any items that match the theme and wish to show them to your fellow attendees and/or the store staff (they love seeing the stuff we bring in!), please bring them with you; if you don't, no worries! (you can bring other pen-related stuff to show ;) Thanks to Dom at the Van Pen Shop for this great theme idea.

As with previous VPC get-togethers held at the store, attendees can purchase stuff from the Pen Shop during the event. Many thanks to the Vancouver Pen Shop for inviting us back again this year! 😁

➡️ Any questions? Please email us at vancouverpenclub@gmail.com

A few photos from our July meeting

We had a good turnout for our July meeting, held at the Renfrew branch of the Vancouver Public Library on Thursday July 16; I counted at least 34 people in attendance, including newcomers Chris, Daphne, and Sam L! It was just a casual get-together with lots of pen, ink and statoinery chats going on, so I had a bit of time to take a few photos of the items our members brought to show others....

(photos by Maja ~ please click on images to enlarge)

That's Andrii's new Enigma notebook by Taroko (with fountain-pen-friendly Tomoe River paper) and a Waterman 'Hemisphere' fountain pen he got from a pen friend.

Andrii told me that when he got it, the pen wouldn't write, so he removed the feed and discovered it was inserted incorrectly at some point; apparently, the feed is keyed (but very subtly so) and has to be put into the section at exactly the right orientation or the incorrect nib-feed alignment won't allow for the ink to flow. Well done, Andrii!

Stuart's brand-new Sheaffer '300' "Coffee Edition" in Matt Brown with Regal Brown Trims.

From Sheaffer's official website: "This beautiful pen features a rich dark coffee brown hue, accented with a refined cup and heart emblem on the cap." 😊 Stuart recently bought the pen from the Vancouver Pen Shop downtown. Sheaffer was sold to William Penn (an Indian luxury writing instruments retailer) in 2022 and it's good to see its new owners coming out with cool new stuff like this special edition fountain pen.

Jerred recently acquired a red and black marbled Filcao 'Columbia' fountain pen, shown above next to its larger counterpart, the Filcao 'Atlantica' "Lapis". The 'Columbia' model came out in 2004 and was followed by the 'Atlantica'; both pens use a button-filling mechanism. Jerred did a nice review of the 'Atlantica' on our club's website a few years back (posted here).

One of our newer members, Richard P, brought two lovely Pelikan fountain pens he recently acquired--the M200 'Orange Delight' and a M205 'Star Ruby'!

(I took this photo on the hood of my car, in the library parking lot, after the meeting lol)

I purchased the beautiful Galen Leather x NOCK Lookout pen case in Deep Cognac (part of their Legacy Collection) from Buchan's Kerrisdale Stationery earlier this month, and I love it! The leather is supple and gorgeous-looking, and the inside of the case is lined with silk.

The three fountain pens I had inside the case are (left to right) a wonderful Stipula fountain pen with a Titanium nib that I bought from Mark & Sharon (in our pen club) of PenDen.ca, a Levenger 'Plumpster' in "Tides" resin, and a Narwhal (Nahvalur) Voyage Cult Pens exclusive (made specially for the well-known UK retailer) that I got from a dear pen friend (that you so much, Bonnie! 🙌)

Our thanks to everyone who came to our July meeting at the Renfrew VPL branch this month!
Information about our August meeting is in this post: https://www.vancouverpenclub.com/2026/07/august-2026-meeting-meet-up-at.html

(~Blog post by Maja~)

Pacific Northwest Pen Show ~ July 10-12, 2026 !

Just a reminder that Portland, Oregon's Pacific Northwest Pen Show is happening this week! (Friday July 10 to Sunday July 12, inclusive)

For more information, check out the show's official website at https://pnwpenshow.com 😁

July meeting info!

Happy Canada Day! 🇨🇦 

It's a new month, which means we have another meeting coming up...

 
Location: The Branch Meeting Room of the Vancouver Public Library's RENFREW branch at 2969 East 22nd Avenue, in Vancouver, BC. The library is located on East 22nd Avenue, between Renfrew and Nootka. Link to branch's web page: https://www.vpl.ca/location/renfrew-branch

Date: THURSDAY JULY 16, 2026

Time: 5:00pm to 7:30pm   (gentle reminder: we have the use of the meeting room from 5:00pm, so no "early birds", please! 😉)

Topic/Theme: NONE! This month's meeting is just another casual get-together (ie. no "show & tell") where you can chat, buy/sell/trade pens/inks and hang out with other fountain pen enthusiasts 😀. Hope you can make it! (and no need to RSVP) 

Any questions? Please contact us at vancouverpenclub@gmail.com

June meeting mini-report

Many thanks to all who attended our June meeting at the Kitsilano VPL branch on the 18th; I counted at least 35 members in attendance! A warm welcome, once again, to our newest members -- Egon, Reese, Rudolf, Sarah, Stacy and Yoori-- as well as Caroline, who attended her first non-pen-store meeting! 😁 A huge thanks to VPC members Gary & Godwin, as well as Mengxin, for their generosity vis-a-vis the door prizes that were drawn at the meeting! 🙌

We didn't have a "show & tell" at our meeting this month, but it was still a very busy one for me, with lots of enthusiastic newcomers to welcome and the drawing of the door prizes, so I didn't take a lot of photos. Actually, there are just a couple of photos that I took at the meeting....

(photo taken by Maja ~ please click on image to enlarge)

This is one of Phil's newest acquisitions---a nice vintage Kaweco 'V4' piston-filling fountain pen with a semi-hooded gold nib 😀

I couldn't find much information about this model, except for this post on The Fountain Pen Network. If anyone has any info on it, please send us an email at vancouverpenclub@gmail.com

Apologies for the brevity of this meeting report! Information about our July meeting will be posted this week, so keep an eye out for that here on our club's website.

Cheers,
~Maja

June meeting information (back to Kitsilano!)

 JUNE 2026 MEETING INFORMATION:

When: Thursday June 18, 2026

Where: The Branch Meeting Room (in the basement) of the Vancouver Public Library's KITSILANO branch at 2425 Macdonald Street (between Broadway and West 8th) in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Kitsilano branch info: https://www.vpl.ca/branches/kitsilano)

Time: 5:00pm-7:30pm

This month's meeting is just a casual get-together (ie. no "show & tell") where you can chat, buy/sell/trade pens/inks and hang out with other fountain pen enthusiasts 😀. Hope you can make it! (and no need to RSVP) 

Any questions? Please contact us at vancouverpenclub@gmail.com