May meeting photos ~ Part 1

Last month's meeting was held at the Oakridge branch of the Vancouver Public Library on May 16th, with twenty-one members in attendance.

The topic for May's meeting was "Fountain Pens with Unusually-Shaped Nibs" and we saw some very interesting examples. I snapped a few photos of the fountain pens some of our members brought in for this theme, so without further ado...

~Please click on images to enlarge ~

Jerred (who suggested the evening's theme) kicked off the meeting with three examples of fountain pens with unusually-shaped nibs (top to bottom): Sheaffer 'Valor' (which features an inlaid nib), Pilot 'PIG' and Pilot 'E'. Both Pilots have inset 'fingernail' nibs (so-named for their appearance). Jerred also brought in a Waterman 'Carene' (which has an inset nib) for our topic (not pictured.)

This cool Paidi fountain pen (also owned by Jerred) was made by the Chinese pen company Hero and sports an integrated (or integral) nib which is part of the pen's metal section:

Julienne's stainless steel Parker '95' and black Sheaffer 'Imperial'. The inlaid-nibbed 'Imperial' model was Sheaffer's forerunner to the 'Valor':

Leo's crosshatched Pilot 'Elite', a fine example of a "long-short" fountain pen - a short pen with a long section that posts to full length. Leo also brought in a Parker '75' for our topic (not pictured)

The 'Elite''s 18K white gold inset nib:

Jenny's Pilot 'E95S' and her TWSBI 'Eco' LE (Limited Edition) made for Bungubox with handpainted cap. The TWSBI has an "Arrow" nib made by FPNibs.com:

Another limited edition pen owned by Jenny - a white Pilot 'Decimo' limited edition in the "White Art Deco" design (made for the Japanese Mitsukoshi department store chain, only 100 pieces made) and Alejandra's Pilot 'Decimo', a regular (non-LE) issue model in Burgundy. The Decimo is a capless fountain pen with a retractable "click" mechanism (like many ballpoint pens). You can't see it in this photo, but Decimos have long, narrow nibs:

Alejandra's vintage Waterman 'Lady Garland' from the 1940s. This model was the feminine (and shorter) version of the larger Waterman 'Taperite'. Both models, however, came with the same diminutive nib. Alejandra also brought in her hooded-nibbed Parker '51' for our topic (not pictured).

A close-up of the Waterman's cap, which has a feathery engraved design on it:

Here's something you don't see every day---a three-tined fountain pen! This is Candice's Sailor 'Trident' (ca. 1983), an all-angle fountain pen made to compete with the ballpoint:

The Trident's three nibs enabled its user to write at any angle and any rotation. The model name came from the three-pronged spear belonging to Poseidon/Neptune, the Roman/Greek god of the sea. There's a nice writeup on this model here on Russ Stutler's website.

(Below) For our meeting topic, Mindy brought her Waterman 'Expert' fountain pen. This is the first generation of the 'Expert' (known as the 'Expert I')--later generations have a traditional nib:

A closeup of the Expert's nib, with its teardrop-shaped cutaway design:

(Photo below) My (Maja's) fountain pens with oddly-shaped nibs (I brought a lot of examples in case others didn't bring the ones I had :) Upper right-hand corner (top to bottom)--red-striped Sheaffer 'Triumph' vacuum-filler, vintage Sheaffer 'Crest', Sheaffer 'Triumph' lever-filler (all three featuring Sheaffer's iconic "Triumph" nib), modern Sheaffer 'Crest' (with a modern "Triumph" nib), Sheaffer 'Imperial I'(with an inset nib) and 'Imperial III' (with a short two-tone conical nib). Upper left-hand corner (top to bottom): burgundy Sheaffer 'Pen For Men', Sheaffer 'Imperial VIII', Sheaffer 'Targa' (all three with inlaid nibs), Sheaffer 'Lady Sheaffer' (short conical nib), green marbled Wing Sung (which has a conical nib definitely inspired by Sheaffer's "Triumph" nib) and a clear green Jinhao 599 (the 3rd generation of this model, which features a hooded nib).

Lower right-hand corner (top to bottom): stainless steel (aka "Flighter) Parker '51', Parker '100', Parker '21', Parker '17' (all four with hooded nibs), Parker '45' (semi-hooded nib), Parker '25 (with a wraparound nib). Lower left-hand corner (top to bottom): gold-plated Parker '65' "Custom Insignia" (partly-hooded nib), Parker '105' (with a nib that's hard to describe -- "long fingernail" maybe? There's some good info on it here on Tony Fischier's excellent Parker website), Waterman 'Liaison' (with a wraparound nib), Waterman 'Carene' (inlaid nib), Pilot M90 (integral nib) and vintage Pilot 'E'(with inset "fingernail" nib).

Our meetings' secondary topic is always 'Newest Acquisitions', such as Barry's "new" vintage Conway Stewart fountain pen (made of black hard rubber) seen below. Barry also brought in a Parker '51' and Parker '75' for our topic (not pictured):

Newcomer Jim Z brought along his newly-restored vintage Sheaffer 'Balance' in the "Marine Green" colour (ca. 1931-32):

The 'Balance' was introduced in 1929 and was the first streamlined fountain-a radical departure from the traditional "flat-tops" (such as the famous Parker 'Duofold') of the time:

Many thanks to all who attended our May meeting! Our next meeting is Thursday June 20th at the Terry Salman branch of the VPL (all details here). No need to RSVP for this meeting or any other not held at a restaurant.

Part 2 of the May meeting photos (courtesy of Ricardo) to follow!