Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 168

Today, we're featuring two more wonderful vintage fountain pens that Christopher recently acquired!

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

Christopher: "I was just so happy to score a superb Parker Duofold Jr. in the Chinese Red Hard Rubber. This is a very early model with the giant barrel imprinting and the first of the Duofold Juniors to sport a 14K Gold Filled Cap Girdle. It has the washer clip but in its black grip section sports a Parker Arrow 14K Gold ‘flexy’ nib. I was tempted to replace this point with a Duofold one but finding a Vac arrow nib as such in a Duofold is by no means uncommon and just such a nice Parker nib at that. As mentioned, the condition of this pen is outstanding and with a new ink sac and resetting the nib on a cleaned feed, I am just so pleased to be adding this fine pen to my collection. Actually it is the fourth as such (see photo below) but I am sure by no means the last."

"The other pen which I just picked up has quite an interesting background. It seems that Parker made this pen for the National Pen Products Company of Chicago. In turn, the National Pen Products Company sold it to the Sears Roebuck Department Store who housebranded it ‘Webster’. Still from its button filler to its Challenger/Televisor finish, it is so unmistakably Parker that I am happy to have it now in my collection."

Christopher also mentioned a post here on FPN about Sears' "house brand" pens that he found very interesting; the post on FPN specifically mentions Parker making Webster-branded writing instruments. Our thanks, as always, to Christopher for sharing his vintage treasures with us! 

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 167

Here's a fountain pen from an American company (their pens are made in China, though) that made its debut at the D.C. Supershow back in August 2019 - Narwhal Pens! Stuart recently acquired a Narwhal "Original" fountain pen from the Vancouver Pen Shop and was kind enough to send in some photos-- along with his impressions of the pen--for our blog

So, without further ado...

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

Stuart:"I picked up a Narwhal yesterday at Van Pen, and I love it! It has a Fine point, and the barrel and cap are demonstrator type in Yellow Tang. It’s a piston-filler, which is nice at the price-point. At Shannon’s suggestion I filled it with Sheaffer Brown, which goes beautifully with the pen's colouring. We also looked at Chiku-Rin and Fuyu-Gaki, but decided the brown works best." 

"The pen is very comfortable in hand, and long enough not to need having the cap posted, which isn’t possible anyway."

 

"I like the three-dimensional quality of the colour swirls in the material, and how they extend down into the threads of the cap."

 

"The nib is smooth and lays down a nice even line with no issues. I also like the Narwhal logo on the nib, very attractive!"

 

"A wrench tool is included for working on the piston, but as Shannon said, “I wouldn’t.” :) But it’s there, along with a warranty and filling instruction folder. The price of the demo ones is $60, very reasonable, and marbled finished models are $75. VP are very happy with them, and I think they’ll be a hit with customers." 

Update: Since Stuart sent in this review to be posted on our blog, the Vancouver Pen Shop sold out of their supply of Narwhal fountain pens, but they're on reorder! If you're interested in buying one from their store, you can contact them via their Facebook page or by giving them a ring at (604) 681-1612 to check their current stock.

Stuart---many thanks for the photos and information about this cool new line of fountain pens!

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 166

 And now, a pen that needs very little introduction - my new TWSBI 'Diamond 580 ALR' fountain pen (in the aptly-named "Punch Pink" colour), recently purchased at Nikaido , a lovely pen & gift store in Steveston (Richmond), BC:

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

The TWSBI 'Diamond 580ALR' is essentially the much-loved TWSBI 'Diamond 580' with an aluminum piston mechanism, and a finely-grooved aluminum grip section and finial collar:

 The grooves on the grip section are an attractive design feature, but they also serve a purpose--to prevent its user's fingers from slipping (although opinions on this vary, it does make gripping my own pen easier). The machining of the grooves seems very well done--I can't feel any rough edges at all--and I find the texture really quite pleasant to the touch :)

 If you don't find the grooves all that groovy, the TWSBI '580AL' model (the '580ALR's older cousin) has a smooth (not grooved) aluminum grip section and finial collar. Another difference: the aluminum used in the '580ALR' has a matte finish, whereas the '580AL''s finish is shinier.

 
TWSBI claims the pen cannot be posted, but it actually can (see photo below). The company doesn't recommend doing this, though, because the barrel end (which is actually the piston knob) can --theoretically-- be inadvertently twisted by the posting/unposting action, causing ink to be expelled.

Posting the pen also results in a rather long fountain pen...with a large (and rather unsightly) gap between the bottom of the cap and the barrel ring (see my blurry closeup in the photo below). I've never had a problem with the piston knob inadvertently turning when I've posted my pen, but at 5.12 inches/130 mm unposted, I think the pen is long enough to be used comfortably without its cap on. 

The steel nib on the TWSBI '580ALR' comes in Extra-Fine, Fine, Medium, Broad and 1.1mm Stub widths and uses the same nib unit as that on the 'Diamond 580' and 'Diamond 580AL'. The nib units on the TWSBI 'Mini', 'Vac Mini', 'Vac700' and 'Vac 700R', however will not fit on any of these models. My particular nib is a Medium, and it writes smoothly (with absolutely no flex, though... but it was never advertised as having any, so I can't complain).

All in all, a great fountain pen in a colour that looks even better in person :) Many thanks to Sara & Joe of Nikaido for this wonderful pen and their excellent customer service!

Not sure which TWSBI model is right for you? There's a nice overview of the TWSBI brand and a handy comparison chart of TWSBI's six most popular fountain pen model types here. 

(~ photos and review by Maja ~)

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 165

Today's newest pen-related acquisition is courtesy of Lawrence! Meet his beautiful new Montblanc Meisterstück 'Le Petit Prince' Solitaire fountain pen...

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

Lawrence: "This pen will have to be one of Montblanc's more successful homage pens. They did a lot of things right and managed to capture both the whimsical and complexity of Saint-Exupéry's modern fairy tale. MB had three parts to this series, I think they are named: Le Petit Prince (blue and silver), The Aviator (brown and gold), and The Planet (burgundy and gold). This pen is from the first series, and it's the Solitaire version. 

This is my only blue pen. I was at first looking at MB's Blue Hour but it's a bit too "corporate-looking". This Little Prince pen is blue and very whimsical at the same time. Just the way I like it. It's a bit more pricey because it's all metal and not resin. The motif on the pen is the fox repeated all throughout the barrel and the cap. It's engraved I believe, but the pen has lacquer on it for protection so we don't feel the engraving; it's very smooth."

 

"MB had a nib especially designed for the pen.  It features the prince and fox and the star. The pen comes in F, M, and B. I got the F. I inked it with Pilot's peacock blue and it writes very well, almost floating on paper (although that could also be due to the excellent nib working in tandem with Pilot's smooth ink---a great combo)."

 

"The clip has this yellow star (in the book, it is a symbol of the prince's laughter). I would have liked it if MB continued this idea with the logo cap. Instead of the MB snow cap, it would be nice if they had a Starwalker kind of effect using this yellow star....but then knowing MB, they will charge maybe an extra 1K for that.....so just as well LOL."

 

"The cap of the pen has an excerpt from the novel translated roughly as: “To establish ties? … To me, you will be unique in all the world”. Which I think suits the "idea" of a fountain pen and nibs...in particular with fountain pens that have hand ground nibs, each nib is definitely "unique" to the owner/writer. The pen looks great uncapped. I don't post my pens and so the pens will not look plain/naked without the cap on. For example, the Doué Classique only has the cap with the design and looks plain uncapped."

"I don't have a grail pen, but rather a group of pens that fulfill this function as a "grail pen posse", and this little prince pen is a regular part of the group." 

Wow, what a gorgeous fountain pen! Thank you so much, Lawrence, for sharing it with us :)

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 164

Last November, I placed an order for a Pineider 'Avatar UR' fountain pen with La Couronne du Comte, a well-known pen shop in the Netherlands. I'd never ordered from them before, but their price for the pen was the lowest I could find online (just under 80 Euros, or $122 CAD) so I jumped at the chance to acquire one (and in the colour I really wanted) for such a great price...

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

The Pineider arrived after a slight delay--it was temporarily out of stock-- but in plenty of time for Christmas. I'd mentioned that the pen was purchased as a Christmas gift (I neglected to mention it was a self-gift ;) so the store was thoughtful enough to gift-wrap it for me.

The pen came in a nice cardboard box with the Pineider name and crest on it- simple yet tasteful...

...and lots of documentation, including a warranty (enclosed in a small sleeve embossed with the Pineider name and crest) and an instruction pamphlet from the manufacturer. All of the paper was very high quality, not surprising considering that Pineider has been producing high-end stationery since 1774.

 

(pages 1 and 2 of the warranty pamphlet ~ click on images to enlarge)

 

The colour I chose for my 'Avatar UR' is called "Angel Skin", a dreamy, swirly mix of darker and lighter pinks. The pen came nestled in a cut-away box liner and arrived safe and sound, which is ironic because.....

...the body of the 'Avatar UR' is made of "UltraResin"--a mother-of-pearl compound resin developed in Florence for Pineider, which (according to Pineider), "is extremely rigid, nearly like metal, incredibly resistant to hits, very close to call it unbreakable, resistant to oils, inks, electricity, to high and low temperatures, to UVrays, to any weathering condition" (watch Goldspot Pens' "torture test" of its durability here ...and no, I didn't try any of those tests myself!). Note: There was an earlier Pineider model (ca. 2018) named 'Avatar' (without the "UR" in its name) that was not made of the nearly-unbreakable UltraResin. The 'Avatar UR' (my pen) came out a year later, in 2019.

Another interesting fact--thanks to the "GlueLess" technology used its manufacture, the 'Avatar UR' was assembled "without a single drop of glue being employed in the process". Need proof? There's a clip of the pen's designer Dante Del Vecchio proudly assembling the pen with nothing but a small hammer here.

If signore Del Vecchio's name is familiar to you, it's because he is the co-founder and former CEO of Visconti Pens. He also designed all of their writing instruments and was the inventor of Visconti's Power Filler system, their Traveling Inkwell and the Visconti Double Reservoir Power-Filling system, among other inventions. In 2016, he left Visconti and in 2017 was hired by Pineider to spearhead the re-launch of their own line of fine writing instruments (Pineider first started making fountain pens in the late 1800s). The creativity seen in the Visconti writing instruments he designed can clearly be seen in the Pineider pens he developed after leaving Visconti. There's an insightful interview with him here that I think is well worth reading if you want to know more about "the man behind the pens".

 

Back to the pen....I love the overall aesthetics of it, as well as all the thought that went into its design, such as the patented magnetic cap-closure mechanism. The magnet's surface is coated with a film to protect it from corrosion, as well as allowing for a "soft touch" closure. The palladium-coated barrel end cap also serves two functions--to add some weight to the pen, and also to protect the barrel end from breakage -- should the pen fall from a height, the metal end cap will make contact with the surface first, due to its weight. The magnet and end cap do add to the overall weight of the pen (which comes in at 30 grams), but it's not what I consider a "heavy" fountain pen.

 

The pen is a nice size and heft and can be used comfortably unposted ... or even posted, if you're a "high-gripper", as I am. I actually like resting my fingers on the ultra-smooth magnetic steel ring (which is part of the cap-closure mechanism) just below the section -- it seems to give them a better purchase on the barrel vs. holding the pen by its smooth metal section, which some find a bit slippery. The flared end of the section does act as a good finger-stop, though, and is also very smooth. I actually couldn't find any sharp edges anywhere on the barrel or section, which tells you how well made the 'Avatar UR' is. 

 The clip--designed to look like a feather or quill--is made of "marine steel" and is firm but flexible, thanks to its elegantly-simple spring-loaded design. The tiny opening in the photo above shows one end of the single pin holding the clip in place.  

 

Onto that highly-ornate cap band now...

The wide palladium-plated cap band depicts the skyline of Florence (Firenze) Italy, Pineider's headquarters. Directly below the Pineider logo is the city's famous Ponte Vecchio bridge...

...the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore ("the Duomo"), one of Florence's main tourist attractions, is also depicted on the cap band...

...as is the the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio (left) and the Basilica di Santa Croce (center).

I love the engraving on this nib, which has "Pineider" written sideways (in a very cool futuristic font) on both sides of the nib---the normal way on one side, and in mirror-image on the other side (a subtle tribute to Leonardo da Vinci's mirror-writing, perhaps?)

The "M" on the rhodium-plated Bock steel nib stands for its width--Medium. My pen wrote smoothly right out of the box with no nib adjustment or tuning required. The warranty pamphlet that came with the pen describes the nib as a "large N6 Demi Flex" nib. I'm not sure if I'd classify it as "Demi Flex", unless they're referring to modern flex (vs. vintage flex, which is far more pronounced). If I press hard, I can create some line variation, so perhaps that's classified as "Demi Flex"? The nib does have "spring" to it, though, so it's not a "nail".

The pen uses international cartridges or a converter, and comes with a Pineider-branded converter. It, however, isn't the same converter that comes with the 'Avatar UR Demonstrator''--the Demonstrator's converter has markings on it to show the amount of ink remaining in it, whereas my pen's converter doesn't.

In the end, the pen wound up being a Christmas present from my wonderful in-laws (rather than a Christmas "self-gift"), who gave me a monetary gift which I later used to pay off the pen. I visited Florence in 1993 but wasn't a fountain pen collector at the time, so I missed out on an opportunity to buy a pen-related souvenir of that beautiful city....until now :) Many thanks to my in-laws for their generosity and to La Couronne du Comte for their excellent customer service!

Sorry for the long review. Hope you enjoyed reading about this great fountain pen :)
~Maja

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 163

Well, this will probably be the smallest item I'll be posting for our pen club's virtual "show & tell", lol, but it's pen-related... and it just so happens to be the 100th anniversary of the beloved Parker 'Duofold' this year, so I hope no one minds.

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

I'm a pin collector as well as a pen collector and I'd been looking for this particular pin (at a reasonable price) for several years with no luck. A few months ago, a French eBay seller had it up for bids with a low starting price and low shipping (just the way I like it, heh) so I put in a modest bid, and won it for just slightly over 3 Euros (including shipping!) The pin has a bit of wear to it, but I still think it's cute :) 

The fountain pen on the pin is actually the modern Parker 'Duofold', not the vintage one (the pen's trademark "Arrow" clip is a dead giveaway---the vintage 'Duofold' had a roller clip). Parker's famous "Quink" ink (also depicted on the pin) was first introduced in 1931, ten years after the 'Duofold'. Both Parker's 'Duofold' and its 'Quink' ink are still in production. I'm not sure when this little pin was made, but I'd guess in or after 1987, when the modern 'Duofold' came out. 

(Side note: I acquired a modern 'Duofold' fountain pen late last year and will be posting photos of it in a few weeks)

~pic & review by Maja

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 162

Here's another vintage item, courtesy of Stuart--a Parker desk base that he purchased last year...

(all photos courtesy of Stuart ~ click on images to enlarge)

Stuart: "I’m sending two pics of the Parker desk-set base that came with a '51' desk-pen, which is not correct.  It doesn’t fit the Parkette base either but some day I’ll find a pen that goes with it!"

I asked Stuart about the metal trim and he replied: "The trim on the Parker base is gold-plate or filled, but oxidized so it looks like rose gold! It came from a seller back East, I can’t remember where, and came with a '51' desk-pen, which I found fits in the' 45' base I have, isn’t that handy?"

Many thanks to Stuart for all his contributions to our online "show & tell".

On a side note, I recently found a true gold mine of information about vintage writing instruments (including desk sets!) on the Pen Collectors of America website in their PCA Reference Library.
The library is organized by manufacturer and consists of links to company catalogs, pamphlets, in-house newsletters, etc. Most/all of the files are PDFs which can be downloaded and saved.
How cool is that? Hope you enjoy browsing through it as much as I am :)

Stay safe everyone!
~Maja

 

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 161

According to Sheaffer desk pen expert Roger Wooten, Sheaffer made 660 different desk set models between 1925 and 1941. Not surprisingly, this period was considered the "golden age" of desk sets. They're still popular in the 21st century, though, and you can find lots of them on eBay...and in Stuart's growing collection!

We've featured quite a few of them in our ongoing virtual "show & tell", so here are two more that Stuart acquired a few months ago:

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

Stuart: "I’m sending some quick shots of the two desk bases, the green one that came with its holder broken and the brown one that will provide a replacement socket, as well as being in use itself." 

 "The brown set must have had a brown pen to coordinate with the rest. The holder looks black in my pics but is brown. It fits both bases, just needing a press down to snap into the green base."

 

"The pen that came with the green base is black, to match the broken holder, so there’ll be a bit of colour-mismatching when it’s put in the brown holder, gasp!!!"

Stuart--congrats on these nice finds and thanks so much for the photos!

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 160

Heading back to the modern age with today's featured newest acquisition - a lovely Italian fountain pen recently purchased by Jerred...

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

Jerred: "This is a Delta Via Veneto Doue Elegance Torsion. This pen series was intended to commemorate the Via Veneto, one of the most famous streets in Rome, as immortalized in the film "La Dolce Vita" by Federico Fellini. As was often the case with Delta, there were multiple lines in the Via Veneto collection. I believe that this particular model represented the top-end line. The pen is notable for having a cap band and finial made of Casein, a milk-derived resin. This particular model also has a sterling silver cap (Doue) as well as an engraved circular pattern that repeats on both the barrel and cap (Torsion).

This pen uses Delta's standard 14k #5.5 nib, and it is a lovely writer."

Congratulations on another wonderful addition to your Delta pen collection, Jerred, and thank you for sharing it with all of us!

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 159

Now, here are a couple of vintage fountain pens with some very interesting features, courtesy of Christopher...

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

Christopher: "For many years I have wanted the Conklin Nozac ‘Word Gauge’, a fountain pen with a clear transparent barrel imprinted with a measurement graph of exactly how many words that could be written with the different levels of ink inside the pen. It was a Conklin pen model feature which was available from 1931 through to 1938 on their Nozac line. Unfortunately, this interest on my part proved to be challenging to find, but around the same period the Salz Bros company under their Stratford branding released a similar barrel ink graph but in ‘droplet measurements’, again, on a transparent plastic barrel. One of these pens I was able to find, but sadly the transparent barrel filler nipple was gone. This I replaced along with a rubber bulb filler to render a very interesting pen for my current collection."

 

Christopher:"Before the plastic ink cartridge was made available, the French Waterman Company, Jif offered a similar glass ink cartridge with their Standard model 32 pen. It was a feature which was replaced in 1952 when Waterman of Paris developed their CF model which not only came with a plastic ink cartridge, but also a converter. The glass ink cartridge was short-lived and today, for interested pen collectors, is somewhat rare. I was fortunate to turn up a near mint example of this pen complete with its glass ink cartridge in good working condition. Shortly after acquiring the pen, a new member of our Vancouver Pen Club passed on a 1990s French Waterman pen box. Seemly the perfect storage for my Waterman Standard, I customized the box tie-down insert card and came away with an attractive storage unit for my glass ink cartridge vintage fountain pen."

Waterman wasn't the first pen company to use a glass ink cartridge; there's a nice article on them here, though. Our thanks to Christopher for the photos and write-ups on these cool vintage finds!