This is a beauty; one of the prizes in my collection. The Straight clip with the ‘Sheaffer’S’ imprint, the five line-inscription and the white dot place this pen fairly precisely at 1926. The coloration on the Jade is as near flawless as any example I’ve seen, and the clip and bands have only the tiniest touch of brassing. I nabbed this darling in a batch lot for a ridiculously low price, and while I have had a sac in it (because I just HAD to write with it!) I currently keep it empty to protect the color.

The Skyboy is essentially a Balance with a special feed that allows it to be carried on the non=pressurized aircraft of the 1940s. Most of these pens, those made after 1940, were outfitted with the ‘military’ or ‘over-the-top’ clip, but the first few made had the same radius clip as other the rest of its Balance line. This is a lovely example of a relatively rare pen, with no discoloration and a nib that looks like it was hardly ever used. A fine, smooth writer, and a nifty little piece of en history!

This is an unusual early lever filler. Black chased hard rubber, with clear imprint, no lever box and straight lever. Also unusual is the gold-filled ring top. I have seen these with clips, and with more typical cap bands, never with this little cap top. Seems like a smooth flexy F-M nib, marked ‘self-filling, but needs a sac. I’m a little leery of messing with this one, since I have not been able to coax the section out yet, so I will likely send it out… Sweet little pen though!

Really gorgeous desk pen in the Black and Pearl finish, offered by Sheaffer from about 1929 through 1935 or so. Has a big gleaming 14K nib that writes beautifully. Sadly, none of my holders quite fit this one, so it doesn’t get used much. But I do find desk pen holders occasionally, so I’m hoping I’ll find one with a good fit!

A sweet open nib on a graceful desk pen, with a glossy black glass base with a brass mount. Nib is a little odd, not flexy, but with a wider cross stroke than vertical (architect’s nib, perhaps?). Nice writer nevertheless, perfect for jotting quick notes at my desk. (This is the one featured on the Shaffer main page.)

This desk pen is heavier, older, and more solid than the other ones listed. In addition to the gold band, the nib is solid gold, with a smooth buttery line. The taper is a threaded black hard rubber, that, sadly looks like it was used as an icepick. It’s still a gorgeous pen, and writes beautifully. I have a base for it, but I think it’s not original since it doesn’t quite fit correctly. Still, I sometimes rotate it out with the one of my other bases.