A sweet little Tucky with amazing barrel transparency, Sadly in need of new gaskets. I have yet to venture into repairing vacs, so this one is sidelined until I can get it repaired…but a dip-test shows this has as nice a nib as I’ve come to expect from vintage Sheaffers.

A sweet little Sovereign, gorgeous color, even a striated section with a big conical nib. These are a bit of a bear to fix, too, so I will need to send it off for gaskets and seals. Otherwise, it seems to be in superb condition.

When I got this pen, it looked awful, revealing the telltale ionization of the silver underneath the gold plating. So it sat in my “not sure what to do with” pile for a couple years. Took it out on a whim and tried a different brand of polishing compound, and WOW! Looks like new! No discoloration, the barrel has excellent transparency, and the big conical nib is in great condition. It’s an original Triumph, unlike all the other pens that followed it and used the Triumph nib. The giveaway is that huge cap band. It’s a sweet writer with a fine line that is still rich and wet enough not to tweak my ‘fine nib issues.’

Contrary to legend, these are not the pens Sheaffer designed for military uniforms; those have the ‘over-the-top’ clip, which does not make the pocket flap bulge. These were made to be easy to carry in a pocket or purse, or to be worn in smaller women’s blouse pockets. This is a great specimen, with some drawer wear on the cap, but a crisp imprint and a flawless Vac fill. The ID on this is a little uncertain: in the vac-filling Tuckaways, the Sovereign had a wire band, the Sentinel had a chrome cap with a gold band, and the Statesman had the more traditional open nib. However, since this is a ‘White Dot’ pen (the white dot is located on the butt end of the barrel), and has the ‘triumph-style’ conical nib, I’m going with Sentinel.