This month’s acquisitions include a mini Sheaffer flat-top, a Wearever flexy-nibbed pen in what can best be called ‘tiger stripe,’ purchased form a friend on FPN on Facebook. Locally, I found a trio of lovely mechanical pencils, and a really lovely and rather rare Sheaffer Skyboy.
The pencils are lovely; the pinkish one has a red lead, which is quite unusual, and all three (four counting the mismatched striated Sheaffer) are in beautiful condition, with really gorgeous colors. I don’t know how the Sheaffers ended up as a set; not only is one the Skyboy and the other is marked Sheaffer’s on the clip, but the pen is white-dot and the pencil is not. But both are lovely pieces, so I’m glad to have them!
The Skyboy is a bit special, however. Introduced in 1940, the Skyboy was marketed as specifically designed to perform under the harsh conditions of air travel, hence the name. History doesn’t say much about that ability, but it ws a nicely made pen, comparable with the higher range pens of the time. It’s a white dot pen, with a pretty good-sized Lifetime 14K nib, and not suprisingly for a Sheaffer, writes beautifully.
What makes these unusual is that the very next year, Sheaffer changed the Skyboy line from the firm ‘radius’ clip to the military over-the-top clip, meaning this particular model was made for only one year!
Look for all of these pens, a few Asian pens I decided to take a chance on, plus a new page just for pencils coming up soon. Also appearing in my next major update: a new Skyline just off the repair pile, a Wearver 2-in-one pencil/pen hybrid, also just restored, and some creative parts-swapping in the name of repairing the Arnold. And for some reason, I never got round to photographing, or even inking up my Visconti Renbrandt Callligraphy, so look for that one too!
And I have discovered an entirely new line of inks: Callifolio from l’Artisan Pastellier, and of course I had to grab a few. Trust me that the moment they arrive they will be opened and tested, with swabs appearing here soon after!
I just nabbed a batch lot of Sheaffer pens on eBay. It was a risk (always is, right?) but there was one gem in the lot that I knew, the moment I saw it, was worth the price of the lot. As it happens, I got a few other real gems, too! But the undisputed king of this batch is the Jade Sheaffer Flat-top.
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The Sheaffer Jade is in the middle. You can see the discoloration these pens usually suffer in the one right next to it,which was once the same color! Click the image to see it bigger! |
Jade celluloid pens are known for their vulnerability to the discoloring effects of rubber or latex off-gassing. The pen right next to that glorious green one shows the very same material that has discolored. That’s the much more common condition of Jade pens from this era. How this one escaped discoloration, I don’t know, and how the fellow in eBay was willing to sell the lot for less than $100 I don’t know either, but I am so glad for both!
There are some other real treasures in this batch, though! From L to R:
All in all, a very good haul! Look for these on my Sheafffer page as I get them restored and photographed (with better photos than these phone pics)!
Finally got my new pens added. Since it’s crazy cold, I couldn’t photograph them outdoors. Sadly, my camera simply does not like shooting indoors, even in bright natural light, so this batch is not quite as good as I’d like. But, they are up!
On the Sheaffer Page:
On the ‘Other Pens” Page:
On the Project Pens Page:
I’ve finally gotten caught up with my new ink acquisitions, including two vintage and one Limited Edition from Mont Blanc.
I’ve finally finished a long-overdue reconstruction of this site from the ground up. Instead of a table-based layout, the structure is now CSS-based. I still used tables to contain the pen and ink listings, but the site itself should run a little cleaner and meaner. I’ve also updated the links list at left and removed a lot of dead links. And I’ve added a contact page, so if you know of a pen seller or website I should add, drop me a line!
I’m still working on getting the cigar boxes (below) converted into pen boxes, and will post pics when I do. I’m also thinking about possibly cross-linking with some of the sites I mention. Use the contact page to let me know what you think!
I have just added several new pens to the Miscellaneous pens page:
In the near future, I plan to go back and expand the description of each instrument to include more of a review as well as a basic description. (The fact that this will give me an excuse to ink up and test all of my pens has nothing to do with it! đ I also have about a dozen new inks to get on here as well. Check back soon!
Never mind that silly horse race business, I scored the jackpot on wooden cigar boxes! I got hold of 6 really nice boxes, and have a source for more. I have already ordered some liner trays, and will be turning these into custom pen-boxes in the next week or so. I’ll post some pics when they are done of course! Look for them on FPN’s classifieds!
Over the last few weeks I’ve been scouring antique shops for a couple of things: a rocker blotter (to keep my black glass elephant company), and a few pen racks. I scored a couple lucite display racks, which now house a selection of my treasures in the dining room curio. (Pics of that to come). Back here in my study, I have also added a few new items.
First off is something I’ve been hunting since I saw one on Pendemonium that was beyond my budget. I kept looking, figuring someone has one of these and doesn’t want it! My patience paid off:
The top row (currently cradling my MontVerde Intima) holds 3 pens, and the inkwell, while far from airtight, is nevertheless quite functional, and in mint condition. My other goal was a non-glass rocker blotter. I have and love my little glass elephant (See him at the top of the Project Pens page), but I was hoping to find something less breakable for frequent use. I nabbed these:
This one has a lovely Victorian feel, but you have to ‘spring’ the bottom portion out of the top to change the paper. This is bound to end up with part of it flying across the room in my fumbly hands. Nevertheless, it’s a great size, gorgeous, and fits comfortably in the hand for use.
Then I stumbled on this beauty! The top handle unscrews via the two ‘flowerbud’ shaped screws, and releases the gripper plates that hold the paper. I have never seen a blotter with this intricate construction, or such lavish design before! My only problem? I need more space!!!