Phileas Phever

[esteroids]

Okay, this Ebay offer will end in mere hours. It APPEARS to be a Phileas in a unique shade of green, but it lacks the "cigar band" in any of the photos. All other metal is the gold color that marks a Phileas. Is this a gold-plated Kultur? (I'm sorry that this will be a moot point before many of the experienced hands here at FPN see this.) I love a mystery...but not enough to buy a suspicious pen. Anyone? -- TwelveDrawings

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1990s-WATERMAN-PARIS-GREEN-MARBLE-FOUNTAIN-PEN-WRITES-VGC-/221396131279?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PensPencils_WritingEquipment_SM&hash=item338c3cddcf

 

BTW, the seller makes a point of calling this a "Vintage" Phileas....dating back as far as the 1990s. If that is "vintage", then I am prehistoric. I suppose everything is relative.

Indeed a Kultur. One of the rarer colors.

 

There are many Kulturs with all gold plate nibs and gold trim, including a blind cap ring. But a Kultur never has the cigar band, lower cap ring or two tone nib. Phileas always has the cigar band and cap ring, and would have originally been equipped with a two tone nib.

There is no such thing as a Phileas demonstrator, nor any kind of translucent Phileas. (maybe I should make one)

[mrcharlie]

BTW, the seller makes a point of calling this a "Vintage" Phileas....dating back as far as the 1990s. If that is "vintage", then I am prehistoric. I suppose everything is relative.

 

Auction says "Vintage 1990s Waterman fountain pen green marble with gold plated fittings"; isn't claiming Phileas anywhere that I can see. I saw one auction for a Phileas that called it an "antique".

[TwelveDrawings]

MrCharlie, Esteroids, and RMN. I apologize. Shortly after leaving the post re the green Kultur, I found an older post by Force that set me straight on those issues. I retracted the question so as not to waste anyone's time, but I must've missed the "Post" button. Thank you all for replying so promptly and precisely.

[TwelveDrawings]

I will not cast the first stone. I will not cast the first stone. I will not cast the first stone. (But is the focus setting THAT difficult to use?) http://www.ebay.com/itm/Six-6-Luxury-Vintage-Waterman-of-Paris-Pens-Rollerball-Fountain-/281289976606?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item417e306b1e

 

I'm not sure which made my eyes water more....that or the asking price.—TwelveDrawings

Edited March 24, 2014 by TwelveDrawings

[JonSzanto]

You are still allowing yourself to be overly concerned with an asking price. Check back and see if it sells. There are plenty of people who list pens and never sell them because the price is too high.

 

In fact, there are sellers who routinely list pens at a high price, and then at some point drop it. Even though it might still be higher than the general market, some person will see it and think "I saw one of those for XXX and now this one is only xx, must be a bargain!" and buy it. There is a lot of psychology at work here, even if it is on a Pavlovian level.

[TwelveDrawings]

You are still allowing yourself to be overly concerned with an asking price. Check back and see if it sells. There are plenty of people who list pens and never sell them because the price is too high.

 

In fact, there are sellers who routinely list pens at a high price, and then at some point drop it. Even though it might still be higher than the general market, some person will see it and think "I saw one of those for XXX and now this one is only xx, must be a bargain!" and buy it. There is a lot of psychology at work here, even if it is on a Pavlovian level.

True true true. Some of the asking prices make me seriously raise my eyebrows because they have a shred of seriousness. With due respect to the seller of the $500 batch of miscellaneous pens, I could not suppress a chuckle. — TwelveDrawings

[Left FPN]

TwelveDrawings. I like this sketch. Perhaps you would draw a similar subject but with Phileiiii.

[TwelveDrawings]

TwelveDrawings. I like this sketch. Perhaps you would draw a similar subject but with Phileiiii.

What makes you think I didn't draw this one? ; )

[RMN]

What makes you think I didn't draw this one? ; )

Perhaps in a former life, as you are from 1960??

 

 

D.ick

[TwelveDrawings]

Perhaps in a former life, as you are from 1960??

 

 

D.ick

Busted. Okay, I am willing to recreate the illustration using Phileas pens, but only if Force will provide his complete collection on "permanent loan". (Extremely unlikely, but one's reach should always exceed one's grasp.)

[TwelveDrawings]

I am revealing that I spend too much time on Ebay looking at Phileas listings. And I assume these links expire long before most people read this thread. But I claim the dubious world record for dropping Phileas pens nose-first onto concrete. With that as my expertise, I feel a tingle of recognition when I look at the nib photo for this listing http://www.ebay.com/itm/Waterman-fountain-pen-Paris-France-purple-marbleized-finish-/371025769997?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5662dbf60d

 

Is it just bad lighting, or does one side of this nib show the distortion characteristic of a damaged-then-repaired nib? Only check if you are curious.

[esteroids]

The tipping looks like it's still out of whack. Repaired steel nibs can write great, but they seldom look great.

 

This pen was originally described as in very good condition. I wrote them, asking if they had inked it and tried writing with it. I got a message back that they had and it works perfectly. But they've since revised the description.

[pajaro]

The nib in the photo looks like it has a crease remnant or a lingering distortion from what looks like a pretty good repair. It looks like some Sonnet nibs I unbent.

[TwelveDrawings]

The tipping looks like it's still out of whack. Repaired steel nibs can write great, but they seldom look great.

 

This pen was originally described as in very good condition. I wrote them, asking if they had inked it and tried writing with it. I got a message back that they had and it works perfectly. But they've since revised the description.

I described my experience with making a steel nib repair. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/251271-philias-nib-removal-and-repair-very-amateur/

 

Not one professional "nib meister" would do the work for me. There were two reasons that I recall: 1) non-steel tips are much easier to repair and 2) there is no money in repairing the nibs on low-priced pens.

 

I have a brand new spare nib waiting for the right Phileas body to pop into my sights. But the above-mentioned Ebay item shows the haziness characteristic of being much-handled. I think I'll wait.

 

—TwelveDrawings

[BoBoJones]

Phileas, one gets the phever handling the Phileas and realizing that, if you weren't previously aware of its original cost when new, you would think it a more expensive pen and sense it to be an item of high quality. It is.

[Left FPN]

I have double posted this Phileas because some may not visit the Chuckle topic. What do you notice about it.

[TwelveDrawings]

I have double posted this Phileas because some may not visit the Chuckle topic. What do you notice about it.

To paraphrase Elvis: "You can do anything but don't step on my two-toned Phileas".

[TwelveDrawings]

Phileas, one gets the phever handling the Phileas and realizing that, if you weren't previously aware of its original cost when new, you would think it a more expensive pen and sense it to be an item of high quality. It is.

Thank you for reminding us of the essential Phileas experience. I sometimes obsess about the cost vs. experience ratio here, especially in comparison with other costlier or less expensive pens.

 

I am reminded of my childhood. My parents bought my sister a rather basic, lightweight, one-speed bike. They got my brother an elaborately over-loaded bicyle with many gears, double hand-brakes, and chrome accents everywhere.

 

Guess which bike everyone (includng my brother) fought over; the humble little one-speed with agile handling and a hard-skidding foot brake. Cost does not always predict the experience. It matters, but it is not everything. Hence, the many thousands of hits on these Phileas pages.

[pajaro]

That brass tube is rattling around in my green marbled Phileas. I'll have to glue it back in, it's annoying. Of course, I wouldn't know it rattled if I didn't use the pen often. I's a damn good pen.

[LindaM]

Well, after all the debates about the prices of Phileas', how do you know how to price them? Someday I'll have made enough posts here to list a 90's fountain pen and ballpoint set in the classifieds (I'm not trying to sell them yet, mods! Honest!) but ebay's prices and some of the prices here on fpn are too wide-ranging. So how do you know what is fair? I haven't seen a fountain pen/ballpoint set listed elsewhere, which doesn't make things any easier. Meanwhile, after reading this thread, I'm worried about asking the wrong price and being another source of amusement

 

Yes I know this isn't enough detail, but am worried the mods would look unfavorably on my being too descriptive of them.