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Yard-O-Led Viceroy Standard Barley-Old Style

hari317

By hari317
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hari317 Museum Piece

hari317

Posted
Posted (edited)

Received this pen yesterday. I bought it from a gentleman in England who had bought it new in 1992 from a famous pen store "Pen Friend" in London. The pen is nearly 19 years old.

 

The older style packing:

 

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6412.jpg

 

The box is made of cardboard:

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6413.jpg

 

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6414.jpg

 

A two pen leather case is provided:

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6415.jpg

 

The polishing cloth and the extra roller ball section, yes, this pen can be used as a RB as well, just by swapping the section:

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6416.jpg

 

Onto the pen itself, it measures the same as the currently produced Viceroy standard:

 

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6395.jpg

 

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6396.jpg

 

The older pens had the plastic gripping section, upto the year 1999/2000(twdpens), now the pens are supplied with a sterling silver section, an improvement IMO, as you can see, the older units have a metallic trim collar which tends to corrode and flake.

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6397.jpg

 

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6398.jpg

 

The hallmarks on this pen are interesting and probably revealing.

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6399.jpg

 

As far as I could research from this page: link, the triangular "Delta" hallmark indicates an Imported 'foreign made' silver article that has been assayed and hallmarked by the Birmingham assay office. Does this mean that YOL pens were made in countries other than England also?

 

The Cap hallmarks:

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6400.jpg

 

Hallmarks on the barrel:

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6401.jpg

 

On the barrel ring:

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6402.jpg

 

The barley corn pattern on this pen is exquisite. Very deeply incised and dense, I hope I am able to convey using the following photos:

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6404.jpg

 

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6405.jpg

 

My Grand Barley on the right for pattern comparison:

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6409.jpg

 

The bitone nib used on the units of this era. The nib is rigid and precise.

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6410.jpg

 

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn307/hari-b/YOLStdBarley/IMG_6411.jpg

 

I bought the pen used. The pen and converter were full of dried ink, in fact, the ink had nicely caked inside the converter barrel, thanfully the converter opened up easily and I could overhaul the pen fully. I spent more time in cleaning the nib and converter and only a short time in getting the pen to write well. I loved the engraving and manufacturing quality on this example and I think I will be keeping it for some time.

 

Regards,

Hari

Edited by hari317

In case you wish to write to me, pls use ONLY email by clicking here. I do not check PMs. Thank you.

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jar Ancient Artifact

jar

Posted
Posted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hallmarks on this pen are interesting and revealing.

 

 

As far as I could research from this page: link, the triangular "Delta" hallmark indicates an Imported 'foreign made' silver srticle that hs been assayed and hallmarked by the Birmingham assay office. Does this mean that YOL pens were made in countries other than England also?

 

 

It means that the silver itself was imported. For example if the original silver rod was imported it would carry that stamp.

 

 

 

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hari317 Museum Piece

hari317

Posted
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Posted

The hallmarks on this pen are interesting and revealing.

[...]

As far as I could research from this page: link, the triangular "Delta" hallmark indicates an Imported 'foreign made' silver srticle that hs been assayed and hallmarked by the Birmingham assay office. Does this mean that YOL pens were made in countries other than England also?

It means that the silver itself was imported. For example if the original silver rod was imported it would carry that stamp.

 

That was my initial thought. After your post I did some more reading and what I understood is the following:

 

The assay office assays and certifies the Article that is presented to them. YOL mark here is the "sponsor mark", the sponsor is one who is either the manufacturer, importer or distributor.

 

The Delta mark indicates that the article is manufactured outside Britain and assayed by the Birmingham office as per the legal requirement.

 

Now I don't know at what stage of manufacture YOL offered this pen to the Birmingam office, maybe they offered the bare silver tube(imported) to be assayed and then carried out the guilloche and further manufacture after that, it is possible and also logical since silver testing involves extracting a sample and its chemical analysis.

 

The Birmingham assay office has an email contact, I have asked them whether their mark indicates imported raw material or that the finished article itself is imported. I will share their answer, if any, here.

 

Regards,

Hari

In case you wish to write to me, pls use ONLY email by clicking here. I do not check PMs. Thank you.

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hari317 Museum Piece

hari317

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Should the nib be pushed in that deep?

 

Yes, that is how it is designed, and no guesswork is involved. The nib and feed are pressfitted to the section. the section has a slot for the nib and an orientation keyway for the feed.

In case you wish to write to me, pls use ONLY email by clicking here. I do not check PMs. Thank you.

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watch_art Museum Piece

watch_art

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Cool. I was just curious as it looks like some of the text is hidden in the section. Just wondering if it had been pressed a little too deep at some point in it's life.

Thanks.

fpn_1432247667__cropped-20150427_0641231 http://www.penturners.org/forum/signaturepics/sigpic14481_1.gif http://mob984.photobucket.com/albums/ae327/VintagePen/vanness.jpg?t=1321916122

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hari317 Museum Piece

hari317

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The Birmingham assay office has an email contact, I have asked them whether their mark indicates imported raw material or that the finished article itself is imported. I will share their answer, if any, here.

 

I have received a reply from the Assay Office. I had asked the following:

 

Dear Sir,

 

I need help in deciphering the import mark on a Yard O led Sterling Silver pen. I have attached a picture of the hallmark.

 

The pen has the triangular Delta hallmark that indicates imported silver. My question is the following:

 

Does this mark indicate that the pen was manufactured outside Britain and then imported and assayed or that only the bare silver raw material was imported and further manufacture took place in Britain.

 

I will be grateful for any information.

 

Sincerely,

 

Their reply:

 

Hi [...],

 

Thank you for your email enquiry.

 

The pen would have been imported and hallmarked here in the UK in 1992.

 

Kind Regards,

[...]Registration Co-Ordinator

http://www.hicel.plus.com/assay.bmp

P.O. Box 151

BIRMINGHAM

B3 1SB

ENGLAND

 

Regards,

Hari

In case you wish to write to me, pls use ONLY email by clicking here. I do not check PMs. Thank you.

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georges zaslavsky Museum Piece

georges zaslavsky

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quite a nice pen congrats on your purchase

Pens are like watches , once you start a collection, you can hardly go back. And pens like all fine luxury items do improve with time

 

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PENitent Mint

PENitent

Posted
Posted

what a very nice pen.

Erring; for he with this rebellious rout

Fell long before; nor aught aviled him now

To have built in Heaven high towers; nor did he scape

By all his engines, but was headlong sent

With his industrious crew, to build in Hell

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hari317 Museum Piece

hari317

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Thank you Jayant, Penitent.

 

Jayant, I agree, the pattern on this pen is much superior and very well done in my opinion.

In case you wish to write to me, pls use ONLY email by clicking here. I do not check PMs. Thank you.

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dragon2java Near Mint

dragon2java

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Phenominal photos! I have wanted a YOL pen for some time, and your posting even further entices me to make that my next purchase.... Thank you for sharing! :thumbup:

"Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono"

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hari317 Museum Piece

hari317

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Beautiful pen - I am envious.

 

Ken

Thanks Ken. The pens from this era did have good work on them. Unfortunately, I have accumulated more Yard O Leds than i can manage and I have to part with this pen, I recently listed it on the classifieds.

In case you wish to write to me, pls use ONLY email by clicking here. I do not check PMs. Thank you.

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mrchan Extremely Rare

mrchan

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Posted

Brilliant pics as always Hari, always top notch. Awesome pen. Enjoy it!

Fountain pens are like weapons. They just make your pocket bleed so much.

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