Greetings to all,

Does anyone know anything about Sheaffer Connaisseurs? Their history, writing perfomance, etc...

My grandpa was rummaging through his old stuff some weeks ago (Grandma demanded that he clean up! ) and found a very welcome surprise. Lying in a shoebox of old photos from the early 80s was a red Sheaffer pen case with a black Connaisseur inside.

He is a meticulous organizer, and he has records of every pen that he has ever had, down to the sales receipt and date of purchase. What is really strange is that he has no recollection of ever buying a Connaisseur. He is also a voracious user of FPs, keeping about twenty pens inked at all times. Yet, this pen has never been used.

Grandpa has no idea where this pen came from and refuses to use it until he knows more about it. It would be an enormous shame to let such a beautiful pen sit unused. So, please, Sheaffer experts, HELP!

Thanks,
THN

Hi THN,

From what I've read online and in books, the pens came out in 1985 and were made for about 10-11 years.
There is are a couple of good FPN threads on them here:

Connaisseur variations

and

Connaisseur vs. the Grand Connaiseur model

As you can see, FPNer Dennis Bowden is an afficianado of the pens!
I don't have a Connaisseur, but I do have one of its cousins, the Sheaffer Levenger 'Seas' fountain pen in clear purple. It's a nice writer

Dennis wrote a great article about the Sheaffer Connaisseur for the current issue of Pennant, the PCA magazine.

The Connaisseur is a very well made pen. I sold one in the Marketplace section just a few weeks ago. I kept a variant that was a result of a partnership with Levenger, the purple Adriatic Seas pen from the Seas series.

Mary P. you are awesome you know alot and i wish I knew so much like you! seriosly you are the best!!!!

And I bought that pen, and it is a very fine piece indeed. Retro influenced, but not in any mannered kind of way, and with a very nice nib. If you think of what would happen if you started with a No Nonsense, and told the designer to make it as good a pen as possible, you'd get the idea. I mean that as a compliment, BTW.

Thank you, Mary, and I love the BHR Sheaffer, too.

Michael

My local pen dealer told me that there was a version made of tortoise shell (not lacquer one). Do they really exist?

Sam

No - the "tortoise shell" is a lacquer finish - model 821. This same finish also appears on the Prelude in G/T and B/T pens.

Cheers,

Jim Mamoulides
www.PenHero.com

Thank you, Paulie. 9

I had the tortoise lacquer one a few years ago. I used it daily as I like the color of the pen. I lost it within two months. I am not sure whether I was lucky or unlucky. It was the only fountaiin pen that was lost in the past 10 years.

Sam

If the story that floats around Fort Madison has any truth, Michael's explanation of how the Connaisseur came to be is dead on. Sheaffer took a No Nonsense, added a gold nib, a bit of extra trim and rounded out the ends. Voila - No Nonsense transformed to a Connaisseur! It's far more obvious in the Levenger Seas translucent pens.

Sam