Hi all,

I wonder what is the grade of collectability of the CS floral finish models ?

Were they made in which sizes and models ?

Is it easy to get one ?

What price can I expexct to pay ?

Can anyone put a light on this ?

Thanks

rusty

Assuming that it is the vintage floral you are looking for, there is lots of discussion about Floral 22s elsewhere in this forum, which you should read carefully before you think of investing! However, I think I can sum up the salient points for you.

There was only one model produced, which is the 22, a smallish pen, not surprisingly designed primarily for the lady user. The Floral 22 owes a lot of its appeal to the books by Andreas Lambrou that stated only 200 were ever made. In fact, the pen was offered in price lists for about 2 years in the mid 1950s, and though it seems only one batch was made because the material was difficult to handle, this batch produced more like 2000 pieces. They are therefore not all that uncommon. However, the material is subject to rapid and irreversible discolouration, especially if inked, which turns the lovely cream background into a horrible mustard yellow. Do not therefore expect to use such a pen on a regular basis!

Because of this, pieces in prime condition are reasonably rare and probably worth buying. However, discoloured pieces also fetch silly money (because of the Lambrou effect described above) and these are a complete waste of money at any price, as far as most contributors to this forum feel. Because of the demand, prices for good examples are high. Expect to pay in excess of £350 (GB pounds sterling) and maybe as much as £550 for an excellent example on ebay, up to £750 from a dealer. These pens are regularly offered on ebay, though there have been none for quite a few months now, and obviously you have to be wary of condition. This is a good mint example currently on offer at Writetime for you to buy today at £695!



If you wanted to pay a bit more for a mint, price stickered version, I could probably find you one available for about £800! I believe a few were also sold in a special box but I have only ever heard of one of these on the market.

Of course if you are interested in the modern Conway Stewart floral, this is a very poor imitation of the original in solid 18k white gold, which sells for around £12000, I believe!

Hope all this helps!

Andy

Hi andy,

You information puts me to the point!!!

I did not expect other scenario, but the prices are heavy!

I tracked down one example in my country (Portugal) but it is cracked and badly stained!!

I will nevertheless try to get it and post some photos of it.

Thanks again for Your help

rusty

Wait. There is a reissue of this pen. The original ones from the fifites are made of casein. The reissue, understandably an LE, is made of enamel. Let me find the link.

Although I am not sure of the details of the actual material, the original Floral 22s are not casein, I wouldn't want to give casein pens a bad name.....! It is a sandwich of a printed layer and clear (Celluloid?) protective layer.

You can see details of the modern version here, a mere $21,000 !

Andy

Oh. My mistake then. But that link you posted is indeed the one I was looking for.

Hi Andy,

The modern version of the Floral is made out of solid 18 carat gold (cap and barrel) plus hand painted enamel with freehand drawn flowers. This pen is very labor intensive to make and costly when you look at the price of gold.



Here are a few others from our solid gold series:





I have sold all of the above pens to customers. Although I cannot afford to purchase any of the solid gold series they are beautiful

Those pens are so beautiful, Mary Burke!

Since you sell CS pens and know more about it what I do, would you know what material the 1950s floral pen is made of? Thanks so much.

Hi,

I am very familiar with the modern day Conway Stewart pens because I work for the company.

There are many well-heeled collectors on this board who concentrate their knowledge on vintage Conway Stewart pens and I respect their knowledge. Also, there is a wonderful website detailing a huge amount of information by Jonathan Donahaye and well worth the visit: http://www.ftic.info/Donahaye/ConwayStewart/

I am sure many people here will help you with the material on the Floral. I heard talk that the pen was made of plastic with a wrap-around material for the design and sealed for durability, but this information was not confirmed.

Kind regards,

Mary Burke

If you happen to regret buying a particularly poor vintage example, there is a half decent barrel for sale on ebay presently (item 170102793116) - this could transform a real dog of a floral into something more acceptable for quite a reasonable price!

Andy

A fantastic link! Thanks, Mary Burke. I can't stop thinking how beautiful the floral pen is. I've raved about it on another thread that talks about our pen holy grails. *sigh*

Hi all

Just bought a 22 body from ebay. Has it misses the cap, i will keep looking, but not very entusiastically.

The body I bought as yellowish tones, but it as no cracks or other visible damages.

rusty

I saw a good one on ebay way when I first got interested in FPs and all I could think was "it's so PRETTY!".