Hi everyone, I've been a contemporary fountain pen collector for about a year now with a few vintage pens that I've sold already. The thing with me is that I'm scared that I'll break a nice vintage fountain pen and then I'll probably be like "Damn, where in the world am I going to find another like that?" while if I broke a contemporary pen i'll say "that's gonna be hard on my wallet but I'll make ends meet to buy another one." But anyways, I was surfing on ebay and went across a beautiful vintage Conway Stewart 15 and I was just stunned by its beauty and it was in really nice condition too and I thought to myself "I must have that, if there's a current production pen with the same design as that, it would probably cost me twice or tripple the amount so I bid and I won today. Now this is my first Conway Stewart so I'm not sure if I did well or not but here's the link to it http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...N:IT&ih=009
and I was wondering what the barrel is made out of, is it just plastic or is it celluloid?

Thanks
Brad

Welcome to the addiction, Brad!

For a pen in restored ready to use condition which is also nice cosmetically, that's a reasonable price and a good starting point for a CS collection. By CS standards it's a pretty unremarkable colour, though! I THINK you'll find the cap and barrel are celluloid but be careful with it until you are sure. You don't have to worry about where to find another one if you break it, that model is one of those commonly available.

Now you've started your CS collection, you'll need the link to Jonathan's website where you can see some of the other variants of the model 15. I think you'll find yours dates to the mid 1950s.

Andy

...what Andy said, with my own added welcome.

I'm not sure what size pen you were expecting, the CS15 is not a large pen. However they are very practical and reliable, they use the CS1A nib which, apart from those on Dinkies, is the smallest and, I think, the most common. However, I have commented elsewhere that they belie their size and the nib performs like a larger nib, it should give you a smooth, wet line, usually on the slightly broader side of medium, with an element of springiness (no real flex) to enable pretty effortless writing with character.

Don't be put off by how common your model and colour may be, there was a reason for that!

I nice buy (I understand this to be a reputable seller), I hope when it arrives it satisfies and you find you can use it regularly.


Greg

Thanks for your warm welcome and I think the CS15 would be a perfect size for my hands as I have small hands.

Thanks
Brad

Let us know when it arrives!