My Edson arrived back from Sanford service today. It's no surprise, but a little disappointing.

The platinum was flaking off of the clip from the day it came out of the box, so I sent it in. Brassing may be acceptable for a vintage pen, but not a brand new thousand dollar pen. I hate to keep characterizing the Edson that way, but in my world, even at Pam Braun's prices (significantly less than a thousand) the Edson is expensive.

Sanford sent the pen to France, replaced the cap, and sent it back to me. That means that my pen has a new serial number. The pen itself doesn't bear a serial number, so nothing is mismatched, but it still bugs me. Maybe no one else knows that the serial number is not the original for the pen, but I do.

There's also the issue that from a collectibility standpoint, a higher serial number (like I have now) is less desirable. I don't plan on selling the pen; I'm no speculator. Still, the thought that I could change my mind and sell it makes me a little more comfortable about having spent the dough.

Anyway, all things being equal, I'd rather have a newer higher serial number than a cap that's missing platinum. So I'm not really complaining, just griping to hear myself gripe. I am glad to have my Edson back. Can't say I have a sweeter writer than it.

OHhh -- you had such a nice number, too -- wasn't it 1234?? Well, better a new cap than a defective one, despite the number.

My Edson is STILL in rehab in France (due to cracks in the barrel -- beware, those barrels are fragile!). And it was sent over at the beginning of November, before yours. SOooo ... I guess I'd better check on it!!

Glad to hear yours got "fixed" and returned! HP

Yeah, mine was 001234. Thought that was pretty darn cool. Now I've got 001659. I've gotta find some sort of significance to that. Wikipedia's entry on 1659 isn't helping much.

I'm surprised that it's taken that long for you to get yours back. My paperwork says they received my Edson on 12/20 and I got it on the 22nd or 23rd of January. I'd agree. Check on it.

I forgot to mention the "best" part: my envelope had someone else's paperwork in it, in addition to mine. I'm gonna have to get in touch with someone in Ohio to make sure that he got his Phileas back.

Hi,

It's interesting, here at my shop, I've receive all sorts of other people's paperwork from Sanford, and I've been mailing them out to their respective owners.

Dillon

Apparently flaking plating is not confined to recent production Edsons. I have an older blue Edson with a gold plated cap. Some of the plating has flaked off a bottom section of the cap. I have remained hesitant to have the cap replaced for a couple of years.

Hennypenny, I have three Edsons - one ruby, one emrald and one blue - that I have had for a number of years. I have found my Edsons to be quite durable. The flaky plating on the blue one is the only issue I have had. I hope your problem with the cracking barrel is an aberration - and that you get your pen back real soon.

I'm told my blue Edson is on its way home !!! I should find out early this week (maybe even tomorrow!!). I'm very excited about it! HP

My Edson is back!!!

And would you believe, the barrel is now slightly different !?! It has a gold "dot" at the very end -- the original one had a solid blue glass barrel. Are all the new Edsons like this? Was this a design change to make them sturdier (and less prone to cracking if dropped on the end?). If there's any interest, I'll post a picture of this later.

Anyway, I'm SO HAPPY to have him back from rehab !!! I got the correct paperwork with him -- and the box was mailed to me last week -- imagine my shock when I ripped it open and there was no pen inside -- the pen was shipped separately and arrived 4-5 days later. !!

Doing the It's-A-Good-Pen-Day Happy dance !!! HP

That's wonderful news! I don't know if this helps, but my Diamond Black does have a silver 'dot' (there's got to be a name for that) at the end of the barrel. Maybe it's a late model/early model thing?