Hi,

Ah, what a week. This pen too I just picked up.

What to say about this.

Sheaffer Balance Oversized. Jade Celluloid.

Mint. Like, really Mint. Not Benz Mint, not "mint except for...", just... mint.

And... Perfect (?) color. I long have had doubts that Jade celluloid today can be perfect, instead treating perfection as an asymptote, given the notorious instability of this color. Still...

The challenge on this one is that I already have a nearmint perfect-ish Jade OS Balance, of the "first variant" sort with extra long barrel. this pen seems to be the slightly later form with shorter barrel. Do i need two? These days i'm avoiding duplicates. But there is slight difference in era/style. WHat to do what to do what to do???

After ten years hunting Jade, after learning from my then mentor in the early days of the hobby just how tough it is to find clean jade, i have probably 40 jade pens of "great" color. Challenging. Still, found about 8 during the last week. Best week ever for jade finds.

This one made my eyes pop. I could not pass it up. Sorry for the quick n' dirty pic. I'm still on vacation without access to the formal photo lab

Thanks for peeking

regards
david

I think a Jade Balance in that condition is a keeper. You just don't run across color that good often (well in theory by the law of numbers at least). Almost always you'll see claims of "mint" but get that common discoloration in the area where the barrel meets the section or the like. Jade really is great when it's in its proper color.

Notice the sharp edges on the cap edge and barrel threads. That's mint.

Richard and I saw some MINT (as in the tray they were place in when made 70+ years ago) Balance cap and barrels at Sheaffer last week. What impressed me was that the cap edges were squared off like this, not tapered, and were still sharp from the machining process.

More impressive to find one in the wild!

Well... "wild" might need bit of caveatitude


This wild was the table at a pen show , and pen was from collection of a serious out-west pen collector. Grabbed a pile of pens all at once. Now i hafta do some more moonlighting at the hospital to pay for 'em. Well, or maybe just sell some more pens.

Appreciate the observations regarding sharp edges, etc

regards

david

Congratulations on a rare find! When you find a pen like that, is it a good idea to replace the rubber sac with a silicon sac to help avoid any discoloration in the future? Are you going to vacuum seal the pen to "protect it from the element (sic)?"

I think with one that perfect you would want a silicon sac, or if you're not going to use it to de-sac it. This would probably be good advice for anyone with a decent jade color who wants to keep it looking its best.

Mm, tasty! How about some details -- imprint, nib #, feed type...?

--Daniel

It's a beautiful color, David.

Silicone sac. Or maybe i'll convert it into a Nozac (hehehehe).

Some argue to loosen/remove section so the HR feed is away from the pen, but then, it has made it 75 years next to that feed with no trouble so far.

-david

Oh suuuuuure.


Like i wanna hear if the imprint is two months too late for the feed, or the contour of the lever is incompatible with the degree of convexity of the clip

Will take peek when things bit more quiet (i'm still busy on vacation) or probably can show you the wee gem at LI.

-d

Darn, so you're on to the convexivity-contour-correlation algorithm! Is nothing sacred?

--D

In Vintage Pendom? We're lucky we don't have human sacrifice, given this crowd

d

David, I could rapidly grow to dislike you.





Seriously, cool find - the sort of pen I'd dearly love to own, but considering the rarity of finding one THAT minty, and the increasing prices, I'm never likely to. From the pic you posted, I can't wait to see how she looks in the studio. Definitely a keeper - how many examples that are in that good a condition do you see? Thanks for sharing...

Cheers... G

Gosh David, if you really don't know what to do with it you could just give it to me. I wouldn't mind too much. Anyways, awesome pen. Seriously awesome. Hope you can get some even better photos with your setup when you get back. I can't wait to see the rest.

Evan

If I had a jade OS Balance in that condition, I would keep it in a holster on my hip and knock over banks with it.

requests were made for more images.

If wish to see higher res image, you can goto this webpage with 850 pixel res.



Whilst when i first picked this one up, i toyed with selling it, i suspect it will have to stay with me at least a few months. Folks new to vintage pens might wonder what the fuss. The answer is the superb jade. One does not need grand jade celluloid to have a nice user pen, but for those who like to hunt nice color, there is great happiness in finding one in gem condition. At least for me, anyway

Here is the smaller image

regards

david

A marvelous example. I might have one as good, but none better (if better is even possible). Looks NOS; any trace of ink on the feed? What's the nib #? Can't make it out in the pix.

--Daniel

Beautiful pen David. I'm currently much the same colour at the moment , aah envy, 'tis a terrible thing...

... G