Very interesting auction on Ebay - is the Coral indeed so expensive or is something else that made this pen so valuable?



Vintage WAHL EVERSHARP Equipoised RARE CORAL Color Pen

It is the combination of the rarity of the color and the rarity of the model. Not to get into arguments about nomenclature, but it should be noted that this model has, to date, not been found described in any Wahl literature, so its frequent classification as an Equipoise (or, more accurately, "Equi-Poised") is collector surmise. I myself prefer to classify it as a parallel response to Sheaffer's Balance, and not strictly part of the Equi-Poised model line. The true Equi-Poised pens, of whatever generation, were designed as streamliners. The model in this auction (whatever we choose to call it), is in fact identical to the cylindrical Signature pens of the 1920s, with the addition of slightly elongated and tapered end pieces that bring its profile a little more up to date. Perhaps "streamlined Signature" would be the best name for the thing.

I've been watching this one (purely as a spectator). I have no plans to bid because I already have a nice example of a Wahl Coral. It's a beautiful pen, and I'm curious how high it will sell.

By the way, I recently won an auction from this seller. No affiliation, but it was a trouble-free, pleasant transaction. The item that I won was honestly described, shipping was super fast, and the seller communicated exactly when the item would be shipped. The pen arrived super clean; there was no trace of ink in the pen. This reminds me to leave positive feedback.

This is usually called a transitional Equipoised which I think is accurate. If it is a reaction to Sheaffer Balance then it is still part of the trasition from flat-top to Equipoised. Perhaps it should be called transition "to" Equipoised rather than transitional. Anyway, coral is a popular color and scarce in this model. But that said, I think it is priced a little high now and doubt it will go much higher. I have a beautiful lapis version that I would sell for this price.

Whilst some of the details in the pic below have been... clarified... since the time i first posted it, the pen in question is one sometimes referred to as a Transitional Equipoised, though others dislike said jargon. It is in any case a so far uncatalogued pen that seems to derive from a flat top model save for the funky ends.

I own Black/Pearl and Brazilian Green. I have photographed Lapis and the Coral. Most seem to show up in standard size but I vaguely recall seeing a Slender but i'm not sure on that.

Most uncommon.




Here is my pen in Brazilian Green



And along with some other exotica, here is a photomontage showing a bunch of these.



regards

david

Re: Are we right in calling it an Equi-Poised?
Posted by Syd the Wahlnut on September 28, 2005, 12:53 am, in reply to "Are we right in calling it an Equi-Poised?"

The details are a little more complex than at first characterized, but here goes.

The first item is what David I. has called Equi-Poised type 1 (although the picture shown in his post is actually Equi-Poised type 2) The true type 1 has pointy ends so much like the Sheaffer balance, as shown in the first picture below:



The Type 2 Equipoised is like the one shown by David I. as Type 1 re-shown here:



Next is what would be the Type 3 which has the ends "cobbled" onto what looks like a gold seal flat top barrel and cap. Now many do not think that this pen is an Equi-poised, but given the problems encountered with the Sheaffer Balance look alikes, the speculation is that these pens were made to quickly demonstrate to the world that they were deviating from what they had called Equi-poised just months before, it makes sense. So In that idea I call this the "transitional" Equi-poised (which is what many others before me have named it for years)




Next comes what we would now refer to the type 4. This is the one people have seen described in the literature as the Gold Seal Personal point. It is in the Catalog in 1932 described just that way.



It was seen earlier, however in 1930 December Saturday Evening Post clearly labeled as "Equi-poised".


The subsequent pages in the catalog show the same pen dressed down (without the rhomboid cap ring, and in an admittedly more slender diameter, but with the same overall design clearly called the Equi-Poised. here are the scans of each:
.

The last type that was shown in DavidI's post are reps of the later Equi-poised pens Yet they have gold seals! I believe these wer produced very late. You could superimpose the bottom one on the rhomboid GS pen and you would see they are the same design. The later Equipoised pens carried gold seals or not depending on their guarantee level. I recall seeing these in another bit of comany literature, but can not put my finger on it tonight.



Syd

And then there's this one. I acquired this one just in the last year and had never seen it before. it is interesting with obvious taper to cap and barrel but different ends and no gold seal. I think there was a progression as Wahl moved from flat-tops to tapered pens and my hunch is that Syd pretty much has the order correct but who can know? The late pens, even though I know the equipoised name was used for them, I sort of don't think of in the same light because they were not part of the progression, they came (I think) well after the tapered pens were in. Anyway, I have no idea where this one fits in.

Well, i keep open mind of some of the quirks on these issues,...

Still...

It is not clear to me that the pen i listed back then as Type 1 is a Type 2 not Type 1. Rather, perhaps Type 1B, even if we believe (though not proven, i suspect) that it is not indeed the first pen which i'd now call Type 1A (rather than just type 1).

Yes, the early style pens crop up with pointier and less pointy top (i have pics of both somewhere), and the catalog intro does show the pointier top (which might make my pen a Type 1B rather than Type 1A), but the two pens are so close i favor nomenclature that makes the two forms subtypes (A and rather than separate Types.

That said, and recognizing my limited exposure to Wahl literature, i have not seen strong evidence that the less pointy neccessarily succeeded the more pointy pen. There is lag time between catalogs and production (sometimes perhaps vice versa) and models perhaps are intro'd and tweaked before formal announcement. I would like to see (and Syd perhaps has seen) literature (ads, catalogues, memos, etc) showing the less pointy pen at later date than more pointy pen. Otherwise... we still guess. Indeed, given evil "Batch Variation" that crops up regarding old pens, it is not impossible both subtypes were made at same general time.

Further, the "Transitional" or what did David N call it (semi-streamlined flattop, semi-streamlined gold seal, something like that), is a pen for which we have- i believe- no dating information. Mythology has it that this came next because Wahl received pressure from Sheaffer for releasing an Equipoised (the type 1) that looked to much like Balance. Putting aside that i lack on hand the dates that Equi-Poised and Balance were released, I have never heard of anyone coughing up any evidence regarding this claim about legal pressure. For all we know the "Transitional" could have been a limited play pen that Wahl toyed about with BEFORE releasing any formal Equi-Poised (making this one a Type 1) or could be a late pen used for Wahl to blow out leftover flat top parts, making it a Type "whatever".

The pen i called Type 3 (which Syn now calls Type 4) was a charming pen as it was the pen most commonly labelled Equi-Poised in pendom, but for which period literature consistently seemed NOT to call an Equi-Poised at all (rather Gold Seal Pen) raising question of whether this was a streamlined GS Pen (heir to the Flat Top, or parallel product serving as overlapping Heir), though finally Syd did track down one ad that at least did use the EP label.

My old pic did indeed leave out the well catalogued 1932 (type 4 or 5 or ... 6) Poised shown with non-roller clip and non-Gold Seal. Syd's catalog shot shows it and a funky example is this wee purse pen in gem condition in Canton Blue celluloid (clasp pen, not ball clip fro this wee pen)



The last type I had cited (suspect these actually predate the 1932 non-golds-seal pens like the blue one just shown or Syd's catalogue page), probably is just a variant of my original Type 3 (Wahlnut's Type 4), lacking tassies. I do need to see if they are thinner than the GS pens of type3/4 ilk, and I still might need to modify view of these a bit. I have seen some ads (i believe) showing non-tassied GS pens of that sort, pre-dating the 1932 catalog.

Here's that pen



Syd's last pen is interesting.



It seems to be fatter than the skinny 1932 non-roller-ball non-Seal EP, but unlike the early fatter pens indeed is non gold seal. I'd guess this predates the 1932 catalogue in terms of when the parts were made. Cannot comment on time of release. Non_GS version for some down-level Market, or end of run stuff to blow out parts? Dunnon.

regards
david