I was given a Jade Lifetime Flattop from a friend of my mother today. It has the typical discoloration, unfortunately. Somehow, though it had a lot of dried ink in it, the sac is still very pliable and works well. Will keeping the old black sac in it hurt the color any more, or has the damage already been done? If I have to get rid of the sac, what can I do to keep the pen in writing condition? Thanks.

-Robert

Normally if it works I say leave it, but this time I would suggest swapping the old rubber sac out for a new silicone sac.

Thanks. The sac is really heavy duty anyway. I need to replace it. The level won't even compress the sac because it is so thick. I had to pull out the section and squeeze the sac to get it to fill.

I can't seem to find a place that sells silicone sacs. Can someone point me in the right direction please?

Woodbin Ltd.

John

I had a very interesting discussion about the color of jade Sheaffers with Richard Binder and Sherrell Tyree at the Atlanta show back in April. Richard suggested what a lot of us here believe - that sac and section oxidation is primarily responsible for the discoloration of jade Sheaffers. But Sherrell, who is a Sheaffer repair specialist and has seen her share of jade Sheaffers, pointed out that the occasional perfect ones didn't spend eighty years sitting away from all sunlight and without sacs or sections in them. She suggested that Sheaffer might have had enough clout back in 1924 to demand an as-yet unstable plastic from Dupont in order to meet their own deadlines. She also pointed out that the cheaper pen brands like Conklin used Dupont plastics that were much more color-stable - probably because they had to take Dupont's finished product. Since some Sheaffer in-house repair manuals suggest severe and incurable discoloration as soon as 1927, the inherent instability of jade plastic is a likely theory. Combined with oxidation, the jade pens don't stand a chance, as we've seen.

Now, as to how to preserve the jade pens: go with the advice given here. Use a silicone sac. Don't use heavily staining inks. After 80 years there probably won't be any more significant discoloration if you take those simple steps.

Best,
Summer

Thanks for that tidbit, Summer.

Dave

David Nishimura has made a similar comment - he seems to feel that jade discoloration may have been a curing issue and that it appeared fairly earlyon. He was looking for examples of recent discoloration.

However, I don't know about the idea idea that Sheaffer used more unstable celluloid than other brands. The same discoloration can be seen with Parker Jade, lapis and black-and pearl, Wahl jade, etc as well as many other off-brands. Not sure about the Conklin's she is referring to. Some colors are definitely more discoloration prone. I think it is more likely that Dupont improved their curing process or curing time as the complaints about discoloration started coming in. I have heard about some anecdotal evidence that later Jade Balances have much better color retention than early jade, but I am not sure that this is the result of careful analysis.

John

Discoloration did happen early on as I've pointed out before (another thread) that it is even mentioned in the 1927 Sheaffer repair guide - a mere three years into radite production. To paraphase they stated once you've tried to clean it using their method (don't worry, just cleaning no magic formula) it may be permnently stained. It wasn't just DuPont as Fiberloid and Celluloid companies were also early suppliers though by 1927 it may have been solely DuPont (Point of fact Celluloid Company is the only one that made the Cherry Secretaries). I do think that good examples of jade today are probably less likely to discolor though, I wouldn't want to put that to the test. Any hard rubber contact can make jade discolor with particular emphases on the sac. The section and inner cap were able to contribute as well. No matter what you do plastic is continually deteriorating - this process make take hundreds of years however and these pens haven't even made it to 100 yet.

Roger W.

Hi,

Sometimes I wonder whether the old controversy about whether the number of Jade colors - one, two or three - is a function of the relative stability of earlier vs. later celluloid, as opposed to original, and intentional, color differences.

On the whole - acknowledging that the sample is too small to be of significant evidentiary value - I would say that my later-production Sheaffer jade flattops seem to show less discoloration than my earlier specimens. Interestingly, I have what I take to be a disproportionate number of Jade 5-30s that are absolutely perfect; maybe they all came from one particularly well-cured, exceptionally stable batch of celluloid.

I also have the vague impression that Jade Balances discolor differently from Jade flattops. I have plenty of Balances that display the usual darkening. But I don't have any Balances that have turned that odd translucent dark green one sometimes sees in flattops (I have no doubt that unscrupulous eBay sellers would market them as "demonstrators"); and I don't believe I have a single Balance that has turned that unmistakable shade of pea-green often encountered among flattops.

Provided, of course, that the pea-green wasn't the intended color to begin with...which returns this post nicely to its beginning.

Cheers,

Jon

PS Was DuPont the only supplier of celluloid during this period? I thought the letters sometimes stamped into the bottoms of certain Sheaffer flattop models identified the celluloid supplier.

PPS In terms of the early onset of the problem: didn't Sheaffer issue a relatively early bulletin to its service people (c. 1927?) advising them that discolored Jade pens could not be cleaned or otherwise returned to their original color?

EDIT: Oops, sorry - Roger's post must have gone up while I was dawdling over this one. What he said!