i hadn't been back in london for eight years, and the last time i was there most of the good pens at the portobello road market were selling for very high prices, so i wasn't expecting much from my walk last saturday from one end of the road to the other. (this always happens when you're looking for something else--like vintage specs for my wife.)

then i saw a familiar red shape and color all by its lonesome on a shelf in a glass counter, in one of those labyrinthine walk-through malls. i knew instantly what it was: a mid-30s standard vacumatic, apparently in perfect condition. but it was capped so i couldn't tell if it even had a nib with broken tines or if it was a frankenpen.... to add to the suspense, the price tag was flipped over sideways such that i could only make out "35", leading me to think that the pen was priced 135 pounds (from which i could haggle down a bit) or a hyperinflated 350, which you sometimes get from stall owners.

i waited for the seller to return (seemed like 30 minutes, but it was less than 5) and asked him to show me the pen. the tag said "1950s gold nib", so i knew it had one--but what condition, and for how much? i uncapped the vac and it was a beauty. everything was there--the two-tone nib, the three rings, the double jewels and tassies--and the lockdown filler felt springy. the price was 35 pounds. "that's a nice one," the seller said, "came in just this week." "yes, it is!" i agreed, and paid him the 35 pounds without giving a thought to haggling; my throat felt too dry!

and to prolong the suspense even more, i didn't get to play with it (no ink!) until i'd flown home to manila across europe and the indian ocean, and tonight i finally got to dip it in ink--and whaddya know, it's a very wet medium-oblique nib!

here it is, below an oversize vac (also made in canada, picked up 14 years ago in edinburgh--but that's another story) and a pelikan M800, just for comparison.



i would've been "sumgai" if i'd gotten this for 3.50 pounds, but i don't want to push my luck that far.

Hi,

Nice looking pen, I have one just like it, but I think a bit newer (1939 from memory)but with the same OM nib and pretty much paid the same price, a nice writer and the nib is 'fine' enough to use regularly rather than just for signatures like some of my other OM nibs. Bet the seller was surprised you didn't haggle, but to be honest sometimes if I m getting something at a good price I feel it's bad manners to try and squeeze another couple of pounds out of the seller.

Enjoy your pen, I know I enjoy mine.

Andy

In my case it wouldn't be good manners preventing my haggling...it would be the desire to exchange it for cash and get the heck outa there before he changed his mind

right there was this time--now this is a real sumgai experience--when i found a 1920s swan eternal with a huge no. 8 nib in great condition, for the equivalent of 5 pounds--no haggling on that one, either!

I have bought many a good item there and enjoy talking to Henry and Hans - can learn a lot from those guys.

yes, i did see "henry the penman"'s stall and his gorgeous wares. but he wasn't in that morning--whcih was maybe just as well!