Hi, who collects vintage CS's ?. If you're from the USA are they readilly available / findable and what would you normally have to fork out for them ?.
I ask as I'm not sure how many found their way to the USA. We have quite a few in NZ if one cares to search hard enough.
Gary

Me It was my dad's CS which got me interested in vintage pens. I've got to admit that I only buy cheap ones, so it's been a while since I found a bargain on EBay.

Hi Carrie,

I would think there must be numerous antique shops in Cheshire to fossic around in ?.

I'm trying to obtain a vintage CS 100, not the new incarnation. I might get it before the weekend if I'm lucky. They only came in black and are the largest pen CS made.

I've not hunted round antique shops in Cheshire, but at the big antiques fair at Newark I've found that they are asking upwards of £90 for unrestored ones in very poor condition. I've also found the same sort of prices at an antique shop I pop into quite regularly in Lancashire. Needless to say, I haven't bought from them and everytime I go in the same lonely collection of pens is sitting there in the corner of a jewellery case.
I did get one CS84 from the antiques fair at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton - nicely restored and £32.
As for my very nice and immaculate green Herringbone - that came out of a skip
Good luck with your 100, hope you get it for a good price.

Gary, I wouldn't classify myself as a Conway Stewart collector as I only have 2 - a green herringbone 60L and a blue marble (can't remember which model right now, but it's smaller than the 60L), both vintages. The former I bought while I was in London last summer and the latter I was surprised to find at my local shop here.

Unfortunately, I will be putting the blue marble in the marketplace soon to help finance other pens . I posted here also because I would like to add a couple more herringbones later on (but that still doesn't make me a CS collector necessarily).

Lovely pens.

I am not a Conway Stewart Collector.

I am not going to be become a Conway Stewart Collector.

Once I get a Green Herringbone pen & pencil set, then I will be satisfied.

I will not need any more CS pens after that.

I repeat, I will not need any more CS pens after that.

Unless, of course, I should find a nice old bhr model at a good price.

But then I will be satisfied.

I will not collect Conway Stewarts.

I will not collect Conway Stewarts.

This is my mantra. (Repeat continuously whenever visiting Jonathan Donahaye's Conway Stewart Page)

but those hatched designs are really nice too. . .

John

Did you see that there is a green herringbone Conway 58 pen and pencil set on eBay right now? It looks in good shape.

Hi John,

I know what you mean. CS's are great pens (vintage ones) and for those that like a smaller pen there are many to chose from and great colours as well.

Carrie wrote:
"As for my very nice and immaculate green Herringbone - that came out of a skip"


Really? Thats like a fantasy land, what a wonderful experience! I often wonder about finding CS pens in the junk shop round the corner, but, of course, it never happens.

Greg

Sorry to upset you Greg, but it really does happen - my best find was an absolutely mint floral 22 on a casual stall at the local antiques fair 3 or 4 years ago. Pretty expensive, but I haggled the price down from 48 pounds to 44 pounds!! There have been other instances as well, though that was the most spectacular! The pen is long gone now, swapped for something much rarer but less commercial!

Remember (to paraphrase Gary Player) the harder you look, the luckier you get!

Andy

I'm not a CS collector, at least not like Andy and the like. I have a small "accumulation" which includes a couple of nice 55's in marbled colours, a near-mint 58 in red herringbone, some 286's and a modern Duro. Those are the best bits anyway.

Martin

At the moment I only have one vintage CS - a 28 in burgundy hatched. At some point a vintage 58 Tiger Eye is in my future, plus I would love to get my hands on some old Duro models (primarily the no30 line). With all the numbers it's hard to keep track of the more desirable models!

weepstah

I am not a CS collector - but I have picked up these three over the past few years (I don't have any current CS pens, as I prefer vintage). From top to bottom -

93 / 55 / dinkie

As to availability, all were picked up either on the Pentrace Green Board or ebay, and I had to perform various repairs, especially to the 55.

I see you like green, Phil. Nice pens, especially the 55, I'd like one of those.

I must admit I'm always attracted to green pens more than most.


Greg

Yes, I must admit that I have quite a few greens. Keep your eyes open for 55s. I got mine a few months ago for about 11 dollars. It needed a new sac and jbar as well as a thorough cleaning, but now works great. They do show up once in awhile on ebay.

philm

I would not define myself as a CS vintage collector, perhaps a user which is collecting?

I use actually a CS Doctor's Pen on a daily basis, have a Churchill and a Duro, all modern. Just beside and boxed there is an Amethyst 58 for my wife's birthday, and now... into VINTAGE... Last week I received a fabulous red herringbone 85L (thanks Andy), a 24(?) cracked ice is on its way here and I picked 2 at a local store which needed deep restoring work, a red-black marble 759 and a green marbled 85 ... I think CS worm has digged deep somewhere here

Well, a marvellous and spectacular Duro2 RHR is also travelling here as the last addition (thanks again Andy)

I enjoy both, well restored pens or pens for restoring which I find are real fun and give a rewarding and relaxing time. The result is always a nice and USABLE pen...

Great pics Jopen.

I think you are a little like me, I use all of my vintage pens and do not collect for collection sake alone.

Gary

Yes, sure this is the way we do it. If I receive a FP which has been inked before (all my vintages were) then I like to see them clean and functional, and I mean allover, not only a sac exchange and some polishing or cleaning. Once here, why not clean that old impacted SOLID ink deposits under the nib and on the feed? and if it feels scratchy, most go through tine alignement ... and if needed some light smoothing, and... if then tried... well why not have the absolute pleasure to use them and to look at the new-reborn fp? of course, if storing them, a good cleaning is done before that and there tey are, ready for next use...

There is much more pleasure to own and use than only to have them stored and just blowing off some inexistent dust... I understand collectors having very special pens which have never been inked/used and which are very valuable and rare and that should be kept this way in order to preserve them in best shape, but most of vintage pens around have been used or extensively used, why stop their life by merely storing them?

Cheers
Jose

Not sure I would call myself a CS collector even though I have several, but I do like they looks and feel of them. I am currently keeping my open for a 74 Speedy Phil I believe they are called. Here are a few of my favs:







Allan

Allan,

I love the cracked ice! Nice potos also by Jose. I seem to notice a trend of users/restorers. Conway Stewarts are great for both.

philm

Allan,

There are plenty of Speedy Phil 74s about if you don't mind paying the market rate. Try CS123 at Writetime CS page or number 139 at Steve Smith for red ones or a green one at David Wells (pens for sale). They are all reliable collectors and/or dealers and you can buy from them in complete confidence.


Andy

Aha!! Allan... now I know what you are doing...
Yes I must admit you have very good taste...

Today arrived the 24 cracked ice, maybe not as spectacular as your's but after some nib adjustment it is writing smooth as a dream, with the flow I like, absolutely effortless... Tomorrow I will go on 'vintage' for the firtst time, no modern pens in my pocket, with 85L and 24 ... Oh this day promises... 9

... and yes, Philm, CS's are great for working with and very rewarding afterwards when using them. I think they were born to give complete satisfaction, both to the eye and to the hand, and I mean both, vintage and modern ones... well, excepting the 18000... which is quite a pain

Very nice pen.

I must say it's very encouraging to see the CS Forum revved up again.

Gary

Thank you :-) And there is absolutely nothing wrong with the pen you just received, a real beaut! All the others are pretenders, these are what cracked ice is supposed to be, heh.

Allan

I happily admit, I also collect and use vintage Conway Stewarts, though the collection is down some of late.

My favorite is a green herringbone 60 with a fantastic OB nib. I have a cople of custum models as well as shown here

The Maenson Pen (with a Combridge Birmingham lever shield)


The D. P. Manifold Pen (with flanged lever and patent #)


The only modern CS I currently own is the Writing Equipment Society LE Churchill.

John

Greetings All,

I collect Conway Stewart fountain pens, pencils, and sets. I have about 2-CS12, 3-CS15, 5-CS27, 6-CS28, 7-CS55, 12-CS58 (with 4 modern CS58), 5-CS60, 3 CS-60L, 5 or 6-CS84L, 3-CS100, some new Duro's, Dandys, Churchills, and a bunch of others in sets and loose that I can't quite recall right now. Maybe 75 or more total.

They are in almost the whole range of colors and styles that Conway Stewart made pre-1960. Some are mint, some near mint, but most are in very good condition --not very good as on eBay, these are in very good condition. Some I use for parts.

I've learned a lot about these pens by repairing them. I've learned how to repair the nibs, adjust the ink flow, bring the gold up to nice and shinny. They're great pens. A good Conway Stewart fountain pen, no matter what the model is a real pleasure to use. I would encourage folks to collect them.

But I think that I've stopped collecting Conway Stewart fountain pens for a while. I want to concentrate on repairing the pens I have and focus my collecting to Pelikan and Montblanc pens.

If you have Conway Stewart fountain pens, I would suggest keeping them in a regular rotation. It's really neat to see the reaction folks have when they learn that the pen your using today is more than 50-years old.

Cheers,
Ink2Pen

Hello again...

Being an absolute newcomer to CS world, I understand that all I have ia a total lack of information... time will cure this. In the meantime, could somebody be so kind to post a picture of the Writing Equipment Society LE Churchill? I have never seen it and would like to see an image of this FP.

There is a second question, yes it may be more on the repair forum but I have been very tempted on replating some clips, levers and bands. I have seen many different procedures, but does somebody know from a reliable method for it? or... may it be better to leave the FP in its original status? . I can not quite understand, except from an economic point of view, that most people, when facing a vintage pen repair do all the internal and external work but not the plating renewal... Am I too appart from reality?

Thanks

Hi Jose,

I'm happy to oblige, here is a picture of my WES Churchill number 104/200. I just put the pen on the scanner to get a quick result so it doesn't really show the pen at its best. The packaging is the same as the standard Churchill but there is no cigar. The main point of interest is that (I think) it was the first lever filler produced by the modern Conway Stewart company.



Best wishes,
Andy

Just

Perhaps I should kidnapp my dentist!! :ph34r: (means the Ninja way)

Hi Gary

If you did not get the Conway Stewart 100, I have one for sale that I have not got round to putting on my website yet. Let me know if you're interested.

Regards
David

Thanks for the offer David but I have managed to get one.

Best regards

Gary

Hi Gary

Which cap style did you get?

For the uninitiated, there are three styles of cap on the vintage Conway Stewart 100, see below:

No 100 Duro 20 nib c1956 (Most common cap style)



The largest of the post war Conway Stewarts

Note there are two additional variants of this model and these are much rarer than the standard model shown above:





David

Hello David,

Welcome to FPN! BTW, you need a little addition to your sig .

Martin

David,

I got the three banded one. I acutally enjoy a CS#47 I have the most, the nib is a very nice medium to broad.

Regards

Gary

[If you did not get the Conway Stewart 100, I have one for sale that I have not got round to putting on my website yet]

You have a website, CSPenMan? What's the url?



Greg

Greg,

I posted David's website address a page or so back in this topic regarding a 74 for sale - the link is labelled 'David Wells (pens for sale)', you can navigate back to his homepage from there, it's well worth the journey!

Andy

Gary

www.old-pens.co.uk

Regards
David

Oh! So that's YOU!

A very interesting and useful site. So helpful, in fact, I think I owe you a portion of a rather smart CS 85 in a pretty green marble (if I can get it back from my wife)!


Greg