Hi

I recently kind of discovered vintage-ish Conway Stewart FP's .

What is a fair price for a CS84 green with gold veins in good condition, maybe requiring a new sac?

Is it easy to re-sac a CS yourself, or is it best left to the experts?

Thanks in advance.

Mike

Hello Mike,

The Conway Stewart Model 84 is not only a pretty pen, but it is a pen that was made to be used. If you have a broad or medium CS4 type nib, it was probably used for shorthand work.

Replacing the ink sac on most vintage Conway Stewart fountain pens is a fairly straight forward application. One has to be careful not to apply too much force when removing the section from the body out of concern of cracking the body of the pen. I've found a little heat - up to about 130 degrees F. helps to release the old shellac.

The CS 84 models that have the gold vein in them are made of casein. Casein is a by-product of milk. If you were to soak the pen in water for too long a period of time, the body or cap of the pen would either become very pliable or turn to mush depending upon how long it was in water. I left one soak in a warm water bath overnight once. It's the once here that's important. I was able to make a nice ball out of the pen body.

It's hard to call the value of the pen without seeing it. A restored CS 84 with little or no brassing can sell for $125-$150. A CS 84 out in the wild can go for $50- $100 depending upon the overall condition. At least, this has been my experience.

The vintage Conway Stewart pens can be wonderful writing instruments to use on a daily basis once restored. If you know how to repair the pen, I'd suggest you go for it.

Peace,

Phroneo

Thanks Phroneo

"but it is a pen that was made to be used"
Please clarify, I am just wondering if there were CS pens made not to be used?! Or do you mean there are CS pens less suitable to be used? Too rare? Too valuable? Too fragile?

Anybody else`s 2 cents? What does other vintage CS users and abusers say?

Mike

Hello Mike,

You're reading too much into what I wrote.

One of the initial purposes of the CS 84 was to fit it with a nib for shorthand work. That meant that the individual using the pen was busy taking notes with it as (typically) her supervisor was dictating a letter or memo. The nib was more of a manuscript style nib in that it had less flex than regular nibs so that one could also write carbon duplicates. This is a pen that would have, if used in such an environment, had heavy use.

Conway Stewart manufactured an "every man's pen" - now one might say an "every person's pen." They made a durable and affordable fountain pen priced so that the working person could afford to purchase the CS line of writing instruments. So if the vintage CS line of writing instruments was designed and manufactured so that everyone could afford at least some pen in its line of offering, by definition most all of the vintage CS pens would have been made for folks who used their pens and couldn't afford to have them break.

In the 1920s - 1950s, Conway Stewart was to the British as Parker,Waterman, Wahl, et.al. were to the Americans. In other words, they are very good pens. We Americans are not familiar with them because we didn't have the Conway Stewart Skool-Paks - we had Sheaffer.

I might suggest that you embark on a study of the vintage Conway Stewart writing instruments. You'll be surprised at what you'll learn.

Peace,

Phroneo

Thank again Phroneo

Could you please give me your opinion on the Wahl Eversharp Doric, like you did with the CS84?

Reason is that I am eyeing a WE Doric from the same seller as the CS. May be able to get a discount.

And to my eyes the Doric is more attractive than the CS.

What do you think?

Regards

Mike

PS. BTW, does Phroneo`s pens have a website somewhere?

Hello Mike,

For the Doric, I'd suggest you post over on the Wahl-Eversharp forum. I have never owned a Doric so I'm not qualified to comment.

I've been working on a web site. However, my other web design stuff has gotten in the way. Something like no shoes for the cobbler's children.

Peace,

Phroneo

Just to add my tuppeny ha'pworth; The CS84 was offered in a nice choice of marbles, has a little gold trim and a CS1A nib. Being a smaller sized pen my young lad has an example (which he brings out on special occasions!).

I would say the size was one of choise rather than cheapness. The slimmer CS 12/14 type pens came in various trim guises, some not being gold, even trimless and, I would suggest, served the lower end of the CS market band even thought they used the same nib. My impression from my son's pen is that the CS84/85 models served a little higher in the market for those wanting a smaller pen, but not a Dinkie. What we really need is a set of adverts from these periods to show the relative prices.

I hadn't heard that the 84 was designed specifically for anything, CS manufactured the 'Shorthand' range for quick note taking, though I've never tested one of these to see if the nibs are stiff. My lad's CS84 has a typical 1A nib, ie not flexy like earlier nibs, but certainly not devoid of character. I put this down to the time of manufacture when soft, flexible nibs as default were already a thing of the past.

From the dreaded ebay, you should pick up a decent example for £20-30 if you're patient. I do not know of any rare colours etc, make your own choice on that, they're all good! (I would note that the dark red marble seems to fade more than other colours).

Try one out, let us know how you get on!


Greg

Thanks Greg

I have a CS 84 seemingly in good nick, and another CS unknown model number, with a damaged nib coming my way this week. As well as a Wahl Eversharp Doric, Parker 21 and a Sheaffer Imperial I!

Can't wait!

Regards

Mike

The "unknown" CS proved to be a CS472. See my missing link thread

So how's the 84?


Greg

It has not arrived yet.
Seems to be in better nick than the 472, and hopefully I can use it as soon as it arrives.

Will keep you posted.

Thanks for the interest.

Regards

Mike