I went back to an antique store to pick up a 51 Vac that I passed up a few weeks ago, and much to my surprise, he had a new pen that he had just gotten over the weekend. A near perfect Vacumatic for $25 (USD). My heart leapt as soon as he told me what he wanted for it.

No brassing.
Blue Diamond intact.
Working Vac pump.
Does not leak.
No chips or scratches in the body or cap.

The only problem, which is a very small one, is that the jewel has a small nick in it.
Check it out:

Stand by for the raft of admonitions to get the diaphragm changed (he said, looking at the similarly-purchased-last-year '45 model in his shirt pocket). Don't listen to 'em! Use it with glee!

...I'm just asking to have a shirt ruined, aren't I?

Very pretty colour, by the way.

Congrats!

What a beauty!

Erick

Absolutely gorgeous!

Rick

Thank you very much.
I was expecting to hear a lot of people tell me to get it changed, but so far nobody...
Mine just happens to be a '45 as well.
The nib is extremely fine... but it writes very well.

I wasn't planning on getting it changed, but I'm glad I have at least one supporter.

To everyone else, thank you for your compliments as well.

Now you just have to figure out what to do about that poor poor 51 you left behind again.

I just don't get why anyone would want a pen with stripes on it.

-d

No, no, I picked it up, too. He offered it to me last time for $25, but this time it was only $15. Couldn't pass that one up, even if the GF cap is brassed and dented, and the vacumatic mechanism is TOAST. I dropped it in a bucket of water with the blind cap off, and purple ink flowed out of it like a fire hose for hours. It is a decent cedar blue 1942 body with a VERY VERY fine nib.



Surely you must have some interested in striped pens...

Now to identify it. Can anyone help me? David? I will provide some measurements if someone can tell me which ones are necessary to know... Thanks.

-Robert

Green, I mean green with envy! Congrats! Well done and all of that rot! The very Vac color that I want!
PMS

His pen cup was full of junk except for a nice aerometric "51" demi that I pulled out the first time and the vac 51 that I passed up.
So when he told me he got a new pen, I wasn't expecting much. I couldn't believe he pulled that beauty out, and THEN proceeded to tell me it was only $25!!!
I've been eyeballing vacumatics for a while, and this is my first one.

I'd say you're deserving of the sumgai award!

John

It is a 3rd Generation Major, Azure Blue celluloid.

-david

Beautiful! Great price!

One of these days...I expect a P vac will be in my future. They are great-looking pens!

Thank you. That was very precise for just a couple of photos and no other info. I assume it's very easy to differentiate from others?

I really love Azure vacs (of any era, as long as they're pretty and they write).

that's a great find. in all my 20 years of penhunting, i still don't get a bigger thrill than finding a vac in good shape. that blue vac is a beauty--usually the hardest one to find, among the basic colors (well, maybe along with burgundy). i have the double-jeweled version of the very same pen, and i treasure it (secured years ago in a trade: a PFM V for an M800 plus a blue vac). last month i picked up a burgundy standard mid-30s vacumatic in london for $70, and i thought it was a steal; your $25 find is even sweeter.

Beautiful pen.

Shame the nib's so fine, but can't have everything. Well done.

Regards

Richard.

Well, over the years I have handled a few more than a few of 'em.

But, yes, its features clearly so mark it.

regards

david

yes, that is a beautiful pen, probably my fav of vacumatics, now I just need to buy one. However I think i'll have a bigger bill than $25

Great find.

nice pen, enjoy it

Glee! I so want an Azure Blue Vac, but right now it's just out of my budget. That would be because I never find them for that price!

Enjoy!

Sweet!

Nice catch ...

Here's the '51' vac that I got, too. It would be a pretty nice 16k GF converging line cap, too, if it didn't have such brassing around the bottom. Now if only I had a vac wrench... but somehow I can't justify spending 30+ dollars on a tool to fix a pen I only spent $15 on...

You should get it since you seem to be having great luck at finding things in the wild. You know this won't be your last Vac.

You're probably right. I had considered that point. I have only been using and collecting fountain pens for about 2 months, so I figure I'll run across at least one more vac I like in my lifetime.