When I first started collecting Conway Stewarts I picked up everything I could find and was amazed at the many different styles and colours.

Now I tend to try and make a set of a particular model. I note from previous posts that many on this forum have the #55 so hence this article to start off with.

This is a very nice pen, a good size and comes with a "Duro" nib. The black model is BHR and I've found this ranging in condition from almost mint to oxidised brown.
The coloured versions polish up very well indeed.

So if you are like me, grab everything and then focus on a particular model.

My thanks to Jonathan for the pics.

Gary

Very nice, Gary!
I don't have a #55, so I was wondering about the diameter (thickness) of the pen...Also, are the bottom three models above made of casein, Gary?

Thanks again for taking over the CS forum moderation

Hi Maja,

I wish they were made of some exotic material, they certainly look like they might be, but just plastic.

The barrel diameter is 12.8mm and the narrowest part of the section is 9mm so it's a reasonable size.

Gary

Hi Gary,

Is it plastic plastic or celluloid?

TIA, warm regards, Wim

Hi,

Mine is plastic-plastic, and it breaks! It fell from my hands and it cracked badly around the lever. A pen wizard fixed it.

Though made of plastic, the material is far from looking and feeling cheap. It has depth, bright and hues that you can look at for hours.

Mine is celluloid certainly - you can smell it! ("I love the smell of camphor in the morning; smells like ... er ... vintage fountain pens?!)

You can find plenty of green marbled ones around like mine. I particularly prize this one, though, for its soft OB Duro nib. And nice though the 58 is, I prefer this 55 model (its predecessor) for the cap shape and that characteristic BHR tassie.

PS Gary, I think the date in Jonathan's pic can't be right. 1946-4? Must be a start date of 1936 surely?

Hi RichardS,

My 55 is definitely plastic, I'm not aware of a celluliod 55 and I've never seen one that's faded or "ambered" as celluliod would, however nothing is certain with Conway Stewarts. I've also checked some of my 45's and the're plastic as well. The 45 is the single cap banded version. Both black models however are BHR.
I too like the BHR tassie peaked top.
I'll check further on the dates for you. (Introduced in 1935, well done RichardS)BHR version were of course made well after the introduction of celluliods and plastics (as we know them) especially during WWII as the materials for plastics became unavailable.

Gary

I thought rubber was a strategic material in short supply during the war, especially since the Japanese had control of so much of SE Asia. I believe this was the case for the US - you don't find much HR after the 1930s. Of course, the UK still had India and might have been better supplied with rubber than the US - or at least better than other strategic materials (like petroleum-derived plastics).

John

John,

It was the fact that petroleum derived plastics (well put BTW) were just that and petroleum was very scarce in Europe. In the US you have oil wells, no such thing in the UK.

Good discussion all the same.

We also need to remember that celluliod was an early type of plastic and that the plastics used later were hybrids, certainly not the cheap plastics we have today hence the beautiful colours and feels that we see on some later 30's-40's pens. If you were to compaire the celluliod in a 1928 Sheaffer it is remarkably different to later derivatives..which appear to be more durable, less fragile and not so prone to staining. Having said all that we still have modern pens made in "vintage celluliod" that one has to be very careful with.

I'm not a pen "guru" by any means but this is my take on things.

Gary

This is mainly for RichardS,

An appology Richard, celluliod it is. I have a BHR #55 and a black celluliod #55.

Certainly not all the colourfull CS's are celluliod (the real stuff) but some plastic variation. I've been playing with some old scrap barrels and some are definitely celluliod, the smell is obvious and they polish up much better than plastic.

We live and learn.

Gary