Why did this Esterbrook pen go for so much?? Item # 160288080936 EBAY. It isn't the visulated section type unless the section has been changed. Any idea's??

I saw that! It looks visulated to me, and someone had specifically gotten clarification on the cap jewel. The imprint is really crisp. It's a beauty!

Plus, this seller has a TON of pens for sale which leads more views to thier auctions. I just bought a Watermans parts pen just for the nib for $10 yesterday. (Missing a clip, but all there for the most part. Nice spare barrel if I ever need it!

Very odd pen indeed, I wonder if the pen really had a silver jewel or if the pen had a broken off black one. The pen does not have a stepped body and the section is black which would indicate that the proper cap would have a black jewel?? However, as said... the seller even noted that it said Esterbrook on top so that would not indicate a broken one. Either a transition between the two styles or maybe a franken pen? I dobut the later though given the body.

PS, this pen is NOT visulated, below is a photo of one that is. Very easy to tell on these, it's not like the Parker pens that have it in the body itself.

Photo from Esterbrook.net

I would say it's a Trans J (similar here) with a very crisp imprint and very good red color BUT, as per a question posted on the auction, it has a chrome jewel and "overall good condition" is not much of a description. In the same link I have above is a Trans J with a chrome jewel but as Brian states:

This is an unusual transitional in that it has a round metal jewel rather than the traditional plastic jewel found on examples above. I suspect this may have been done after the fact by a repair person, as I have never seen a similar example.

All that aside a very nice pen but not for $104.50....at least in my opinion.

Edit - Welcome to the FPN Robert!!

Nawh, that cap in question has a custom turned jewel, I have little dobut of that. Heck if I make them, many others have, plus the shape is all wrong on tha metal jewel on the Esterbrook.net website. To top that off, the seller clearly stated that the jewel has the Esterbrook name stamped on it. Now if that one was homemade, I am seriously impressed!

I think that either someone was able to obtain the old style jewel to replace a broken plastic one, or an odd stage between them. If you take how easy the plastic jewels break, it very may of been a very old store repair where they used the old metal jewel to repair it. Now I have never seen how the metal jewel attaches, so it may be more like the dollar pens than the screw in jewels and make my idea harder to swallow, but still....

The way Esterbrook seemed to work, my money is on a very early change over where they dropped the visulated section, changed the body so it was not stepped, and had not changed the top jewel/clip design yet. (To use up old stock maybe?)

DRAT! Missed that one! I've got the red pencil that would be a match. I also have two other "visumaster 2" pencils - one in blue and a bandless green one. All three have the metal top jewel. Esterbrook is written horizontally on the jewel with one line above it and one below. Then there are two vertical lines above and below that. So, it is sort of a cross.

See info on Brian Anderson's website: http://www.esterbrook.net/j.shtml

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Nancy, thanks for the photo! I have never seen the cap end on one of those before! Very nice looking pens there!

Nancy,

Very interesting pencil.

Todd

Maybe $104 is a good/fare price. Thanks for the pictures Nancy.

I am a total newbie idiot! I skimmed over that important part of the Esterbrook bible, and was thinking that visulated was the pattern of the stripey-looking marble. Duh! VISulated (VISible.) And I was so proud of myself for knowing the proper uses of the apostrophe in another post ...

The pen is right.
I had one years ago, same color, same non-visulated section. Thought it was a frankenpen, til I tried to fit another flat-bottom BBL of the same period to the cap. It doesn't fit. It's just a non-visulated "chrome dome".

They certainly are beautiful Esterbrooks. Wish I had one...

Regards,

Gerry

Nancy-

The pencil you have is very unusual, and one in twenty or thirty (or more) might be like it. I've managed to find a pen and a pencil that exhibit this combination of metal cross hatched jewel and bandless cap design, and since the caps are tapered, they are not simply hold overs from the B/A/H series, they are indeed J series models.

Congrats! If you ever want to let that one go, let me know...

Best-
Brian

I would say that it was a bargain. Fair price is $150-$200 depending on condition

See another one here with a paper band

BTW Mr hobiwan Are you Paul Hoban? Thank you for your book