Conway Stewart - Marlborough Vintage Limited Edition

January 21, 2013

my order just went through... it's going to be a long month! i was torn between rose ripple and woodgrain, but eventually settled for the woodgrain, as most of my other pens are already rather dark. somebody please tell me i chose well

January 21, 2013

my order just went through... it's going to be a long month! i was torn between rose ripple and woodgrain, but eventually settled for the woodgrain, as most of my other pens are already rather dark. somebody please tell me i chose well

Although I'm enjoying my black Marlborough with the silver trims, I must say that the woodgrain was my second choice. It looks even more vintage and I'm sure you'll love it.

Great great pen. I think you chose well getting the IB nib. My IF is great, but if you want the full italic effect you got to go with the medium or broad. In fact I consider ordering an IM myself later.

Edited January 21, 2013 by markos741

January 21, 2013

thanks, markos. i chose a BB nib, fearing that the IB might be a bit too sharp. i can always regrind the BB to an italic if it's too round or too thick--i've worked on my own nibs before. the B nib on my churchill needed no modification, though, and i've been perfectly happy with it. the BB will give me a little room to experiment...

January 21, 2013

thanks, markos. i chose a BB nib, fearing that the IB might be a bit too sharp. i can always regrind the BB to an italic if it's too round or too thick--i've worked on my own nibs before. the B nib on my churchill needed no modification, though, and i've been perfectly happy with it. the BB will give me a little room to experiment...

Of course, if you are comfortable with managing nibs, that's a great idea. The CS italic, even though mine is fine, is very smooth so I don't think you'd have any problems. I guess it is closer to a stub, so its quite smooth. But the BB surely allows experimentation.

Have fun with your Marlborough!

February 13, 2013

i've received my marlborough from pengallery and am very, very happy with it. the factory ran out of BB nibs so i went with the B, and just like the B on my churchill, this one delivered right out of the box--smooth, wet, and springy. and did i say what a great looker the marlborough is? here's mine (set against the pilot somes 3-pen case that will be its home):

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8505/8469182635_cbafcb3a7b_z.jpg

and with another new acquisition, a bexley simplicity in tortoise, on top of a jadeco notebook:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8111/8469158287_4399df225c_z.jpg

i'd thought at first that i wouldn't like its lightness at 18 grams, but maybe because of its compactness, it feels a lot heavier in the hand. i wouldn't mind getting the black, silver-trimmed one as well....

February 13, 2013

Thanks for the review!
I have one of these on the way from Bryant @ Pentime. Can't wait. A quick question / observation though:
In all of the images of this pen posted, it appears that the cap posts crooked. Is the pen so long, that it's distorting in the lens of the camera, or is there something odd there?

Thanks for the feedback!

The lens is distorting it, but bear in mind that when posted the pen is really really long. You can still use it because it is ultra-light but it looks funny I use it un-posted.
I guess they've done that because if the cap posted deeper onto the barrel, it would cover the lever.

Congratulations for the purchase. Now I'm using the Marlborough with the 1.1 IF nib from my Chartwell (they're interchangeable) and I love it. Great pen, very nice looking, easy to carry around and light. It has now easily become one of my favorite pens of my collection and I use it very often.

Mine finally arrived a couple of weeks ago. I absolutely love it. It is definitely at the top of my list of favourites. I can see now why it looked like your cap was slightly askew. The cap needs to be posted quite firmly in order to really centre itself. It does post really nice and firmly though! No loosening up while I'm writing. Also I couldn't believe how light this pen was. I have the Kipling, and to my great surprise, it is noticeably heavier.

Thanks again for the post—you pushed me over the edge!

March 2, 2013

i liked my woodgrain marlborough so much that i started hankering for a black one (like that in the pic above) and was deterred only by the price of these babies... and then suddenly i got lucky and snagged one at half-price for $250. hooray for ebay! i can just feel that extra spring in my step when i have these two pens in my shirt pocket

March 2, 2013

i've received my marlborough from pengallery and am very, very happy with it. the factory ran out of BB nibs so i went with the B, and just like the B on my churchill, this one delivered right out of the box--smooth, wet, and springy. and did i say what a great looker the marlborough is? here's mine (set against the pilot somes 3-pen case that will be its home):

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8505/8469182635_cbafcb3a7b_z.jpg

and with another new acquisition, a bexley simplicity in tortoise, on top of a jadeco notebook:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8111/8469158287_4399df225c_z.jpg

i'd thought at first that i wouldn't like its lightness at 18 grams, but maybe because of its compactness, it feels a lot heavier in the hand. i wouldn't mind getting the black, silver-trimmed one as well....

Congratulations for your new Marlborough Vintage!

It is funny that your comment reached me while I'm out for a coffee and I have with me two pens, one of them is the Malborough

I love the photos. The black is nice, but the color you got looks amazing on this model given its vintage look. I use it with the IF nib I initially purchased for my Chartwell.

I am sure you will enjoy it!

March 3, 2013

i hope this isn't too late to help you decide, but here are two pics of the churchill and the marlborough side by side.

you'll note that the marlborough is visibly shorter than the churchill, capped:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8371/8525300927_c5fe973847_z.jpg

but when posted--voila!--they're even:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8515/8526414820_0c525c1203_z.jpg

personally i don't post my pens, so i'd make my judgment going by the capped length. i love both pens, but i suspect that your son will find the marlborough more practical--the churchill really sticks out of one's pocket--here's mine beside a suddenly lowly duofold centennial:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8047/8414033700_4b5650b029_z.jpg

Lovely pen, Congratulations, one of the finest Conway Stewart Limited Editions, in my opinion.
Any photos of this pen next to a Churchill? University Graduation (my son) coming next year and the Churchill was my pick, but the Marlborough is exceptional.
Thanks for this post.
cheers!

March 17, 2013

I have the same pen with the lever fill, in the lighter woodgrain ebonite.

It is great to see it in the black since this is really what I wanted. I just couldn't get a pen in ebonite (my favorite pen material) without seeing the variations in the body. I also prefer the sterling silver trim. Had I had the funds I would have gotten one in both colors.

No matter; I love the pen. I have the fine italic. Of the 3 CS pens I have, 2 of them have the FI and it really is a great nib. I tend to have small writing, and it works perfectly, allowing words to be legible but giving it a little bit of character...

VERY nice pen. Enjoy it.

Hi Doug, I was wondering if you could tell me, is this italic more italic or more stub? I usually prefer finer to medium nibs but since I'm a leftie, I prefer a stub to an italic. Is it more like a rounded stub or a more..sharp edged italic? And do you think the fine is a wet writer or dry? I use my pens for work and i need to weite fast, my recent CS has a lovely fine nib but it didnt keep up fast enough with my writing and ended up being a little dry. Trying to decide between the both of them, thanks a lot.

March 17, 2013

hi, mrchan, without meaning to pre-empt doug (and i can't speak for the F nib--i just got another marlborough in F but it's still on its way to me), i just came across your question and can say that in my experience with a churchill and a marlborough, both with B nibs, the nibs came out of the factory very smooth, wet, and stubby. yes, stubby--these aren't even IB nibs, just B, but for some reason they're both stubby with corners rounded enough not to catch or skip while writing. yesterday i even compared the B nibs on my CS pens with a friend's IB in his marlborough, and we couldn't tell the difference. here's a shot of my churchill's B nib, which is the same as my marlborough's. note the stubby profile of the factory nib.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8054/8348538543_d771593cef_z.jpg

March 17, 2013

I have the same pen with the lever fill, in the lighter woodgrain ebonite.

It is great to see it in the black since this is really what I wanted. I just couldn't get a pen in ebonite (my favorite pen material) without seeing the variations in the body. I also prefer the sterling silver trim. Had I had the funds I would have gotten one in both colors.

No matter; I love the pen. I have the fine italic. Of the 3 CS pens I have, 2 of them have the FI and it really is a great nib. I tend to have small writing, and it works perfectly, allowing words to be legible but giving it a little bit of character...

VERY nice pen. Enjoy it.

Hi Doug, I was wondering if you could tell me, is this italic more italic or more stub? I usually prefer finer to medium nibs but since I'm a leftie, I prefer a stub to an italic. Is it more like a rounded stub or a more..sharp edged italic? And do you think the fine is a wet writer or dry? I use my pens for work and i need to weite fast, my recent CS has a lovely fine nib but it didnt keep up fast enough with my writing and ended up being a little dry. Trying to decide between the both of them, thanks a lot.

I have a CS IF nib and find it has rounded edges. I also find it prefers wet and highly lubricated inks, for example: Private Reserve DC Super Violet.

March 18, 2013

hi, mrchan, without meaning to pre-empt doug (and i can't speak for the F nib--i just got another marlborough in F but it's still on its way to me), i just came across your question and can say that in my experience with a churchill and a marlborough, both with B nibs, the nibs came out of the factory very smooth, wet, and stubby. yes, stubby--these aren't even IB nibs, just B, but for some reason they're both stubby with corners rounded enough not to catch or skip while writing. yesterday i even compared the B nibs on my CS pens with a friend's IB in his marlborough, and we couldn't tell the difference. here's a shot of my churchill's B nib, which is the same as my marlborough's. note the stubby profile of the factory nib.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8054/8348538543_d771593cef_z.jpg

Thanks for the picture to prove your point as well m8. Much appreciated. Due to the fact that I usually have to write in proper hospital charts with moderate quality paper at best, I am leaving out using broader nibs. I need something between medium and fine(because some spaces are really small and you have to write a lot in it), something that flows smoothly but not overly wet. I am worried that I cant write small enough with the broad nib so I am going to go with a medium. Only question is whether a medium or a medium italic? If the italic is more stub-like in nature then thats what I am going to go for but if it catches a bit or has a bit of an edge then I'll just go for a normal medium as I oftimes have to write really fast.

I have the same pen with the lever fill, in the lighter woodgrain ebonite.

It is great to see it in the black since this is really what I wanted. I just couldn't get a pen in ebonite (my favorite pen material) without seeing the variations in the body. I also prefer the sterling silver trim. Had I had the funds I would have gotten one in both colors.

No matter; I love the pen. I have the fine italic. Of the 3 CS pens I have, 2 of them have the FI and it really is a great nib. I tend to have small writing, and it works perfectly, allowing words to be legible but giving it a little bit of character...

VERY nice pen. Enjoy it.

Hi Doug, I was wondering if you could tell me, is this italic more italic or more stub? I usually prefer finer to medium nibs but since I'm a leftie, I prefer a stub to an italic. Is it more like a rounded stub or a more..sharp edged italic? And do you think the fine is a wet writer or dry? I use my pens for work and i need to weite fast, my recent CS has a lovely fine nib but it didnt keep up fast enough with my writing and ended up being a little dry. Trying to decide between the both of them, thanks a lot.

I have a CS IF nib and find it has rounded edges. I also find it prefers wet and highly lubricated inks, for example: Private Reserve DC Super Violet.

Thanks for your input m8, might consider a medium or a medium italic if it is stub-like in nature and doesn't catch as you say.