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Was Sheaffer The Only Ones To Make As Snorkel?


MichelleStClaire

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I have been buying and selling pens for years but I am not super knowedgeable about certain lines. I have always thought the snorkel was the most amazing invention of a lifetime but am wondering if anyone else either stole, or perfected this engineering masterpiece? And why did Sheaffer stop making them? Certainly the FP world has to recognize the beauty of not having to ink your entire nib.

 

I bought an old Montblanc years ago that was listed as a snorkel but it wasnt one when it arrived. Considering I only paid about $50 for it I wasnt upset but I was truly excited to get my first snorkel. Still to this day, I have not owned a snorkel. I think I need to make 2013 my snorkel year.

 

Can anyone provide any guidance to my first snorkel purchase and tell me what the Holy Grail would be?

 

Michelle

www.PendoraPens.com

Turn to the light, and the shadow will fall behind you.

www.PendoraPens.com

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I agree with you about the merit of the invention. I do not know what else might exist. What I did was perhaps not the easiest approach. I got a snorkel off EBay for a low price that needed restoration, learned how to restore it, and restored it. The bad part of this is the risk of disappointment from various sources. The good part of is that I know a lot about the pen now. My preferred strategy was to pick up a nice restored one from one of a few favorite sellers, but the onset of Christmas shopping seemed to drive up the prices on the nice-looking and ready-to-write ones. I just didn't win those auctions.

I know my id is "mhosea", but you can call me Mike. It's an old Unix thing.

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I have been buying and selling pens for years but I am not super knowedgeable about certain lines. I have always thought the snorkel was the most amazing invention of a lifetime but am wondering if anyone else either stole, or perfected this engineering masterpiece? And why did Sheaffer stop making them? Certainly the FP world has to recognize the beauty of not having to ink your entire nib.

 

I bought an old Montblanc years ago that was listed as a snorkel but it wasnt one when it arrived. Considering I only paid about $50 for it I wasnt upset but I was truly excited to get my first snorkel. Still to this day, I have not owned a snorkel. I think I need to make 2013 my snorkel year.

 

Can anyone provide any guidance to my first snorkel purchase and tell me what the Holy Grail would be?

 

Michelle

www.PendoraPens.com

Most other companies, including Parker, tried to make their own Snorkel and couldn't do it. Sheaffer stopped making them due to the high cost of manufacturing. The Snorkel cost 10 times as much to make as the pen that replaced it--the cartridge pen.

 

The grail would probably be the solid gold model. Furniture and nib style determine value. The less expensive Snorkels write just as well as the more pricey ones. I would suggest you pick a color and nib style that appeals to you. They are all good. Be careful buying on ebay. Many of my ebay Snorkels turned out to be something else, including cartridge pens. To some sellers "Snorkel" is just a word they use to help sell a pen. Unrestored Snorkels sell cheaply. Knowledgeable dealers sell properly restored Snorkels, but they cost more.

Carpe Stilo

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Unless you are *really* good and/or experienced in pen repair/restoration, I think the complexity of the Snorkel system is such that you should consider a first purchase be one that is already restored. There are a number of respected eBay sellers who have Snorkels often, I could make suggestions via PM. Also, it would be worth looking at a site like David Issacson's, because he mostly has high quality pens.

 

An interesting aspect of Snorkels is, like the Parker 51, they came at a time when tastes were changing. As a result, the pens that are valued these days by collectors (i.e. will go for more money) may be just a particular color of plastic. Frankly, some of the most sought-after aren't to my tastes! But a Snork in good condition is a really, really fine pen, and the nibs are among the very best that Sheaffer produced.

 

If you haven't already browsed Jim Mamoulide's site, you should (at the very least) look at his Snorkel feature; lots of other good Snorkel info in other areas there.

 

It's a great pen, hope you have fun finding your first.

"When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick; and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

~ Benjamin Franklin

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Be careful buying on ebay. Many of my ebay Snorkels turned out to be something else, including cartridge pens. To some sellers "Snorkel" is just a word they use to help sell a pen.

 

Isn't that the truth! My rule of thumb: show me the snorkel tube or it isn't.

I know my id is "mhosea", but you can call me Mike. It's an old Unix thing.

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Here's a link to David Nishimura's overview on the touchdown/snorkel era. Pen profile These are easy pens to identify once you know what to look for -- except for the squared-off PFMs, they are slim pens with rounded ends and, of course, a snorkel tube that extends from under the nib. There are lots of them out there, many of them relatively inexpensive. (Rare colors, metal caps and 14K trim are some of the factors that demand higher prices.) The thin touchdown pens look similar, but they are shorter and don't have the snorkel. Keep this in mind and you shouldn't have any problem sorting through any inaccurate eBay sales pitches. Unless the seller had your pen refurbished, expect your 50- to 60-year-old pen to need a new sac and seals. That's an extra expense, but not a huge one. That's about it. These are reliable, attractive pens that you can use every day. I've almost always got one of these inked up and ready to go.

 

To answer your question about pens with high cache, the all-14K pens (they also come in 9K and 18K), pens with 14K trim and the demonstrators top my list. I think a nice compromise is the Snorkel Triumph with a gold-filled cap and barrel. Looks very classy at a fraction of the cost of solid gold. Can't say I'd consider these metal pens for everyday use, such as at work, however. Wouldn't want to dent them.

 

007.JPG

Edited by wekiva98
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http://www.sheafferflattops.com/images/Snorkcolor1.jpg

The fifth is fiesta but, in the reasonably to be found Sentinel.

 

http://www.sheafferflattops.com/images/Gold%20snorkels.jpg

9K, 14K, and Gold Filled

 

There are several hard to get sheaffers but, the hardest to find is the full fiesta red (Statesman or Valiant) easily worth over $1,000 and it isn't because of gold content. A demonstrator is a great one to get as the snorkel does a bit internally worth looking at - has varied widely to price but should be close to $3-400 currently.

 

Roger W.

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the only snorks I have are two PFMs, one PFM II and one PFM III, I will add a green PFM I and a green PFM II which are my favorite snorkel pens

Pens are like watches , once you start a collection, you can hardly go back. And pens like all fine luxury items do improve with time

 

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The Snorkel was a heavily engineered pen that came about in the latter days of fountain pens before reliable ballpoints and cartridge/converter pens became the mainstay of the US pen market. The Snorkel itself derived from Sheaffer's Touchdown filling system, but did it one better in that it was only the small tube (thus "Snorkel") that actually got immersed in the ink. The competitive advantage was that it didn't require a tissue to wipe the nib after filling, thus meaning you were less likely to be "wearing" some ink on your fingertips after filling your pen if you were using a Snorkel.

 

Cartridge/converters, and more so, ballpoints, offered much the same "neatness" advantages, but with less complication. They were also easier to replicate and could be more easily marketed as the "new" way to write.

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There is a new Visconti that attempts to mimic the Snorkel, but it is not as complex -- a needle point attachment is place on the nib and used to draw up ink from a custom inkwell (the pen is a vac, rather than a Touchdown-type mechanism). I think it's called the mosquito? FP Geeks did a review of it recently. It's super expensive and seems rather gimmicky to me.

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  • 4 weeks later...

There is a new Visconti that attempts to mimic the Snorkel, but it is not as complex -- a needle point attachment is place on the nib and used to draw up ink from a custom inkwell (the pen is a vac, rather than a Touchdown-type mechanism). I think it's called the mosquito? FP Geeks did a review of it recently. It's super expensive and seems rather gimmicky to me.

 

Yeah, I just saw the Mosquito for the first time in the Fountain Pen Hospital catalogue. Thought it looked cool, but couldn't place exactly what it reminded me of. Now it dawned on me- the snorkel!

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There is a new Visconti that attempts to mimic the Snorkel, but it is not as complex -- a needle point attachment is place on the nib and used to draw up ink from a custom inkwell (the pen is a vac, rather than a Touchdown-type mechanism). I think it's called the mosquito? FP Geeks did a review of it recently. It's super expensive and seems rather gimmicky to me.

 

Yeah, I just saw the Mosquito for the first time in the Fountain Pen Hospital catalogue. Thought it looked cool, but couldn't place exactly what it reminded me of. Now it dawned on me- the snorkel!

 

I was going to mention the Visconti. The pen is actually a model Visconti has been making for quite awhile called the Opera. The Opera is the first model to have that "Mosquito" attachment come with it. It's just a metal cone that fits over the nib and the pen uses a piston-fill mechanism. When you operate the piston it draws up ink into the tube. The pen can fill with or without the cone so the practicality of the cone is on the low end and it does seem somewhat gimmicky.

 

The new "Dreamtouch" nib on the Visconti Opera also seems "inspired" by Sheaffer. It is a conical, upturned nib that looks very similar to a Sheaffer Triumph nib but it is made from chromium.

 

The new Opera Crystal and Typhoon sells (both are LEs of 1000) for $700 so I think most people would be better off buying a fully restored Snorkel for $100 or better yet a PFM for about 1/3 of the new Opera.

Edited by Florida Blue

Parker: Sonnet Flighter, Rialto Red Metallic Laque, IM Chiseled Gunmetal, Latitude Stainless, 45 Black, Duovac Blue Pearl Striped, 51 Standard Black, Vac Jr. Black, 51 Aero Black, 51 Vac Blue Cedar, Duofold Jr. Lapis, 51 Aero Demi Black, 51 Aero Demi Teal, 51 Aero Navy Gray, Duofold Pastel Moire Violet, Vac Major Golden Brown, Vac Deb. Emerald, 51 Vac Dove Gray, Vac Major Azure, Vac Jr. Silver Pearl, 51 Vac Black GF Cap, 51 Forest Green GF cap, Vac Jr. Silver Pearl, Duovac Senior Green & Gold, Duovac Deb. Black, Challenger Black, 51 Aero Midnight, Vac. Emerald Jr., Challenger Gray Pearl, 51 Vac Black, Duofold Int. Black, Duofold Jr. Red.

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  • 7 years later...

My only Sheaffer is a late '40's Crest with the wonderful Triumph two tone nib. I find it easy to fill. I simply cannot understand why a FP nerd would pay so much for a novelty fill system. The lever works just fine.

"Respect science, respect nature, respect all people (s),"

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I simply cannot understand why a FP nerd would pay so much for a novelty fill system. The lever works just fine.

 

FP nerds are exactly the sort of people that are attracted to "novelty" filling systems. And the snorkel is the acme of this class.

Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

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FP nerds are exactly the sort of people that are attracted to "novelty" filling systems. And the snorkel is the acme of this class.

 

I do appreciate the collectability component of this novel filling system. That said, as a writer/user, the simplest fill system is best.

"Respect science, respect nature, respect all people (s),"

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I have about a half dozen or so Snorkels. The fill system is kinda cool -- but you still have to soak the nib and feed when flushing them out (people don't tell you that). And I have had all of mine professionally restored, because you do NOT want to just randomly test one -- if there's a leak in the sac, you can damage the spring (and that will add an additional $20 US to the cost of restoration).

Took a quick look at the "Fantasy Snorkel" site and they appear to be using actual Sheaffer nibs. But at those prices? I've never paid that much for a real Snorkel, even factoring repair costs.

But I agree with silverlifter -- we are EXACTLY the kind of nerds who think stuff like that is cool (I certainly was after seeing an old TV ad someone posted the YouTube link to a number of years ago for PFMs. The ad was sexist BS: "Buy you husband a Snorkel for Christmas -- you know he wants one...." But the ad included showing how the fill system worked. And I was sold....

Of course I was also "sold" on the fill system for 51s, and for Vacumatics, and for button fillers, and.... :blush:

FP Nerd? Yeah, that'd be me.... B) Hmmm. Maybe I should sell T-shirts (if and when there's ever another pen show I feel safe going to...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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I do appreciate the collectability component of this novel filling system. That said, as a writer/user, the simplest fill system is best.

Then you should look into Parker 61s with the capillary filler. I'm always completely amused by the concept of Sheaffer coming out with Snorkels to fight the encroachment of ballpoints -- the most convoluted fill system ever designed; while Parker designed the 61 (just remove the barrel, stick the capillary filler end in an ink bottle, and let the capillary system do the rest...). Yes I have a bunch of those as well (although not as many as the Snorkel stash...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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I do appreciate the collectability component of this novel filling system. That said, as a writer/user, the simplest fill system is best.

 

Horses for courses. I sold or gave away all my lever fillers because the system doesn't appeal to me on a number of levels (except for ease of restoration). I would never contemplate giving up a snorkel or vac-filler.

Edited by silverlifter

Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

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Horses for courses. I sold or gave away all my lever fillers because the system doesn't appeal to me on a number of levels (except for ease of restoration). I would never contemplate giving up a snorkel or vac-filler.

 

That just sounds crazy to me. The lever is a no brainer. I mean no disrespect, however. :yikes:

"Respect science, respect nature, respect all people (s),"

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