What Dupont Model Is This?

[whatanicepen]

What model is this? Thanks!

Edited September 6, 2016 by whatanicepen

[jar]

St Germain.

[whatanicepen]

St Germain.

Thanks! Is this the only Dupont pen that has Rhodium nib?

[jar]

Thanks! Is this the only Dupont pen that has Rhodium nib?

IIRC it is only rhodium plated. The St Germain was one of the entry level ST Dupont lines and came with steel nibs, plated steel nibs and some gold nibs.

[whatanicepen]

IIRC it is only rhodium plated. The St Germain was one of the entry level ST Dupont lines and came with steel nibs, plated steel nibs and some gold nibs.

Thanks a lot Jar!

[SpecTP]

that looks like a St Germain XL

[jchch1950]

they were two sizes and different colours of caps finials and bodies.The bodies were gold or silver looking.

[ParkerBeta]

I just acquired this S.T. Dupont in sterling silver from the FPN Classifieds. The seller said it's from the 1970s, but it doesn't look like the Classique or the Gatsby (see pictures). It also has a cool-looking converter. By the way, I expected to see "France" written on the side of the clip, but instead it says "Mecan." Can anyone help identify this model? Thanks!

 

 

 

 

[Mastiff]

I was watching this advertisement too...

 

We need to find Jar.

[ParkerBeta]

Some very interesting finds regarding "Mecan":

 

First, I found a ballpoint version of the same model for sale on eBay, and it also has "Mecan" on the clip. See the picture (reproduced from the eBay ad) below:

 

 

Second, jar replied to a private message I had sent him (and whose contents I shall include on this thread once I have his permission to do so) that Mecan is a Parisian jewelry shop, so (and this is me speculating, not jar) it's quite possible that this pen is a special series commissioned by Mecan from Dupont (like Rebecca Moss from Visconti, or Dunhill from Pilot).

 

Third, "Mecan" is not the only alternative to "France" on the clips of such pens -- there's another ballpoint on eBay that looks exactly like the other ballpoint with "Mecan" on the clip, except that this one has "Metal" and not "Mecan" on the clip (see below):

 

Edited June 2, 2017 by ParkerBeta

[ParkerBeta]

I got jar's permission to quote his reply to my personal message. He warns that he is just speculating, and advises me to ask the people at ST Dupont for concrete information. Without more ado, here's what jar wrote to me:

 

I can't offer much help but it does look like one of the Classique variations (there were a brazillion of them). There was a Jeweler/Artist in France IIRC named Mecan Elde but most of the examples of work attributed to Mecan were from the 30s and 40s.

It's possible it is an ST Dupont creation for a jeweler or studio.

The model is from the early 70s and the nib, section, engravings look period correct.

A second possibility relates to the source of the silver. Mexico (particularly the area around Tasco) is famous for silver work. "Mecan" could refer to either the source of the silver itself or to the destination for the pen.

The good folk at the ST Dupont distributorship in the US have been great about answering strange questions (like identifying a nib I found I had) so I would send them as many good pictures as you can take and ask them about the provenance.

[ParkerBeta]

Another update from jar, in response to my finding of a very similar ballpoint pen on eBay with "Metal" on the clip, and my speculation that my fountain pen (with "Mecan" on the clip) may have been commissioned by the jeweler Mecan from Dupont:

 

Metal on a clip is pretty common and simply means that the item is a base metal that is plated. Often you will see "Metal" and a number that shows the color of the plating.

Also remember the jeweler Mecan I mentioned was French 1930s and 1940s, art deco style stuff, and so may not have been around in the 70s when that pen was made.

[jar]

Just for emphasis. I'm certainly not an expert and there is far more I don't know than what I do know. I'm more just a junkyard where you might find something incredibly interesting but more often simply "junk".

 

What is quoted above really is pure speculation except where supported by evidence.

[ParkerBeta]

I found a vermeil version of the same thing -- i.e., they took the sterling silver model and gold-plated it! It's on sale at an online store, and the seller got the pen with box and papers, and identifies it as a Classique I. The seller (terim) has several excellent photographs of the pen, of which I'm including one below that proves it is the sibling of the pen I got:

Unfortunately, the provided photographs don't show the side of the clip, so I don't know if it has a "Mecan" on it or not.

 

Lastly, regarding the pen I "got": I no longer have it, because unfortunately I found out (after finding a capful of ink a couple of days after I inked it) that the section had a vertical crack (about 3 mm long) running down the middle, starting from the nib end. Maybe the metal collar at the base of the nib on later Classique models was introduced in response to such issues. Anyway, the seller of my pen, who obviously was not aware of this issue, took back the pen and refunded me not only my purchase price but even the cost of shipping it back to him! What a gentleman! (But I already knew that from many years ago, when he gave me a code to use at the Montblanc boutique to get a discount on my very first Montblanc.)

[praxim]

I have now a tortoiseshell chinese lacquer pen of the same style. Although most of the pen is lacquer, the cap rim is stamped 925 and with a gold mark so presumably a vermeil using a suitable thickness of gold. Text and font are the same as on the gold example above, and it has mecan on the clip, on the other side from the serial.

 

A bit of the old googling turned up no relationship. There is a very small town in America, none in Mexico. It seems mecan is Portuguese for mechanic so that seems unlikely as well. A tribute series to the aforementioned jeweller, rather than commissioned?

 

Regardless, it is an attractive style of pen especially in the tortoise lacquer, which was the only finish I wanted in a Classique.

[Orthostylos]

I have in my collection the same/similar Dupont. Looking at a close up of a photo, it says METAL on the clip side. You can see it has some loss of finish on the cap, and a dent.

 

It was a gift from my father in the 70's, which probably was bought on a carribean island (perhaps Aruba) as a gift to me (He knew I was a fountain pen nut).

 

In my notes I have it listed as ST Dupont Vermeil Sterling Silver (Just a guess I think)

 

Anyone have any insight on this pen?

 

Nib engraving: 18C

“D”

750

Cap Engraving :ST Dupont de paris .925

Clip Eng: L6CS35

METAL

Thanks