Vintage Conway Stewart collectors ?

[garythepenman]

Hi, who collects vintage CS's ?. If you're from the USA are they readilly available / findable and what would you normally have to fork out for them ?.

I ask as I'm not sure how many found their way to the USA. We have quite a few in NZ if one cares to search hard enough.

Gary

[Carrie]

Me It was my dad's CS which got me interested in vintage pens. I've got to admit that I only buy cheap ones, so it's been a while since I found a bargain on EBay.

[garythepenman]

Hi Carrie,

 

I would think there must be numerous antique shops in Cheshire to fossic around in ?.

 

I'm trying to obtain a vintage CS 100, not the new incarnation. I might get it before the weekend if I'm lucky. They only came in black and are the largest pen CS made.

[Carrie]

I've not hunted round antique shops in Cheshire, but at the big antiques fair at Newark I've found that they are asking upwards of £90 for unrestored ones in very poor condition. I've also found the same sort of prices at an antique shop I pop into quite regularly in Lancashire. Needless to say, I haven't bought from them and everytime I go in the same lonely collection of pens is sitting there in the corner of a jewellery case.

I did get one CS84 from the antiques fair at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton - nicely restored and £32.

As for my very nice and immaculate green Herringbone - that came out of a skip

Good luck with your 100, hope you get it for a good price.

[grasshopper]

Gary, I wouldn't classify myself as a Conway Stewart collector as I only have 2 - a green herringbone 60L and a blue marble (can't remember which model right now, but it's smaller than the 60L), both vintages. The former I bought while I was in London last summer and the latter I was surprised to find at my local shop here.

 

Unfortunately, I will be putting the blue marble in the marketplace soon to help finance other pens . I posted here also because I would like to add a couple more herringbones later on (but that still doesn't make me a CS collector necessarily).

 

Lovely pens.

[Johnny Appleseed]

I am not a Conway Stewart Collector.

 

I am not going to be become a Conway Stewart Collector.

 

Once I get a Green Herringbone pen & pencil set, then I will be satisfied.

 

I will not need any more CS pens after that.

 

I repeat, I will not need any more CS pens after that.

 

Unless, of course, I should find a nice old bhr model at a good price.

 

But then I will be satisfied.

 

I will not collect Conway Stewarts.

 

I will not collect Conway Stewarts.

 

This is my mantra. (Repeat continuously whenever visiting Jonathan Donahaye's Conway Stewart Page)

 

but those hatched designs are really nice too. . .

 

John

[chupie]

Did you see that there is a green herringbone Conway 58 pen and pencil set on eBay right now? It looks in good shape.

[garythepenman]

Hi John,

 

I know what you mean. CS's are great pens (vintage ones) and for those that like a smaller pen there are many to chose from and great colours as well.

[Greg]

Carrie wrote:

"As for my very nice and immaculate green Herringbone - that came out of a skip"

 

 

Really? Thats like a fantasy land, what a wonderful experience! I often wonder about finding CS pens in the junk shop round the corner, but, of course, it never happens.

 

Greg

[andyr7]

Sorry to upset you Greg, but it really does happen - my best find was an absolutely mint floral 22 on a casual stall at the local antiques fair 3 or 4 years ago. Pretty expensive, but I haggled the price down from 48 pounds to 44 pounds!! There have been other instances as well, though that was the most spectacular! The pen is long gone now, swapped for something much rarer but less commercial!

 

Remember (to paraphrase Gary Player) the harder you look, the luckier you get!

 

Andy

[twdpens]

I'm not a CS collector, at least not like Andy and the like. I have a small "accumulation" which includes a couple of nice 55's in marbled colours, a near-mint 58 in red herringbone, some 286's and a modern Duro. Those are the best bits anyway.

 

Martin

[weepstah]

At the moment I only have one vintage CS - a 28 in burgundy hatched. At some point a vintage 58 Tiger Eye is in my future, plus I would love to get my hands on some old Duro models (primarily the no30 line). With all the numbers it's hard to keep track of the more desirable models!

 

weepstah

[philm]

I am not a CS collector - but I have picked up these three over the past few years (I don't have any current CS pens, as I prefer vintage). From top to bottom -

 

93 / 55 / dinkie

 

As to availability, all were picked up either on the Pentrace Green Board or ebay, and I had to perform various repairs, especially to the 55.

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/munsonhsr/dcp_3110a.jpg

[Greg]

I see you like green, Phil. Nice pens, especially the 55, I'd like one of those.

 

I must admit I'm always attracted to green pens more than most.

 

 

Greg

[philm]

Yes, I must admit that I have quite a few greens. Keep your eyes open for 55s. I got mine a few months ago for about 11 dollars. It needed a new sac and jbar as well as a thorough cleaning, but now works great. They do show up once in awhile on ebay.

 

philm

[Jopen]

I would not define myself as a CS vintage collector, perhaps a user which is collecting?

 

I use actually a CS Doctor's Pen on a daily basis, have a Churchill and a Duro, all modern. Just beside and boxed there is an Amethyst 58 for my wife's birthday, and now... into VINTAGE... Last week I received a fabulous red herringbone 85L (thanks Andy), a 24(?) cracked ice is on its way here and I picked 2 at a local store which needed deep restoring work, a red-black marble 759 and a green marbled 85 ... I think CS worm has digged deep somewhere here

 

Well, a marvellous and spectacular Duro2 RHR is also travelling here as the last addition (thanks again Andy)

 

I enjoy both, well restored pens or pens for restoring which I find are real fun and give a rewarding and relaxing time. The result is always a nice and USABLE pen...

 

http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/tenerifepalms/penpict/3cs.jpg

Edited March 12, 2006 by Jopen

[garythepenman]

Great pics Jopen.

 

I think you are a little like me, I use all of my vintage pens and do not collect for collection sake alone.

 

Gary

[Jopen]

Yes, sure this is the way we do it. If I receive a FP which has been inked before (all my vintages were) then I like to see them clean and functional, and I mean allover, not only a sac exchange and some polishing or cleaning. Once here, why not clean that old impacted SOLID ink deposits under the nib and on the feed? and if it feels scratchy, most go through tine alignement ... and if needed some light smoothing, and... if then tried... well why not have the absolute pleasure to use them and to look at the new-reborn fp? of course, if storing them, a good cleaning is done before that and there tey are, ready for next use...

 

There is much more pleasure to own and use than only to have them stored and just blowing off some inexistent dust... I understand collectors having very special pens which have never been inked/used and which are very valuable and rare and that should be kept this way in order to preserve them in best shape, but most of vintage pens around have been used or extensively used, why stop their life by merely storing them?

 

Cheers

Jose

[Allan]

Not sure I would call myself a CS collector even though I have several, but I do like they looks and feel of them. I am currently keeping my open for a 74 Speedy Phil I believe they are called. Here are a few of my favs:

 

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/flea77/cs28b.gif

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/flea77/cs85lb.gif

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/flea77/cs85lr.gif

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/flea77/cs58te.gif

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/flea77/cs60ci-3.gif

 

Allan

[philm]

Allan,

 

I love the cracked ice! Nice potos also by Jose. I seem to notice a trend of users/restorers. Conway Stewarts are great for both.

 

philm