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I was told by a reputable vintage pen shop that posting a cap on a vintage pen, such as long striated pattern Parker Vacumatics, Duofold, etc, makes the cap prone to splitting since it is made of celluloid. They said it is a good practice not to Post A Cap on a vintage pen when using unless there is a nylon other insert that is for that function and it is mounted deeper into the cap. However, a lot of pens don't sit very well in the hand when writing if there's no cap. i have a number of expensive vintage pens that I write with, a lot. What is the solution? Buy a sacrificial cap? *PS: I am not a collector. I own pens for a quality and uique writing experience. So, "writeability" it important to me. Thanks for the help. jim

I ran across this on ebay. So many of the Sheaffer desk sets seem to be the standard black body fountain pens. These had an nice splash of celluloid color, which I found strangely appealing. (Possibly "Balance" version derived?) Both of them are white dot, lifetime nibs, celluloid bodies with lever fill. They seemed less common than other examples. Enough of my chatter, pictures below.

A while back, I purchased a celluloid Platinum 3776 pictured here. The trouble is, the wide trim ring at the base of the cap is loose. I finally cleaned it up and put it in my case after getting way too much use out of it. Today, I pulled it out and the trim ring stayed. It is friction fit onto the pen right now, but very loose and easy to turn. I'm nervous about using superglue, since it's a celluloid pen. Is there a glue I can use in a really tiny amount to hold the trim ring in place? It has to bond metal to celluloid.

The newest Armando Simoni Club Bologna Extra Africa is made in a warm brown flared celluloid. This pen has rhodium trims and the centerband is engraved with a primitive African motif. The large 18kt magicflex nib and the pneumatic filler transform this pen into a majestic object. Available from +/- June in limited quantity - Please reserve yours ! https://www.sakurafountainpengallery.com/en/boutique/detail/asc-bologna-extra-africa-rhodium-trim-armando-simoni-club Sincerely, Catherine

Vintage or precious pen lovers, how do you carry your fine aged or precious pens for everyday use? Despite surviving decades if not centuries, vintage pen material (urushi, hard rubber, celluloid, etc) is not like lucite bulletproof. I have a cloth pen case and a tougher leather one but don't trust soft material. Short of carrying in a box, most often a Parker Duofold snap clam plastic coffin or padded mailer, what do you use to carry? 2 points off if you reply, "Just hang off the back pants pocket" Thank you

Hello all, I came across this old, red, and anonymous pen at a flea market a while back. It caught my eye because of the bright color and unusual pattern on it. Ive seen plenty of marbled, striated, and pearlescent patterns, but Ive never seen one quite like this. It reminds me of vintage linoleum flooring. Unfortunately, there is no writing on it anywhere, save for the nib which is stamped (rather dubiously) Warranted 14K. Any ideas as to who the maker might be? Kind regards, Eric

This is my own pen. I did not receive any compensation for this review. This pen is available to hire through pensharing.com. Looks, description, build quality, dimensions This is my limited edition (number 14 of 25) Delta Fantasia Vintage. It's made completely from turquoise blue celluloid, has a fine number 6 rhodium plated steel nib (there is an option to have a gold nib, at additional cost), and rhodium plated clip and cap band. The cap band is fairly slim and carries a "Greek key" pattern. The clip has a little scroll work and a rollerball and is firm but not overly stiff. There are chrome rings just behind the threads and below the blind cap at the end of the barrel. The finial is in a cone shape whilst the end of the blind cap is rounded off. The nib carries the simple Delta logo, name and nib size, with no other markings or engraving. The celluloid is absolutely sensational, the turquoise colour is gorgeous. As you rotate the pen in your hand there appears to be four distinct sections to the celluloid - on two of those, the celluloid has a deep 3-D stripey effect; on the other two it's more muted but still lovely. You can spend hours just rotating the pen in hand, waiting for it to catch the light in a certain way. The pen comes in a variety of celluloids, all limited to 25 pieces: Brown (the only pen which comes with gold trimGreen (with black marbling - verde variegato)BordeauxTurquoise (now sold out)Red (with blue marbling)Green (verde scuro) L-R, the colours described above, from the cover of the accompanying booklet. The build quality is fabulous, it feels beautifully made. The only minor disappointment is the clip: from the front it's a nice shape, with the roller ball and scroll work, but side on it looks rather thin and flimsy, compared to say a Montegrappa clip. Dimensions are: Capped 135mm, 28g (Lamy Safari 139mm, 18g)Uncappped 123mm, 18g (Lamy Safari 128mm, 10g)Posted 148mm (Lamy Safari 164mm)Other: barrel width 14mm (at its widest point just behind the threads), section width 11mm (at its narrowest concave point), section length 21mm (including threads), nib length 23mmStory behind the pen I first saw this on Instagram, on Edwin PG's feed (@fountain.gem). He had just purchased 3 different ones: the turquoise, the brown and the marbled red. Photo credit: @fountain.gem on Instagram I instantly fell in love and knew that I had to have one.. I didn't realise this before purchasing but the pens are made by Salvatore Matrone in collaboration with Stefano Senatore (owner of Stilograph Corsani, retailer of fine writing instruments since 1924, in Rome). Salvatore is, of course, the founder of the sensational new pen company Leonardo, and is the son of Ciro Matrone, one of the founders of Delta. So the pedigree of the pen is impeccable! I emailed Stefano to enquire about the pen and he responded to all of my questions quickly and with great enthusiasm and we established a great rapport. Once I placed the order it arrived extremely quickly. Awesome customer service all round! Feel in the hand Celluloid is a beautiful, silky smooth material which is warm to the touch so naturally the pen feels great in the hand. And because the section is also celluloid it means that you benefit from that same feeling whilst you are actually writing. The circumference of the section is slightly larger than I prefer (and the same with the nib size at number 6, I find number 5 is my sweet spot) however I knew this before purchasing the pen is not in any way a hindrance to getting a comfortable grip. It's quite a light pen unposted so no fatigue from long writing sessions. Filling / refilling I believe the term for the filling system on this pen is "captive converter". It's essentially a cartridge converter except that the twister is longer than on a traditional cartridge converter, is metal rather than plastic, and can be accessed by unscrewing the blind cap at the bottom of the barrel. The barrel also unscrews so you can fill it as you would a normal CC if you prefer. So you have the look and feel of a piston filler and the convenience of a cartridge converter. Clever! The one minor downside is that because the "piston knob" is not an integral part of the barrel, it does have a slight rattle if you tap the pen in that area. Nib feel on the paper / ink flow The steel nib is absolutely superb and wrote beautifully straight out of the box. It's got enough feedback that you can feel you're actually writing but does feel lovely and smooth. Flow is on the wet side, in fact perfectly so. Line width / variation The steel nib is firm and doesn't offer anything in the way of line variation. It's a genuine fine line. Here's the comparison to the Lamy Safari F. They're pretty much identical: Top: Lamy Safari F; Bottom: Delta Fantasia Vintage How does it make your handwriting look I love the slightly wetter flow. Maybe this contributes to me slowing down my writing pace a touch, which means a bit more care. Whilst I don't have particularly "nice" writing, it does contribute to it looking its best. Value for money At the €300 mark, the choice is almost limitless: Pelikan, Montegrappa, Visconti, Sailor, Aurora, Pilot - all the great names have lots to offer in this price bracket. Many will be gold nibbed piston fillers but I haven't seen any other celluloid pens out there (you might be lucky and pick up a used celluloid Montegrappa from eBay at that price). The really hot celluloids to have right now are: Leonardo Momento Zero (piston filler, gold nib)Montegrappa Colori Del Mare (based on the Extra 1930, piston filler, gold nib)But both these pens command a much higher price: the Leonardo at around €700, the Montegrappa at around $800. So if you just want the material but not the piston filler or gold nib then this really is the only choice. Conclusion / recommendation The celluloid on this pen is the undoubted star of the show. It is stunningly beautiful. It is hand made by one of the leading lights in the fountain pen community, Salvatore Matrone. It was also amazing value for money at €300 and the buying experience from Stefano was smooth and handled with care and charm. For that price though, you have to sacrifice the gold nib, sterling silver trim and genuine piston filler, but they are sacrifices well worth making. Overall, I love this pen - I'm delighted to have been able to have obtained one of such a limited run of pens and I would buy them all if I could!

This must've been covered elsewhere (but I couldn't find it) -- I've been using Akkermann ink (mainly Shocking Blue and, recently, Karmozijn) with my Omas celluloid pens -- and, for the most part, had no pen/ink-interaction issues (I hope). Lately, I've also added Iroshizuko kon-peki to my small ink collection. Anyways, today I've looked at the colorverse 'crystal planet' review, and the mentioning of that ink's ph (together with some grim pictures from RichardB's website) made me wonder -- has anyone experienced any problems using these inks (akkerman/iroshizuko/colorverse) with celluloid nitrate pens?

I was looking to buy an Omas Arte Italiana Celluloid Gray. The seller is saying that the pen is from 1990s. I don't know enough about Omas to identify the pen myself. I would appreciate any help. Did Omas sell this pen the 1990s? Did Omas sell bi-color nibs in 90s? I really want to know if this pen is genuine 1990s Omas Arte Italiana Celluloid Gray. Can somebody explain different Omas names? What does extra meaning in the name of an Omas pen? What is the diferrence between Arte Italiana and Arte Italiana Arco Celluloid? Thanks in advance. <blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="a/IG5pdUm"><a href="//imgur.com/IG5pdUm"></a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It's probably for the better that OMAS is no longer with us... marketing executives would never let pens like this leave the factory! Much too 'sedate' for the modern consumer, I'm sure... 2003 Paragon Royal Blue celluloid (LVMH era) and 1934 Extra Permanio tortoise shell celluloid (La Stilografica - Bologna origin)

Hi everyone I'm still at the fairly early stages of learning to use FPN so if anythings out of place don't hesitate to warn me. With that warning out of the way, I have a question about a pen I got some time ago. It's called Armando Simoni Club Ogiva Green Saft Pavarotti LE(what a mouthful name ) and there's supposed to be 70 pens total out there. Mine is the 11th of the series and arrived with a bb omas nib. I later learned that all pens in this series was supposed to arrive with the magic flex nib available in other asc and modern wahl offerings. I enjoy the pens from the asc company until now as they are offering nice pens at reasonable prices. I would like to learn how is it that I got this pen with a non official nib when buying brand new.( not that I don't like it, the pen and nib is very nice and I really enjoy using it) For a side note, I bought this pen from Chatterley luxuries, and the purchase was handled wonderfully as always. Also, I'm wondering if asc will resurrect the omas brand or will they pursue a different path? Thanks for sparing the time, and comments are really appreciated. Here is a picture of the pen: And the front profile of the nib: And finally the side profile of the nib:

Armando Simoni Club ! We'll have some Bologna Extra Arco Brown fountain pens available by the end of November ! It is a limited production. A magnificent pen in vintage Omas celluloid with size 8, 18-kt gold Magic Flex nib and pneumatic filler. One to collect ? YES ! https://www.sakurafountainpengallery.com/en/boutique/detail/asc-bologna-extra-arco-brown-armando-simoni-club

Dear fountain pen people, First time post, lifetime fountain pen writer. I have recently inherited a few fountain pens from my grandmother. One is a mint condition parker 45 with her name engraved, a nice memory to own. The other two pens are a little more complex to describe, they are I’m guessing of a 1940’s design. Pictures below. One is an ebonite button filler with a missing pressure bar inscribed 'Luxor'. The other is a blue celluloid candy stripe lever filler, again with my grandmothers name engraved and the word 'Alfa'. Both pens are missing sac’s and more importantly, missing feeds and nibs. I did a little measurement of the sections and I have to believe that both pens would have had a feed that is about 4mm in thickness. I know there are plentiful replacement nibs available, but as you will know, they are all starting at 5mm or ar a #5. As it is now, I have two broken fountain pens that are, at best, a nice memory. However, I am a daily fountain pen user and I would much rather see these pens restored and added to my routine, maybe as a flex pen, a daily writer or even fill one up and use it in the office. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Guider pen works is by now possibly well known on FPN with reviews dating back to 2008. They started in 1946 at Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh, India. Since they started under the guidance of their mentor from the famous pen making firm Ratnam and brothers, the firm was named Guider. http://guiderpen.in/about-us/ In addition to Ebonite, Acrylic and Solid Silver, they also have vintage stocks of genuine cellulose nitrate tubes for making pens. Their stocks from the 50s and 60s have now dwindled as nitrocellulose is very hard to come by nowadays. I have a few of their small sized Mandarin Yellow and Red celluloid pens and one Green celluloid pen. I was understandably excited when Mr Rao of Guider offered me some Vermillion Celluloid pens of large size. In the past, I could never quite manage to convince him to part with the few pieces he had remaining. But somehow he decided that I deserved a few of these pens and offered them to me one fine day out of the blue. This was sometime in mid 2017. I have been using the pens since and this is my attempt to document the existence of these pens. I had the choice of no cap band, single cap band or twin cap bands. I opted for one example each of the latter. The other thing he did was to accept my request to install my favourite Schmidt nib units so that I could use cartridges or converter and thus avoid ED mode and potential staining of the celluloid. Here are the pens: The Single band model: The twin band model: With some other Guider nitro celluloids: For size comparison with an English Duofold Maxima and a Big Red. Nitro cellulose is a wonderful pen material. The colors are superb and it is a live material which has the potential to change and age over time depending on how it is cared for. If you have any questions, pls do feel free to ask. Best, Hari

To those who use IR thermometers to test tempuratures of sections and other pen parts when using heat to loosen them - Which one do you use/recommend?

Is there a list out there of all the celluloids that OMAS made pens from? Also are the Autunno celluloids and Saft Green celluloids the same?

I've been fortunate enough to get my hands on some rods of the splendid Tibaldi Impero Celluloid. It took 5 months and filing a PayPal claim before I was actually able to receive the material I'd paid for. When it finally arrived, I couldn't resist taking time the very next day to make a pen for myself. I chose a Medium Idyll, clipless, with a black Japanese ebonite section so I wouldn't risk staining this lovely celluloid. I filled it up with Sailor Yama-Dori, and it has quickly become my personal favorite pen. (Edited to correct spelling.)

I purchased this pen off of eBay and when I say the original listing I believed the photos to be edited until I had the pen in my hands and saw it clearly. Then I thought there was something wrong with my eyes. This appears to be a perfectly ordinary Waterman RED #7 in jet black celluloid with nickel trim, except the nib has a silver tone to it. I've never seen a Waterman nib with anything other than a gold tone. I showed it to some very high profile collector friends of mine, and they have never seen a Waterman nib like this either. One had some theories about it being a depression era pen that may have been made of a different metal than gold, which made some sense, but it's strange to me that I've never come across one before. Has anyone else ever come across a pen like this? Is this some kind of standard model? Maybe someone plated it after the fact? I'm tempted to start polishing it to see if there's a base metal underneath, but not before I find some kind of information. The only thing I'm pretty sure of is that it's a nonreactive metal. I live in Florida and all reactive metals and finishes show some kind of patina relatively quickly. After removing the nib I couldn't find any kind of precious metal hallmarks, although I do have other keyhole nibs missing hallmarks so that may not indicate much. I've included a comparison "BROWN" keyhole nib in one of the pictures so that it's easier to see the color difference. It's extremely weird to look at and my eyes keep telling me the photo has something wrong with it. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1514412797__unnamed_1.jpg https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1514412787__unnamed_2.jpg https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1514412776__unnamed_3.jpg https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1514412758__unnamed_4.jpg https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1514412737__unnamed_5.jpg https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1514412723__unnamed_6.jpg

Coming soon the new ASC Bologna Wild Dark Side in a vintage marbled black celluloid. All trims are black ruthenium coated and so is the 14-kt size 8 magic flex nib ! You can order now. They are sold out in no time. Delivery starts end of November. https://www.sakurafountainpengallery.com/en/boutique/detail/bologna-wild-dark-side-armando-simoni-club

I just got a Visconti Wall Street LE. Beautiful pen overall, but the bands of the celluloid are highly irregular. Most are approximately horizontal, but some go off in entirely different directions. This photo shows one of these warped parts. Is this common, or have I been sold a defective pen? I am certainly surprised that a limited-edition pen would be sent to market with this sort of workmanship, but I can't say that I know much about the manufacture of celluloid barrels.

Hello fountain pen enthusiasts, Today I am writing my very first review. I am new and not well informed on the subject, I will probably make some mistakes. So, please excuse any error I can write. I am open to critics as long as they are not mean. Recently I was looking for several fountain pens in various colors to match with my mood. I already own a blue and I was looking for a red one to pair with the dark blue suit I have to wear sometimes. I am no a fortunate person, sadly I cannot afford the Parker I really like. I do not think buying a £400 or so pen is a good idea when I have million of things to buy first. Initially, I was lurking on Amazon, latter I took some days looking on Aliexpress. I started to have a growing interest toward the Picasso brand. I was conquered by the PS-915 with a red barrel and gold nib. Eventually, I found an appealing offer on eBay for the decent price of £26.31 (US$ 38.80), free delivery. I bough this baby and a Picasso Pimio 923 at the same time. It is amazing how easy it can be to buy the things you like on-line. A single click an your money is turned into smoke and impatience. Less than one month after I became the happy owner of two nice red pens. It did not last for long, when I have shown the Picasso Pimio to my best half I lost it in a heartbeat. Too bad, this poor pen was too appealing for here, and what woman wants is what woman gets. I have a mixed feeling, do I have so good tastes? Are they too girlie? Anyway, I was not prepared to that, it was a shock, to me the parker vector was a Royce Rolls. Now It makes me feel like the vector is a Lada. The box and its content: The pen came with a "Gift Box", I do not know if the other option was a blister. The pen traveled overseas, I am not sure if any other option than a box is an intelligent choice. My first impression was positive, the box looks clean and sturdy. A sticker inside contains a paint to scratch, I removed it, revealing a code. Its purpose is probably related to the after sale service, an authentication code to verify if it is a genuine product or a counterfeit one. I did not buy a lot of pens in my life but I bough a lot of high quality tools, the use of codes like that are generally, a good practice. The "shell" box protects its real content, a black box made of plastic and covered with a plastic/paper material, all sewed to the plastic. Even if it is not leather, this material is not easy to scratch, as long as you are not careless. Inside the box there is a white cotton like fabric, it seems to be a light felt. Along with the pen, an inspection card and a small general guide are enclosed, of course all instructions are written in an authentic Chinglish, nobody is perfect. The box: The pen and the nib: The pen is delivered with a converter, I did not use such thing until this year. I must admit, it is a real pleasure to chose which ink I use from the infinite colors and brand available on the market. You probably all know that, but I do not. To me, fountain pens were made for cartridges and quills for the inkwells. The nib is large (0.357 in, 9.7 mm), it is the largest nib I have seen in my life and I must confess that I love it. A dove with an olive branch is engraved on the surface, as well as the words Picasso and FRANCE. Is the nib made in France? If the pen refuses to write after 35 hours so the nib is French. I am still suspicious, even if it was clearly written "made in France" on it. Anyway, does it really matter? The nib is made of gold plated steel, this seems to be specific to the PS-915 with a red and gold barrel. The tip presents no problems, there is neither baby bottom nor misalignment, and the slit is perfectly parallel. The manufacturer says on its website that you can return the pen within three months to repair or adjust the nib and other parts. I cannot say if they have a god after sale service, but at least they seem to propose a solution to problems that occur within the first three months after purchase. If you have dealt with the Picasso after sale service, please fell free to complete this review with your own experience. The gold parts of the cap are pinker than the gold of the nib. I do not know if it came from the gold plating on a different material or if it is a brass covered with enamel. This is difficult to say without a destructive analysis. The barrel is made of celluloid, so the use of solvents must be avoided, even worst, this material is highly sensitive to fire/heat. The cap remains tightly clipped on the pen when closed. The only problem I observed is that the cap does not fit very well at the bottom of the barrel. Better use the pen without the cap. Either because it will fall from its bottom, or because it will be very hard to write when it is covering the nib. With a diameter of 13.3 mm (0.524 in), the barrel is thick but it is comfortable to use. The total length, with the cap on, is about 157 mm (5.7 in). Without the cap, from the tip of the nib to the bottom of the pen, the length is 129 mm (5.07 in). The pen: The nib: The writing experience: The first thing about the Picasso pens I like, is the ease of writing, the nib literally floats on the paper. The size highly depends on the paper used, in my case I find it slightly too thick, so I reserve it for the A4 paper size and bigger. The tip does not scratch the paper, this was predictable since the tip is well aligned, as shown on the pictures. The writing: This is the end of my review, you are free to judge by yourself what you think of this pen. In addition to the red and gold barrel presented on this review, the PS-915 is available with a green and silver barrel, and with a black/grey swirls and silver barrel. Note: This is the pen I bough. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Picasso-Fountain-Pens-915-Eurasian-Feelings-Rosy-Celluloid-Barrel-Luxurious-Gift/401163887600?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649 Note2: Pictures in the spoilers above are in low resolution 1000*750, the links in the spoiler below are linked to the high resolution pictures (2000*1500). List of links: ​ Geoffrey Hautecouverture

These are two of my 149's, the one on the top is a 1950's celluloid 149 with the words "Made in Germany" on the cap. The one below has a celluloid cap without the "Made in Germany" imprint. This one however has a later (Non-Celluloid) resin barrel. Although the caps look similar, the one on the top has the early curved clip. In addition, the cap of the early pen will fit the resin barrel, while the cap of the resin pen will not fit the celluloid barrel. I would appreciate some insight and feedback from my Montblanc friends out there. All the best! Jose Garcia PS: On the photo of the Montnblanc star the early cap is the one on the left, while the later celluloid is next to it. The cap on the extreme right is a later 1980's cap that I put there for comparison.

I am embarking on the journey of having a 149 refurbished, and I would like to share my story as it happens with all of you. Hopefully you will feel better about your good pen buying decisions and maybe even cheer on the successful rehab of an old pen. As they say, let’s begin at the beginning… Thanks to this forum and all the lovely vintage pen photos, I decided I want to get my hands on a silver rings, celluloid 149. The fool that I am, of course, I did not want to just pay the good folks at Penboard.de for a near mint condition pen. Instead one night, while paying for an eBay auction win on my phone (lovely Danitrio Genkai limited production pen), I looked at my saved searches and saw a just listed 149 silver rings with a seemingly reasonable price and a “best offer” option. I quickly looked at all the pictures and read the description pretty carefully. The pen looked “well loved” but was only used by one person since new. I would say it was heavily used, but I thought to myself that these pens are workhorses, and it could probably be brought back to life. Since I am a glutton for punishment and Christmas was coming, I put in what I thought was a fair offer and hoped it might be too low to get the pen. Now at this point in the story you should be asking yourself, “Who is foolish enough to buy a pen that will be hard to refurbish just looking at pictures on a mobile phone?” Apparently I am. After a little back and forth on the price, the seller and I came to an agreement and the deal was done. That night I was digging around on FPN and I found a thread where I think someone was discussing the pen I bought a few months ago. The consensus was that then pen was one to avoid. Unfortunately, I did not have the links or pictures to confirm one way or the other if this was the pen I just bought. I tried to convince myself the pen was going to be fine. Instead I just lay in bed wondering how big of a mistake I made. The next day at work I went to eBay and looked at the photos of my pen on my nice monitor. Oh (bleep)… the cap looked worse than I thought with discoloration around the star and the nib definitely was missing a tip. The gouges on the pen seemed deeper on my computer in the light of day. Now I wondered if the piston worked or I would have to add that to the list of reasons not to impulse buy a vintage pen. This disappointment was followed by another FPN search where I learned you cannot “refresh” the color of celluloid once it has changed. You certainly can buff the black off the body, but apparently not blacken the cap. Well, nothing to do now but wait for the pen. Thank goodness the seller was willing to accept returns. At least I had an out if needed. Christmas break came and I was on holiday for two weeks for the first time in 17 years. The pen was going to be delivered while I was away. In the mean time I contacted some of the usual suspects in the restoration game and asked some initial questions. As you can guess, responses were along the line of “it depends” when it came to refurb estimates. Some were optimistic of success, others probably more realistic with a bigger forecast cost. Still no certainty. Once I returned to the office there was a nice little stack of “me presents” I had purchased - mostly ink and the like. And there was THE BOX. Waiting for me to be disappointed or relieved. I decided to wait until afternoon to open it. No reason to be downtrodden at work if the pen was a mess. The time eventually came and I dove into the box to fetch the well packed pen. Once freed from the wrapping, I was struck by two feelings… “Boy that cap looks terrible” and “I like the way this pen fees in my hands.” You have read long enough. Here are some of the pictures of the pen as it arrived. Here was my quick inventory of the initial pluses: Masterpiece editionSki slope feed looked goodModel and nib markings on coneRings still pretty tight The bad news: Did you see the color of the cap? Yikes!Cap is a little too tight. Hello shrinkage.What is that inside the cap? A bad repair? A tropical disease?Don’t nibs need a tip?There seems to be some type of gouge brail on the section.

I do own some celluloid pens, a Parker Vacumatic pen and pencil set and a Montblanc from 1951. They’re nice, but I don’t really understand all the love for celluloid. As far as I know, celluloid was first used as a poor man’s replacement for ivory, but is still expensive and difficult to produce by modern standards. It tends to shrink, warp, and discolor with age, and it bursts into flames with relatively little provocation. I can see why it is rarely used today. It seems to me that acrylics, which can be beautifully colored and do not have those disadvantages, are altogether superior. Yet, celluloid seems to hold a special place in the hearts of fountain pen aficionados. Why? Why is Montblanc’s precious resin the object of criticism for being “just plastic” while celluloid is immune?

I recently purchased this pen from a person in Italy; she said it was a custom made celluloid pen (no brand) from the 2000's, but I was wondering if someone can recognize the nib manufacturer. The pen was made in Turin (Settimo Torinese, to be precise). Thanks for your help.