Search the Community

I've wanted to try a gold nib in my Rose Gold 580 for a while. Not because there was anything wrong with the stock nib, but, well, just because. Each time I ended up with a nib from an unrecoverable vintage pen, I'd give it a try. Every one was the wrong size - too long, short, broad or narrow. When I ended up with this Skyline nib, it looked about right when compared side by side, so I pulled the nib and feed and it just slid in. I had to do a bit of heat setting to get the feed in contact with it, but it now writes very well. The feed doesn't supply enough ink to allow it to flex to its full extent without railroading, but it's smooth and very pleasant to write with. Mario

How to disassemble Eversharp Skyline cap? I searched the forum and found some old topics, but with the videos and links gone.

Well, I broke my own darn rule. I must admit that I was never attracted to the following sales pitch... "It is a Limited edition, serial numbered, cartoogliac bompass snootdorner golden eclipse Lancaster edition Bendix pen!" It seemed that some limited editions seemed to lose their meaning and value over time. So many times, special editions have a rather timely context to their labels. But.... I had wanted to get one of the 1990s Skylines for a while. They always seemed to bid up to a high price ($175 to $350ish), and I didn't want one that badly. The Bold nib on the 90s Skylines seemed to have more presence than the 1940s skylines, and the fact they are a Cartridge/Converter pen seemed like an interesting choice to revive a product line which was 50 years old in the 90s. So, flipping through E-Bay, I saw the "Walt Disney" Skyline pen listed with a "Buy It Now" price of $125. I would have gladly paid that price for a pristine unmolested 90s Skyline, but... Disney had been in promotional advertisements in the 1940s, he was known to use a Skyline. It was number 381 of 750, with original box, documentation, and certificate. It was freshly listed, so only about 6 people had seen the listing (6 people in the past hour according to E-Bay counters). It was a snap decision, but it was snagged. Enough chatter, the pictures:

I have wanted a Red Moiré Skyline for months. I ran a "Want to Buy" listing on this forum, which got over 270 reads but not a single nibble. Every time I saw one on Ebay, either the Celluloid was cracked, or it went for some princely sum. Finally, the stars and the moon lined up. It arrived today. I have a couple spectacular Skyline nibs; the pen will probably get a transplanted nib. If feels a bit strange to get a pen which someone else has already done some restoral work. I normally like the fun of doing a full restore, but beggars can't be choosers. I have pens that are far more exotic, but this pen has drawn my desire far beyond it's rarity. It is almost humorous how much I wanted this pen.

Here are a couple pictures of Skyline Gold Award pens side by side. The larger of the two is a "standard" (but it is an odd standard as it measures 5.5 inches capped). The smaller of the two is a demi, measuring in at 4 and 7/8ths (4.875) inches capped. The bigger of the two came with a nice fine (very) flex nib, the demi came with a more typical slight flex (almost miniscule flex) with a medium tip. It is worth noting that BOTH the body and the cap are longer on the standard Gold Award pens.

Hi, I got a beautiful Blue Moire Eversharp Skyline Standard. It came with a very stiff manifold nib in an ink-vue section. I hat stiff and love flex. So I have been looking at buying a replacement nib or another pen and then swapping nibs. But I have learned that the Standard Skyline came in at least two sizes. A smaller and a larger version. I have several of the skylines with the smaller nibs and they tend to have the eversharp imprinted on a curve with no other imprints. One of the smaller ones has the Eversharp at an angle. I have bought other skylines and individual nibs only to find they are the larger ones and will not work in this pen. Here is one thing I have not tried. Do the Demi size skylines have the same size as the smaller standard skylines? Also if anyone has a spare small nib or skyline laying around with some flex they they would be willing to sell, pls message me.

The one Eversharp Skyline that I own has a wonderful flexible nib. While I would not call it a "wet noodle," I would say that it is "flexible" and certainly not "semi-flexible." Earlier I posted a question regarding ink flow in the Skyline. In my opinion, the flow from this pen is quite wet. Originally I thought this might be due to the fact that the vent or breather tube was loose inside the sac. I have now removed the sac and repaired the fit of the vent tube. Now, with the new sac installed, the pen fills more completely but writes pretty much the same. It is a wet writer. Granted, a flexible nib needs a wet flow to prevent railroading but I wonder just how much. Generally speaking, the ink remains wet three to four lines above where I am writing. In other words dry time is in excess of 30 seconds easily. Following the repair, I used Waterman Serenity Blue which seemed quite wet. I flushed that out and am now trying my old standby, Parker Quink Permanent Black. The flow is a little more controlled but is still quite wet. I would appreciate knowing from others who have a flexible nib Skyline if their pens also have a very wet flow. Thanks, Cliff

Hi Forum Folke, Can anyone give me some instruction on how the cap on a Skyline comes apart? I have one with a semi-mangled clip (the "ball" at the end that lifts the clip over the pocket edge has somehow been flattened pretty badly.) I can't figure out how the thing comes apart so I can get the clip off of the cap and straighten out the bent metal; I need direct access from 'beneath' the clip... can't do it on the pen. Thanks for any direction! Pics would be good, but I can probably follow a good text description.

Hello Everyone! I noticed this last Christmas when watching It's a Wonderful Life -- in the scene where poor George Bailey has come hat-in-hand to Mr Potter to ask for a loan, it caught my eye that old Potter was using an Eversharp Skyline. Others have noticed this but I went the extra step of doing some screen captures to show it. It's unmistakeable, and funny enough the black-and-whiteness of it reminds me of one of my favorite old Sheaffer's ads. All I have to add is, say, that better be an Executive Skyline, what with all the money you have, Potter! Can anyone via the pics (or by going to the original source) actually identify the model and pattern? I fantasized that I saw longitudinal stripes on the cap, which looks plastic to me... so I guess there's a chance it could be an Executive, since that size only came with plastic caps...

Poor little Skyline. Looks like this fellow was dropped on his face at some "point" (sorry). Only shot of the nib in the small ebay photos was at an angle that showed no damage. http://i63.tinypic.com/10frsdf.jpg

I have three Eversharp pens, two Skylines and a Symphony. All of them were bought in working condition, indeed the Symphony was from a supposedly never used batch that Peyton Street Pens had a couple of years back. Because they were working when I got them, there has never been any reason to take them apart. I did note, however, that the Symphony, although a very nice writer, didn't hold much ink. I hadn't used it in a while for that reason, but filled it a couple of days ago, only to have it go dry again today after light use. I can't say how many pages I wrote with it, as I was alternating with other pens, but we're definitely talking single digits. So I took out the section to have a look at the sac. It's in evidently good condition, and quite long, but by squeezing it I discovered for myself what a lot of other people already knew, that there is a breather tube running practically the whole length of the sac, and presumably taking up a lot of room. On the other hand, my two Skylines, which I'll assume for now have the breather tubes, seem to have much better ink capacity than the Symphony. Searching on this forum, I found plenty of topics on these breather tubes, such as this one, just to give one example. I learn something new every day. I'd seen breather tubes before in Parker 51 aerometric fillers, but hadn't run into them in lever fillers before. This leads to a number of questions. Is the breather tube actually a necessary part in the Eversharps? Will they work without it?Will they work with a shorter breather tube?Is it likely that the reason for the low ink capacity in my Symphony is the breather tube, or could there be other issues?Did all Eversharp models use these breather tubes?Are there other brands of vintage lever filler that used (and need) breather tubes? No hurry. I'm cleaning out the Symphony and putting it aside anyway, as there is another pen I want to use. I notice, though, that there seems to be another feature of this tube. It takes a lot more flushes to get a reasonable amount of the ink out of the pen.

Hello, I must admit my ignorance as I purchased recently a Wahl Eversharp Skyline with chocolate derby and body off the Ebay. I discovered that the barrel was cracked and the nib section was glued in. I tried warm water to loosen the glue but with no luck. I paid like 7 dollars for the whole pen and that should have told me something. The pen has perfectly alright feed, breather tube, perfectly alright cap and an excellent smooth Wahl Eversharp nib. I was wondering if any one on the FPN can guide me if there is a website where I can purchase barrel and the nib section without a nib and feed. I will appreciate your help in these matters. Thank you and Happy Holidays. Or Should I just send it to get it repaired/ restored? I love its nib.

I've started a collection of Skyline Executive Size pen and pencil sets. So far I have: Brown body with brown and tan striped cap (pen and pencil) Maroon body with brown and red striped cap (pen and pencil) Blue body with blue and green striped cap (pen and pencil) Solid black (pen only) I know I'm missing the black pencil (executive size). I've heard there is a black and grey striped version, but have not seen one. Am I missing any? (I'd include a picture but I left my phone at work.)

Hello, I am trying to find out if anyone happens to know if I can buy a following type of cap for the Skyline that I want to make as my first restoring project. I have never restored any pens in my life but I want to try now following the tutorial that has been posted on this forum. Can these dings be removed or it is better to buy the cap separately? Thank you for your advice.

Midnight shifts are dangerous times when the work is done and the internet beckons. Slumming around Ebay at around 3am a week ago i blearily stumbled my way into the vintage fountain pens. Unsurprisingly there were some very nicely cleaned up and repaired Skylines waiting for a new home. Sadly the one i set my sites on sold with a stratospheric price. And then i found this beauty. Snagged it for a song compared to the other Silver/Grey modern stripe i had been oggling earlier in the week. It is absolutely gorgeous! Not a crack, dent, ding, or major scratch on it. As you can see, a modern strip Skyline, normal 5 1/4" length with a maniforld(non-flex) nib. In the hand, it is very light light pen. I do not have a scale to weigh it, but by hand, the Skyline weighs less than my Lamy Safari. The nib is buttery smooth with a hint of feed back. Right now it is writing with a fairly wet medium line. For the moment, Noodler's Squeteague is the ink of choice to help get the last residue of whatever ungodly blue was in it when it arrived. I cleaned it well(or so i thought) when i woke up this morning. But the Habanero i loaded into the pen started out as brownish and eventually turned to a brackish green blue. Much more cleaning later and the Squeteague is holding steady color-wise. On the left is a modern Skyline, middle a normal sized flex and then the newbie. Flex on the right, manifold left, modern middle. I wasn't expecting the Manifold nib to have quite that much of a different shape compared to the flex until i had them side by side. The manifold is narrower, and has a much more pronounced curve to the nib where the Flex is wider with a more gentle curve to the nib. Lastly some size references between themselves and some common pens. There really isn't too much I can add about the Wahl Eversharp Skylines that hasn't already been written. They are very good looking pens, they write extremely well, and there are plenty of them. I love it, and in a week or two i should have a semi flex Skyline in my hands to compare to the flex and manifold Skylines!

I bought a Skyline recently...not my usual thing, but they're so pretty, but the nib was a nail. I've been searching somewhat obsessively for a flexible nib to replace the one in the pen, and I've discovered that the rather breezy assurances that "Oh, yeah, there's all kinds of flex nibs in Skylines" is somewhat overdone. Anyone know the real score?

There is a Skyline set on ebay. It is listed as being 5 5/8 inches and an Executive size. It is boxed and stickered. http://www.ebay.com/itm/A-Vintage-New-Old-Stock-Eversharp-Executive-Skyline-Fountain-Pen-and-Pencil-set-/272223013481?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276 I have watched Skylines for a few years and own many Skylines, including 3 Executives. I have not seen a gold filled cap Executive before, and in general, Executive size Skylines have teardrop nibs in the time I have been a pen nut, Then again, I have not been at this for that many years, so I am sure there is a lot I have not seen. So, 1. Are there executive sized skylines with gold filled caps? (or is there something odd about this pen?) 2. Are all Executive sized nibs the teardrop type? Or can there be other imprints on Executive nibs?

I found a cheap Everysharp Skyline on ebay and decided to bite. I knew it would take some work, but I'm a DIYer, and it sounded like a fun project. The pen's section contains the nib, feed, and a breather tube. They're all held in very tightly, and there's really no way to pull the unit out. This calls for something called a knockout tube. Basically, this is a metal tube that wraps around the breather tube, but pressed into the back of the feed. Whack this bad boy a few times with a hammer, and out pops the nib/feed/breather combo. Being the n00b I am, I did not have such a device. I did, however, have a silly straw and a socket wrench set. I'll let the pictures explain. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Be careful though! Tom

This just sold on that auction site. EoC did have a bid on it because it was kind of weird, but was not prepared to gamble too much. Anyway, there is the matter of the striking resemblance to the Eversharp Skyline. EoC can find nothing about this Reform model, and so here it is for the big boys to look over. Just what is this thing?

Hello, I'm restoring a standard-sized Skyline (silver moire color) and need a black derby to complete the cap. Does anybody have one to sell me? (To be clear: I don't need the whole cap, just the mushroom-shaped plastic derby portion of the cap. It needs to be black.) Thanks! Richard

Hi folks, I'm trying to restore a green moire Eversharp Skyline pen. The problem is that the cap doesn't screw securely onto the barrel. I've tried screwing the cap on to several other Skyline barrel-section assemblies, and it screws on fine. I've also tried screwing the cap onto its own barrel without the section and it screws on fine. It only doesn't screw on fine to this particular barrel with a section installed. So, I believe I need to take apart the cap and shorten the length of inner cap. Ordinarily, Skyline caps are dead-simple to take apart. This one, however, is proving a Right Little (bleep). I've tried unscrewing it as I do normally with Skylines. Failed. I soaked it in an ammonia-water ultrasound bath. Failed. I've heated it with my heat gun. Failed. I've tried ultrasounding it in the bath for ten minutes and then heat-gunning it, and failed. I'd be grateful for any suggestions. Other than the cap not screwing on, it's a lovely pen. Thanks, Richard

Maybe I just haven’t been paying close enough attention to the pen world, but the resurrection of the Wahl-Eversharp pen company slipped right past me. For those of you who haven’t delved into vintage pens or their history, a brief explanation may help. During the Golden Age of fountain pens, the “Big Four” American pen companies were dominant: Conklin, Waterman, Sheaffer, Parker and Wahl-Eversharp. Some of you may think my math is funny, but Conklin went into decline at roughly the same time Wahl-Eversharp was rising to prominence, so there were only four major companies at any given time. Wahl-Eversharp were best known for luxurious Gold Seal pens, the Equipoise, the faceted Doric and the art deco Skyline. All fountain pen makers were devastated by the sudden onslaught of ballpoints, and all of the Big Four changed hands in various ways. Waterman, Sheaffer and Parker never went away completely. The Conklin brand was revived a few years ago and is now owned (along with Monteverde) by Yafa. That left Wahl-Eversharp as the only “Big Four” brand that you couldn’t buy a brand new example of. Well... Now they’re back! Right now the revived Skyline is it, though they’re said to have a new Doric in the works. I’ve had a few Wahl-Eversharps in my collection and liked them, but I never had a Skyline. Although the design has garnered a lot of praise and is considered iconic by many, it always looked awkward and strangely proportioned to me. The pen body is sleek and streamlined, while the cap is big and clumsy. They don’t seem to go together. When I saw the new Skyline Technic, I had to reconsider my feelings. The pen body and the cap are machined from billet aluminum. The solid gray pen seemed understated, taming the excesses of the design and unifying the pen and cap. When I learned that these have a “revolutionary”, ceramic-coated, semi-flex, steel nib and a matching computer-designed feed, I was sold. http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/pens/wahl_skyline_technic/skyline_technic_box.jpg Unboxing the pen, I was first confronted with a large, glossy, black, presentation box with metal hinges and a sort of fluffy, fleecy, white lining. The pen itself was sealed into a clear plastic capsule. I was unimpressed with this packaging. The big box is attractive when displaying the pen in a boutique or for gift-giving, but once you’ve got the pen it becomes nothing but a bulky piece of junk to store. These types of boxes are all too common, and I find myself wishing pen companies would go back to the good old days of small presentation boxes that were also practical storage cases. (For a modern example I might point to the Levenger True Writer.) http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/pens/wahl_skyline_technic/skyline_technic_box_closeup.jpg I also noted that the box has some cosmetic defects. This is what I call a “piano box” since the lacquered wood and metal hinges are reminiscent of piano construction. This one has some dings near the front-left corner, rough finish at the opposite corner, and slightly rounded-off edges near the corners of the lid closure. As well, the glossy black finish isn’t entirely smooth. Frankly, I have seen cheap Sheaffers sold in piano boxes that were more nicely done than this one. http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/pens/wahl_skyline_technic/skyline_technic_capped.jpg After breaking the pen out of its carbonite prison, my first impression was very positive. The fit-and-finish on this pen are outstanding, as one would hope for in a pen of this price category. I give the new Wahl-Eversharp company praise for recreating the Skyline accurately, with the original’s size, shape, and even parts that are said to interchange with the original. Other classic pens that have been brought back from the past bore only loose, superficial resemblance to their vintage counterparts. (I’m looking at you, Sheaffer Balance!) http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/pens/wahl_skyline_technic/skyline_technic_uncapped.jpg The choice of C/C filling is not exciting, but it makes sense. It brings Skyline into the modern era, and it also solves the problem of the posted cap tending to scratch up the filling lever. In this case the supplied converter (already installed in the pen) is a screw-in type of high quality. It’s secure, it doesn’t leak, doesn’t wobble or rattle, and is about as good as converters get. The slender pen body is a thin and form-fitted shell that just barely contains the converter; there is no wasted space. This is different from the plastic-bodied Skylines, which make you access the cartridge or converter from the rear of the pen using a blind cap. That seems awkward, and I’m glad the metal Technic manages to avoid it. As metal pens go, it’s lightweight. It’s slightly lighter weight than my sterling silver Sheaffer Targa, but slightly heavier than several of my all-plastic pens (Bexleys, Edisons, etc.). Plastic threads inside the cap make posting safe; it's not going to scratch up the pen's body. It posts quite well, deeply and securely, and the balance when posted is very good. I do not usually post my pens, but this is one that actually feels more comfortable to me when posted. I really do find the pen's size, weight and balance pleasing. The Skyline Technic is available in black, in blue, and in natural aluminum colors. The natural aluminum that I got is not exactly what it sounds like, since it has a gray anodized (I presume) finish that doesn’t look like bare aluminum metal at all. It’s much darker, it’s more of a semi-gloss texture, and I find it handsome in a sort of subdued and rugged way. It should prove to be quite tough and scratch-resistant. When I turn the pen in my hand, I can see very slight shading differences around the pen, but this is not noticeable when not looking for it. The semi-flex nib was the one element that I was most eager to test, and which I was most uncertain about. The impressions from reviewers online varied widely, so the only way to get the real story was by writing with it myself. The nib is on the smaller side (No. 5) making it nicely proportional to the pen. (I find that No. 5 nibs are often more comfortable for me than the big No. 6 nibs, as I can get my fingers closer to the page and hold the pen at a more natural angle.) The ceramic finish on mine was a dark, glossy black, whereas the Wahl-Eversharp website had indicated this pen would come with a titanium gray nib. The immediate good news is that it’s quite a smooth writer. There was just a bit of very finely-grained “feedback” letting me know what kind of paper I was writing on. The flow was also very nicely adjusted as it came to me: wet but not gushing. Tip size is an issue for me. These nibs are supposed to be “fine to medium” size, but the one I got looks and feels like a full flabby M. My personal preference is for F and EF nibs, so this was not really my thing. Worse, it’s not a good choice for showing off what a “semi-flex” nib can do. Flex expression is more pronounced with finer nibs. The advertised “semi-flex” quality of this nib is something I’m not really finding. It’s firm. It’s not a manifold type nail, but it’s firm. You can make it flex quite a bit if you push it. If you write with a ballpoint-trained Gorilla Hand, then it will produce bold text, but writing in the normal way of fountain pens won’t really give you anything. I doubt whether I would have even advertised this as a semi-flex. My Sheaffer Targa is more expressive, and Sheaffer have hardly been known for nib flexibility. Worse, I also had some instances of hard starting, where the pen skips on the first stroke as it touches the paper. It didn’t happen too often, but it shouldn’t happen at all. I have too many other pens in my collection that never do this. Thus, I contacted Wahl-Eversharp. I got a swift response promising a replacement nib — indeed, a replacement nib-feed-section assembly. Also, I was told a small run of “natural aluminum” Technics came with the black nib, but they are now shipping a much lighter colored nib, called “light titanium” finish. I opted for one of these as the replacement, and I found it actually looks much like normal polished steel. http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/pens/wahl_skyline_technic/skyline_technic_nib.jpg The hand-written note that came with the replacement nib said, “I hope this works better for you — it was good to my hand.” That seems to be saying it was tested before being sent to me. I had to question that assumption, though, as soon as I had it inked up and touched paper. It’s a gusher! It’s a fire hose! Am I really expected to write with this? Ink flow on the first nib was perfect, so why is this one a fire hose? At least this proved the computer-designed feed can deliver a lot of ink throughput! Now feeling rather frustrated, I pulled one of my driest inks out of the closet: Montblanc Jonathan Swift Seaweed Green. This tamed the fire hose down to a wet-but-usable level (at least on my denser paper, such as a Rhodia pad) with lots of shading. This is still not the style of writing that I usually go for, but it’s acceptable, and some people might like it. Also, the replacement nib doesn’t skip as much as the first one. It still does once in a while, but it’s infrequent enough to not be much of a bother now. Since I received the replacement nib, feed and section assembly and was never asked the return the original, I now find myself with spare parts to play around with. I began trying to fit some other #5 sized nibs into the original feed and section to see how they perform. A nib from a TWSBI 530 fit with no problem, and so did a FPR (Fountain Pen Revolution) flex nib from India. In both instances they became quite wet when fully seated. It seems as though the feed and its housing are applying pressure to the nib in a way that causes its tines to spread slightly, so that every nib installed becomes wetter than it was before. http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/pens/wahl_skyline_technic/skyline_FPR_flex.jpg The FPR nib is most interesting, as its dull steel color closely matches that of the pen body, it writes smoothly, its fine point better suits my preference, and it also has a wee bit of flex. FPR currently have these listed for $7 each, or 3 for $15. However, the FPR nib also has an occasional hard-start. That makes it the third nib in a row with this problem, to some extent, and I’m beginning to think the feed is the actual source of the problem. Forcing the tines apart may not only make the nibs write wet, but it may also contribute to the hard starts. Even though I eventually got mine writing somewhat acceptably, I’ve got to say the Wahl-Eversharp nib was a big disappointment. The “revolutionary” semi-flex nib doesn’t flex in a way that I find particularly useful, and it’s flabby, and I’m restricted to dry inks and premium paper. I was told I could get a Fine nib (or, I assume, perhaps even EF) custom ground for an additional $50. Hmm... An additional $50 to get a fine nib on an already quite expensive pen? You know, I can buy a TWSBI with my choice of EF, F, M, B, 1.1mm ST or 1.5mm ST nibs. Why does this much more costly Wahl-Eversharp only come with M? Well, the TWSBI nibs are generally good writers, but quite firm; they won’t flex at all. The Wahl-Eversharp nib can be made to flex if you Gorilla Hand it. Surely that is worth something? Then I compare with the steel nib in my Baoer 388, a Chinese pen with a list price of $15. (I actually got mine on sale for $5!) Then I compare with the FPR nibs from India. These aren’t like vintage flex either, but they can actually flex a little bit when writing normally — more than I’m really seeing from the Skyline nib. http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/pens/wahl_skyline_technic/targa_skyline_baoer.jpg That brings us to the larger question of value. This pen sells right about the $280 mark. That’s for a non-limited-edition C/C filling pen made from aluminum and steel, not silver and gold. I could buy two nice Bexleys with steel nibs for that much, or probably four Monteverdes. Actually my sterling silver Sheaffer Targa with a 14K gold nib cost me only $200, and it writes much nicer. I’m not saying the Skyline is a rip-off, or that anyone who buys it is a chump. However... You probably need some sort of attachment to Wahl-Eversharp, to the style of the vintage Skyline, and you need to appreciate the aluminum construction and the superb fit and finish. If those don’t push your buttons, there’s not much logic in choosing this. The nib is particularly disappointing. This is the highest-priced pen I can recall seeing sold with a steel nib. Then factor in the minor-but-persistent hard-start problem, the lack of options for tip size, the poor flow adjustment of the second example, and the minimal degree of flex. Although this steel nib is perhaps as good as a typical modern gold nib, it doesn’t offer any improvement over gold, and it doesn’t cost any less than gold, so what’s the point? Harsh though it may sound, I hope this review comes across as constructive criticism. I’m thinking back to the first pens from the revived Conklin, a few years ago, and how they were actually rather crude in some ways. They’ve improved greatly since then, and I hope Wahl-Eversharp will go through a similar learning curve and product improvement. One sign of optimism is that the parts of the package actually made in-house by Wahl-Eversharp (namely, the pen body and cap) are so excellent. It's only the outsourced (I assume) bits that let me down, so I'm sure that can be solved.

I saw the new Skylines and the 100 year pens, wow They are very nice pens. I was quite impressed.

I laid my hands on a new pen sold by Gem and Co in Madras. The pen appears to be a homage to the legendary Skyline pen. The Skyline was a popular pen in India with several clones already made by Indian pen companies like Wilson etc, some of which are documented here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/146528-indian-celluloid-pens-with-a-theme/ The pen is petite. Closed: 133mm Open: 122 with nib Posted: 153mm Section dia: 9mm tapers down to 8mm and flares up to 9mm again at the base of nib Barrel dia: 11mm steps down to 10mm for cap Cap dia: 13mm The pen is very nice to look at and gracefully shaped like the original, but is offered in Ebonite in 4 colors, I bought a set of these pens, one in each color. http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSkyline/IMG_0044.jpg http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSkyline/IMG_0043.jpg The clip is spring loaded with a lever at the top which can be depressed to open the clip up. The clip is good, but I found the tension a bit floppy. It is easy to re-tension the clip by unscrewing the cap top finial and bending the washer towards the clip. http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSkyline/IMG_0046.jpg The Stock pen: The stock pen comes with friction fitted yellow steel nib marked Gama, 5 year point and an extra long ebonite feeder. http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSkyline/IMG_0047.jpg http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSkyline/IMG_0054.jpg I am not a very big fan of the stock nib, it is an acceptable nib, but requires some tuning to get it to write the way I like(YMMV), so I decided to fit in a Schmidt nib unit instead. My first attempt, with the black pen, was a disaster . There is very little space. The wall thicknesses come out to 0.25mm in some places. http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSkyline/IMG_0055.jpg I did not give up and decided to proceed with extreme caution the next time, i decided to hack the green one. Success! http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSkyline/IMG_0048.jpg http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSkyline/IMG_0049.jpg http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSkyline/IMG_0050.jpg http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSkyline/IMG_0051.jpg http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSkyline/IMG_0052.jpg http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSkyline/IMG_0053.jpg Stock Vs Modified: http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSkyline/IMG_0056.jpg http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSkyline/IMG_0057.jpg There is not enough space in the section as well as the barrel to accept a converter. I am using the modified pen in ED mode with Pelikan black ink. It is my sole pen at work today. Gem have priced this pen very attractively (I purchased from owner of asapens). In my view, it represents a very good value for money, beautiful ebonite pen, despite some shortcomings like a slightly less springy pocket clip and the lack of an inner cap (whether it has any detriment on performance remains to be seen, I have only just begun to use the pen). Cheers! Hari

Last weekend I happened to find a small vintage pen store. On offer was this Eversharp Skyline, for about $90. I was playing with it until I started wondering whether it's as considered flexible or not? Also, is the price I paid fairly worth it? I've been told that the cap is a little more unusual.