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Showing results for tags 'thomas de la rue'.
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Pen Model ID Request - Onoto The Pen, Thomas de la Rue, Plunger Filler - likely early 1920's, ebonite, clipless
IHaveAPenProblem posted a topic in Great Britain & Ireland - Europe
Hello all! I've heard a lot about this place, and have finally been pushed to actually sign up. And the challenge I have is in trying to identify the model of a beautiful, but very well-used Onoto plunger fill, which I picked up cheaply off a market in its home town, when I was visiting a friend in the Big Smoke! The model number is poorly imprinted, and given the wear, it seems to change depending on what I have for breakfast. Online research, suggests this is a 5000 series/streamline version from the early 1920's - so a real antique. However, when I was looking to buy the parts to fix it up, the numbers don't match. The model ID from Custom Pen Parts (https://www.custompenparts.co.uk/gb/content/7-onoto-model-identification). On my pen, the diameter matches the medium slim, however, the barrel length matches the short. So I appear to have a 'medium slim short', which doesn't appear on the list! As it was, I managed to pick up another Onoto 5601, with a wrecked nib, which helped me with proper disassembly, and the internals were the same, so both pens take a 7.65 mm seal, though this one has a shorter rod. The imprint. From what I can see, the first digit has something that could be the end of the top part of a '2', and I suspect the second digit is a 3. The final two digits are either 0/6/8 - but that's dependent on the font. Honestly, I could be seeing scratches and dings, this pen has had a hard life, and I suspect the imprint was never good. Whatever the pen model is, it's far from my typical pens I like, but I've fallen for this hard. The nib is a beautiful smallish italic, with reasonable flex. I can't fault it, and I'm certainly sold on vintage Onoto's now! The ink is Diamine Ancient Copper, and don't worry about the nibless 5601 - I had a spare TDLR nib from a later pen, I was fixing up for a friend, which I found had a cracked nib. It was a special pen she was given by her dad, back in the 50's for her "plus 9's" exams, and she has so few things to remember her father with, she didn't want the nib swapped, so I sadly had to hand it back to her still not working, but did mount it in a frame for her to still enjoy. Yeah, so the 5601 is just waiting to be inked up.
