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I bought a little silver ringtop on eBay: a Tiffany pen with a William Hicks nib. It's not especially different from other pens of this type, just subtly xbetter, more carefully made. Except for one thing: it leaked. When I uncapped the pen, the section would be covered with ink. I wore it to the L. A. Pen Show anyway, because it's such a splendid writer. Mr. Minuskin had replaced the bulb on the reservoir (it's that old) so I asked him what he thought the problem might be. He observed that there were no holes in the cap. This means that a sufficiently strong vacuum is set up to pull ink out of the section. For some reason, possibly because the pen's so early that they didn't know the breather holes were necessary; possibly because they couldn't talk the client into having them. In any case, the solution to the problem would be a jeweler who won't laugh at me when I ask him to do something weird. Luckily, there's a guy in Sherman Oaks who's been rebuilding jewelry for my sister for years. Also luckily, I had two other silver pens to use as examples (one of which I left with him because the bottom end was cracked). The operation took moments, and it worked like a charm. So instead of feeling like I'd vandalized the pen (which you could argue) I've made it more useful. Lesson: they're made to be used, and it's more useful now. Update: it still leaks a bit, but I think that has to do with gripping the pen too closely to the section. It's dry when I uncap it. Still a fantastic writer.

I have an old Tiffany's Elsa Peretti fountain pen. It's a very thin lady's pen about 6 mm diam. with an asymmetrical teardrop at the end of the clip. Tiffany's hasn't sold these for a long time. I'm wondering if anyone has recommendations for a converter or suggestions for potential cartridges. The converter would be my first choice. Many thanks. Linda http://s3.amazonaws.com/bureau-of-trade/p/2012/12/03/charcoal-gray-enamel-fountain-pen-by-elsa-peretti-for-tiffany-co-640.jpg

My brothers sent me a lovely gift from Tiffany for my 60th but unfortunately I couldn't really use it. I returned the gift and received a gift card for the purchase price of $170.00. I'm not a big Tiffany fan but I'm sure someone out in Pentraceland could use the card. If someone is interested, I'll sell the card for $150.00 including the postage CONUS. You make $20 on the deal. Email me if you're interested.

Seeing as you fine people of FPN taught me pretty much everything I know about pens, handwriting, stationery, etc. - I'm hoping someone can help with a PENCIL question. In Feb 2012, I purchased some writing implements from the estate of Rowena Wright Willis - who it turned out, was John McCain's Aunt. The sale had an enormous quantity of obscenely fine items - from jewelry to furniture - so I managed to walk away with my small items for a pittance ($40ish). One of these items is the pencil in question, a Tiffany & Co. propelling pencil in silver and ivory. There are nearly no scratches to be found on the silver, and it is quite easy to see the wavy lines usually found in ivory. It takes a lead slightly larger than 1.1mm. I've exhausted every last ounce of my Google magic, of which there is generally a hearty supply, and come up with very little. I looked through the T&Co Blue Books (1894,1907) available online but did not find a matching description. Can anyone help? Dimensions: Total Length: 6 5/8" Silver Length: 2" Width at widest point: 1/4" Images Attached