heirloom quality pens

[bushido]

for the last couple of years i've been buying pens i like, but unlike in the past, i refuse to buy a pen that won't outlast me. it's probably an odd view considering some modern pens won't make it beyond my lifetime and i should buy pens to be used (and i do) but i have this recent interest in passing them down to my children. any suggestions?

[tfwall]

Yard-o-Led sterling silver line.

 

Any Conway Stewart

 

Any Montblanc

[jar]

Any ST Dupont.

 

http://www.fototime.com/FB19E08F336F692/standard.jpg

[Parkermaniac]

I think that any Edison pen should become an heirloom. Those pens are really built to last.

 

-Nate

[Philosophy Student]

do pelikans count? Vintage or new?

[OrchidUnicorn]

Obviously Esterbrooks. They are already vintage. I love using my Dad's, it writes beautifully and I remember him each time I use it!

 

Lashelle

[Moppeh]

I think most well-made pens would, as long as you take care of them. I use my grandfather's sheaffer snorkel, and it seems to have held up just fine.

[bjornhansson]

I would suggest a nice urushi lacquer/maki-e pen!

[Glenn-SC]

It is not the original price of a pen that makes it an Heirloom.

 

It is who owned it, how it was cared for, and how it came into your possession.

 

Buy the pens you love and whomever you pass it on to will love it for that reason.

[bushido]

It is not the original price of a pen that makes it an Heirloom.

 

It is who owned it, how it was cared for, and how it came into your possession.

 

Buy the pens you love and whomever you pass it on to will love it for that reason.

 

i like this and agree.

[Shangas]

Yard-o-Led sterling silver line.

 

Any Conway Stewart

 

Any Montblanc

 

Clear, simple and correct. Five Stars.

 

I would also add to this list:

 

Parker, Sheaffer, Waterman, and vintage brands such as Wahl - Imagine getting something from papa that's not even made anymore?

[significantpass]

Anything with an urushi coating.

[Paddler]

I have some pens (and pen holders) that I consider heirlooms. They include my parents' pens: a couple of Sheaffer Snorkels, an Eversharp, and a Waterman Hundred Year pen.

 

There are also some dip pen holders in the collection that are just tapered, painted sticks with circular slits in the end for holding steel nibs. These nib holders, the "school pens" of their era, have been in the family from time out of mind - probably from the 19th Century. They were very inexpensive at the time and since then, most people have thrown them away. These are some of my oldest heirlooms - yes, heirlooms, because that is how I regard them. The "heirloom quality" has no relation to monetary value, workmanship, materials, or rarity. It has everything to do with who has owned the object, where it has been, and the times it has survived.

 

Paddler

[Mille]

The greatest challenge will probably to be able to make them care about your pens. Children is usually a very ungrateful kind species, and may just cash in on Ebay two weeks after your funeral.

 

Back on topic I am suspicious of modern pens as I am not sure they are built to last. Vintage pens should be more safe as they have proved worthy as they outlasted at least one owner. And, well, did not become a heirloom.

[angio]

I have a son who is two years old and a daughter who is due in May and I am already looking at my pen collection, figuring out which would be suitable school pens, which ones I'll send them off to university with and which ones I'll save for their kids. I started off quite light-hearted and very quickly became a deeply thought out plan.

[PianoMan14]

I think 'heirloom-quality' has more to do with how the pen is treated than how expensive it is (to a certain point, of course).

 

For example, you can throw a Mont Blanc into a cocktail and it will disappear, but if you take care of a Lamy 2000, it will last forever.

 

I would rather have a MB 146 than a Lamy 2k, though!

 

Edit: What was I thinking (dissapear?!)

Edited March 10, 2010 by PianoMan14

[bushido]

the irony is to best take care of a quality fountain pen, one must use it regularly. the purchases i have made lately are geared towards my children possibly ebaying them a week after my funeral, but then there is still a sliver of possibility one of them will grab a few and remember good ol' dad using them every day.

[Dace]

I think 'heirloom-quality' has more to do with how the pen is treated than how expensive it is (to a certain point, of course).

 

 

I couldn't agree more. Heirloom has nothing to do with price point. Zero zilch.

 

For all I know my pens will be sold as soon as I die or as soon my son dies. I try not to place to much importance in what I will pass on as much as I try to teach those around me the importance of embracing the past. Then they can learn to love something that I onced owned. It has nothing to do with dollar value. It's why I love my Opa's Geha, my great grandfathers pilots license and dress sword from WWI, and my great great grandfathers pocket watch.

[Mille]

I have a son who is two years old and a daughter who is due in May and I am already looking at my pen collection, figuring out which would be suitable school pens, which ones I'll send them off to university with and which ones I'll save for their kids. I started off quite light-hearted and very quickly became a deeply thought out plan.

 

- Daugher! Your forgot your pen yesterday!

- Dad! You are so painful! I cannot use that thing. I will be laughed at. Everyone is using pen or pencil.

 

- Son! Where is the Mabie Todd I gave you?

- Eh! I lost it dad. I am very sorry. Can I have the Vac instead.

- You did not sell it on Ebay again did you???!!

[amateriat]

It is not the original price of a pen that makes it an Heirloom.

 

It is who owned it, how it was cared for, and how it came into your possession.

 

Buy the pens you love and whomever you pass it on to will love it for that reason.

Bingo.

 

A pen that's been used a lot is a pen that was likely quite loved, and will have a story behind it (parts of which, at least, will likely be known).

 

Write letters. Write your musings. Hand-write a Letter to the Editor (or, if you're up to it, an op-ed). Memory imparts whatever "glow" an heirloom might possess, IMO.

 

 

- Barrett