Differences Between Imperial Ii Deluxe And Imperial Iii

[Vargouille]

Hey. I am finding myself in a bit of a pickle. You see, I am seriously considering buying a Sheaffer Imperial III in burgundy with a fine nib from terim on eBay. The only problem I am finding is that the III's have a one-tone nib which looks similar to the ones on the Imperial II Deluxe that he has. My question is this: How can I tell the difference between an Imperial II Deluxe with an incorrect cap and a Imperial III with the wrong nib? Also, if it is the Imperial III with the wrong nib, how do I change the nib?

 

Any help will be more than appreciated!

[Hugh200au]

The Imperial III should have a two tone nib. Of course I'm assuming the earlier touchdown models as opposed to the latter cartridge ones. There is one thing you can be certain on is that Terim knows what she's talking about so what you buy will be correct.

 

regards

Hugh

[MLKirk]

I'll second that, Hugh. From one satisfied customer.

[Vargouille]

Alright, she's trustworthy, but just humor me for a second. Let's say I were to get it from a far less honest source. How could I tell the difference between the Imperial II Deluxe with an incorrect cap and a Imperial III with the wrong nib? And, if it is the Imperial III, how could I change the nib from the one-tone to a proper two-tone?

[jar]

You don't change the nib, you change the whole section. Inlaid nibs are not what I would consider as a user serviceable item.

[terim]

Let me jump in and add a few comments.

 

Regarding the Imperial IIIs I am selling, the fact that they are all steel with no two tone or gold masking is indeed a mystery. My research too indicates the Imperial III should have a two tone nib, so I really can't explain the nib. I did however get close to 100 pens that were all like this nib-wise. It's been my best guess to call them Imperial IIIs, since I can't find another model that is even close. Without disclosing my source, I can tell you that my pens came from an old pen shop in a foreign land, so it could be that Sheaffer distributed a slightly different pen in the foreign market. If my disclosure in the listing seems inadequate or incomplete, let me know and I'll beef it up.

 

As a little experiment, I just tried to swap a III section with an Imperial II Del section -- they are indeed interchangeable. I don't do these swaps unless requested to do so by a customer. It gets complicated when the nib is marked via a chalk mark on the body (the III), versus when it is marked by a sticker on the cap (most of my Imp 2 Deluxes).

 

FYI -- this is a triumph nib, the short version.

 

TERI

[Vargouille]

Really? What foreign land? I would like to know, like the name of the country. If you have a problem with this, I don't see why you would, but, I would probably still buy it none the less. I'll be purchasing it soon!

 

Edit: Now that you know it is a triumph nib, does that change anything?

Edited August 10, 2010 by Vargouille

[Hugh200au]

Alright, she's trustworthy, but just humor me for a second. Let's say I were to get it from a far less honest source. How could I tell the difference between the Imperial II Deluxe with an incorrect cap and a Imperial III with the wrong nib? And, if it is the Imperial III, how could I change the nib from the one-tone to a proper two-tone?

 

You can't.

 

Regards

Hugh

[Vargouille]

Alright, she's trustworthy, but just humor me for a second. Let's say I were to get it from a far less honest source. How could I tell the difference between the Imperial II Deluxe with an incorrect cap and a Imperial III with the wrong nib? And, if it is the Imperial III, how could I change the nib from the one-tone to a proper two-tone?

 

You can't.

 

Regards

Hugh

 

Care to elaborate on that?

 

On a related note, does anyone how the fine nib on the Sheaffer compares to that of a Lamy Fine on the Safari? I an looking for something about half as wide for it. Is that closer to a Fine or an Extra Fine?

 

EDIT: I assume that there must be no real way to determine the difference between the incorrect pens stated above. is this true?

Edited August 12, 2010 by Vargouille

[Hugh200au]

Alright, she's trustworthy, but just humor me for a second. Let's say I were to get it from a far less honest source. How could I tell the difference between the Imperial II Deluxe with an incorrect cap and a Imperial III with the wrong nib? And, if it is the Imperial III, how could I change the nib from the one-tone to a proper two-tone?

 

You can't.

 

Regards

Hugh

EDIT: I assume that there must be no real way to determine the difference between the incorrect pens stated above. is this true?

 

That's correct. They are the same basic pen, just one with a metal cap and one with a 2-tone nib ( and it's the same basic nib on both as well). For what it's worth I find the metal capped pens feel better to use as the extra weight in the cap when posted seems to balance them better.

 

Regards

Hugh

[terim]

In general these NOS Sheaffer nibs are finer than their modern equivalent, both on Sheaffers as well as European pens. And these short triumph nibs are pretty stiff, making it even finer.

 

I prefer the plastic + gold looks of the Imperial III (or the Sheaffer 550) over the metal capped Imp II Deluxes, but then I never post the cap so the balance doesn't matter to me.

 

Honestly, I don't think there is a way to tell the different between a sneaky cap-swap -- i.e. someone putting a III cap on a II Del body. My only assurance that I was dealing with something that came this way from Sheaffer was the fact that I bought a large volume of these, all with the one-tone nib.

 

TERI

[jniforat]

+1 for terim

[Vargouille]

Just bought it from Teri, and considering it's coming from Santa Cruz, it should be here soon, down here in San Diego.