Snorkel Desk Pens

[Ernst Bitterman]

I've been contemplating the sticker on the underside of my snorkel base, which gives three prices depending upon the pen it's got in it. The three pens are 121SKD, 74SKD, and 5SKD.

 

Using my thinking parts (it's been at least a week since last time, so I'm due), I reason thus:

 

121SKD = $20 therefore top-end 14k triumph style.

 

5SKD = $12.50 = same as Stratowriter or pencil therefore basic open 14k point as found on admiral

 

74SKD = $17.50 therefore... stumped. Either it's the masked open point as on a Saratoga/Sovereign or its a PdAg triumph as on the Statesman/Clipper. The catalogues I've got don't clarify the matter.

[Roger W.]

I've been contemplating the sticker on the underside of my snorkel base, which gives three prices depending upon the pen it's got in it. The three pens are 121SKD, 74SKD, and 5SKD.

 

Using my thinking parts (it's been at least a week since last time, so I'm due), I reason thus:

 

121SKD = $20 therefore top-end 14k triumph style.

 

5SKD = $12.50 = same as Stratowriter or pencil therefore basic open 14k point as found on admiral

 

74SKD = $17.50 therefore... stumped. Either it's the masked open point as on a Saratoga/Sovereign or its a PdAg triumph as on the Statesman/Clipper. The catalogues I've got don't clarify the matter.

 

Ernst;

 

121SKD - Triumph or "White Dot" nib - 1955 catalogue calls it "White Dot" and that is black with brown being B121SKD. Any code with B is brown but the base stickers don't denote this.

 

74SKD - Conventional No. 74 point (two toned)

 

5SKD - Conventional No. 5 point nib (single toned)

 

This is from the 1955 price sheet - brackets are my clarification

 

I'm not sure that silver palladium nibs were ever used for desk pens - not saying you wouldn't ever find any...

 

Roger W.

Edited September 24, 2011 by Roger W.

[Ernst Bitterman]

The very chap I'd pinned my hopes upon. Thanks a ton!

[gmark_wa]

Ernst;

 

121SKD - Triumph or "White Dot" nib - 1955 catalogue calls it "White Dot" and that is black with brown being B121SKD. Any code with B is brown but the base stickers don't denote this.

 

74SKD - Conventional No. 74 point (two toned)

 

5SKD - Conventional No. 5 point nib (single toned)

 

This is from the 1955 price sheet - brackets are my clarification

 

I'm not sure that silver palladium nibs were ever used for desk pens - not saying you wouldn't ever find any...

 

Roger W.

 

Hi Roger,

 

Have you ever seen an 74SKD in the wild? I have been keeping an eye on Ebay etc. for one, but so far the only place I can find a picture is on the Ravens March website.

 

Mark W.

[Roger W.]

 

Hi Roger,

 

Have you ever seen an 74SKD in the wild? I have been keeping an eye on Ebay etc. for one, but so far the only place I can find a picture is on the Ravens March website.

 

Mark W.

I'm sure if I looked hard enough I'd have one. They are a lot like the earlier pens - you can find a lot of 3-25's and a lot of lifetimes but the 5-30 is harder to get. Casually looking around the office I have 5SKD's and 121SKD's but, I don't see a 74SKD yet.

 

Roger W.

[gmark_wa]

I'm sure if I looked hard enough I'd have one. They are a lot like the earlier pens - you can find a lot of 3-25's and a lot of lifetimes but the 5-30 is harder to get. Casually looking around the office I have 5SKD's and 121SKD's but, I don't see a 74SKD yet.

 

Roger W.

So far, the only evidence I have found for the existence of the 74SKD is that it is listed on some Snorkel desk sets. It is not mentioned in the 1953 Sheaffer Catalog but does appear as an option on the stickers on the underside of some Desk Set bases.

 

Here's what I have found so far:

 

Desk Sets with the options of B121SKD White Dot Pen, or B74SKD Pen, or B5SKD Pen, Pencil or Stratowriter:

- Desk Set 2001 (some sets)

- Desk Set 2007 (some sets)

- Desk Set 2702

- Desk Set 2707

 

Desk Sets with the options of 121SKD White Dot Pen, or 74SKD Pen, or 5SKD Pen, Pencil or Ballpoint

- Desk Set 2205

- Desk Set 2505

 

Desk with the options of B121SKD White Dot Pen, or B5SKD Pen, Pencil or Ballpoint (but no 74SKD)

- Desk Set 2001 (some Sets)

- Desk Set 2007 (some sets)

- Desk Set 7705

 

Mark W

[gmark_wa]

Ernst;

...

 

I'm not sure that silver palladium nibs were ever used for desk pens - not saying you wouldn't ever find any...

 

Roger W.

I have a brown Snorkel Desk Pen with a Canadian Palladium Triumph nib and a gold snorkel tube on a US-inscribed, white dot barrel.

 

I thought it might have been a nib swap, but now there is a similar pen for sale on eBay - black desk Pen with US Palladium Triumph nib and gold snorkel on a US, white dot barrel.

 

Are these common, and would they be called a B121SKD and 121SKD respectively?

 

Mark W

 

PS. Still haven't seen a 74SKD up for sale anywhere.

Edited July 20, 2018 by gmark_wa

[Brian-McQueen]

Reviving this thread from the dead, because I know Mark and Ernst care for the answers.

 

I have found a reference in a 1955 price list and a 1962 repair manual that lists the 74SKD, so they must have been made.  I don't think they were very popular, though, since they were more expensive but didn't give the White Dot guarantee.

 

 

[gmark_wa]

Thanks for the post, Brian. I have been keeping an eye on eBay and have only seen a few posts that might have been 74SKDs. (I didn’t bid because of the exorbitant postage from the US to Australia). It certainly looks like they didn’t produce many; probably for the reason you suggested. 

[Brian-McQueen]

I don't really understand the price structure.  What was it about the 74SKD that made it $5 more expensive than the 5SKD?  The Saratoga and Admiral pocket pens were $11.95 and $10.00 respectively, and are basically the pocket equivalent of the 74SKD and 5SKD pens.  The only difference between these pairs of pens is the two-tone nib. In the pocket version it was only a $1.95 upgrade, but in the desk version it was a $5 upgrade.