Some Bayard Pens

[fountainpagan]

Here are some Bayard pens

Bayard, french brand, created in 1912 by Etienne Forbin, office supplies dealer, in Paris.

 

1922 he creates Panici Fréres with his nephews. The fountain pens are engraved PF, two nibs crossed on an oval.

 

1923 - Bayard creates: Spécial 8, Super Luxe, sets including a mechanical pencil.

1924 - Etienne Forbin dies. Panici brothers, move for bigger premisses to control all the steps needed for the making of a fountain pen. They hire mainly women, reputed to be more meticulous than men. Every fountain pen is hand tested.

 

1934 - The fountain pens are engraved of a big stylished B and Panici Fréres becames BAYARD

1947 - Commercialization of the 'Excelsior, interchangeable nib - furnished with the fountain pen. A succes.

 

1970 - Bic's arrival, ends Bayard, outmoded by the changing and the expense that would represent.

 

From left to right:

De gauche à droite:

Excelsior
Le Vue Claire
Le Spécial 8
Le Capofit
Le 4

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/901/r8GeVB.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/540/vEDtAN.jpg

EXCELSIOR

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/540/OLxUaK.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/905/tFH3fK.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/912/3yh6M0.jpg

Le Spécial 8

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/661/Ejfbmi.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/908/c323U2.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/673/IBpwCv.jpg

Le Vue Claire

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/673/JyimZj.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/674/3n6Pen.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/673/pXDUf1.jpg

Capofit's and Le 4's nibs

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/674/PIHL5i.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/661/qs0Gcj.jpg

Edited September 7, 2014 by fountainpagan

[Anirban4u]

Exquisite. Thanks for sharing.

[mallymal1]

Wonderful collection. Thank you for sharing.

[da vinci]

Beautiful pens, thanks for sharing. The detail on the nib of the special 8 is amazing

[ehemem]

Bayard pens are one of my favorite vintage european pens! Thank you for posting these.

[fountainpagan]

Thank you all.

They all write beautifully, and their nib is of utmost smothness.

[Polanova]

j'aime les stylos Bayard, trop

 

 

Left to right:

_Le Speciale Luxe

_Le Speciale 8

_Excelsior

_Excelsior

_Excelsior

_Le Superluxe

_Le Superstyl

_Le Special Lux

_Le 4

 

ca. 1946 - 1935

[inkstainedruth]

Nice. That Le Vue Claire in particular is pretty nifty looking.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[fountainpagan]

j'aime les stylos Bayard, trop

 

 

Left to right:

_Le Speciale Luxe

_Le Speciale 8

_Excelsior

_Excelsior

_Excelsior

_Le Superluxe

_Le Superstyl

_Le Special Lux

_Le 4

 

ca. 1946 - 1935

Where, where, where???

I want them all.

 

Thank you for sharing, they are magnificent.

[Polanova]

 

 

Thank you for sharing, they are magnificent.

 

As are yours, especially Le Vue Claire !

 

Unfortunately, the Bayard pens are notorious for deforming celluloid.

You can see them on ebay occasionally, often unused & still sitting in their original boxes, with their tops and ends shrunken - these are sad cases & probably only worth their nibs .

 

Btw, I`ve found them all on ebay; the most expensive one cost me less than a TWSB Mini, the Le 4 was 14 Euros incl. shipping!!

One of the reasons I can`t bring myself to buying new pens ...

Edited September 10, 2014 by Polanova

[fountainpagan]

I have a NOS Excelsior which has the cap a little deformed. The funny thing about it is that it is quite regular, hence looking as if on purpose. Like a ornement. It makes it quite unique.

 

Any how I use them all, theirr nibs are excellent, and their response immediate, even if you don't use them for weeks.

 

I love them.

[Polanova]

I also try to have at least one of them in circulation.

The nibs are usually fine semi-flex (the only one with a steel nib I have is the green Excelsior which is VERY flexible).

 

A couple of mine (like the green one) has a slight bulging around the lever, but it`s not so bad that it bothers me.

I`m still looking for a nice black one with silver trim .

 

Oh, and I don`t care so much for the post 1950 Bayard`s; at that point they begin to lose their distinction (for me at least).

 

PS: I buy pens to use them & never meant to collect, but I love these French 30ies & 40ies pens so much, that I now I have a small collection of Bayard`s (all of them in the picture)

& Stylomines (which I slightly prefer to the Bayards)

[fountainpagan]

I also try to have at least one of them in circulation.

 

I have allways 3 filled and ready.

The only gold nib I have is the Vue Claire.

I really like vintage steel nibs.

 

I`m still looking for a nice black one with silver trim .

 

I will be receiving one todai, or tomorrow

Bu I am allways looking for the coloured one, sauch as yours. Hard hard

 

 

Oh, and I don`t care so much for the post 1950 Bayard`s; at that point they begin to lose their distinction (for me at least).

I see what you mean. I don't fancy the Sovereigns and others.

 

 

PS: I buy pens to use them & never meant to collect, but I love these French 30ies & 40ies pens so much, that I now I have a small collection of Bayard`s (all of them in the picture)

 

Those are exactly my words. All I possess, for now, are in the picture.

I have the same attitude. I don't care about the value, as long as the pen "touches" me

 

& Stylomines (which I slightly prefer to the Bayards)

I have also several Stylomines (difficult to get), and one or two Mallat

I enjot Stylomine as much as Bayard. But I like the fact that Bayard is even more "confidencial" than Stylomine.

 

Edited September 11, 2014 by fountainpagan

[amk]

Three Bayards straight from sales, and quite a lot of work to do (including finding a clip for the 'tortoiseshell'). They're Excelsior, a cheaper range with steel nibs, but delightful celluloids - I particularly like the 'tortoise' with the light edges to the flakes giving it a quite crazily jazzed up appearance. Seems to be the same celluloid as the Speciale 8 above. The two candystripe ones turned up within a couple of weeks of each other.

 

By the way, is it just me or does the Vue Claire have a very Eversharp Doric vibe?

 

http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/t411/amk-fpn/bayards.jpg

[fountainbel]

Very nice pens, congratulations !

Francis

BTW, A friend of mine just achieved a Bayard "Le Super"

Looks the pen features a sort of "vacumatic" filler system, since there is a long breather tube in the feed.

The rubber element is however missing, does anybody has an idea how the filling system works?

Thanks in advance for your valued help !

francis

[fountainpagan]

Hello Francis,

 

Thank you for your compliments.

 

I have sent a message to Polanova.

As I said, I think Chris pen is the Superstyl but...

We shall see if Polanova can help.

[betweenthelens]

Fountainpagan, polanova and amk, beautiful Bayard collections you all have! Exquisite celluloids.

[fountainpagan]

amk,nice catch. Where do you get those? I find so difficult to find Bayard's...

 

Polanova's "breeding" beets us all.

[Polanova]

fountainpagan:

 

If you mean, Bayards are more difficult to find than Stylomines: Based on my 10 months-long observations on ebay, I`d say 50:50.

I hope your black one is in a nice condition

Apart from Bayards & Stylomines I only own a Méteóre with a divine broad stub nib.

I also had a tiny Matcher Colombes in blue cracked ice celluloid (trés magnifique!!), which I gave to a friend (I MUST make a photo of it !!)

… speaking of little known French brands!

 

I got most of the pens in february from a French seller who had a dozen on ebay, 1 week apart. At the time I was hoping to catch at least one.

To my surprise there was no serious bidding & I ended up with 5 pens (guess I`ve been lucky!)

 

It looks like we have a few things in common

 

betweenthelens:

 

You know that your posts on Bayard pens had a major influence on steering me towards those pens!

Maybe i should make a photo of one of my Bayards, lying on top of Mysterium Coniunctionis (did I get that right ?), sort of like a homage

 

amk:

I actually do have another Excelsior minus rings, clip & clip-cap - impossible to find ersatz, though.

I also find it impossible to tell the difference between the Excelsiors, Le 8, Le Superstyl & so forth ( Le Superluxe for example does have especially nice purple/red celluloid, is bigger than the others, also holds more ink but is curiously shorter uncapped than the Excelsiors!

 

As to the filling system of the Superstyl: Like all of my pens they`re lever fillers. I know that Bayard also produced Safeties, but during the 30ies and 40ies? I don`t know.

I did research the brand half a year ago & found one site which had more detailed informations. I`m very sorry that I did not find it again at short notice.

I also had a look at the French forum (using google transl., as my French is only rudimentary );

the French seem to prefer more teutonic brands, but someone there has a collection magnifique des Stylomines 303 (worth having a look!!)

 

Here`s another picture which I did a few months ago when I got my new camera (still new at FP photography - some of the nib`s tips are cut off), all lever-fillers (2nd from right: swapped nib with a Franklin-Christoph Cursive, as I didn`t need it on my Pocket 40 but wanted to use):

 

 

 

 

 

[Polanova]

Thank you all for the interest in a notoriously discriminated & much ignored FP brand

While I`m at it, a couple more: