Were Silvexa 21 585/14C Nibs Plated?

[PDW]

Just received a Silvexa 21. The nib is marked 585 and 14C, implying to the ignorant like me that it should be solid gold, but the nib looks like a gold-plated nib from which some of the plate has worn leaving a steel-like finish. The nib looks to be original, and is otherwise perfect - no tarnish or scratches.

 

Did Pelikan mark any of their plated nibs like this, or can you speculate as to what could have happened?

 

[sargetalon]

Do you have a picture of the nib? I am not aware of any counterfit nibs on the Silvexa so if it is stamped as 14C gold, which is accurate for this model, I would likely accept it as such. I'm not sure if these nibs were ever plated at all but I didn't think that they were (anecdotally I've never seen what you describe after having looked at several silvexa nibs). Hopefully someone with more knowledge might chime in soon.

[whych]

They also made a white gold version of the nib. If you clean the nib -soak- it should either come up gold or a silver.

[Ernst Bitterman]

I've got a P488 of the same family which has the gold plated over with platinum/rhodium/something silvery. Perhaps you've got something like that from which almost all the plating has gone.

[whych]

I've got a P488 of the same family which has the gold plated over with platinum/rhodium/something silvery. Perhaps you've got something like that from which almost all the plating has gone.

It shouldn't be plated.

White gold uses different metals to the yellow gold to give it it's colour. If you scratch the back or a concealed part of the nib, you will see the colour goes right through.

[TorPelikan]

Original color of the nib surface is not yellow but white.

They have solid gold nibs plated with silver metal.

 

Go down this page, you'll find some M21 and P21.

 

 

So, steel like plating goes off and original gold appeared.

 

 

Tor

[PDW]

Original color of the nib surface is not yellow but white.

They have solid gold nibs plated with silver metal.

 

Go down this page, you'll find some M21 and P21.

 

 

So, steel like plating goes off and original gold appeared.

 

 

Tor

 

That makes sense - the underside of the nib, which would probably not get polished to extinction, is white metal, so an over-cleaned gold nib with a white metal plating could well end up like mine. In addition, the nib is more flex-ish and less nail-like than I'd expect from steel, which also supports your contention. Thanks.

 

Apologies for no photos - my attempts so far have all been dismal failures.

[Ernst Bitterman]

It shouldn't be plated.

White gold uses different metals to the yellow gold to give it it's colour. If you scratch the back or a concealed part of the nib, you will see the colour goes right through.

 

I thought I was seeing a little yellow on the edges the last time I had it out. I may, though, be conflating the Pelikan with my Waterman Carene. Thus we should not hang too much from the testimony of a single witless witness.

[whych]

 

I thought I was seeing a little yellow on the edges the last time I had it out. I may, though, be conflating the Pelikan with my Waterman Carene. Thus we should not hang too much from the testimony of a single witless witness.

Try this for a reference on the types and alloys of gold:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colored_gold

 

Many of the Type 2 Pelikano style nibs were gold plated and also used in the Silvexa range. With these, the gold plate comes off to leave the silver of the steel.

Could be that most of the plating has come off the steel nib, leaving bits of gold.

If the Pelikan nib is marked 14K/585 it IS gold.

Edited February 5, 2015 by whych

[DrDebG]

Wow! You are all a wealth of information! Thank you!

 

I recently discovered a few pens that were hidden away in a box that my father had purchased years ago. One of them was a P488 Silvexa. It has a wonderful 585/14C gold nib (gold and clearly stamped). It writes incredibly well. The other is a perfect M30 piston filler. I wasn't sure what it was but this thread and Ernst Bitterman's website helped me determine what it is. I suspected that it has a gold nib, but could find no markings. I was thrilled to find that the gold markings are hidden.

 

YooHoo! What a treasure! These are my very first Pelikans! I have gazed with wonder and awe at Pelikans for a long while but haven't been able to afford one. Little did I know that I would end up with my dads.

 

(excuse me I'm a little emotional right now)

[TorPelikan]

M30 piston fillers have gold nibs.

 

If your nib looks like this, it's a 14C gold nib.

 

 

 

 

I strongly recommend you not to pull out the nib to see the markings.

The front part of the section and the ebonite feed is fragile.

You can damage them and leakage may occur.

 

I love my M30 and Silvexas.

Hope you enjoy your Pels.

 

 

regards,

 

 

Tor

 

[dnic]

Hope this ressource helps, too: https://www.pelikan-collectibles.com/en/Pelikan/Nibs/Plug-in-nibs-since-1958/index.html