Please Help Me Identify This Mystery Pen

[sandy101]

I wom this pen on e-bay this week-end, and it is proving to be a nice wee writer. Unfortunately, the badge or jewell that may have been on the cap has been detatched and there are no markings on the pen to indicate where it is from.

 

It is resin/plastic or acryllic, there is an ink window, and it is a piston filler (which initally made me think of Pelikan). It is a push cap - and the section where the cap fits is crenelated. It also has a hooded nib, and all the images catalogues I've looked through do not show a Pelikan with a hooded nib - so it may not be a Pelikan. Another candidate may an Aurora 88, but I doubt it as the colours on the band don't match. The pen is a bit beat up - which indicates it was well used, so I'm thinking it's probably not the top of the range.

 

Does any one have any thoughts? (The ink is Diamine's Velvet Blue)

 

Edited April 11, 2016 by sandy101

[grainweevil]

I suspect it's another of these Italian school pens, albeit not quite so flashy.

[sandy101]

Yes, the number of dings and scratches suggests it is a well used school pen. It could be a scripto, or from that area.

 

The pen clip is almost identical to the one in Tryphon's picture.

 

I'm surprised it works as well as it does. I just inked when it arrived and it just works.

[grainweevil]

Yeah, they just do the job, don't they? It'd be interesting to know who was importing them into this country and (sometimes) rebadging them - someone must have been, because I now seem to have three, including one like yours, and it's not as though I've been pursuing them!

 

BTW, you've probably already discovered this, but if you want to access the plunger, for applying silicone grease f'rinstance, you can simply unscrew the hood, pull the nib and feed assembly, collar and all, and the plunger will push right through. The slightly fancier ones have the metal collar on the tail end which unscrews to allow removal of the plunger from the back, so that initially gave me pause for thought.

[sandy101]

No, I haven't tried to take it apart yet. The seller said they'd tested it, so I put a small amount of ink in to test it, so that you for the advice. It will come in handy. I would not be surprised if the seller was Boots, WHSmith or Woolworths.

 

I'm surprised at how insubstantial the nib is. I'm used to big solid nibs, and on this, the nib is so insubstantial it is almost like using a brush, than a nib.

[peterg]

Could be a high street retailer or even a Unique, they all sold these anonymous Italian pens to the school market around the early 1960's.

[grainweevil]

Unique? Really? Huh. Interesting. Thanks, Peter.