Jump to content

Need Help Deciding Which Vintage Sheaffer Imperial To Buy!


kittywonghf

Recommended Posts

Hi guys, I need a little help with choosing which vintage Sheaffer Imperial to buy!

 

Recently I've been looking on eBay and am quite intrigued by the vintage Sheaffer pens with the inlaid nibs, they're absolutely gorgeous! Anyway, I've spotted three good deals and am having trouble deciding which is more worth it. I would like to hear your opinions!

 

1) Sheaffer Imperial 330 NOS, Black, Fine steel nib. £59 (Also comes with ballpoint pen)

  • The price is attractive to me especially as there is both a fountain pen and ballpoint included, and they are both new old stock.
  • However I have been told the weight of the pen is not ideal as it is cheap (?) plastic, can anyone weigh in on this?
  • Comes with converter.

 

2) Sheaffer Imperial 444 Flighter, Chrome, Fine steel nib. £70

  • The price is higher for this one and I'm not sure if it's worth it, but the metal body does look good and it should weight better.
  • Converter is not included.
  • The description says the pen is "unused" and there is still a sticker on the barrel, but there is no box, and also an "imperfection" on the barrel.
  • In working condition.

 

3) Sheaffer Imperial Touchdown VI (I believe), Gray, Fine 14k nib. £? (Auction, I'm aiming for lower than £50)

  • 14k gold nib is a steal if I can win at a low bid.
  • Filling mechanism is interesting, can anyone vouch for how good / bad it is?
  • Used. Has a few scratches that are not very noticeable but there none-the-less.
  • In working condition.

 

So those are the three I'm looking at, can anyone give any advice? Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 7
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • kittywonghf

    2

  • mitto

    1

  • catbert

    1

  • the_gasman

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

Hi guys, I need a little help with choosing which vintage Sheaffer Imperial to buy!

 

Recently I've been looking on eBay and am quite intrigued by the vintage Sheaffer pens with the inlaid nibs, they're absolutely gorgeous! Anyway, I've spotted three good deals and am having trouble deciding which is more worth it. I would like to hear your opinions!

 

1) Sheaffer Imperial 330 NOS, Black, Fine steel nib. £59 (Also comes with ballpoint pen)

 

  • The price is attractive to me especially as there is both a fountain pen and ballpoint included, and they are both new old stock.
  • However I have been told the weight of the pen is not ideal as it is cheap (?) plastic, can anyone weigh in on this?
  • Comes with converter.

2) Sheaffer Imperial 444 Flighter, Chrome, Fine steel nib. £70

  • The price is higher for this one and I'm not sure if it's worth it, but the metal body does look good and it should weight better.
  • Converter is not included.
  • The description says the pen is "unused" and there is still a sticker on the barrel, but there is no box, and also an "imperfection" on the barrel.
  • In working condition.

3) Sheaffer Imperial Touchdown VI (I believe), Gray, Fine 14k nib. £? (Auction, I'm aiming for lower than £50)

  • 14k gold nib is a steal if I can win at a low bid.
  • Filling mechanism is interesting, can anyone vouch for how good / bad it is?
  • Used. Has a few scratches that are not very noticeable but there none-the-less.
  • In working condition.

So those are the three I'm looking at, can anyone give any advice? Thanks!

 

 

You would have to restore / resack the Imperial IV. Don't go after the seller saying 'it is in working order'. Unless s/he explicitely says the pen is restored. Even a NOS Imperial touchdown pen that has not yet been inked may need complete restoration or at least resacking. Yet, it is an Imperial and better choice.

 

The other two are not Imperials. These are triumph 330 and 444. Good cartridge / converter pens.

 

Good luck.

Edited by mitto

Khan M. Ilyas

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You would have to restore / resack the Imperial IV. Don't go after the seller saying 'it is in working order'. Unless s/he explicitely says the pen is restored. Even a NOS Imperial touchdown pen that has not yet been inked may need complete restoration or at least resacking. Yet, it is an Imperial and better choice.

 

The other two are not Imperials. These are triumph 330 and 444. Good cartridge / converter pens.

 

Good luck.

Thanks for the response! I have contacted the seller and the imperial IV has indeed been given a new sac, so does that count as "restored"?

 

Also if possible could you comment on the weight of the pens in comparison to others like the Lamy 2K / Al-Star / Pilot MR etc.? Thank you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those prices seem a little high for a steel-nibbed Triumph – I have bought mine for £20-30, with gold nibs, through the auctions. Last week, I bought a steel-nibbed, plastic-bodied navy blue Triumph at a local house-clearer's yard for £5 (I talked the price up from £2 because I felt sorry for him!). The latter pen was clogged solid with old ink but a long soak later it writes absolutely beautifully – it is now probably one of the smoothest writing pens that I own.

 

I haven't weighed it but it feels similar to a Lamy Vista.

 

Cheers,

David.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Check out Peyton Street Pens for NOS Sheaffers in working order. I have a couple: a 440 (the metal-capped version of the 330, I believe) and an Imperial II Deluxe. The 440 with an EF nib feels small and precise in hand. The Imperial II Deluxe is a wetter writer, has better plastic, a touchdown filling system (which I enjoy), and a short triumph rather than inlaid nib. Both are probably lighter than the pens you cite for comparison.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

All seem overpriced.

 

That's what I was thinking, especially considering the condition of some of them.

I think some see the hugely over-inflated prices that many junk pens command on ebay at the moment and think they should charge the same.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Huge difference between Imperials and what Peyton Pens (probably more accurately) calls quasi-Imperials. Shop very carefully and consider the reviews of the dealer.

I have a nice set of six widely ranging Sheaffers that I have purchased from Teri at Peyton. Personally, I have steered away from touchdowns because of the fiddliness of the mechanism but that is, of course, what draws many fans to that line of Sheaffer pen.

I ride a recumbent, I play go, I use Macintosh so of course I use a fountain pen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33501
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...