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Rarest Pen Color


Waltz For Zizi

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What do you suppose is the least used color for a fountain pen? I imagine the black is by far the most comon, but what about the least comon? P.S. Im not talking about weird colors like aquamarine, turquoise, magenta etc. Just the basic ones like: black, blue, red, green, white/ivory, yellow, orange, brown.

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I would say yellow. Out of the many, many pens I've had and seen in my time collecting, I haven't seen many that are yellow. I've thought about buying one that is marbled yellow.

WTT: Conklin Nozac Cursive Italic & Edison Beaumont Broad for Pelikan M1000 or Something Cool (PM me to discuss. It's part of my One Red Fountain Pen trading post)

WTB: 1. Camlin SD

2. 1950s to early 1960s 1st Gen MB 149 with BB nib

3. Airmail 90T Teal Swirl

4. PenBBS 355-16SF Demonstrator

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Hello Waltz,

 

I can only speak for my own collection,... but here are three rarest colors of the ones you mention... mind you, this is a relative question... you may find people who love white, yellow or orange. ;)

 

1 orange, (Copper Al-Star)

1 white/ivory

2 yellows

 

And then it goes up from there. :)

 

Be well and enjoy life. :)

 

 

- Anthony

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I've thought about buying one that is marbled yellow.

 

You know you have too many fountain pens when... you forget that you already have a marble yellow Stipula I Castoni that you got a long ago for $20... So I would like to update my vote to pink. I think that may be very hard to find other than on Lamy Safari's and other plastic body pens.

WTT: Conklin Nozac Cursive Italic & Edison Beaumont Broad for Pelikan M1000 or Something Cool (PM me to discuss. It's part of my One Red Fountain Pen trading post)

WTB: 1. Camlin SD

2. 1950s to early 1960s 1st Gen MB 149 with BB nib

3. Airmail 90T Teal Swirl

4. PenBBS 355-16SF Demonstrator

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Define rare.

If rare is defined by an LE that's an artificial category created by manufacturers for marketing reasons

If it means age and availability,eg, not being made any more that would be legit

Personally I have a penchant for yellows but color-wise but would guess that there not a color I don't have.

To paraphrase MLK Jr I judge a pen by its content,ie, how it writes, feels in the hand, how it performs, and any other parameters and not by the color of its 'skin'

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Define rare.

If rare is defined by an LE that's an artificial category created by manufacturers for marketing reasons

If it means age and availability,eg, not being made any more that would be legit

Personally I have a penchant for yellows but color-wise but would guess that there not a color I don't have.

To paraphrase MLK Jr I judge a pen by its content,ie, how it writes, feels in the hand, how it performs, and any other parameters and not by the color of its 'skin'

Hi PS104,

 

My interpretation of Waltz' question would be of a color's popularity and to that end, the least popular colors will naturally be the rarest.

 

It's a valid question; as I'm not so pc that I will buy pens in colors I do not like just to be pc. :D

 

What benefit is it to have a great performing pen wrapped in a color that makes you sick? :sick:

 

 

Be well all... or as close to it as you can get. :)

 

 

- Anthony

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This thread would have made a fine poll. Walt, can you edit the thread to make it a poll?

WTT: Conklin Nozac Cursive Italic & Edison Beaumont Broad for Pelikan M1000 or Something Cool (PM me to discuss. It's part of my One Red Fountain Pen trading post)

WTB: 1. Camlin SD

2. 1950s to early 1960s 1st Gen MB 149 with BB nib

3. Airmail 90T Teal Swirl

4. PenBBS 355-16SF Demonstrator

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This thread would have made a fine poll. Walt, can you edit the thread to make it a poll?

Hi Jonathan,

 

I agree.

 

A good question would be, "What's your least favorite pen color?"

 

- Gold

- Silver/Stainless

- Black

- Grey

- White/Ivory

- Blue

- Brown

- Green

- Red

- Orange

- Yellow

- Pink

- Purple

- Burgundy

- Other, (please specify below).

 

Colors were placed in the order they came to mind... you may want to rearrange them. :D

 

 

- Anthony

 

ETA: I've never done a poll here, so I don't know how many options you get; you may want/need to consolidate a few, e.g., red/pink; purple/burgundy, etc.

Edited by ParkerDuofold
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Plum.

:D

 

 

I wonder if that would fall under purple or burgundy? :unsure:

 

 

- A.C.

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I neglected to buy a yellow Pelikan 200 some six or seven years ago when I got my 605....and still don't have a yellow pen. :doh:

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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Actually its kind of hard to get a true Green pen. I mean green as in primary green, not neon green, dark green, leaf green, or pale mint or ... you know

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Hi,

 

I reckon Parker Plum is up there.

 

I have three Yellow Pelikans, (M200s and an M640 Sahara) tho they may now be hard to find / expensive.

 

And as for Pink, I have two Pink Safaris (nudist and non-nudist) and there was a recent Pelikan in Pink...

 

So I put forward the notion that Orange may well be a contender - I've seen pics of Orange Sheaffer pens and have an olde Parker Duofold Jr that's Orange.

 

​As I'm at a hiatus in pen purchasing, I have little awareness of the current offerings.

 

Bye,

S1

Edited by Sandy1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

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Hi PS104,

My interpretation of Waltz' question would be of a color's popularity and to that end, the least popular colors will naturally be the rarest.

It's a valid question; as I'm not so pc that I will buy pens in colors I do not like just to be pc. :D

What benefit is it to have a great performing pen wrapped in a color that makes you sick? :sick:

Be well all... or as close to it as you can get. :)

- Anthony

Actually what I meant WAS the least used color in the production of fountain pens NOT the least popular among users
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The big four are black, blue, red and green - which I think are the four colours of Parker Slimfold (correct me if I've got that wrong). Slimfold is an extraordinary pen as there seem to be many more red ones about than black, the reverse of the normal situation. On the other hand, the fact that the rarest Slimfold colour is green is 100% in line with the overall pen universe. It's not that common, and in vintage pens you'll usually find dull olive greens or dark greens rather than today's more vivid neon/mint/lime greens.

 

Yellow is definitely a minority colour as is white, perhaps because of the likelihood of ink stains on a light colour. Even in the glory days of patterned celluloid I have seen more light mauve, pink, and 'pearl' than yellow. I wonder if the experience of the Mandarin Duofold being so fragile and prone to cracking put manufacturers off the colour even when better materials were available?

Too many pens, too little time!

http://fountainpenlove.blogspot.fr/

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Actually what I meant WAS the least used color in the production of fountain pens NOT the least popular among users

Hi Waltz,

 

Well, the two are not mutually exclusive; pen companies are in the business to make money... so they offer the colors that they believe will appeal to their customer base. So, the least used/least offered color(s) is also most likely the least popular based on current market research.

 

It also varies as tastes and styles change... so it is also era specific. For example, in the 1920s, Orange was dead-common... thanks to my namesake, (which was a fluke - Parker was convinced orange-red wouldn't sell :lol:),... today, it's rarely seen. Pink would had been a rarity in the '70s... but today, its a statement for breast cancer awareness.

 

If you're speaking about today; I'll stick with my original answer... but that is based on my collection and my tastes... that's why I think Jonathan's idea for a poll was a good one.

 

Be well. :)

 

 

- Anthony

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Just to follow-up... if you're talking historically and overall combined... I'll go with the plum 51, too. :)

 

- A.C.

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Celadon. I have never seen a pen with this colour.

I said to keep it simple. How about coquelicot, glaucous, fulvous, smaragdine etc? Have you seen them used?

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