Your Favourite Vintage Pen Models

[sirgilbert357]

3 hours ago, IThinkIHaveAProblem said:

You could always learn to restore it yourself

 

 

LOL, you got jokes!!!

 

I will not be tackling the most complicated filling system ever created any time soon, trust me. I just really appreciate the engineering that goes into the snorkels and would love to own one. No desire to work on them...

[inkstainedruth]

16 hours ago, Mr.Rene said:

Parker Vacumatic..a classic art deco style pen...

It's funny -- I didn't use to like Vacs *because* of the Art Deco styling.  I even told that to Tony Fischier a few years ago.  I had had some questions about my (at that point) two Parker 51s, so I contacted him on his website; and after he answered my questions he said "And you'll be looking at Vacs next...."  And I said "Nope, not happening -- I don't like Art Deco stuff...."  Only then a few weeks later someone brought an Azure Blue Pearl Oversize to a pen club meeting.  And it was ALL OVER™.  And now I have almost as many Vacs as 51s (if you don't count the Vac-fill Laidtone Duofolds).  And two DIFFERENT sizes of the Azure Blue (I got a Sub-Debutante 3rd Generation model at my first pen show; and then a few years later discovered that they had also made that color in the 2nd Gen Speedline fillers and HAD to get one of those as well...  -- I think mine might be a "Slender" but not 100% sure).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[inkstainedruth]

9 hours ago, TheRedBeard said:

My second choice: Parker 75. 

 

I'll admit that there's a part of me that can't reconcile the concept of c/c pens like 75s and 45s and being "vintage" (45s were first on the market after I was born, I think).  But yeah, I have several 45s; and a sterling Ciselé 75 (a later model with the dished tassies).  And while they're a bit on the skinny side for long writing sessions, I do like them very much.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[inkstainedruth]

14 minutes ago, sirgilbert357 said:

 

LOL, you got jokes!!!

 

I will not be tackling the most complicated filling system ever created any time soon, trust me. I just really appreciate the engineering that goes into the snorkels and would love to own one. No desire to work on them...

Yup.  My Snorkels have all been professionally restored, except for one (Pastel Green) that I forgot hadn't been checked out and I inked it up recently... (oopsie).  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

1 hour ago, sirgilbert357 said:

 

LOL, you got jokes!!!

 

I will not be tackling the most complicated filling system ever created any time soon, trust me. I just really appreciate the engineering that goes into the snorkels and would love to own one. No desire to work on them...

I’ve never done a pfm (they are not in my budget range) but I’ve done a dozen or so regular snorkels. They can be fiddley. But in the end it’s just a sac change with an extra step: removing the sac protector   (also getting the old o-ring out is usually a PITA)
Donno, maybe it’s just me.

http://www.richardspens.com/ref/repair/snorkel.htm

[carola]

Favourite vintage pen models? Easy.

 

1) Vintage Pelikans: 400, 400N, 400NN and 100N (I really don´t like the "cut off flat" butt of the 100s. Nope. Nope.)

Beautiful pens, very classy looks, beautiful colours, gorgeous nibs, reliable writers, good and easy filling system, usually repairable without a lot of fuss. You can happen on 70 years old pens, clogged with dried ink, soak and flush them with warm water and have the best writer you have ever seen a few hours later.

 

2) Vintage Eversharp Skylines, the fully striped Moiré models.

Beautiful pens, cool streamlined industrial design, beautiful colours, the nibs can be hit or miss, but there are a lot of very nice nibs around. Pure eye candy without a lot of bling and if you have a nib that suits you well, you have a very nice and reliable writer, too.

 

To me, both are a love story.

[kestrel]

Vintage pens are like Lay's potato chips.  My favorite is an oversize Sheaffer's White Dot Balance ca 1929 in black and pearl.  The size is perfect for my hand, the nib is delightful to use, and the weight/balance is perfect for the way I hold a pen in my poor, arthritic fingers. The vintage celluloid feels great.

Second place would be one of several of the larger BCHR Conklin crescent-fillers.  The 50 is almost as nice to use as the Balance with a soft Toledo nib and all the other nice stuff I said about the Balance.  The crescent filling system is practically foolproof and very robust.

Third would be a mid 1920's Parker Senior Duofold.  Balance, weight, nib as above with the elegant button filling system.

Honorable mentions to several Mk I Parker Victories with those wonderful Newhaven nibs,a pair of large Conklin Enduras with soft Toledo nibs, and any Esterbrook J with a 9284, 9312, 9314M or the 9968 that Pendleton Brown worked his magic on.  The Esties are a bit small for my hand but the nibs make up for it.

[Tashi_Tsering]

Wahl-Eversharp Decoband

[mke]

On 6/12/2021 at 10:06 AM, tmurfet said:

Pelikan Celebry mid-nine ties

That is a nice one.

[Buzz_130]

As I look in the pen case, the answer to this post is easy: Parker "51." I have a 61, 75, Esterbrooks, Sheaffers, and more, but 75% of my vintage collection are Parker "51s" manufactured across the spectrum of its run. Today, I rely on aeros to just work. Wonderful balance, amazing materials, nib that doesn't say "look at me," and the right weight for my hands.

 

The classic is a classic for a reason.

 

Buzz

[Bo Bo Olson]

The reason why vintage pens are so addictive, one can see above, flagships were as good as a company could make, balance and good nibs a given...............and like the man mentioned, some very fine Lay's penchips.

Even lower models had to be well made, such as the Easties, with it's vast selection of nibs.

[IlikeInksandIcannotlie]

9 minutes ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

The reason why vintage pens are so addictive, one can see above, flagships were as good as a company could make, balance and good nibs a given...............and like the man mentioned, some very fine Lay's penchips.

What attracts me to vintage pens is the value for money( atleast compared to modern pens), fantastic design and very nicely made nibs.

[cherylmarie]

So hard to pick a favorite!  I love the looks of the striated Sheaffers, especially with the triumph nib.  They are dependable but not very expressive writers.  As I've matured as a collector, I've moved toward vac-fills and away from levers.  Levers are so easy to fix if you are a beginner, and usually cheaper to buy,

Parker vacumatics!  I just love the looks of them!  Parker 51's, such a joy to use!

Eversharp Skylines - as another person said above, some of these nibs are just wonderful.  I've got one inked now that I bought in a lot and expected to resell after installing a new sac.  It's a plain black pen (not my style) but I just love it because of that beautiful teardrop nib!

[Bo Bo Olson]

10 minutes ago, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

What attracts me to vintage pens is the value for money( atleast compared to modern pens), fantastic design and very nicely made nibs.

In the last 2-3 years the price of vintage pens have become unbelievably high. A while back one could get a fine flagship for less to much less than half the price of a middle class new pen; that lacked balance and nib of the older pens.

 

 

Had I been forced to buy new pens, I'd still be a One Man One Pen with my bought in '70/71 P-75. I'd not known it was a semi-nail and as a nib, nothing to write home about. The silver P-75 has real Great balance......It was an old days made pen.

 

[sirgilbert357]

13 hours ago, Tashi_Tsering said:

Wahl-Eversharp Decoband

 

Wow. That is gorgeous. Maybe I like more than ONE vintage pen after all...

[Bo Bo Olson]

I'm on the wrong continent to chase that.

 

I read a long time ago, Wahl-Eversharp was the last US pen company in the '40's to feature lots of semi-flex nibs...

Esterbrook had a couple and Shaffer in the early '50's  did have a few.

[MusterMark]

I really like flattops. It's a tie for me between the Sheaffer Lifetime Oversized Flattop and the Parker Big Red Duofold Senior.

[rkesey]

On 6/12/2021 at 9:16 AM, sansenri said:

My favourite vintage, Pelikan 400NN, has many of the Pelikan desirable characteristics, light weight, balanced and comfortable, piston filler, good amount of ink, see through body, a very nice design, and it is a tad longer than other vintage Pelikans which makes it comfortable even unposted (I don't post).

The nibs are really nice, I like the unrestrained flow, typical of Pelikan piston fillers, and the pen itself is extremely reliable despite its age.

 

I own one in tortoise and a few more in green striped.

 

 

Such a beautiful pen! On the short list for sure.

[rkesey]

On 6/12/2021 at 8:03 PM, carola said:

Favourite vintage pen models? Easy.

 

1) Vintage Pelikans: 400, 400N, 400NN and 100N (I really don´t like the "cut off flat" butt of the 100s. Nope. Nope.)

Beautiful pens, very classy looks, beautiful colours, gorgeous nibs, reliable writers, good and easy filling system, usually repairable without a lot of fuss. You can happen on 70 years old pens, clogged with dried ink, soak and flush them with warm water and have the best writer you have ever seen a few hours later.

 

2) Vintage Eversharp Skylines, the fully striped Moiré models.

Beautiful pens, cool streamlined industrial design, beautiful colours, the nibs can be hit or miss, but there are a lot of very nice nibs around. Pure eye candy without a lot of bling and if you have a nib that suits you well, you have a very nice and reliable writer, too.

 

To me, both are a love story.

Yeah, those Skylines are iconic!

[rkesey]

On 6/11/2021 at 8:23 AM, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

What are your favourite vintage pens? Please list out your reasons for liking them. Is it a quirky filling system, a great nib, or just plain ol' reliability and cheapness?

Lots of love for many that have been named already--my first fountain pen was a gold Snorkel that had been my grandfather's, set me back a bit to get it working again, but that nib!--plus a couple of pretty Esties, a Vacumatic from the 40s and a Duofold Sr. from the 30s, a 21 and a 51 both from the 50s... Not yet mentioned: a Pilot Namiki Kaede from the 70s that's so warm to the touch, and an Ikaruga Safety Fountain Pen with a bamboo barrel, a spiral glass nib, and a tiny compass (still working) as filial, from the 20s, I'm guessing, weird and all kinds of fun.