Tiffany & Co Atlas 2021

[Chase777]

What is everyone's opinion on this pen? , Thinking about buying it this week?

https://www.tiffany.com/accessories/desk/atlas-fountain-pen-69339336/

 

Also why is everyone using vermeil or plating VS real solid gold? , at most a pen if it was real gold would have like 20g of 14k in it which means around like $600 in gold. Some pens are over 1k and using plating. Why?

 

Just had to ask. Always wondered.

[sirgilbert357]

Since when do only the cost of materials factor into the price of a pen?

 

If you like it and have the disposable cash, buy it.

 

I don't really enjoy the logistics of carrying a pen with no clip, so I generally steer clear. It's not a dealbreaker, but it has to be really special for me to buy a pen with no clip. To each their own, just thinking out loud since you asked what others think of it.

 

Also, I generally stay away from polished metal sections, but sterling silver has a different feel and offers more traction, so this one might be OK...

 

[jchch1950]

Solid gold pens are seldom produce at this time and some of them are much more expensive that the gold contain in them.Vermeil has a lower cost to produce , they and  are less prone to tarnish that the only silver pens.The pen in the picture is a nice design. .😀

[Calabria]

I would worry more about the nib. Is this nib really worth the asking price?

[Paul-in-SF]

I have been known to buy pens based largely on looks, but the looks on this one are marginal to my taste, it seems cold and uninviting. So it would depend on how it feels in my hand (especially I would need to try out the unconventional band around the barrel) and how the nib writes. These are things that I would need to try out in person. 

 

On 12/17/2021 at 5:18 PM, Chase777 said:

20g of 14k in it which means around like $600 in gold.

The spot price of gold today is $1800 per troy ounce, and that is just over 31 grams. So the cost of that much gold would be nearly $1200. Not that the cost of the materials is the only relevant factor, as sirgilbert57 has already noted. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

On 12/18/2021 at 2:18 AM, Chase777 said:

Also why is everyone using vermeil or plating VS real solid gold? , at most a pen if it was real gold would have like 20g of 14k in it which means around like $600 in gold. Some pens are over 1k and using plating. Why?

Answered on another resent thread of yours.

Gold overlays cost = or - $2,000 to $4,000........and that is the 14 or 18 K ones....and are not pure gold in the pen would be too heavy to use..................and gold costs a hell of a lot more than you think.

Even wh4en it was cheap it took skilled $$$$ labor to make them.

 

My opinion of a pin I've never seen....looks clunky, ill balanced and too long. A signature pen for charity events....not something to write with for any length of time.

 

A perfectly balanced silver pen is the Sterling Silver Cisele P75. Posted of course, in it is a standard sized pen. And for solid 925 silver (or metal)  is a light and nimble pen. (Aluminum is of course lighter but you are interested in a solid silver or a gold overlay pen.)

 

Back when I was a 20 pen noobie, I did a balance test, and to my surprise the Parker -75 was third.

 

Each of the top 4 pens were different enough that there was no 'same'. # 1...A a thicker girthed standard sized MB 234 1/2 with brass back weighted piston guts, # 2 a thin medium long Geha 725, #3 the P-75 and #4 a medium-long standard width Pelikan 400nn....(It had taken me some 2 years to decide the 400nn was better balanced than the 400.)

 

I now have north of 80 pens and wouldn't dream of doing another balance test....in I'd have 20 top five pens....and it would take up to two months.              I am much into balance, which is normally light and nimble..........which IMO only the Sheaffer Snorkel or a bit less a second generation tapered body P-45 has as a large pen. My P-45 has a rolled gold cap..........but I doubt if you will ever find one in silver.

I would suggest getting one to learn what good balance is with a posted pen. They are affordable and easy to clean.

 

 

Why screw around, buy a P-75 a classic greatly balanced solid sterling silver pen.....gold plated trim of course. Even when I bought mine for $22 in real silver money days...70/71, $40 an ounce for gold (a $20 double eagle) was very expensive** so one did gold plating or rolled gold.............This was back when the 2 /2-3 story 4 car garage millionaire's mansion was going for $250,000.

 

**Gold has always for the time been expensive.......it's cheap now....down 1/6th from it's peak a couple years ago. Between this and your other thread I'm sure you've found out your price estimate for a 'solid' gold pen is off quite a bit from your $600.

 

**There gold was 'only' $40 an ounce and I couldn't afford to buy and hoard gold coins (couldn't afford to buy coin book valuable silver dollars either but dime and above was then silver. pocket change)......a reason why very few gold pens were made, and fakes of rolled gold or vermeil were and are common. Poverty.

 

osted April 6, 2015

On 4/6/2015 at 8:00 PM, Matlock said:

Although I love my 51s I strongly believe that the 75 was the best pen Parker ever made. The length of time it was available speaks volumes.

[Paul-in-SF]

14 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

The spot price of gold today is $1800 per troy ounce, and that is just over 31 grams. So the cost of that much gold would be nearly $1200. Not that the cost of the materials is the only relevant factor, as sirgilbert57 has already noted. 

Sorry, I didn't factor in the alloy. The cost of the gold content of 20 grams of 14K gold would be about $680. So you weren't far off, assuming 20 grams is a reasonable amount of gold for that center band.