Artus 27 - impressions and comments

[Readymade]

A recent find -- a working Artus 27 in dark burgundy (or "liver", as my gf says )

 

 

Josef Lamy made pens under the Artus brand before he decided to make pens under his own surname.

 

Lamy was a Parker exec in Germany before he started making his own pens, and the Artus 27 unsurprisingly looks very similar to a Parker "51", including the hooded nib.

 

(Then again almost every manufacturer then was trying to imitate the "51".)

 

 

This pen is a piston-filler, with the blind cap unscrewing completely to reveal a long knob -- as if a converter had been embedded in the barrel permanently.

 

The nib section unscrews from the barrel too (like the Lamy 2000)

 

The ink windows seem to prefigure the later, similarly named Lamy 27. (click here for an excellent review on FPN)

 

I was intrigued by the feed, with its obliquely angled slope.

 

 

Other details:

 

The almost imperceptible name.

 

The clip. Looks like a Waterman Taperite's.

 

On the barrel

 

Have been trying to date this pen but so far my internet-searching hasn't turned up anything other than that the pen was probably made sometime between 1949 and 1952. If anyone can help provide more info, pls let me know.

 

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The styling, as mentioned, is similar to a Parker 51, but the Artus 27 is a little fatter and is well-balanced.

 

Overall writing experience is quite pleasant. The nib isn't completely smooth, but it's a Fine. There's also a little spring to it.

 

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Some issues, possibly due to its previous user(s):

 

The pen was leaking from the gap between the section and the barrel. Visited a local pen shop to have the repairman there seal it, and it seems to be OK.

 

Then after that I discovered that the ink would stop flowing while writing. I think the nib doesn't fit well on the feed. I should have known -- the seller had nonchalantly pulled the nib out to clean it as if it were the most natural thing in the world!

 

/sigh just need to have it serviced properly.

 

After getting this pen, I'm starting to pay attention to Parker "51"s again...

[Sharkle]

Handsome pen, Readymade; I love the color (liver and all ). Thanks for a great review and wonderful pics. Wish I could help out with info. I hope you get this fixed to your satisfaction and get many years of enjoyment out of it.

 

[piembi]

There should be no problems from cleaning the nib. I had disassembled some of my Lamy 27s and they work properly after I assembled everything again.

 

If the nib has an ink flow issue it might have been there before disassembling the pen. Maybe the seller hoped that cleaning might solve the problem. So far none of my 27s had an ink flow problem so my experience with it is very limited. It might have been something to do with the position of the nib on the feed. Had the same problem with a Pelikan M400 and got it fixed from Pelikan Hannover.