All Pens and Ephemera

In the 1930s, Conklin and Sheaffer each developed a piston filling mechanism that required just a single stroke piston with a gasket on it to create vacuum pressure to fill a pen's entire barrel with ink. It was a revolutionary design. Conklin called its pen the Conklin Nozac. Some of the pens were imprinted with an ingenious gimmick of a word gauge to show how many words were left in the pen before a refill. This limited edition recreation of that pen is a beautiful, oversized masterpiece. Tiny silver flecks look like stars in the night sky of this translucent blue and amber fountain pen. Numbered only 110 of 898, the word gauge purports to hold 7 million words per refill. We have not tested that gauge's accuracy, but we did test fill it with water and it works well. The insides are a little stained from past blue ink. You will write a smooth medium line with its 18k gold nib. Minimal wear. Complete with boxes and papers. Click the headline for a close up. 14.8cm capped.

For as handsome as this moss green-grey vintage pen is, it features some of the weaknesses of 1940s Waterman manufacturing. Our Waterman 2 has a crack in the top of the cap and in the lip of the cap. Its pocket clip spins freely. We restored this pen with a new ink sac. You'll find nice Canadian Waterman imprints. Click the headline for a close-up of the 14k gold nib. When you find the sweet spot on the nib, you will write a smooth broad line. It gets a little scratchy when you lose the sweet spot. Oh, and its inkfeed is a modern replacement feed. 12.8cm capped.

Paying tribute to the 7 continents of Earth, Aurora created a special edition of luxury pens. This is the Aurora Afrika. Quite possibly new old stock, the white piston on this pen shows no trace of ink. In fact, this warm orangy brown pen with black swirls is almost entirely perfect. Click the headline for close ups. We don't see much, if any, wear. The only flaw we see is that the gold filling of the limited edition number has fallen out of the back of the cap. Yet, it is still easy to read the imprint that this is pen number 4309. There's a beauiful onyx on top of the cap. Marked under the 18k gold nib is an "M" for medium point. We have not written with this pen, in case it is, in deed, new old stock. Comes with original boxes and papers. Its bottle of ink is still sealed. Pen measures 12.9cm capped.

If you are looking for a bargain on a Parker Duofold Senior pencil, please take a closer look. Nearly 100 years old, this orange permanite beast is still working well. Twist the tail cap to advance and retract its 1.1mm lead. Click the headline to see easily that it is more than a little flawed. The pencil got dropped years ago on its twist top crown, denting it down on one side. Plus, its permanite outer shell has a bad crack under the pocket clip. 14.1cm.

Celebrating Chinese New Year, this Cross 2015 Year of the Goat fountain pen is a real head turner. Using the Cross Sauvage platform, this preowned pen was coated in Moonlit Black Lacquer leaving the golden outline of a goat. We believe the pen to be new old stock. The slightly scuffed up and worn presentation box still hosts the original cartridges and unused converter. There isn't a trace of wear on the pen. The only thing missing is whatever was in a square space inside the box, in front of the pen. As we suspect it to be N.O.S., we didn't dip the 18k gold nib to try it. It appears to be either a fine or extra-fine. Click the headline for close-ups. 13.2cm capped.

Enjoy more than a little class and sophistication when you write by using this Cartier Diabolo rollerball pen. It is a classic black pen with gold-plated trim, which all comes together with its stunning blue topper. Writing is smooth and easy with the large 8126 capless rollerball refill. We include a new black refill with this pen. You might see a little light wear if you look hard enough, but no one will notice it at arm's length. 14.2cm capped.

Pineider is another of the great Italian pen makers that we don't feature often enough. Our preowned luxury pen is in mint condition. It is the limited edition Pineider Back to the Future. Numbered 76 of 949, this isn't the Marty McFly "Back to the Future" you might be thinking of. This special edition focuses on Italy in the year 1949, as the nation emerged from the destruction of World War II--a time of rebuilding, it was leading the way in fashion, art and culture. The futuristic design of the pen is based on the concept of an Egyptian reed stylus made of modern carbographite. You fill the pen with a piston. It writes with a stunning 1.3mm stub nib made of 14k gold. Also included are its original box and a handsome coffee table back by designer and film director Pier Luigi Pizzi as he looks back on that golden age. The photos are lush and classic. However, the text of the book is in Italian. Click the headline for a close-up of the nib. Pen 14.7cm capped.

We search far and wide for all the latest and greatest pens. Today we are very excited to showcase a gigantic pen from India's Ranga Pen Company. We don't know the model name, but we do know that it is made from a fantastic blue-and-tan hard rubber. Like a really old vintage pen, you fill this with an eyedropper. It can definitely hold a lot of ink. As a special treat, it comes preloaded with a two-tone steel "FPR Flex" nib. FPR stands for Fountain Pen Revolution. While it has flex, we consider it more of a semi-flex than a wet-noodle flex. Nevertheless, you will write from about a medium to more than 1mm wide! This pen looks brand new to us. 15cm capped.