All Pens and Ephemera

Celebrating its 150th birthday, Pelikan released a special black-and-silver pencil. It designated it the Pelikan K730. Twist the tail cap to advance and retract the .5mm lead. Unfortunately, there are several dimples in the silver tail cap. No name is engraved on the name plate. 12.5cm.

Celebrating its 150th birthday, Pelikan released a special black-and-silver pen. It designated it the Pelikan D730. Twist the tail cap to advance and retract the black Parker-style ballpoint. Unfortunately, there are two dimples in the silver tail cap, just under the unengraved name plate. 12.5cm.

Our eyes about popped out of our heads when we saw that TWISBI Ecos in transparent orange were limited editions now getting more than $230 on a famed auction site that shall not be named. We offer one such pen here that has been cleaned and readied for a new home. Only light wear on the pen and no internal staining. Click the headline for a close-up to see its "B" steel nib. You will find it to be a surprisingly smooth nib that sings a little as it glide along the page. 13.9cm capped.

The roaring '20s were such a fantastic time for automobile racing. The technology was evolving quickly and no race course was too dangerous. Italy's 1000 Miglia (1000-mile Race) was a huge international challenge, tempting the world's greatest drivers to its inaugural run in 1927. The Montegrappa 1000 Miglia fountain pen pays tribute to the 70th anniversary of this first race. Its sterling silver overlay features etched images of the adventure. The racing red celluloid is stunning in the light. We do not believe this pen has been used. It remains in pristine condition. Click the headline for close-ups. Unfortunately, the faux-leather box looks as if it has just raced for 1,000 miles. This faux leather looked great when new and was quite popular with Waterman, too, but it erodes badly with time. Complete box and papers.

Early Waterman pencils are always so neat to look at. This long, slender Waterman 0721 is in surprisingly good shape for 100 years old! Twist the nose cone to advance the 1.1mm lead. It still works well. Unscrew the tail cap to find more old spare leads! The clip and barrel band are gold plated. No cracks or deep scratches mar this black-hard-rubber (ebonite) beauty, but you can see some wear under the clip. Also, sadly, there's some corrosion between the ball and the rest of the clip. Click the headline for close-ups. 13.1cm.

So sleek, the Sheaffer Balance pencil looks as if it going 100 mph while just sitting on your desk. The classic golden brown striation design adds some masculine elegance with the gold-plated trim. Twist the tail cap to the left or right to retract or extend the 1.1mm lead. Under the tail cap is a hardened original eraser and spare lead. Only light wear from use. Guaranteed to make math, crosswords, sudoku and other puzzles more fun. 13.4cm.

Matte orange is both attractive and rare in the Aurora Ipsilon line. Plus, there's the tactile bonus of a lightly textured finish. This set includes both the fountain pen and ballpoint. The fountain pen comes with an Aurora/Parker-style converter. You can also feed it both companies' ink cartridges. There's light wear and a light mark where the cap posts. You can see its steel nib is marked F for fine, but we find it writes closer to extra-fine with a little feedback. Writing is a simple click away with the ballpoint. You'll get it with a super smooth blue gel refill made by Parker.

Aurora Ipsilon pens turn to classic vintage pen design for a look that is very appealing. It would be difficult to say this modern pre-owned pen wasn't a little inspired by the mandarin yellow of vintage Parker Duofolds. Nevertheless, this fountain pen looks stunning with very little, if any, wear. You fill the pen with an included Parker-style converter or Aurora or Parker ink cartridges. Its matching ballpoint pen is a click-cap style using Parker ballpoint refills. It currently has a working blue refill. The click the headline to see the golden nib of the fountain pen. You will write more of an extra-fine line than the fine marked on the nib. If you have written with a lot of pens you might understand what we mean when we say this nib is neither scratchy nor smooth. It rests somewhere between the two on the smoother side.