All Pens and Ephemera

We aren't certain about the official Esterbrook letter designation for this model, but it relates to the Esterbrook J-series of fountain pens. Our vintage pencil is a lovely mint green and still in good working order. Cap actuated, you click the tail cap to advance or retract the .9mm lead. A couple spare leads are under the tail cap, but the eraser is long gone. A crisp imprint greets you on the barrel, and it only has light wear from use. 12.3cm.

It is nice to find a Parker Sonnet with an 18k gold nib. We think most of them are plated steel these days. That would seem to date this pre-owned pen a little. Solidly built, this pen shows a some wear in places, but it is in great shape. It comes with a Parker converter, but it also can use Parker cartridges. Click the headline for close-ups. You will write a smooth broad line when you find the sweet spot. This pen also squeaks a little as it writes and can get a little scratchy outside of its sweet spot. 13.4cm capped.

Blessed are those who love writing with a pen from Vatican City. This collectible ballpoint from the Vatican Museums sports themes of landmarks and images from all around the Vatican. It comes with its original box and paper. It features a "Vatican Museums" refill, which is really a Parker-style refill easily found anywhere in the U.S....and probably everywhere else. The Holy Pen Designer seems to have had a thing for modern Parker Duofold ballpoints. The pen is nicely weighted and shows a little light wear from use. 12.9cm.

Cashing in on the enormous success of its Parker 51, Parker decided to create a more affordable version of the pen to reach even more customers. This pen is the Parker 21. One of the biggest differences between them is that the 21 has a steel nib, and the 51 has a gold nib. Our vintage pen is in good working order, complete with a working original pli-glass ink sac. Its nib is more of a fine-medium that has a little feedback at the tops and bottoms of letters. You should be able to see a big crack in the barrel where it threads to the section. Don't grip it too hard or use to much pressure, as you will get it to wiggle in your hand a bit. Click the headline for a close-up. 13.4cm capped.

Not every vintage pen is going to be the belle of the ball. Today's Parker Duofold from 1942 seems to have been somebody's loyal workhorse. A great deal of the cap band is heavily brassed. There's a hairline crack in the cap lip running up under the cap band. The pen shows overall wear, and the 14k gold nib looks a little wonky. Click the headline for close-ups. HOWEVER, we restored it with a new diaphragm, and it writes surprisingly well. You'll find it is a wet medium with a touch of feedback. It actually writes much better than it looks. Perfect for a daily driver that doesn't mind another ding or two. 13.2cm capped.

The 2014 Montblanc Writers Series fountain pen was dedicated to Daniel Defoe. He is most famous for the classic "Robinson Crusoe." This preowned luxury pen comes with all of its complete papers and boxes. The pen looks perfect...except for the nib. The 18k gold nib is losing its ruthenium or platinum plating. Click the headline for a close-up. We filled the pen with water, and we aren't certain if it has ever been used. We dipped the nib and it writes a smooth medium line. 14.3cm capped.

Get in a festive mood with an emerald pearl Parker Vacumatic Maxima fountain pen. We restored this vintage pen with a new diaphragm. It is a beautiful writing instrument with no cracks or deep scratches. There are a few faded bite marks on the blind cap. The double-jeweled cap end are also emerald green stripes like the cap and barrel. No brassing on the gold filled trim. The two-toned 14k gold nib is excellent with most of its original platinum plating. You will write a smooth extra-fine to fine line. The celluloid's see-through barrel is ambered, but you can still see through it a little. 13.4cm capped.

The blue-and-pearl white cap on this Monteverde rollerball pen is quite handsome. We don't know the model name for this pen, but a rose by any other name.... It fills with standard rollerball refills or Pilot G2 gel refills. It comes with a working black rollerball refill. The pen has a little light wear from use, but it still makes for an attractive stocking stuffer. 14cm capped.